Feds have mobilized Katrina recovery

President Bush has declared major disasters for impacted areas in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi. In the near term, FEMA will concentrate on lifesaving and life-sustaining efforts.

The Homeland Security Department also announced today that it is sending a vast array of resources to the region.

Hurricane Katrina

LA gov blocked superdome aid

The Red Cross was told by agencies of the State of Louisiana not to go to the Superdome. The concern was that a magnet did not want to be created that would attract people to that facility. The state agencies ultimately wanted the people out of the facilities like the Superdome and the Convention Center.

Hurricane Katrina

more military in disasters?

The U.S. Government appears to be ready for talks on first response by the military during natural disasters. Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld has not agreed to talks yet, but in the past he had reservations about the military role in natural disaster response.

The military may be asked to take the lead during responses which means that they may direct local and state authorities during disaster relief.

Hurricane Katrina

interest in katrina felt on the web

The traffic on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Web site has increased dramatically due to the interest in Hurricaine Katrina. NOAA Web sites have seen traffic in excess of 5200 hits per second. You might want to also check the web site for NOAA National Hurricaine Center.

Help Katrina victims

terrible mess in n.o.

With at least one New Orleans hospital threatened by Katrina's floodwaters, patients were being transferred to the Superdome, said Michael Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and medical personnel were being sent in to treat them.

The damage is "very, very sobering," Brown said. "And of course the flooding is just everywhere ... New Orleans, all through Mississippi and Alabama. This storm is really having a catastrophic effect," Brown said on CBS'"The Early Show."

new orleans

Fort Monmouth to close

The Base Realignment and Closure Commission voted to shut down the Army base in Fort Monmouth, N.J.— home to many of the Army’s command and control and research and development programs. In addition to Fort Monmouth, the commission also voted to close Army bases in Virginia, Georgia and Michigan, as well as hundreds of Army Reserve and National Guard installations across the country. The Army’s Training and Doctrine Command headquartered in Fort Monroe, Va., was one of the bases voted to be closed.

army

thin skin helps robots feel

Japanese researchers have developed a flexible artificial skin that could give robots a humanlike sense of touch. The transistors used in the circuits and the semiconductors both use "organic" materials based on chains of carbon atoms.

IT Battle Testing

In Operation Iraqi Freedom, information usage is a vital part of the operation. Test equipment is now important to determine performance metrics of equipment in the field. The test equipment determines performance assessments and help with trouble shooting.

Iraq