A report by The New York Times says four of the estimated 40 pumping stations in the New Orleans area are running today at partial capacity. A large fifth pump, located at the 17th Street Canal, site of one of the largest levee breaks in the city, was started but had to be stopped when it sucked in debris.
According to the Times, officials said it would take 24 days to pump water from an eastern section of New Orleans and 80 days to clear flooding from Chalmette, the nearby seat of St. Bernard Parish.
About 60 percent of New Orleans remains under water, reports the Times, which is down from a peak of 80 percent. The Times says most of the gains are not the product of the pumps, but rather gaps in the city’s levees, which the Army Corps of Engineers (www.usace.army.mil) began opening after the water level in surrounding bodies of water fell.
If you would like to support the hurricane recovery effort in Louisiana and Mississippi, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (www.fema.gov) listed the following agencies as needing cash to assist hurricane victims:
• American Red Cross, 800-HELP NOW (435-7669) English, 800-257-7575 Spanish.
• Operation Blessing, 800-436-6348.
• America”s Second Harvest, 800-344-8070.
• Adventist Community Services, 800-381-7171.
• Catholic Charities, USA, 703-549-1390.
• Christian Disaster Response, 941-956-5183 or 941-551-9554.
• Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, 800-848-5818.
• Church World Service, 800-297-1516.
• Convoy of Hope, 417-823-8998.
• Lutheran Disaster Response, 800-638-3522.
• Mennonite Disaster Service, 717-859-2210.
• Nazarene Disaster Response, 888-256-5886.
• Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, 800-872-3283.
• Salvation Army, 800-SAL-ARMY (725-2769).
• Southern Baptist Convention – Disaster Relief, 800-462-8657, ext. 6440.
• United Methodist Committee on Relief. 800-554-8583.
— Flow Control Staff
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