interdictor

Just woke up.

Building is creaking a little, I guess from swaying slightly, although any sway cannot be felt. Lots of wind and rain, no flooding at all, nothing so bad that it feels like a hurricane. Obviously still have power.

More later.

Think I'll go back to sleep. Wake me up if anything exciting happens.

I'm no meteorologist, but it looks to me like this storm is falling apart fast as it hits land.

Ok, lots of creaking now. The blinds are rattling. The trees in Lafayette Square behind us are all still standing. We're getting very light power flickers now -- infrequently. Not even enough to reset the computer, but just enough to dim the lights for a sec. I'm gonna step outside on the 11th floor balcony and get a feel for the wind.

For those of you who haven't been reading this, I'm on the 10th/11th floors of a 27 floor high rise at 650 Poydras in downtown New Orleans. If you go to Google Earth or some other map program, we're the big brown building between Poydras ave and Lafayette Square and between Camp Street and St. Charles Ave. We're about 6 blocks from the river. We have a view (in the daytime) of the river, the twin spans over the river, the interstate, the Entergy building, the landmark building, the federal court of appeals building, a bunch of hotels, etc.

Welcome to ground zero.

The wind is pretty fierce out there.

I had been planning to step outside during the eye to snap some Pulitzer Prize pictures, but it looks like it might be passing too far to the East by the time it gets this far north. We will see though.

For anyone who wants to yap, I am on AIM: IKilled007.

Lost power a few hours ago. I'm updating from Directnic.com's data center on the 10th floor of 650 Poydras. Lots of windows out all over the building. Total mess outside, but no water in the streets. Downed trees, signs gone, flags gone, debris everywhere. One truck was pushed down the street into a car....


More later.

It's definitely a mess outside, but as long as no flooding occurs, the city should be fine. There's really nothing to say... imagine a low rumbling turbine engine for several hours, lots of wind and debris, and me taking pictures and video.

More later.

Worst winds are over now, I suspect. Definite drop in speed. I am on ICQ: 21710340, but I won't be answering too much right now.
If you have aim, you can just stick that number in your buddy list and it will work.

Back in a bit.

Thanks for all the IMs... things here are cooling down fast. Damage is not too bad at all. Sounds like Gulfport is getting blasted instead of us. Trying to respond to all IMs.... Getting ready to make breakfast too.

Advice: If you've got to ride out a hurricane, do it in an internet data center on the 10th floor of a high rise. ;)

There is no flooding in the CBD that we can see. I think the news has reported flooding in down town. This is incorrect as best we can tell. The city has not flooded at all. In fact, there's barely any water on the ground at all.

I am going to eat. back in a bit.

Crystal made some chicken breast and cheese sandwiches on the George Foreman Grill. Not a bad breakfast. Ok, winds have picked back up some and the direction has changed mostly to north to south. Most of the windows on our building have two layers, glass outside and plastic inside. Some have completely broken, but our offices have a few with the glass broken but hanging on slamming against the plastic.

I'm telling you though, if there's no flooding, the city will be fine. This can't be any worse than cleaning up after Mardi Gras. So far. I'm hearing reports of an 18 foot storm surge, but who knows.

There's a sports car on the street in front of our building -- spanked. No windows left, debris in the back seat, etc.

Rain has picked up too now.

Looks like Benson is getting his retractable-roofed stadium after all ;)

More in a bit.

When you look at the damage New Orleans sustained vs what we were told to expect, you're left with the impression that they will never be able to talk anyone into evacuating again....

There are people driving on the streets -- idiots. Sure, I've been tempted to go outside to snap pictures, but there's so much debris flying around it's not worth it. There's always a jackass though.

If you have any specific questions, I'll be happy to try to answer them.

Here's my info again, to reiterate:

650 Poydras (look it up on Google Earth or something similar). We're on the 10th and 11th floors of this 27 floor building. Some 60 NOPD guys are on the 18th floor. We're online because we're running a data center with our own power. I can answer any question related to my weather and the CBD around our building. We are located between Poydras Ave and Lafayette Square and between St. Charles Ave and Camp Street.

I want those of you who are worried about people in the CBD to relax. There is no flooding so far, the wind is not as bad as it was, and the structural integrity of the buildings is fine. Many have lost windows and tiles and debris has broken off of many of them, but nothing has collapsed in our area.

Land lines are down here, probably all over, and most cells will be on roaming and some services (Verizon) are not connecting.

mms://204.251.3.10:2423

Use Windows Media Player not your browser.
You might need to have windows media 10

Live feed down Poydras Avenue from my window. The window is double-paned, and the exterior pane is broken....

Ok, only 2 people seem to be able to access the feed. Does anyone have any ideas on how I should broadcast it?

Post here if you get the feed so I know if it's working.

mms://204.251.3.10:2423

might need to change your options to autodetect...

mms://204.251.3.10:2423

Enough people are getting the feed that I'm gonna have to assume it's working properly. Check the comment sections in the last few posts for help -- some very helpful people are offering assistance therein.

Right now the cam is aimed down St. Charles Ave in a northerly direction.

Looks like the cam tops out at 50 connections.

Ok, now you're looking back down Poydras toward the river.

Our water pressure has dropped drastically, and that poses hygiene problems I'll be kind enough not to elaborate on ;)

Just got this report from "Mike":

Mike (2:36 PM) :
2:23 p.m.: Looters Grab Things From Warehouses
A WDSU news crew just captured images of looters hauling items out of a New Orleans warehouse. People were seen using shopping carts and hand-held carts to haul off cleaning supplies, beer and other items. It's not clear yet where the video was shot. -- WDSU.com Web Staff

And this from a trader type who says:

proveniagmr (2:36 PM) :
lot of action here in ny on whether or not levee is holding
proveniagmr (2:37 PM) :
20 feet si also height of levee at oil/gas tank farms
proveniagmr (2:37 PM) :
as became known levee was holding markets have soared
proveniagmr (2:37 PM) :
i think your webblog first confirmation on that
proveniagmr (2:37 PM) :
i wasnt long so i cant cut you in but i think oflks made some good money on your webblog
Buff (2:37 PM) :
nice!
proveniagmr (2:37 PM) :
small world
proveniagmr (2:38 PM) :
cheers
Buff (2:38 PM) :
really????
proveniagmr (2:38 PM) :
yes
proveniagmr (2:38 PM) :
didnt see anyone comfirm sooner than your blog
Buff (2:38 PM) :
nice! That rules!
Buff (2:39 PM) :
you're a trader?
proveniagmr (2:39 PM) :
tobad you werent short some crude ocntracts on the nymex
proveniagmr (2:39 PM) :
yes
proveniagmr (2:39 PM) :
crude was at 69 wehn storm was not dead center NOLA then as it became obvious no flood, oil dropped to 65.50
Buff (2:40 PM) :
awesome!
proveniagmr (2:40 PM) :
same time stocks s&p was down 9 at worst last night when storm wasnt headed right to NOLA down only 4 as soon as clear no flood, has surged up 7 to 9
proveniagmr (2:41 PM) :
everyone was scouring web trying to find confirmation on flood no-flood drudge had resourses to us gov but they werent updating so far all i know is you were only one able to blog out
proveniagmr (2:41 PM) :
but will anyone thank you?? no way! hedge fund guys are assholes ;-)
proveniagmr (2:42 PM) :
me i wasnt involved so why i am being unusually civil
proveniagmr (2:42 PM) :
there you go anyway thanks again

So I might have helped crush the doomsayers trying to collapse the markets... Who knows? Would be nice to have played a part in that.

A lot of people have been asking what company I work for that has such a huge data center in downtown NO. I ought to take this opportunity to plug the company, huh?

directnic.com - hosting hundreds of thousands of domains through Hurricane Katrina. Now if that's not a reliable company, nothing is.

As you can see from the cam, the police are heading out, hopefully to put an end to the looting. One fellow employee notes that the use of emergency lights appears to be arbitrary.

Ok, wind has died down significantly. Rain is minimal. It's still overcast, but the cloud cover isn't nearly as dark. By now, the news crews should be back out all over the city. I see a lot more pedestrians walking around and some civilians driving down Poydras, Camp, and St. Charles. Lots of reports of windows out in most high rises. Power loss is virtually total in the CBD, and water pressure is very low. I can only imagine what sanitation conditions will be over the next week -- or longer depending on Entergy. You never know what to expect from a company which has a government-mandated virtual monopoly. Some people are saying a month before power comes back. We've got 10 days or so of fuel for the generators. No word on when water will be back to normal. There's debris everywhere. Lots of damage.

Here's the good news: No flooding here in the CBD as far as we can see in any direction. No flooding means New Orleans has survived.

CNN might be linking to this blog today.

The governor is holding a live conference now, whatever good that will do. I imagine we're in for the reports of all the destruction and loss of life. Hopefully the people who stayed behind fared as well as we here at Directnic.com did. Let's hope the looting is nipped in the bud.

Cam will remain on for a while, and I'll be in and out on ICQ over the course of the day: 21710340. I need some food, some sleep, and to hear from my parents. Hopefully my apartment and my parents' house are both still intact.

Thanks to everyone who offered prayers, well wishes, and information during this ordeal. Let's just hope the people who didn't have the kind of comforts available to them that I had available to me are ok.

Buff

The sun peeked through for a minute. Gonna be getting dark here soon.

We have a huge problem in the city, one way worse than the power outage: We have no water pressure. I have been holding a dump in for 3 hours. This is gonna suck....

So the rain is gone, the wind is probably in the 20s and 30s, and that's about all there is. Apparently a small brick building collapsed on Camp Street and the bricks are all across the street blocking the cops.

Shooting on Earhart. Sounds like a looter shot another looter and then the cops got involved.

The 9th ward has been trashed according to the video I'm seeing on the news.

People are out walking their dogs. That gave me an idea. I'm gonna have Crys put a leash on me and take me out for a walk so I can do my business and maybe no one will say anything.

You guys want me to keep posting stuff? I don't know if I have any kind of special knowledge of the situation anymore, but I'll be happy to keep making observations if that helps anyone out there.

I've heard some 40,000 houses in St. Bernard Parish are flooded. Lots of people needing rescues.

I'll leave the live feed on, but there's nothing great to show and it's gonna get dark soon. When that happens, I'll amuse you all by turning the cam inward and embarrassing my ultrahot fiancee.

By the way, if anyone has news of Harahan, please lemme know.

Oh yeah, I was asked to post this:

NowPublic.com is providing a public service for those affected by Hurricane Katrina. We have set up a website that lets people send in photographs of those who go missing during the storm. We are asking others to contribute by posting a link to tool on their sites. Your assistance in this effort is greatly appreciated.

The Link to the site is here:

http://www.nowpublic.com/user/2173

If any uptown or CBD or Quarter bars are open tonight that you know of, please list them here: We want to stretch our legs and start pumping money back into the economy.

Buff

If you're watching the cam, I've got it aimed at the downed trees blocking Poydras -- 2 guys on forklifts are moving them.

Ok, I'll tell you guys a cool story -- I'll post the pictures tomorrow probably.

Last night there were three flags flying around Lafayette Square, two at the building across the square from us -- the IRS building -- and one on the building on the eastern side of the square -- the Federal Court of Appeals building I believe it is. Last night, the flags were all flying strong!

Visibility was low all night and into the early morning, but when I walked out onto our balcony on the 11th floor overlooking the square, two of the three flags were still flying. Well I guess you'd have had to be there, but man, it reminded me of Key and the SSB. When I got out there, the flags were tattered and torn but they were flapping and you can just imagine the feeling of not being being sure if anything was gonna be there when all was said and done and then there she is.

Well don't get too excited. Both of the other flags got tooled by Katrina before all was said and done. And that just goes to show you that they should have been flying the Confederate Flag! ;)

Ok, now about the toilet situation: all of you telling me to go ahead and pour water into the toilet so I can flush after #2, that's a bad idea. The situation is such that if you flush a toilet in this city, chances are your flush is going to come out of someone else's sink. We're being told not to turn on any water at all, because it's all a mess and we're likely to get sewage. Pumping stations are not online yet.

If you've got a blog or a website and you've been linking my updates and want me to plug you, give me a shout here and I'll do so. I've been overwhelmed with IMs and emails and messages all day, lots of people thanking me, giving me credit for all kinds of wonderful stuff I probably don't deserve credit for, and sending me well wishes, prayers, and their love. It's great, and I'm glad not one person said "It's all Bush's fault" or "Kerry said Katrina was destroy New Orleans before he said it wasn't." ;)

We're uploading pictures right now and I'll post them soon.

The sun is still breaking through, although it's so late that it's only hitting the tops of buildings. Got some black hawk helicopters flying over the river, and those along with a few coast guard choppers are the only air traffic I've seen so far. Streets are teeming with life now.

Looks like the forklifts gave up on the trees blocking Poydras.

Oh, and if you happen to catch any of us on webcam, please keep in mind that we haven't showered since yesterday morning and some of us are holding in number 2s. ;)
More later.

UPDATE: Bad News, people: My friend Mike in Tampa who is from New Orleans has this to report:

The Yacht Club is on fire, Kenner has been hit hard, WDSU (channel 6 New Orleans) has a chopper up over Kenner showing the destruction. Looks like the CBD and Quarter got off the lightest. Kenner is flooded from lake to river - the malls are gone - it is really bad.

That's along with Chalmette and the rest of "Da Parish" which got nuked -- it's so bad that the rescue crews are bypassing people on their roofs to get to the people trapped in their attics.

So in summation: New Orleans got spared. The rest of the area got crushed.

It's too dark to see anything outside. I might shut it down in a bit to relocate it. In the meantime, I need to go relieve myself before I pass out.

That's it for the live feed outside people -- too dark now. I just lost about 5 pounds. Whew.

The city is pitch black except for some emergency lights, cop lights, and the lights coming out of our 10th floor.

Took these images with my digicam: http://www.darklifeimages.com/katrina/

On the second page you can see some images where I stuck my arm out through a broken window to snap some shots.

Been a long couple of days. I am gonna go crash. Tomorrow I will turn the live feed back on and post more pics and video.

I still don't have any news about Harahan or my apartment, or about my parents or their house.

Good night.