Katrina Should be A Lesson To US on Global Warming | Spiegel Online
http://tinyurl.com/9578t
“Hurricane Katrina is big news for German commentators, whatever their ilk. For some, the powerful storm which slammed the Gulf Coast on Monday, is a symbol of the sort of environmental terrors awaiting the world thanks to global warming and proof positive that America needs to quickly reverse its policy of playing down climate change. For the more conservative, it is simply another regrettable natural catastrophe. […]The toughest commentary of the day comes from Germany’s Environmental Minister, Jürgen Trittin, a Green Party member, who takes space in the Frankfurter Rundschau, a paper owned by the Social Democrats, to bash US President George W. Bush’s environmental laxity. He begins by likening the photos and videos of the hurricane stricken areas to scenes from a Roland Emmerich sci-fi film and insists that global warming and climate change are making it ever more likely that storms and floods will plague America and Europe. ‘There is only one possible route of action,’ he writes. ‘Greenhouse gases have to be radically reduced and it has to happen worldwide. Until now, the US has kept its eyes shut to this emergency. (Americans) make up a mere 4 percent of the population, but are responsible for close to a quarter of emissions.’ He adds that the average American is responsible for double as much carbon dioxide as the average European.”

Hurricane ‘will force consumers to reduce fuel use’ | Peter Klinger and Adam Sage
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9072-1757943,00.html
“However, the International Energy Agency (IEA), a leading forecaster, and analysts advised against government intervention, saying that the $70 price could provide the much-needed jolt that would force consumers to reduce their oil consumption.The French Government was in disarray yesterday, with ministers squabbling over a proposal to cut the national speed limit to reduce fuel consumption.”

Crisis Grows As Flooded New Orleans Looted | Adam Nossiter
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/08/30/D8CAGBA00.html
“Helicopters dropped sandbags on two broken levees as the water kept rising in the streets. The governor drew up plans to evacuate just about everyone left in town. Looters ransacked stores. Doctors in their scrubs had to use canoes to bring supplies to blacked-out hospitals. New Orleans sank deeper into crisis Tuesday, a full day after Hurricane Katrina hit. ‘It’s downtown Baghdad,’ said tourist Denise Bollinger, who snapped pictures of looting in the French Quarter. ‘It’s insane.’ The mayor estimated that 80 percent of New Orleans was flooded, while a countless number of residents were still stranded on rooftops.”

‘Our tsunami,’ Mississippi hurricane survivors say | Matt Daily
http://tinyurl.com/74l7j
“It was like our tsunami,’ Vincent Creel, a spokesman for the Mississippi Gulf Coast city of Biloxi, said on Tuesday. When Hurricane Katrina roared ashore on the U.S. Gulf Coast on Monday, it sent a 30-foot (9-meter) storm surge into Biloxi. Many people were probably trapped in their homes by the ferocious wall of water. ‘It’s going to be in the hundreds,’ said Creel, when asked how many people may have died. Police said around 30 people died in one Biloxi apartment complex alone when the storm surge brought it crashing down.”