September 1, 2005

By Sheila Lennon / The Providence (R.I.) Journal

6:08 p.m. Thursday (Blogroll)

The Interdictor was hard to connect to for a while, but it's back up with a new URL for the streaming webcam at 610 Poydras St. (map) in New Orleans, in addition to the old link, which was probably also overloaded. If this means they have another site mirroring the feed, this is good news.

5:28 p.m. WWL-TV, Channel 4 in New Orleans, has switched to a Yahoo server, and to the new link above.

4:54 p.m.

TVnewser (as the name implies, it covers TV news) has some interesting notes today:

—"As of 3pm today, CNN has received more than 11,500 e-mails from citizen journalists," the network says. "More than 650 of these submissions have included either video or images. CNN's Victims and Relief Desk, has received approximately 11,000 emails since it began the morning of Wednesday, Aug 31."

—"CNN has sent chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour, Africa correspondent Jeff Koinange, video correspondent Karl Penhaul and senior international correspondent Nic Robertson to the hurricane-torn Gulf Coast."

—MSNBC's Tucker Carlson will host tonight's Situation from Slidell, La.

—ABC will continue its coverage of the aftermath this evening: "Tonight's hour-long edition of Primetime will focus on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina's devastation of the Gulf Coast region, including the continuing rescue and evacuation efforts, the struggle to restore law and order, the latest relief efforts and a look at New Orleans' breached levee system, which has critics questioning why it was designed to withstand only up to a level three hurricane." It airs at 10 p.m. ET.

—NBC has scheduled another special report. "Stone Phillips will anchor an hour-long report, 'Katrina: Devastation in the Gulf,' live from Biloxi, Miss., in a special Dateline, tonight at 10 p.m. ET.

— Steve Harrigan (Fox News) blogs from Baton Rouge:

"We found gas in Baton Rouge, an ATM and a Wal-Mart. I bought clothes, bug spray, foil packs of tuna and water. I also bought an ace in the hole: an anti-lice shampoo."

When Harrigan deployed to the Gulf Coast, he wasn't prepared for the story he is now covering. (No one was prepared.) "There is so much stuff I did not bring — an irridium phone, water purification tablets — because I thought I was going to a hurricane, not a war zone. The last time I needed water purification tablets was Afghanistan. I didn't think I'd need them in Louisiana."

—"NBC News has sent private security personnel to the increasingly dicey Gulf Coast region to help keep its employees safe while covering the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina," THR's Paul Gough reports.

More at the top link.

Posted by Sheila  at 6:08 PM | Permalink | Comments: 1

Baton Rouge live TV stream; 'Fats' Domino missing; Live webcam stream from Poydras St., New Orleans

2:00 p.m.

Linked at the Baton Rouge Advocate news site, WGNO and WBRZ in Baton Rouge have joined forces with a live broadcast stream.

They interviewed the driver of a bus on its way to Houston, and were told afterwards by police that he had stolen the bus. While not condoning bus theft, the anchors noted that he had gotten people out of harm's way.

Buses are being routed to San Antonio now, since Houston is expected to be full. San Antonio Emergency Management official says they're prepared to take in 20,000 to 25,000 people at Kelly Air Force base.

12:29 p.m.

Missing musicians: Fox News's Roger Friedman reports that "Antoine 'Fats' Domino, has not been heard from since Monday afternoon. ... Domino, 76, lives with his wife Rosemary and daughter in a three-story pink-roofed house in New Orleans' 9th ward, which is now under water."

Also missing: Irma Thomas. (Real Audio clip from Time is on My Side)

Friedman adds that Allen Toussaint was "holed up at the New Orleans Superdome hoping to get on a bus for Houston's Astrodome."

10:09 a.m.

Streaming webcam: Interdictor is in the DirectNIC data center on the 10th floor of 650 Poydras St. (map) in New Orleans, near Lafayette Square. (Orientation: The French Quarter is at the top of the map, on the other side of Canal Street.)

Besides ongoing reports (including those from a policeman he's giving shelter to), he's been able to keep a live webcam feed going.

This is a live video stream. Watching it for a few minutes, I've seen a few people walking, a few motorcyles and a few cars on the otherwise deserted streets.