Prior to Katrina’s landfall, I posted something on the blog pondering how the New Orleans Times-Picayune would weather the catastrophe. As a journalism grad and someone who still has a lot of respect for the institution of the daily newspaper, I naturally had to wonder. Well, here are two posts on the T-P’s breaking news blog that offer some insight into just what they are doing:

For Times-Picayune employees
Times-Picayune staffers: We are working at the Houma Courier for a few days. If you have news, call 985-850-1182. We plan to set up a longer term newsroom in Baton Rouge. Call the Advocate to find out where we are. …

To readers of The Times-Picayune
The Times-Picayune was forced to evacuate our Howard Avenue newsroom Tuesday. We are setting up bureaus in Houma and in Baton Rouge to continue to provide coverage of this disaster. We will continue to publish the newspaper each day without interruption. We will make it available in PDF form on nola.com each morning around midnight. Reporters and photographers are filing a continuous stream of reports on nola.com.

I can easily imagine how important it is to those editors and reporters to carry on, even — nay, especially — with their city in ruins. Back when I was an editor at the Daily Trojan, I know I would been more than willing, if some sort of disaster struck USC, to go through hell or high water (er, no pun intended) to make sure that we got a paper out the next day. When L.A. Times editor (and one of my journalism profs) Aaron Curtiss told us about the enormous sense of pride he felt in getting a newspaper on people’s doorsteps the day after the Northridge earthquake (despite the fact that the Times’s main printing press was busted in the quake), I knew exactly what he was talking about.

I imagine it must be somewhat galling for some of the Times-Picayune staffers to find themselves unable to produce a physical paper — but then, where would they deliver it? At least they can publish a full-on, PDF-formatted newspaper on the Internet, and that’s a helluva lot better than nothing.

Speaking of which, you know they’ll win Pulitzer Prizes for their coverage, so long as it’s remotely decent. The major daily newspaper of a disaster-stricken city always has the inside track.

The Notre Dame Observer has an article about Domers with New Orleans ties and their fears for their homes, families and friends.

Also… I missed Cyberlaw this morning because I had an OCI interview, but I am told that Professor Amy Barrett mentioned that she is a New Orleans native and most of her family still lives there. Her parents and most of her siblings evacuated to Baton Rouge on Sunday, but she has been unable to contact one of her sisters, a nurse, who had to stay behind. So, please keep the Barretts in your prayers. (Hat tip: Kate Leahy.)

It strikes me that, what 9/11 reminded us about firefighters, Katrina is reminding us about medical personnel. Like firefighters racing into a burning building to rescue people and save lives, doctors and nurses stayed behind in a city they knew was going to drown and crumble, at very serious risk to their own well-being, in order to tend to those who most desperately need tending to. That’s downright heroic.

The Washington Post offers a useful map of the elevations in central New Orleans:

Looks like the French Quarter is actually on relatively high ground.

The article is also a pretty good summary of what’s going on with the levees.

For those who haven’t already seen it, this video is utterly heartbreaking.

There’s heartbreak everywhere, of course, and horror. According to Michelle Malkin, “officials in Biloxi are spraypainting roofs black if there are corpses inside and red if there are injured inside.”

There’s heartbreak for evacuees, too:

At this point it’s pretty clear that nothing will be left when, and if, we return. Right now water is probably up to the roof of our Mid-City house, which I bought last year. Knowing this, the questions in my head are about the future of my job, where I will stay if I choose to return, and of course, how long it will be before any sense of normalcy returns to my life. It will probably be years. I’m seriously considering the option of giving it all up and starting anew somewhere else. Given the heartache that’s going to follow, and the reality that a repeat of this event could happen someday, it’s something worth thinking about.

Despite all this grief, I am actually in very high spirits, knowing how fortunate I am. It’s impossible to fathom how many people are going to be in a much, much worse situation than I am. It’s also very hard to think about the loss of life that’s already occurred and the serious possibility that many more deaths will continue to occur in the wake of a disaster like this. I have been sick to my stomach all morning thinking about the people who are still in the city, a few of whom are close friends of mine. These next few days in New Orleans will be legendary, filled with stories of bravery and heroism, but also of unthinkable tragedy.

While the disaster brings out the worst in some people (i.e., looters), it’s bringing out the best in others:

Yesterday, we went to the IKEA in Houston. There were signs all over telling Louisiana residents that they could eat for free in the restaraunt because of the hurricane. We enjoyed dessert and coffee, but we could have had a full meal for all of us if we’d chosen to. This morning, the local paper has a list of things to do in the city for people from LA, MS, and AL. Everything is free. All museums and the zoo are letting residents of those states in for free, and many of them will do so until the end of October. I guess that’s because they know that people may be stuck here for quite some time.

UPDATE: On the flip side… there are numerous reports in comments that a looter shot a cop in the back of the head.

David: “Friend who works in a newsroom said they did just got orders to evacuate the Superdome.”

Meanwhile, “evacuation of downtown hospitals begins.”

And the prisons, too.

WWL’s blog continues to have tons and tons of good tidbits of information, including:

3:59 P.M. - WWL-TV reporter Jonathan Betz reports widespread looting and WWL-TV cameras showed people walking out of Canal Street stores with racks of clothes and electronics. Some looters concentrated on basics and supplies, while others made no secret of their desire to get what they could.

3:53 P.M. - N.O. Mayor Nagin: Priorities - 1. Rescuing people. 2. Fixing levee breaks. 3. Taking care of refugees in Superdome and hospitals. …

3:15 P.M. - Charity Hospital is out of commission and they are trying to evacuate patients, but it is hard to get there because rising water is surrounding the hospital. They will try to evacuate the patients to other cities. …

3:07 P.M. - Governor Blanco: We are looking for ways to get people out of the Superdome and out of New Orleans said Governor Blanco as she tried to keep from crying. …

2:41 P.M. - Jefferson Parish officials say schools could reopen by Dec. 1.

2:39 P.M. - Jeff Parish councilman Tom Capella says pumps working near Veterans and West Esplanade and water is receeding there. He says break in levee at 17th Street canal continues to pour water into Lakeview. …

2:30 P.M. - Coast Guard says it has rescued 1,200 people so far in Louisiana. …

2:07 P.M. - (AP) — A top casino executive is calling on the Mississippi Legislature to enact emergency legislation to keep the state’s coast gaming industry alive. …

2:01 P.M. - Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard says there is no plumbing and the sanitary situation is getting nasty. He told WAFB-TV that he is carrying around a bag for his own human waste.

2:00 P.M. - Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi says “this is going to be the most expensive natural disaster that’s hit the United States in history.” …

1:08 P.M. - “I’m very hopeful, with the devastation we’ve had, that the number (of deaths) will be much more reasonable than people think. There are not thousands of people floating around.” — Terry Ebbert, New Orleans’ homeland security chief.

1:05 P.M. - (AP) — … One man, who had about 10 pairs of jeans draped over his left arm, was asked if he was salvaging things from his store. “No,” the man shouted, “that’s EVERYBODY’S store.” …

12:44 P.M. - (AP) The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port did NOT suffer major damage as a result of Hurricane Katrina. And a port official says the flow of oil could resume within “a matter of hours” once its power supply is restored. …

11:53 A.M. - Two dead in Slidell in rising waters after attempting to get back to their homes. The victims had initially evacuated. …

11:46 A.M. - (AP) The president asked individual Americans to get involved with the relief effort, suggesting anyone who wishes to help could call 1-800-HELPNOW, log on to the Red Cross Web site or get in touch with the Salvation Army. …

11:43 A.M. - Councilman Byron Lee of Jefferson Parish, “This is not life as it used to be. It’s like a war zone.”

They update frequently, as you can see, so keep checking back.

CNN Breaking News: “Rising waters force evacuation of tens of thousands who sought refuge in New Orleans rescue centers, state governor says.”

Addressing an issue that’s being debated in comments, Senator David Vitter (R-LA) says New Orleans will “absolutely” be rebuilt, according to WWL-TV.

WWL:

3:25 P.M. - With conditions in the hurricane-ravaged city of New Orleans rapidly deteriorating, Gov. Kathleen Blanco said Tuesday that people now huddled in the Superdome and other rescue centers need to be evacuated.

“The situation is untenable,” Blanco said during a news conference. “It’s just heartbreaking.”

I can easily imagine Saigon-like scenes when they start airlifting people out.

Lisa Stone writes in, links to WLBT and says, “They sent the news chopper to the coast. It is gone. Everything is gone. This is the economic center of this state. I just do not know how we are going to get through this as a state.”

P.S. Hundreds may be dead in Biloxi alone.

Here is the list of the deadliest hurricanes in U.S. history. Katrina may wind up being quite high on the list. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s #3, when all is said and done.

Video of the devastation in Mississippi here.

Louisiana video here, including the first Northshore/Slidell/St. Tammany footage.

All sorts of video here.

Unsurprisingly, this weekend’s LSU-North Texas and Tulane-Southern Miss games have been cancelled.

A while back, I speculated that the Superdome was going to become like Lord of the Flies.

Now it’s dawning on me that perhaps I wasn’t thinking big enough. With rampant looting, random gunshots in the streets rivers, and desperate people all around, the entire city could become like Lord of the Flies.

USNORTHCOM (U.S. Northern Command) has established Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala. as a federal operational staging area to expedite the movement of relief supplies and emergency personnel to affected areas.

Also, the USS Bataan (LHD-5), an amphibious assault ship, is on standby to provide assistance. It’s carrying three MH-53E Sea Dragon Helos, each capable of carrying 55 passengers and 16 tons of cargo over 50 NM. (ref.)

No word on whether a carrier will be redirected to the area yet — a la the tsunami — although I have heard unsubstantiated rumors to that effect. However, the LHD class (which includes the Bataan, and the Kearsarge that was recently fired at in Jordan) is essentially a small aircraft carrier in itself. Hopefully this is just the beginning of major relief efforts.

Brian (Briandot)