The Levee Breaks

I have never been to N'Orleans, and right now I'm not sure I'll ever have another chance. After the mess they've made of the evacuation and the aftermath, it seems damned foolish to rebuild the city without rethinking it in some major ways. (Not that that's ever stopped human beings before.)

I don't have much to say except I hope you and everyone you love got out of Katrina's path and that everything you lost can be replaced. The reports I am reading about the entire region are overwhelming and depressing. I feel most for those people holed up in the Superdome; I hope they get them out of there very soon.

I'm trepidatious about my story "Virginie and the Fool" that's supposed to be going up at Ideomancer in a couple of days, because Virginie is a hurricane. I wonder if this is how Joss felt when Columbine happened right before Earshot was supposed to air. Not that I have that many fans by a longshot, and the story has nothing to do with N'Orleans or anything on the Gulf Coast. But still.

And by the way, folks: it's martial law. Not Marshall (unless you're talking about the comic book misanthrope) or Marshal. Obviously in the larger scheme of things homonym confusion matters very little, but I can't help it; it's really starting to get on my nerves.

Here are some links:

New Orleans Time-Picayune Breaking News Blog

CNN reports that the emergency shelters are being evacuated now.

Teresa and Patrick at Making Light are pulling together some great coverage. Better than the networks, by many accounts.

A couple of N'Orleans reporters are covering the aftermath via blog; it hasn't been updated since this morning, though.

LiveJournal's New Orleans community is on top of things.

Stay safe.