MSNBC seven hours ago devoted a large segment to Katrina’s potential impact on oil supply with an in studio analyst over six hours ago. But other networks have subsequently gone deeper on the subject. FOX News just finished wrapping up a huge segment on the potential calamity, listing the companies involved that have pulled their people out of the region and had multiple analysts on underscoring the potential disruption that will occur to a region that accounts for 25% of America’s oil supply.

UPDATE: Johnny Dollar clarifies the “who was first” angle by pointing out that FOX had Jonas Max Ferris on probably about forty five minutes before MSNBC ran their segment. I was away from the TV at that time and missed it. So I’ve made a tweak to the entry. Thanks Johnny…

Aaron Brown just put what’s at stake for New Orleans in crystal clear perspective while interviewing Ivor Van Heerden of Louisiana State University’s Public Health Research Center…

What you just outlined is an unbelievably frightening prospect so let me ask you….a type of chicken little question if you will…on a scale of one to ten…however you want to frame this…what do you think the likelihood is that we’re going to…tomorrow night look at the situation in New Orleans and say…sort of seriously say Oh my God, we’ve lost a city?

Van Heerden’s response?

Umm…about 50/50 right now…

I think I understand what MSNBC is trying to do by having people like Chris Mathews and now Tucker Carlson on the air in prime time covering this story. MSNBC is trying to leverage this news scenario by exposing the audience tuning in for news on the Hurricane (which may not normally watch MSNBC) to the hosts of some of MSNBC’s prime time lineup. There are both benefits and hazards to this approach…
(more…)

I just saw a late night promo for FOX’s coverage and the voice over got Carol Iovanna’s name wrong. It’s pronounced “Eye-o-vanna”. The voice over said “E-o-vanna”…

UPDATE: Pronounciation trouble isn’t happening only on FOX. Larry King was caught pronouncing New Orleans, “New Orlin-e-as”…

UPDATE 2: One of ICN’s commentors wonders why Chris Mathews is covering The Hurricane for? I too would like to know the thinking behind putting a political wonk on a natural disaster story. King I can understand because it’s his hour on the air which is usually canned. None of MSNBC’s front line anchors have appeared today so far except Alison Stewart who was subbing for the vacationing Alex Witt. I expect that will change at 11 pm as the hurricane gets closer….

UPDATE to UPDATE 2: I should have added that none of CNN’s front line anchors have appeared today either in either Atlanta or New York. The shifts have been covered by usual people. FOX did end up bringing Hemmer in to anchor after the FOX Report was over but other than that it too used the usual weekend people.

UPDATE 3: I guessed wrong on MSNBC. Tucker Carlson is on now…

UPDATE 4 (and more back to the subject): Larry king just asked to Max Mayfield from the National Hurricane Center, “I don’t want to sound stupid, but is there a Category 6 hurricane?”

While people have been clogging highways trying to get away from the shoreline, the reporters and anchors have been trying to get in or move to higher ground. First Miles O’Brien pulled out of New Orleans because his satellite truck might have wound up under water. Now Steve Harrigan was just on FOX News saying he had to move because his hotel might have wound up under water…

UPDATE: With O’Brien pulling out of the French Quarter for higher ground, it appears that FOX’s Shepard Smith is the only network anchor left broadcasting from that area…

Fox News Radio will provide wall to wall coverage of Hurricane Katrina beginning at 5 am eastern on Monday.

In an unprecedented move, Fox News Radio is making its coverage available as a public service through XM and Sirius satellite radio. The move increases the chances that the information will be available to those who need it the most, even if local stations are forced off the air.

Fox News Radio will be heard as part of XM’ s emergency alert on Channel 247 and on Sirius Channel 126.

CNN just aired an excellent package by John Zarrella on what the Hurricane could do to New Orleans. It went into stark details of what a flooding that’s being projected will do to the city and what it will take to put the city back together again…

In the storms aftermath, water will sit in the city for an estimated six months. The pumps needed to get the water out would themselves be under water…

MSNBC had a simultaneously fascinating and ominous segment on the Hurricane an hour ago. They had on Tom Kloza, an oil analyst, in the studio to talk about what Hurricane Katrina could do to the price of oil. For those who don’t know, Louisiana is a major oil refinery center for the United States. Kloza’s comments on Katrina were scary. “If one were to map out the absolute worst route that a major hurricane could take and the absolute worst time of year for it to happen, we have that scenario right now.” Kloza laid out what has already happened, offshore oil and natural gas rigs evacuated, refineries that generate 2 million barrels of production a day have been shut down, and the storm hasn’t even hit yet. Added Kloza “We’re going to see an explosive situation this weeek. In about an hour and a half the oil markets open and start to trade electronically. My suspicion is there is going to be a lot of panic and much, much higher prices for gasoline, natural gas, crude oil, and heating oil. We used to have a rule of thumb. We said a category storm in the Gulf of Mexico…you could make it exponential…a category three was worth nine cents to price. This could be worth anywhere from ten to twenty five cents immediately…”

Whoever had the foresight to book this guy deserves a raise….

Shepard Smith just reported from the French Quarter via video phone from either a second or third floor window overlooking the street. Before Smith came on, anchor Julie Banderas was talking with a meteorologist about the storm and the residents who are “stuck” in New Orleans….” It is too late, really, honestly, realisitcally…Shep Smith is downtown in New Orleans and he himself is now stuck among the rest of the residents.”

UPDATE: Smith took stock of the situation for New Orleans….

Here’s the scenario that we’re looking at. The worst of the winds, the eye wall, come right over New Orleans. That’s somewhere in the category 5 way, something above 155 miles an hour. According to the National Weather Service, the National Hurricane Center, that knocks down all wooden structures. That’s their prediction, not ours.

In addition, because of the counterclockwise circulation, the water from Lake Pontchartrain comes over the levy. Whether the levies hold or not is really inconsequential, given the fact that, according to local emergency managers, you could have a twelve-foot wall of water over the levies from Lake Pontchartrain. That sends an enormous flow, like coffee coming out of a cup and all over the counter. And that creates feet and feet and feet of water all over New Orleans.

The buried dead are no longer. It’s just the worst thing humanly possible, and we can only hope in New Orleans and surrounding areas at this moment that that storm takes a trip to the west or east. Not to wish it on anyone else, but the situation which Joe Bastardi is describing leaves this area under water and New Orleans in a situation which is almost unimaginable.

WHAC notes Miles O’Brien’s blogging on the hurricane but doesn’t note that O’Brien has pulled up stakes in New Orleans….

Posted: 4:50 p.m. ET

After several hours of considering all kinds of logistical and safety issues, we have decided to move to Baton Rouge.

The hotel location near the French Quarter in New Orleans was good for our personal safety (we could operate out of the fourth floor in an interior hallway during the worst of it), but parking the satellite truck would be a problem.

Since the streets of New Orleans sit mostly below sea level, it would very likely become a satellite submarine as the storm water surges into the city. Using small satellite phones to dial in for a lower resolution signal seemed like an option, but even that was not assured. I called my friend (and former NASA administrator) Sean O’Keefe at his new post — chancellor of Louisiana State University. Turns out they recently installed a fiber optic link to the studio at the school and local station — and CNN affiliate — WWL is evacuating their operation to that studio

MSNBC meteorologist Sean McGlaughlin was on a few minutes ago and MSNBC has brought back Weather Central’s ESP:Live technology which provided some dazzling weather graphics for Hurricane Dennis.

This was followed by MSNBC anchor Cheryl Casone interviewing NBC correspondent Michelle Hofland who was trying to drive to Houma, Louisiana and has been stuck in traffic for four hours (for a one hour trip under normal circumstances) and she was still 12 miles away from Houma. Hoffland also recounted a conversation she had with a woman at the hotel she was going to be staying at… “We have a room for you but I just want to let you know that you are coming down here at your own risk”

FOX went to Shepard Smith who was in the French Quarter of New Orleans and he was commenting on the fact that there were a lot of people still in the French Quarter (which if you haven’t been there is famous for its bars and night scene and also happens to be under sea level) and Smith was interviewing someone on the street and asked him why he was still there. The guy responded, “None of your !@#$%!#@ business”. Not missing a beat, Shep quipped, “Oh that was a good answer wasn’t it? That was live on international television. Thanks so much for that.” and then Shep apologized to the audience for the rude behavior of the interviewee and both he and Eric Shawn commented that that was the attitude down there.

UPDATE: TVNewser has the video of the incident, courtesy of Johnny Dollar…

With Hurricane Katrina due to make landfall in the next 24 hours and shaping up as a major major storm threatening New Orleans, the cable nets are mobilizing.

FOX has Steve Harrigan in Gulfport, Mississippi, Orlando Salinas is i Orange Beach, Alabama, and Phil Keating and Jeff Goldblatt are at the New Orleans Superdome.

WHAC has a complete breakdown of CNN’s coverage.

MSNBC is live but its not currently featuring any of its front line talent. TVNewser says that Chris Mathews will be on from 8 to 10 pm but the rest of its schedule remains not clear aside from the fact that it will be live throughout the day and night.

UPDATE: Here is FOX News’ schedule. Bill Hemmer will debut tonight on FOX. Foxnews.com has a function in its stories to track Hurricane Katrina. The site also has video specials including the New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin’s statements from earlier today, photo essays on Miami and New Orleans, and “fast facts” on hurricane categories.

3-4 PM - Laurie Dhue and Adam Housley
4-6 PM - Alisyn Camerota and Eric Shawn
6-7 PM - Greg Jarrett and Julie Banderas
7-8 PM -Laurie Dhue
8-9 PM - Bill Hemmer
9-11 PM - Geraldo Rivera
11PM-1AM - Greg Jarrett and Julie Banderas
1-3 AM - Bob Sellers and Carol Iovanna
3-5 AM - Amy Kellogg and Adam Housley
5 AM Fox & Friends