Beyond Katrina

Guard faces shortages in dealing with natural disasters

Nancy A. Youssef of McClatchy Newspapers has penned an unsettling article focused on the National Guard's lack of preparedness for natural disasters due to the fact much of their equipment is in Afghanistan. According to Youssef, "the Guard has been shipping gear to hurricane-prone states in an effort to ease concerns, but a large disaster affecting several states would tax the Guard's ability to respond, according to National Guard officials and government reports". Well this doesn't do much to inspire confidence as we move into Hurricane Season 2007 . Check out the article  here.

Children of New Orleans: Still Weathering the Storm

In July 2006, almost a year after Hurricane Katrina, Gulf South Summer Youth Action Camp opened to give students returning to New Orleans a safe place to go. The camp staff knew that engaging youth who had endured a year of hardship would be a challenge, so they created a special film class where students could learn to express themselves through an exciting medium and gain valuable skills in emerging technology and a media. This 24-minute documentary film, takes the emotional and physical journey with the students as they explore and capture for the first time the effects Katrina had on their lives and environments. More information here.

Movie Set in Post-Katrina New Orleans Takes Top Prize at Columbia University

Columbia University’s School of the Arts Film Division, one of the nation’s leading graduate programs for filmmaking, concluded its 20th annual film festival on Thursday night, May 10 with the top award of the evening, the Onion Best Film Award, going to "The Second Line," written and directed by John Magary and produced by Geoffrey Quan, both Columbia MFA candidates. More here.

Hurricane Season 2007: Sprint Nextel Invests Year-Round So That Mississippi Residents Can Make the Call

JACKSON, Miss. --(Business Wire)-- As residents along the Mississippi coast gear up for hurricane season, Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) continues its year-round efforts to prepare its network so that critical communications are available to its customers before, during and after a storm. The company offers these preparedness tips:

-- Keep your wireless phone and extra back-up batteries charged if a storm is approaching, but be aware that an interruption of commercial power and wireline service also could affect wireless calls.

-- In times of commercial power outages, a car charger for your wireless phone should enable you to recharge the battery. In the event of an evacuation, bring your wall charger with you as well.

  -- Keep extra phones and accessories in a sealed plastic bag to    avoid water damage.

-- Load family emergency numbers into your wireless phone and keep a copy of the numbers in your sealed plastic bag. Make sure those who need it have your wireless number.

-- In situations where some portions of the wireless network have been impacted by power outages or damage from a storm, text messages might be able to get through where voice calls can't.

One of the primary reasons for the loss of wireless service in a hurricane is the loss of commercial power to the cell site. Sprint Nextel has taken significant steps to reduce the effect of power loss on its wireless networks. In 2006 and in the first three months of 2007, Sprint has invested $115 million for hurricane preparations in storm-prone coastal communities. This investment includes the installation of permanent generators for critical wireless sites and network facilities as well as the purchase of additional portable generators and Cell Sites on Wheels (COWs.) - mobile cell sites that can be deployed in impacted areas to restore service quickly. This equipment provides back up to the networks in the event of power outages or other damage that often results after a hurricane.

  Sprint has targeted several key categories of wireless sites for back-up power, including:

  -- High call volume sites

  -- Sites covering hurricane evacuation routes

  -- Public safety organizations

  -- State and local Emergency Operation Centers

  -- Hospitals and nursing homes

  -- Major commercial airports and ports

  -- Government facilities and military bases

The company also invested $27 million in 2006 to expand the scope of the Sprint Nextel Emergency Response Team (ERT) - a team that, when created in 2002, was an industry-first and provides critical communications and personnel to assist first responders with relief efforts. In preparation for the upcoming hurricane season, the ERT's Rapid Deployment Services will deploy additional Satellite Cell on Light Trucks (SatCOLTS,) the design of which is proprietary to Sprint Nextel. SatCOLTS help facilitate communications among relief and response agencies. Additional ERT staff members will also be pre-staged in Southern states for any potential disaster response efforts.

By the end of 2006 Sprint had installed permanent generators at more than 1,500 sites in hurricane-prone communities in Florida. In first quarter 2007, Sprint Nextel installed permanent generators at more than 440 sites throughout the Southeast and Gulf Coast.

In addition to hurricane preparations, 15 Sprint and Nextel network cell sites have been added along the Gulf Coast in 2006 through the first quarter of 2007.

"Keeping Mississippi customers connected in the aftermath of a hurricane is a top priority for Sprint Nextel's network teams," said Jeff Bennett, area vice president for Sprint. "We know our customers depend on us in an emergency. That's why we continue to make these investments that increase network redundancy and reliability."

As a standard practice, the company has permanent generators at all of its wireless and wireline switches, the network components where data and calls are routed to their final destination. In addition, permanent generators are installed at all of the company's network Points of Presence (POP), the facilities where traffic enters and leaves the company's global IP network, which facilitates dedicated data services for Sprint's corporate and government customers as well as other critical communications. These back-up generators have automatic cutover switches to immediately neutralize any loss of commercial power.

For more information about Sprint Nextel hurricane preparation efforts and the ERT, or to learn what you can do to prepare for a major storm, visit: www.sprint.com/hurricaneinformation.

  About Sprint Nextel

Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two robust wireless networks serving 53.6 million customers at the end of the first quarter 2007; industry-leading mobile data services; instant national and international walkie-talkie capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. For more information, visit www.sprint.com.

  "Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

This news release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the securities laws. The statements in this news release regarding the resiliency, capabilities and benefits of our network, including cell sites, switches, generators and other network components, during weather emergencies; plans for the deployment of mobile and permanent generators, switches and other network components; and expected capabilities and benefits of response programs are forward-looking statements. The words "will," "expect," "believe," "intend," "target," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are estimates and projections reflecting management's judgment based on currently available information and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested by the forward-looking statements. With respect to these forward-looking statements, management has made assumptions regarding, among other things, the availability and performance of components and infrastructure, feasibility of response plans, severity of emergency situations, customer and network usage, the timing of various events and the economic environment.

Sprint Nextel believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable; however, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which are based on current expectations and speak only as of the date of this release. Sprint Nextel is not obligated to publicly release any revisions to forward-looking statements to reflect events after the date of this release. Sprint Nextel provides a detailed discussion of risk factors in periodic SEC filings, including its annual report on Form 10-K for 2006, as amended. You are encouraged to review these filings.

Gates foundation makes $7.1M donation to Gulf Coast

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has donated $7.1 million for nonprofits working in the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The announcement comes via Oxfam an international relief  organization focused on solutions to poverty, hunger and injustice. The funds will be used to support grass roots advocates work for affordable housing and workers rights in the Gulf Coast. New Orleans City Business reports here.

Beyond Katrina Logs 2000th Post

My last post here marks 2000 blog posts for Beyond Katrina since its inception on August 28, 2005. I am not sure if this is a reason to celebrate though. I never dreamed I'd be blogging Katrina issues so prolifically almost two years  after the fact, or that recovery would be move so sluggishly. However, I will take this time to thank regular contributors Paul Greenberg, Matthew White,  Yoshio Toyama, Maida Owens, Ed Dickson, (along with many others who have stopped in along the way to provide comments and/or content)  for their support of the blog and it's cause.

A survey finds New Orleanians still struggling after Katrina but remaining optimistic about the city's future

A just released survey by The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, (which has been researching the needs of Katrina victims after their arrival in Houston evacuation shelters) finds Katrina survivors optimistic about the future in spite of their many ongoing struggles. (See article here).  Not to mention that they are still mad as hell (my assessment) which I also think is a good thing because it's catalyzing .  To wrap your brain around the mindset go no further than Paul Greenberg's post here. 

Hard times in the Big Easy: Two years after Katrina, city vehicle repairers still lack electricity and proper tools

Check this out. "Nearly two years after Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans, the technicians who keep the city’s emergency vehicles running are still working in the dark ages without running water, electricity or the proper repair equipment". See article at Automotive Body Repair News, here.

NHC Update on Andrea

As of 3pm today:

A SMALL AREA OF LOW PRESSURE...THE REMNANT OF SUBTROPICAL STORM ANDREA...IS CENTERED ABOUT 75 MILES OFF THE EAST COAST OF CENTRAL FLORIDA. THIS SYSTEM HAS BEEN PRODUCING SPORADIC THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY TODAY...BUT IT LACKS SUFFICIENT ORGANIZATION TO QUALIFY AS A TROPICAL CYCLONE. WHILE SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENT IS NOT ANTICIPATED...THIS SYSTEM WILL BE MONITORED FOR SIGNS OF TROPICAL CYCLONE FORMATION. AN AIR FORCE RESERVE RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT WILL BE AVAILABLE TO INVESTIGATE THIS SYSTEM TOMORROW...IF NECESSARY.

New Orleans, Ravaged by Katrina, Hit Again by Subprime Crisis

Here is a peak into the struggles Katrina survivors face on a daily basis via the lens of the sub-prime mortgage crisis in New Orleans. Check it out here.