hurricane katrina

New Orleans (September 26, 2008) - Last night, in true New Orleans style, some 504 New Orleanians attended the historic launch of 504ward, an initiative designed to retain the influx of young movers and shakers who are arriving by the hundreds with dual aspirations of sparking social change and advancing their careers in the inspiring laboratory of post-Katrina New Orleans.

A Mississippi Gulf Coast couple has settled a lawsuit against State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. over damage to their home from Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

After Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005, at least one industry got a lift: recreational vehicle makers, who benefited from the more than $1 billion spent on travel trailers and mobile homes to house displaced residents.

In the days following Hurricane Katrina’s landfall, the national gas price shot up by nearly 20 percent, and climbed above $3 for the first time ever.

Should oil production facilities and refineries suffer similar damage from Hurricane Gustov, the price of gasoline would easily jump back above $4 per gallon, and would likely set a new record high.

After Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005, more than 10,000 workers from 200 utilities across the country spent weeks rebuilding an electrical system devastated by one of the strongest storms to hit Louisiana.

The hurricane bearing down on the Gulf Coast could be a test for the country's wireless carriers, which faced criticism and a regulatory push after Hurricane Katrina took out networks.

Sprint Nextel Corp. spokeswoman Stephanie Vinge-Walsh said the company's Emergency Response Team, with trucks that can act as cell towers, was 'caravaning down, military-style,' to the Gulf Coast on Friday.

One of the nation's largest insurance companies is lobbying Congress for permission to sell policies that cover damage from both wind and flood water, a plan billed as a way for insurers and homeowners to avoid costly litigation after disasters like Hurricane Katrina.

"In urban areas, most of the sites are on rooftops and those sites weren't built to hold that much weight"

When Hurricane Katrina assaulted the Gulf Coast in 2005, wind and flooding knocked out hundreds of cell towers and cell sites, silencing wireless communication exactly when emergency crews and victims needed ... via KIMA

Consumer spending, the main driver for economic growth, is stalling out. The Commerce Department says that after adjusting for inflation, the amount that consumers spent in January was unchanged from what they spent in December.

Outside of the disruptions from Hurricane Katrina, consumer spending has not been this weak since late 2001 _ when the country was struggling to emerge from recession.