September 2008

U.S House of Representatives Rejects Financial Bail-Out Proposal

29 Sep 2008 - 15:00 CDT

U.S House of Representatives Rejects Financial Bail-Out Proposal

The financial-rescue plan intended to restore confidence in the U.S. banking system and mitigate the current fiscal crisis has collapsed amidst partisan wrangling as the House of Representatives turned down the $700 billion proposal by a vote of 228-205. Watch EmergencyNet News for more on this still emerging story...

Chatter: Spies Warn That Al Qaeda Aims for 'October Surprise'

22 Sep 2008 - 11:30 CDT

Spies Warn That Al Qaeda Aims for 'October Surprise'
Intercepted Messages Asking Local Cells To Be Prepared for Imminent Instructions

By ELI LAKE, Staff Reporter of the Sun - September 22, 2008

WASHINGTON, DC: In the aftermath of two major terrorist attacks on Western targets, America's counterterrorism community is warning that Al Qaeda may launch more overseas operations to influence the presidential elections in November.

Call it Osama bin Laden's "October surprise." In late August, during the weekend between the Democratic and Republican conventions, America's military and intelligence agencies intercepted a series of messages from Al Qaeda's leadership to intermediate members of the organization asking local cells to be prepared for imminent instructions.

An official familiar with the new intelligence said the message was picked up in multiple settings, from couriers to encrypted electronic communications to other means. "These are generic orders," the source said ? a distinction from the more specific intelligence about the location, time, and method of an attack. "It was, 'Be on notice. We may call upon you soon.' It was sent out on many channels."

Also, Yemen's national English-language newspaper is reporting that a spokesman for Yemen's Islamic Jihad, the Qaeda affiliate that claimed credit for last week's American embassy bombing in Sa'naa, is now publicly threatening to attack foreigners and high government officials if American and British diplomats do not leave the country.

Mr. bin Laden has sought to influence democratic elections in the past. On March 11, 2004, Al Qaeda carried out a series of bombings on Madrid commuter trains. Three days later, the opposition and anti-Iraq war Socialist Workers Party was voted into power.

In the week before the 2004 American presidential election, Mr. bin Laden recorded a video message to the American people promising repercussions if President Bush were re-elected. In later messages, Al Qaeda's leader claimed credit for helping elect Mr. Bush in 2004. Last year in Pakistan, Qaeda assassins claimed the life of Benazir Bhutto, a former prime minister who returned to her native country in a bid for re-election.

"There is an expectation that Al Qaeda will try to influence the November elections by attempting attacks globally," a former Bush and Clinton White House counterterrorism official, Roger Cressey, said yesterday.

Mr. Cressey said Al Qaeda lacks the capability to pull off an attack in the continental United States, however. "It would likely be a higher Al Qaeda tempo of attacks against U.S. and allied targets abroad," he said...

-- Source/continues at: http://www.nysun.com/foreign/spies-warn-
that-al-qaeda-aims-for-october-surprise/86326/

Many dead in huge Pakistan [Marriott] hotel blast

Updated at 5:41am on 21 September 2008 (NZ time)

Many dead in huge Pakistan [Marriott] hotel blast

from Radio New Zealand

PAKISTAN: A suicide car bomber attacked the Marriott Hotel in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, on Saturday, killing at least 40 people and turning the hotel into an inferno. Flames engulfed the hotel, and police said there were still people trapped inside.

"A car laden with explosives rammed the gate at the Marriott and so far we have brought out 40 dead bodies, but the number could well be higher," police chief Asghar Raza Gardazi said.

Hours before the blast President Asif Ali Zardari, making his first address to parliament, a few hundred metres to the east of the hotel, said terrorism had to be rooted out.

Dozens of cars outside the hotel were destroyed and windows were shattered in buildings hundreds of metres away.

Al Qaeda-linked militants based in hideouts in the Afghan border have launched a bloody campaign of bomb attacks in retaliation for offensives by the security forces.

The hotel has been bombed twice before but the Saturday evening blast was the most serious in the Pakistani capital since the country joined the U.S.-led campaign against militancy in late 2001.

Fire began in at least two places in the building and spread to other parts of the 290-room hotel, located at the foot of the Margalla hills in the city center.

-- Source: http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/stories/2008/09/21/1243742a8bb9

Al Qaeda Called for Pakistan Attack
'Fight the Puppet Leaders of Pakistan,' Militant Urges in Sept. 11 Anniversary Video

By BRIAN ROSS and REHAB El-BURI, ABC News

Sept. 20, 2008

PAKISTAN: Al Qaeda's Sept. 11 anniversary propaganda tape, blocked from release until Friday, called for new attacks on Pakistan because of its role as a "puppet regime" in helping the United States.

The 90-minute tape, "Results of Seven Years of Crusades," featured a long statement from a senior al Qaeda leader, Mustafa Abu al-Yazidd, who called on sympathizers in Pakistan to act.

There has been no claim of responsibility for today's deadly truck bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, but al Qaeda has twice before taken credit for attacks on the facility, a favorite of Western visitors.

"And we tell the jealous people of mujahideen of Pakistan," said al-Yazidd on the tape, which included English subtitles, "that in order for the jihad in Afghanistan to continue and be victorious, you must stand with your brothers the mujahideen in Afghanistan to fight the puppet regime of Pakistan and its aggressive and tyrannical army and strike the interest of the Crusader allies in Pakistan."

The reference to "Crusader" is normally to the United States and its European allies.

Al-Yazzid had previously claimed responsibility for an attack earlier this year on the Danish embassy in Islamabad, in supposed retaliation for the publications of cartoons in Denmark that were believed to mock the Prophet Mohammed.

Earlier today, two different Pakistan Army convoys were hit by bomb attacks. On the tape, there are references to efforts to stop convoys of arms and supplies trucked to U.S. troops in Afghanistan through Pakistan.

"How, when you are people of jealousy and courage, can you agree to the passing of the enemies caravans carrying arms, provisions and equipment through your territory, caravans which carry death, destruction and doom for your brothers in Afghanistan?" al-Yazzid asks on the tape, which shows him a well-lit indoor setting, with a flag to his right...

-- Source/continues: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5847362&page=1

Al Qaeda vows more U.S. attacks

19 Sep 2008 - 21:00 p.m. CDT

In video, Al Qaeda vows more U.S. attacks
Speaker in video posted on al Jazeera says "major, large-scale attacks" to come

(CNN) -- In a video marking the seventh anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, al Qaeda's top leader in Afghanistan vows more "large-scale" attacks against the United States and its allies.

In another segment, the personal adviser to Taliban leader Mullah Omar says al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is alive and well. Al Qaeda leaders featured on the video promise more violence against their enemies.

"We inform the forces of the Cross and their apostate agents that the Mujahedeen's policy in the coming stage, God permitting, is going to be more major, large-scale attacks like the Kandahar prison operation, the Nuristan raid, the Sarobi ambush and Khost airport operation in which approximately 50 Americans and 100 apostates were killed and four helicopters were hit and destroyed," Mustafa Abu al-Yazid says.

CNN could not independently verify the authenticity of the video posted on jihadi Web sites, purportedly by al Qaeda's video production arm, As Sahab...

-- Source/continues: http://tinyurl.com/erri467

Multiple explosions and gunfire in attack on U.S. compound in Yemen

14:00 CDT - 17 Sep 2008

U.S. Embassy hit in Yemen, raising militancy concerns
Five explosions and sniper fire struck the US compound in a coordinated attack on Wednesday.

By Shane Bauer - Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor, from the September 18, 2008 edition

SAN'AA, YEMEN (CSM): The blast shattered the silence here as the city slept through the early fasting hours of Ramadan. A suicide bomber exploded his car Wednesday morning outside the US embassy in the worst attack on the American compound in recent years. It comes at a time when Yemen is coping with an increasingly active Islamist militancy.

People who live near the embassy reported heavy exchanges of gunfire, and initial reports say that at least 16 people were killed, including six Yemeni soldiers and six attackers, though no official numbers have been released. Embassy officials say none of its staff were killed.

A little-known group calling itself Islamic Jihad in Yemen claimed responsibility and threatened similar strikes against the British, Saudi Arabian, and United Arab Emirates' missions in Yemen. Previous such attacks in Yemen have been claimed by Al Qaeda.

The intelligence consulting firm Stratfor said Wednesday, "the explosions and gunfire suggest that suicide bombers as well as gunmen were involved in what appears to have been a complex attack likely perpetrated by jihadists affiliated with the Yemeni node of Al Qaeda."

It says the attack will further aggravate growing tension between Washington and Sanaa over how Yemen has been handling the Islamist militancy in its country.

Washington considers Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh an ally against terrorism, ever since Al Qaeda's 2000 bombing of the USS Cole destroyer in the port of Aden, which killed 17 American sailors. But the relationship has frequently been rocky, with American officials grumbling over lax Yemeni detention policies for militants.

A group of 23 Al Qaeda militants escaped from a high-security Sanaa prison in 2006, amid reports of collusion between security officials and the militants. Stratfor said in its statement that Yemen's security and intelligence services are deeply infiltrated by militants.

"This attack targeted Yemen and America at the same time," says Yemeni journalist Adel al-Ahmedi, standing among a crowd of hundreds who gathered at the scene. "The people who waged this attack are fed up with the government, and they target the American embassy to try to harm relations between the US and Yemen...This is a clear tragedy, but we are afraid of America's response more than the attack itself."

Unconfirmed reports have suggested that as many as five explosions struck the embassy. Bystanders said that two cars were involved in the attack. The first car was reported to have been filled with people dressed in police uniforms, who attacked the embassy with heavy weaponry. The second car exploded in a suicide attack outside the embassy...

-- Source/continues: http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0918/p07s02-wome.html

ERRI counter-terrorism analyst comment: The tactics used in this instance appear to be very similar to those used in a May 12, 2003 attack in Saudi Arabia [1]. Several preliminary reports would seem to indicate that the perpetrators were attempting to gain entrance into the embassy compound. If the "bad guys" had been successful in actually gaining ingress into the facility, it is likely that the death toll (of Americans) would have been much higher...]

Reference:

1. Please see: "Tactics Used in the 12 May 2003 Riyadh VBIED Attack" in our briefing entitled, "Coming to America; The Threat of Improvised Explosive Devices," November 8, 2004, which can be found on the net at: http://www.emergency.com/pdf/Coming%20to%20America2004.pdf

Ike Update: Five dead, but thousands of homes still to be searched

Sept. 15, 2008, 12:07PM

Five dead, but thousands of homes still to be searched
Mobile morgue en route to Galveston as search continues

By HARVEY RICE, Houston Chronicle

GALVESTON, TX: Search teams have reported five deaths thus far after covering 90 percent of Galveston Island, but thousands of homes remain to be searched and a refrigerated mobile morgue is on its way, a city spokeswoman said today.

Searchers have accounted for 1,500 survivors thus far as they go house to house. Nearly 150 structures have collapsed across the island as a result of Hurricane Ike's assault, spokeswoman Alicia Cahill said.

The numbers are expected to rise as the waters recede and searchers are able to cover more areas, she said. Search teams also were being sent to the Bolivar Peninsula for the first time.

Health conditions continue to deteriorate on the hard-hit island, and officials from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are assessing the situation...

-- Source/continues: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6002679.html

Widespread damage reported from Ike

10:15 AM CDT on Saturday, September 13, 2008

Widespread damage reported from Ike

KHOU.com staff report & the Associated Press

The latest update on Hurricane Ike:

GALVESTON, TX: Howling ashore with 110 mph winds, Hurricane Ike ravaged the Texas coast Saturday, flooding thousands of homes and businesses, shattering windows in Houston?s skyscrapers and knocking out power to millions of people.

At first light, it was unclear how many may have perished, and authorities mobilized for a huge search-and-rescue operation to reach the more than 100,000 people who ignored warnings that any attempt to ride the storm out could bring "certain death."

"The unfortunate truth is we?re going to have to go in ... and put our people in the tough situation to save people who did not choose wisely. We?ll probably do the largest search-and-rescue operation that?s ever been conducted in the state of Texas," said Andrew Barlow, spokesman for Gov. Rick Perry.

With the winds still blowing, authorities in some places could not venture outside to get a full look at the damage, but they were encouraged that the storm surge topped out at only 13.5 feet?far lower than the catastrophic 20-to-25-foot wall of water forecasters had feared.

The storm, nearly as big as Texas itself, blasted a 500-mile stretch of coastline in Louisiana and Texas. It breached levees, flooded roads and led more than 1 million people to evacuate and seek shelter inland.

"Every storm?s unique, but this one certainly will be remembered for its size," said Benton McGee, supervisory hydrologist at the U.S. Geological Survey?s storm surge center in Ruston, La.

Of greatest concern were the more than 100,000 people in coastal counties who ignored mandatory evacuation orders, including thousands of residents of Galveston, the low-lying barrier island where Ike crashed ashore at 3:10 a.m. EDT.

"We don?t know what we are going to find," Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas said. "We hope we will find the people who are left here alive and well."

-- Source: http://www.khou.com/topstories/stories/
khou080912_tj_houston_ike_hurricane.659ae065.html

Los Angeles Metrolink Crash Kills 15, Injures Dozens

Los Angeles Metrolink Crash Kills 15, Injures Dozens

By Samantha Zee and Andy Fixmer

Sept. 13

LOS ANGELES, CA (Bloomberg): At least 15 people died after a head-on collision between a Metrolink commuter train and a Union Pacific Corp. freight train in Los Angeles.

The number of fatalities is likely to grow as victims are pulled from the wreckage, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said late yesterday at a press conference. He said dozens were injured, and that number would probably surpass 100. It's the most deadly accident involving a Metrolink train.

"We are in the rescue phase at this point and doing everything we can to get the critically injured to the hospital," Villaraigosa said.

The Los Angeles Times, which reported the death toll late yesterday on its Web site, today said more than 135 people were injured.

The northbound Metrolink train collided with a southbound Union Pacific freight train near Chatsworth, the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services said on its Web site. Rescuers worked into the evening using ladders to reach injured passengers from a Metrolink car that had toppled on its side. The commuter train may have carried as many as 350 people, Denise Tyrrell, a spokeswoman for the agency, told KNBC-TV.

"We're still trying to get the details sorted out," Zoe Richmond, a spokeswoman for Omaha, Nebraska-based Union Pacific said in a telephone interview. "We're trying to figure out what happened..."

-- Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?
pid=20601103&sid=avN7MA8GaZtA

Additional Reference:

Los Angeles Times: 'Total destruction': At least 15 die in head-on Metrolink crash
Can be found on the net at: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/
la-me-traincrash13-2008sep13,0,2874450.story

Update: Hurricane Ike Nearly 600 Miles Wide

0215 CDT - 13 Sep

Massive Power Outages Reported in Houston/Galveston area

HOUSTON, TX (EmergencyNet News): EmergencyNet News is receiving reports that 1.3 million people are without power in the Houston/Galveston area. This number has been confirmed by Centerpoint Energy...watch this page for continuing updates on Hurricane Ike.

12:36 AM CDT on Saturday, September 13, 2008

600 mile wide Ike nears Category 3 strength
The hurricane is almost as big as the state

KHOU.com staff report & the Associated Press

HOUSTON, TX: A monster-sized Hurricane Ike bore down on the Texas coast late Friday, threatening to rattle the sparkling skyscrapers of America?s fourth-largest city, shut down the heart of the U.S oil industry for days and obliterate waterfront towns already flooded with waist-high water.

Though nearly 1 million people evacuated coastal communities in the days leading up to the storm, tens of thousands ignored calls to leave and decided to tough it out. But as wind-whipped floodwaters began crashing into coastal homes, many changed their minds. Galveston fire crews rescued more than 300 people who were walking through flooded streets, clutching clothes and other belongings as they tried to wade to safety.

"We were going street by street seeing people who were trying to escape the flood waters," Fire Chief Michael Varela said. "I'm assuming these were people who made the mistake of staying."

At 600 miles across, the storm was nearly as big as Texas itself, and threatened to give the state its worst pounding in a generation. It was on track to crash ashore early Saturday near Galveston, the same site that suffered the nation?s worst natural disaster when a legendary storm struck without warning and killed 6,000 more than a century ago.

Officials were growing increasingly worried about the stalwarts, and many communities imposed curfews to discourage looters. Authorities in three counties alone said roughly 90,000 stayed behind, despite a warning from forecasters that many of those in one- or two-story homes on the coast faced "certain death."

With heavy bands of rain and high winds moving in, rescue crews were forced to retreat and leave the stubborn to fend for themselves. Firefighters left a boat and yacht warehouse in Galveston in flames because water was too high for fire trucks to navigate...

-- Source/continues: http://www.khou.com/topstories/stories/
khou080912_tj_houston_ike_hurricane.659ae065.html

Hurricane Ike Sends Waves Crashing as It Barrels Toward Texas

Friday, September 12, 2008

Hurricane Ike Sends Waves Crashing as It Barrels Toward Texas, Residents Warned of 'Certain Death'

GALVESTON, TX: A massive Hurricane Ike sent white waves crashing over a seawall and tossed a disabled 584-foot freighter in high waters as it steamed toward Texas Friday, threatening to devastate coastal towns and batter America's fourth-largest city.

Ike's eye was forecast to strike somewhere near Galveston late Friday or early Saturday, but the massive system was already buffeting Texas and Louisiana, causing flooding along the Louisiana coast still recovering from Labor Day's Hurricane Gustav.

The National Weather Service warned residents of smaller structures on Galveston they could "face certain death" if they ignored an order to evacuate; most had complied, along with hundreds of thousands of fellow Texans in counties up and down the coastline...

-- Source/continues: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,421302,00.html

BULLETIN
HURRICANE IKE ADVISORY NUMBER 46
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL092008
1000 AM CDT FRI SEP 12 2008

...100 MPH PLUS WINDS EXPECTED ALONG THE UPPER-TEXAS COAST BY MIDNIGHT...WEATHER SHOULD DETERIORATE EARLIER...

A HURRICANE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM MORGAN CITY LOUISIANA TO BAFFIN BAY TEXAS. HURRICANE CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO REACH THE COAST IN THE WARNING AREA LATER TODAY.

A TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT SOUTH OF BAFFIN BAY TO PORT MANSFIELD TEXAS. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS ALSO IN EFFECT FROM EAST OF MORGAN CITY TO THE MISSISSIPPI-ALABAMA BORDER... INCLUDING THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS AND LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN.

FOR STORM INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA...INCLUDING POSSIBLE INLAND WATCHES AND WARNINGS...PLEASE MONITOR PRODUCTS ISSUED BY YOUR LOCAL WEATHER OFFICE.

AT 1000 AM CDT...1500Z...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE IKE WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 27.2 NORTH...LONGITUDE 92.6 WEST OR ABOUT 295 MILES... 480 KM...EAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI TEXAS AND ABOUT 195 MILES...320 KM ...SOUTHEAST OF GALVESTON TEXAS.

IKE IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 12 MPH...19 KM/HR. A TURN TOWARD THE NORTHWEST IS EXPECTED LATER TODAY...WITH A TURN TOWARD THE NORTH EXPECTED ON SATURDAY. ON THE FORECAST TRACK...THE CENTER OF IKE WILL BE VERY NEAR THE UPPER TEXAS COAST BY LATE TODAY OR EARLY SATURDAY. HOWEVER...BECAUSE IKE IS A VERY LARGE TROPICAL CYCLONE...WEATHER WILL BEGIN TO DETERIORATE ALONG THE COASTLINE SOON...

-- Source: National Weather Service/Hational Hurricane Center

HURRICANE IKE INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY NUMBER 39A

BULLETIN
HURRICANE IKE INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY NUMBER 39A
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL092008
700 PM CDT WED SEP 10 2008

...IKE CONTINUES NORTHWESTWARD TOWARD THE CENTRAL GULF...

A TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER WESTWARD TO EAST OF CAMERON LOUISIANA. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING MEANS THAT TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED WITHIN THE WARNING AREA WITHIN THE NEXT 24 HOURS. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING ALSO REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM WEST OF KEY WEST TO THE DRY TORTUGAS.

A HURRICANE WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM CAMERON WESTWARD TO PORT MANSFIELD TEXAS. HURRICANE CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE WITHIN THE WATCH AREA BY FRIDAY.

FOR STORM INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA...INCLUDING POSSIBLE INLAND WATCHES AND WARNINGS...PLEASE MONITOR PRODUCTS ISSUED BY YOUR LOCAL WEATHER OFFICE.

AT 700 PM CDT...0000Z...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE IKE WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 24.7 NORTH...LONGITUDE 86.3 WEST OR ABOUT 700 MILES...1125 KM...EAST OF BROWNSVILLE TEXAS AND ABOUT 345 MILES...555 KM...SOUTH-SOUTHEAST OF THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

IKE IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHWEST NEAR 8 MPH...13 KM/HR. A TURN BACK TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWESTWARD IS EXPECTED TONIGHT OR EARLY ON THURSDAY...AND A GENERAL WEST-NORTHWESTWARD MOTION OVER THE CENTRAL AND WESTERN GULF OF MEXICO IS EXPECTED ON THURSDAY AND FRIDAY.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 100 MPH...160 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER GUSTS. IKE IS A CATEGORY TWO HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON HURRICANE SCALE. IKE IS EXPECTED TO BECOME A MAJOR HURRICANE BY THURSDAY.

IKE IS A LARGE TROPICAL CYCLONE. HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 115 MILES...185 KM...FROM THE CENTER...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 205 MILES...335 KM.

THE LATEST MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE REPORTED BY AN AIR FORCE RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT WAS 947 MB...27.96 INCHES.

COASTAL STORM SURGE FLOODING ALONG THE COASTS OF CUBA AND IN THE FLORIDA KEYS SHOULD CONTINUE TO SUBSIDE TONIGHT. COASTAL STORM SURGE FLOODING OF 3 TO 5 FEET ABOVE NORMAL TIDE LEVELS...ALONG WITH LARGE AND DANGEROUS WAVES...CAN BE EXPECTED WITHIN THE TROPICAL STORM WARNING AREA. ABOVE NORMAL TIDES OF 2 TO 4 FEET ARE EXPECTED ELSEWHERE ALONG MUCH OF THE NORTHERN COAST OF THE GULF OF MEXICO DURING THE NEXT DAY OR SO...BUT WILL BE INCREASING ALONG THE WESTERN GULF COAST AS IKE APPROACHES.

IKE IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE TOTAL RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 6 TO 12 INCHES OVER WESTERN CUBA...WITH ISOLATED MAXIMUM AMOUNTS OF UP TO 20 INCHES POSSIBLE. THESE RAINS ARE LIKELY TO CAUSE LIFE-THREATENING FLASH FLOODS AND MUD SLIDES OVER MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN. RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE OVER EXTREME SOUTHERN LOUISIANA AND OVER THE EXTREME NORTHERN YUCATAN PENINSULA.

REPEATING THE 700 PM CDT POSITION...24.7 N...86.3 W. MOVEMENT TOWARD...NORTHWEST NEAR 8 MPH. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...100 MPH. MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...947 MB.

THE NEXT ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER AT 1000 PM CDT.

Top News of the Day- National Hurricane Center

Thu, 4 Sep 2008 17:50:19 UTC

Top News of the Day- National Hurricane Center

NHC issuing advisories on TS HANNA, Hurricane IKE and TS JOSEPHINE

Last NHC advisory issued on GUSTAV

Access hurricane advisories on your mobile phone: www.nhc.noaa.gov/mobile....

Hurricane Season is here...have your disaster plan ready.

Learn more: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

News Briefs - Hurricane Gustav

EmergencyNet News - Instant Update
News Briefs - Hurricane Gustav
09/01/2008 - 10:57:19 AM CDT

* Hurricane Gustav (Catagory 2) is believed to have made landfall near Cocodrie, Louisiana.

-- Concerns about Gustav "stalling" and heavy rains continue. Consequential flooding could occur.

-- Winds of 100 mph are hitting the area, particularly West of New Orleans

-- Largely unconfirmed reports of "over-topping" of levees/flood walls have been received from various parts of the News Orleans area. The extent of flooding, if any, is not currently known as an authoritative assessment can not safely be conducted at this time.

-- Emergency service and other relief agencies are standing by for the storm to pass by; then rescue and mitgation efforts can begin.

-- ERRI analysts said this morning that additional weather problems can be expected in coming days as additional tropical storms/hurricanes (Hanna, Tropical Depression Nine) approach the United States...

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FEDERAL RESPONSE TO HURRICANE KATRINA; LESSONS LEARNED

(Previous U.S. Govt. Reference)

THE FEDERAL RESPONSE TO HURRICANE KATRINA; LESSONS LEARNED

FEBRUARY 2006

http://www.emergency.com/pdf/katrina-lessons-learned.pdf