The rains this weekend swelled the rivers to flood stage in south-western New Hampshire. As much as half of Keene is said to be under water. Further north, the small and historic downtown of Alstead has been washed away.

This picture comes from the Portsmouth Herald, and reports in the Washington Post from Keene and Alstead add detail. The current death count is five, according to NHPR news, and NH Governor John Lynch has declared a state of emergency and activated the National Guard. Many hundreds of people have been evacuated and are waiting for the waters to recede.

Inspectors say the flood control damns are at full capacity but are holding — for the moment. Predicted rains for tonight and through the week are worrying people, though…

tags: alstead, alstead nh, damage, destruction, devestation, flood, flood damage, flood destruction, flood devestation, flood stage, floods, keene, keene nh, loss, national guard, rivers, state of emergency, swollen rivers

I don’t watch TV, so I haven’t seen many images of the flooding in New Orleans until I found these. Amazingly, The Times Picayune is publishing PDF editions during disaster. The hurricane and flood damage are truly scary, but the worst news is on page five, which tells of widespread looting:

Law enforcement efforts to contain the emergency left by Katrina slipped into chaos in parts of New Orleans Tuesday. [...]

At the Wal-Mart on Tchoupitoulas Street, an initial effort to hand out provisions to stranded citizens quickly disintegrated into mass looting. Authorities at the scene said bedlam erupted after the giveaway was announced over the radio.

[...]

Inside the store, the scene alternated between celebration and frightening bedlam. A shirtless man straddled a broken jewelry case, yelling, “Free samples, free samples over here.”

Another man rolled a mechanized pallet, stacked six feet high with cases of vodka and whiskey. Perched atop the stack was a bewildered toddler.

Then Tulane University’s Scott Cowen reports:

It is difficult to describe what this situation feels like for those involved. It is surreal and unfathomable; yet, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Our focus is on the light and not the darkness.

tags: disaster, flood, flood damage, gulf coast, hurricane, hurricane katrina, katrina, looters, looting, louisiana, new orleans, new orleans la, photo, times picayune, timespicayune, wal mart, wal-mart, walmart