Status of Member Institutions Affected by Disaster
Now that Hurricanes Katrina/Rita/Wilma have come and gone leaving behind its devastation, the region is now beginning to rebuild its infrastructure in hopes of a full recovery. An outpouring of concern from our membership about their colleagues in this region has prompted the development of this report that will be updated as new information becomes available.
The University of Southern Mississippi
D. Jay Grimes, Ph.D.
September 14, 2005
In a nutshell, the university as a whole suffered about a 15% loss of facilities in Hattiesburg and 90% on the Gulf Coast. Overall, our enrollment is down about 500 students. On the coast, highlights are as follows:
Stennis Space Center fared the best. There was some roof damage and wind driven rain damage but no major building or equipment loss. This goes for the Department of Marine Science (Steve Lohrenz), the Hydrographic Science Research Center (Don Roman), and the Center for Higher Learning (Joe Swaykos).
Our Gulf Park campus suffered severe damage. For example, the storm surge took out the auditorium in the AEC building (site of the Ocean Sciences Bowl) and flooded the first floor. The AEC also lost much of its roof.
The Gulf Coast Research Laboratory lost some buildings near the harbor. Most of the GCRL buildings are on the 19-foot contour and only took a foot to two feet of water. Even so, the loss of equipment, reagents, specimens,
etc. was extensive at the GCRL. We had just completed a GCRL master plan that recommended moving the GCRL to a new site in Ocean Springs - our Cedar Point site. That process will now be rapidly accelerated!
We did not lose any of our boats. Most importantly, as far as we know, we did not lose any of our Southern Miss students, staff or faculty.
Louisiana University’s Marine Consortium
Nancy Rabalais
September 14, 2005
We are okay, and recovering. Our building and ships are operational. The dormitory wings are wasted, but we have a roofing contractor up there right now. The first phase is to take off all the old and waterproof. That is a 3-4 wk process, then put a new cover on for another month more. Once the parts are waterproofed, we will have contractors to do the interior drywalling, etc. AND of Monday night we now have email. I had been limping along with an LSU account that would work when I was in Baton Rouge. It is hard to run a lab with a split personality.
The issue right now is the lack of coordination in many efforts to look at the response of the storm in the estuaries and the Gulf. NOAA, NASA, NSF, FEMA working with state educational institutions such as our Board of Regents, the state Dept Natural Resources, etc. There is talk about ships, funds, etc. but from multiple sources, the big 3. Many who do not normally work in this area are seeing opportunities for studies, but they will not be focused at the right issues. And, if they aren't done soon (which doesn't seem to be the case), then we will be in fall/cold front conditions and it will no longer be a post hurricane set of data. The Gulf is less impacted than the estuaries, but there is a big NOAA effort afoot to study the Gulf. For instance, why a zooplankton component at this point? And any plume work except right next to it with regard to toxins will be just another cruise around the plume. And, there are many data that show the toxics fall out very close to the delta. Most of the toxic material is going into Lake Pontchartrain, then into outflow to Lake Borgne, Mississippi Sound and nearshore LA/MS shelf to the east of the river. Not sure there is a focus there.
We are trying to stage shorter trips on some of our transects on smaller boats, that are more weather dependent, but the timing is much more relevant.
We tried to dive our mooring last week but the seas and currents were too strong. However, there was low oxygen or hypoxia at the 3 deeper stations on our monthly transect. They either did not come above hypoxia, or came above, then respiration ran them back down. We have a team out today, but early indications are that we have damage or lost equipment. The instruments were welded to a pipe that is welded to an offshore oil platform. The waves were only 25 feet, but it appears that there are cables with nothing at the end. I'll know later this evening.
J.L. Scott Marine Education Center and Aquarium
Sharon Walker
September 14, 2005
The staff is fine and we have set up our "MEC" in the director's house at the GCRL. The aquarium was gutted and moved 4 inches on its foundation! It was condemned late last week. We will rebuild compliments of our insurance and FEMA and quite possibly supplemental help from Congress.
Louisiana State University
Edward Laws
September 14, 2005
Baton Rouge was of course spared by the hurricane. The population has increased from 500,000 to about 800,000 as a result of the influx of refugees, FEMA personnel, etc. That has put quite a strain on the infrastructure. You can probably not rent an apartment within 50 miles of Baton Rouge at this point.
We will shortly submit a SGER proposal to NSF to study the impact of the dewatering operation on Lake Pontchartrain. Miami, Hawaii, and WHOI, three of the four NSF/NIEHS centers for oceans and human health, will submit companion/complementary proposals. EPA sampling has consistently turned up very high counts of E. coli. Between the three COHH centers and LSU we will study standard indicators (enterococcus, E. coli) as well as pathogens - viruses, giardia, cryptosporidium, vibrio, staphylococcus, legionella, and naegleria. We will also look at heavy metals, toxic organics, and HABs.
I was in New Orleans last Friday and will go over again this Friday for water sampling. Some parts of the city were spared from flooding. There is wind damage everywhere. Areas impacted by flooding are in serious shape.
I sat in on a NIEHS conference call a couple of days ago. The discussion mostly concerned issues associated with workers and residents going back into the city. Mold was a big item of discussion. Not my area, but I gather it could make some buildings almost uninhabitable.
Ultimately someone will have to decide what parts of the city we just give up on and what parts we try to restore.
