I'm not super active on art twitter, but I saw this making the rounds and I just had to, okay? Warning for discussion of a fictional lynching.

The players:

So Mo0gs AKA Morgan Lovell is a moderately popular artist. She’s on a bunch of social media, including twitter, instagram, deviantart, and a tumblr that seems to have been abandoned in the 2018 porn ban. She has the most followers on Instagram at 23k, but the drama happened on twitter, where she seems to be far more active.
Although she posts the occasional fan-art for a variety of different things, Mo0gs mostly focuses on creating OCs, or original characters. Mo0gs has also been selling adoptables for years. The short explanation for adoptables is that these are character designs that you pay for. There’s a very good explanation of adoptables at the top of this post. Rather than creating a species, a la sushidogs or mochiraptors, Mo0gs does adoptables that are simply designs of human/humanoid characters. Unlike a lot of adoptable drama, however, Mo0gs doesn’t seem to have had many issues with enforcing the rules for her adoptable characters (mostly because, as far as I can determine, the rules are pretty lax).
Rather, Mo0gs seems to have gotten into some shit around 2017/2018 where she was accused of ripping off adoptable designs. Art theft in general is a no-no, but specifically stealing adoptables is a big no; the whole point of an adoptable is that you pay for the rights to use that character design. This was a big accusation. The result?
It didn’t do much. If you look at the notes on that post...well, first off, there’s not many of them. And second, a few people responded to the post saying that they didn’t see any plagiarism in the adoptables, just some general similarities. You’re welcome to go click through all the links in that post and judge for yourself whether or not it was plagiarism, but long story short Mo0gs was able to shrug off this controversy and retain a decent following.
The other main character in this drama is Taz. I can’t/won’t go too far into them, mostly because they keep privating their twitter so I can only see it half of the time, but there is one important point to be made: they’re another artist, with about half of the following Mo0gs has on twitter, and they are constantly either retweeting callouts or posting their own. Most of the callouts seem to be about people who ship child characters with adult characters, and several of whom (just from some brief scrolling) apparently work in animation. I’m not getting involved in that argument at all, but suffice it to say that the person who called out Mo0gs makes a habit of calling people out in general.

The road to internet infamy:

So in July, Mo0gs set up a game called “Handbook For The Recently Deceased”/“The Waiting”/“Iˈtərnitē” that was to be played over discord. Players had to apply to join the game. The setting was, in Mo0gs’ own words:

Iˈtərnitē is an ARPG group centered around your character, a now-deceased individual, trying to figure out how to traverse the mysterious, labyrinth-esque setting they have woken up in. When the receptionist calls you over, she seems all too eager to tell you about three mysterious bosses in the room next door. She promises you they are here to help you to attain your goal, but her cryptic speech says otherwise.
Being a world that connects the living and the dead, the Waiting Room houses souls who have yet or cannot, move on. Plainly put, it is a hub for souls waiting for judgment. Yet, as previously mentioned, some souls have found themselves unable to move on from the Waiting Room for many years. Some are unsure as to why while others are unable due to the nature of their deaths.
All you know is that having died you now must choose a boss to follow and traverse The Waiting Room, a seemingly endless office building full of various doors with destinations unknown. However, some are locked and closely guarded, preventing you from heading through them-- just yet. What could lie beyond these doors? Can you and your newfound friends figure out the Waiting Room’s secrets? Or will you be stuck here for the rest of your undead life?

Sounds fun enough. Obviously horror themed stories dip into some grim territory, but as long as everything is handled respectfully, the game seemed like it would be harmless.

But then it wasn’t:

So Mo0gs let people apply to the game through July, ran it for a while, and reopened applications in October. Things were quiet in the twitter-callout-sphere at the time. But a storm was brewing.
Mo0gs had designed several NPCs for the game, who are listed on this information page for applicants. One of the characters featured on the page is Baptiste, whose description is:

A boss of the Waiting Room. Having died in 1720 in New Orleans, Baptiste was the victim of a racially fueled hate crime in which he was beaten to death. His charm and the diligence put forth with his work allowed him to move quickly up the ranks in the Waiting Room.

Which is...questionable, but there are plenty of well-done fictional characters who have been the victims of hate crimes. Allegedly. I can’t name any, but I’m willing to believe that it’s possible. (Please don’t start sending me examples).
But at this point, people in the group were already uncomfortable. Especially because, in the discord channel, Mo0gs’ description of Baptiste was even worse. Here’s a typed version of the screenshot I’m linking:

Baptiste was a "medicine man" and slavery just ended but still People didn't like the change. Baptiste being a free cocky man, started to elope with a governors daughter, at a humble home.
Baptiste was hanged at the governors home. They tossed his body in a unmarked grave along with his "satanic" practices and works.
They say, the governor locked his daughter away because she was corrupted

This was from August 6 and was enough to upset some of the players. And then by August 15 Mo0gs had backtracked.

I can change Baptiste's background if it offends anyone :⁾ I don't mind!! but I just wanna say he wasnt lynched at all! I vaguely wrote about his background but I rather focus on his future now being a boss!
I'm happy to work with y'all

For the record...a black man being hung due to having a relationship with a white woman is a textbook lynching. So regardless of your take on the rest of this, saying he wasn’t lynched after describing a lynching is a blatant lie.
People were also very upset about the usage of the racial stereotyping in Baptiste’s story. Specifically the fact that he was randomly performing a hoodoo ritual while fucking a white lady. Or the fact that Mo0gs didn’t seem particularly educated about what hoodoo was, and called Baptiste a “medicine man”...which, generally, is used to describe spiritual leaders in certain Native American cultures and (as far as I know) is not used in hoodoo.
Whether this backtracking came before or after players complained to one of the other group admins--who did nothing to alleviate the players concerns--is unclear (although my money is on after). Either way, Baptiste’s backstory combined with the fact that he was written by a white woman was rubbing several players the wrong way. Some people seem to have left around this point.
As people were getting heated about Baptiste’s backstory (and prior to the backtracking), another character began to cause drama.
The game involved progressing through the layers of hell, which also meant that new NPCs would be introduced throughout. One NPC who appeared in the “lust” layer seemed oddly familiar to many players.
He had blue eyes. He was famous in the late 70s. He’s in hell. His name was Ted. Ring any bells?
Mo0gs denied that this character was Ted Bundy when questioned by players who were uncomfortable with the idea of there being a real-life serial killer included in their fictional RPG. But I mean...come on. That’s Ted Bundy.
This, combined with the earlier issues with Baptiste’s backstory drove several players away. I’d assume this is why applications to join the game opened back up in October, although it wasn’t stated anywhere. Due to the fact that the drama took place in a small, closed group, there was no real public outrage. Until...

The spark that set off the shitstorm:

On October 22, Mo0gs posted some character sheets for a graphic novel idea she had done for a class. Typical art stuff. Except the graphic novel idea in question was about Rose Bundy. If you aren’t aware, Ted Bundy has a daughter who was born while he was in prison for killing a bunch of people. Rose has been intentionally kept out of the public eye, but Bundy fans remain obsessed with her. Mo0gs continued to post art of Rose, including a picture of her being carried by her dad. Which most likely never happened considering he was in jail for murdering many many people prior to her birth and remained in jail until his death. Mo0gs sort of apologized at the time by explaining that she had been watching a lot of true crime shows when doing this project and she was sorry if it was upsetting to anyone.
This was not good enough for the twitter callout sphere. Mo0gs’ Bundy tweets somehow caught the attention of another artist, Taz, two weeks after they were initially posted. Taz responded by telling people to block and unfollow mo0gs because they thought it was insane for a 28 year old woman to draw Ted Bundy fanart and that it was awful that mo0gs was making an art project out of horrific real-life events.
That alone had people dogpiling on Mo0gs, but it escalated. After seeing Taz’s initial tweet, several people who had participated in Mo0gs’ RPG came out of the woodwork to mention the drama that had gone on earlier. People were messaging Taz with screenshots from the discord group of things Mo0gs had done that had made them uncomfortable before, like Baptiste’s lynching backstory and Mo0gs roleplaying as Ted Bundy. The full thread is here and a mirror should be up on the Wayback Machine if you can’t access that link.

The laughingstock of internet weirdos:

It’s fairly rare that a callout post goes viral. But the sheer absurdity of someone being cancelled for roleplaying as Ted Bundy meant that the tweets spread far and wide. Most people just seemed to think it was hilarious, rather than being actually mad.
This post (spoilers for BNHA and Supernatural if you’re not caught up) started making the rounds on tumblr, lumping the Mo0gs drama in with the week’s other crazy happenings while simultaneously making about 40,000 more people aware of it.
On twitter, there was still a small group of people who were just genuinely pissed off. Mo0gs has posted at least two apologies, possibly 3. The first one I saw was on November 5, the same day Taz’s initial callout was posted, but it referenced another, earlier apology. That one was focused on addressing the allegations of racism, with regards to the writing of Baptiste (and possibly other NPCs who were alluded to by those calling Mo0gs out). The one that’s currently up is a lot shorter and is basically just “I’m sorry, I’m going to take a break from art and twitter”. No apology was posted on instagram likely because she is less active there despite having far more followers than on twitter. Unfortunately for Mo0gs, as an artist her newfound infamy is surely going to be detrimental to her career. Word of mouth and social media following are how artists tend to get commissions and sell adoptables, and neither is in her favor any longer. Her real full name is attached to her existing social media as well, so this is likely her new and inescapable legacy.
As for Taz, they got their laughs at Mo0gs’ expense, felt self-righteous, and have been switching their twitter between private and public since the post took off. Right now it is public but it’s been 50/50 since I started writing this a few days ago. They continue to post and retweet callouts, albeit not for anything as exciting as Ted Bundy roleplay.

This post has been updated as of 10/31 @ 1pm.

So, I've never had to do one of these...but, post Zeta discussion goes here.
Update as of 10/29 @ 10am: Ugh, I had a huge update posted and my computer decided to accidentally back button and remove the update...anyways, we did it guys. We survived hurricane Zeta. In fact, we ate so many cosmic brownies that Zeta got scared and it went from being a hurricane to a Hurrycane. Ha!
But in all seriousness, consider the speed of the storm as a blessing as it got in and out quick enough that the damage might have been minimized. In fact, this storm may set some records. It's already the strongest storm that has ever directly passed over the City of New Orleans and it might be one of the fastest travelling storms on record.
On a personal note: I hope everyone is safe and sound. This storm was a lot more intense than everyone was expecting. Hopefully, the amount of damage you experienced was minimal and the most you have to do is some branch clean up.
Additionally, I hope that these hurricane threads have been useful/calming/enjoyable. I'm looking for feedback! Knock on termite infested wood that this is the last storm of the season. It certainly won't be the last storm ever, but come next season, hopefully I have enough materials to be prepared. The quickly thrown live thread was a bit of a disaster (and for the temporary time being, I was having fun? I don't know if that's the best word for it), but that was due in part to me uhh...being in the middle of a hurricane, losing power and cell signal. Sorry that it was a bit of a disappointment (but at least there was one - I tried!) Anyways, let me know if you have any feedback or ideas. Hopefully, I did my mod duties well. :D
Lastly, I do want to sincerely thank you all for the support with my "What is Damp May Never Dry!" shirts. Believe it or not, I woke up this morning to a TON of orders - which is awesome since a good chunk of the money is going to charity. As mentioned, I'll be making a donation at the end of the month and in November, so you have time to purchase (hopefully New Orleans won't need one of our own!) Although, I do have to say, I'm a bit miffed to find out that the shirts have already been stolen by one of those t-shirt spam bots...remember, if you're not buying it from canallinedesigns.com, it's a counterfeit (I can't believe the audacity of the shirt bots).
I'm going to be updating this post with some more information shortly. I think I have a good idea of what this thread should contain. Like I said, I've never had to do one of these - but based on the comments so far, I think I can make a post.

What's the Power Situation?

The first question many people have is: When will I have my power restored? The answer to that question is: It entirely depends on the circumstances surrounding your specific outage. It could be hours, it could be days, it could be weeks. People freak out when they hear it could be weeks, but it's the truth.
Ultimately, until an crew is able to assess the damage and the problem specific to your neighborhood, they will not have a time frame for availability. With how much damage has occurred, you can expect your local power utility (likely Entergy) to not even give you a time frame. You should anticipate the worst and hope for the best.
As of 10/31 @ 8pm, Entergy has released estimated restoration times for each neighborhood. I cannot stress this enough: This time frame is a generalization and is not guaranteed.
For a more specific timeframe or your neighborhood's availability, Entergy provides a very complete and accurate power outage map that is available here. If you click "location" in the menu, you can select an icon and it will give you an estimated timeframe if it's available.

I need power - what can I do?

This is a complicated question to answer in general. Here are some quick tips:

1. Get a hold of a generator. Sorry that this seems obvious, but this is your best bet to get power to your home. There is always a run on generators before and after storms, so this likely won't happen unless you're lucky. If you're super lucky and your neighbors have whole home generator, beg them to provide you an extension cord.
2. Find out what friends have power. Another obvious point, but reach out to friends (even acquaintances) to ask if they have power. I guarantee you that people in general aren't bad. There isn't harm in just asking. Post storm we're a community in need and a lot of people are happy to help if they can.
3. Talk to your neighbors that have power. Look, you probably hate them because of their obnoxiously large fence. However, as noted above, we're a community in need. If they have power, you can ask them if you can charge some battery banks (if you have them) or charge your devices. I'm pretty sure they'll be happy to help - they'll be more happy to help if you exchange a charge for a bottle of wine. Plus, you might become friends!
4. Coffee Shops are a life line right now. Go to a local coffee shop that has power. A warm cup of coffee will probably perk you up. There's a whole host of coffee shops right now that have power and they'll be happy to serve you if they have power. Don't abuse this though. Clearly, don't show up with a minifridge.
5. Follow other local businesses on social media. There are several local businesses willing to help you in this instance. Local bookstores for example. You can charge your phone while also trying to find a new book to read while you don't have power. What, you think Kindles will last 5 days? Go analog!
6. Use your car to power some items. Believe it or not, you have a giant generator if you have a car. Is it inefficient? Yes. Does it work? Also yes.
7. Go to the New Orleans Public Library! See the comment about bookstores above? Well, the New Orleans Public Libraries are encouraging people to come charge. Plus, you can get some books to read for free!
8. Check out this Community Power Map. Imagine Waterworks is managing a community power map. Have a spot? Make sure to share it with them!

Are schools still closed?

Due to the extensive damage and power outages, several school districts have announced school closures. As done in the hurricane megathread, below are a list of the announced school closures. For a more complete and up to date list of school closures, please refer to this article from WDSU.

• Orleans Parish:

NOLA Public Schools (NOLA-PS) announced the cancellation of all distance learning and in-person classes for Friday, Oct. 30, due to ongoing power outages across New Orleans and to give our students, families, teachers and staff time to assess the aftermath of Hurricane Zeta.
This decision includes the closure of NOLA-PS central offices and the cancellation of food services for families on Friday as well.
Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr. and his team are working with schools to determine the conditions of all facilities and plan any necessary recovery efforts.
The NOLA-PS team will consider the progress of Entergy to restore power, the needs of our school community, and the availability of city services to guide the appropriate timeline for a concerted return to in-person and distance learning for students at all grade levels. Schools and families can expect an update Sunday, Nov. 1, regarding the plan for classes next week.

• Jefferson Parish:

Due to area power outages caused by Hurricane Zeta, all Jefferson Parish public schools and administration buildings will be closed tomorrow, Friday, October 30. All school and district activities and events are cancelled.

• St. Tammany Parish:

All St. Tammany Parish Public Schools and offices will remain closed Friday, Oct. 30 due to storm damage and power outages in our community. They plan to reopen schools Monday if electricity is restored and it is safe to do so. The district is continuing to work in close coordination with emergency preparedness officials to make decisions about closures. Updates and information will be provided, if needed, through social media, robocall, and app notification.

• St. Bernard Parish:

With wide-spread power outages throughout our parish, St. Bernard Parish public schools will remain closed tomorrow, Friday, October 30. The school system will remain in close contact with Entergy and parish government officials over the weekend and will provide an update regarding schools reopening by Sunday afternoon.

• Plaquemines Parish:

Belle Chasse Academy will be closed on Friday.

• Lafourche Parish:

Due to widespread power outages across the district, all schools and offices of the Lafourche Parish School Board will remain closed tomorrow, Friday, October 30, 2020. All virtual learning will be canceled as well.

I have an assignment/paper due!

See sections above and combine them. If your school is closed, chances are your papeassignment will get an extension. Just ask the professoteacher and explain the circumstances - there's a good chance they'll be understanding.

Yo, I have a fridge full of food. What am I supposed to do?!

Well, it depends on how long you're without power. You should follow the CDC recommended guidelines on Food Safety for Power Outages.

• Never taste food to determine if it is safe to eat. When in doubt, throw it out.
• Throw out perishable food in your refrigerator (meat, fish, cut fruits and vegetables, eggs, milk, and leftovers) after 4 hours without power or a cold source like dry ice. Throw out any food with an unusual odor, color, or texture.
• Check temperatures of food kept in coolers or your refrigerator with an added cold source. Throw out food above 40°
• If you have an appliance thermometer in your freezer, check to see if it is still at 40 °F or below.
• You can safely refreeze or cook thawed frozen food that still contains ice crystals or is at 40 °F or below.

The tl;dr infographic is available here. Can't read it? If you haven't opened your fridge or freezer since the power went out: 4 Hours in the fridge; 24 hours in a half filled freezer and 48 hours in a full filled freezer. Those are your time frames per the CDC.
As a pro-tip: You'll want to throw out the foods quicker rather than later. The last thing you want is a fridge full of spoiled meat. You'll become a vegan (not that there's anything wrong with that!) after those pork chops have been spoiled for 3+ days in a non-chilled environment.
If for some reason you think you can risk it for the biscuit and defy the laws of thermodynamics and your food will still be cold after several days:

1. Remove everything and throw it away.
2. Wipe the fridge and freezer down with bleach.
3. Leave the doors open for an extended period of time.

If the fridge still smells after that, use activated charcoal. Here is a helpful article on how to deep clean and remove smells from your fridge. I'm not joking, you will regret not throwing the food away sooner rather than later.

Ok, well now I need new food. What's open?

Check the comments below. Redditors seem to be posting available grocery stores. I will try to post some stores open here, but I can't guarantee the accuracy of the list. I would recommend reaching out directly via phone if you want to check for yourself.

1. Rouses (Gentilly - Leon C. Simon)
2. Langensteins (Uptown)
3. Winn Dixie (Veterans)
4. Costco
5. Rouses (CBD)
6. Breaux Mart (Magazine)
7. Roberts (All locations)
8. Lakeview Grocery

Is the water safe to drink?

Immediately following the storm, if you need to drink something, you should consider drinking from non-tap sources (bottled). However, unless if you have heard otherwise from your local government, the water is likely safe to drink. If you're concerned about the safety of water, you should always consider non-tap sources or boiling water from the tap. Below are official notifications that have been communicated (again, please look to local governments or local media outlets for more timely and accurate information).

• Orleans Parish:

As of 10/29 @ 12pm, here if your official notice from the SWBNO:
"Water purification operations were not interrupted and water pressure did not drop below 20psi. Therefore, your water is safe to drink."
The SWBNO is encouraging individuals to use less water leaving our homes.

• St. Tammany Parish:

St. Tammany is currently under a boil water advisory for 30 neighborhoods.

I have a bunch of leaves and tree branches. What do I do?

• Step 1: Make friends with a guy with a chainsaw.
• Step 2: Get trash bags.
• Step 3: Collect leaves, deposit in trash bags.
• Step 4: Get chainsaw friend to cut large tree trunks into manageable chunks.
• Step 5: Deposit bags on corner like normal trimmings, place larger chunks into a neat pile with rest of normal trash.
• Step 6: ????
• Step 7: Profit and drink a good craft beer with chainsaw friend!

Zeta Specific Stuff:

• Regarding the election: https://www.wdsu.com/article/louisiana-secretary-of-state-governor-focusing-on-power-restoration-at-polling-locations-hit-by-zeta/34522105

Quick tips post storm:

• Be ultra cautious driving/walking around. There are probably hundreds of downed power lines right now.
• Keep your fridge closed as long as possible. Unfortunately, because of the power outage size, be prepared to throw everything out.
• Be prepared to go without power for a few days. At worst, you should prepare for a couple of weeks. It took me 2 weeks to get power after Isaac. This storm took out most of the city and Entergy says it could take 10 days. No matter what, expect an extended power outage.

Feel free to post more "tips" below. I'm exhausted from today and its a bit difficult to type a megathread on my phone. I'm happy to incorporate all the information you guys have or suggestions into this thread as soon as possible.

As of 1pm CST on 10/28, Zeta is a Cat 2 with 100mph winds. The eye is projected to move over the greater New Orleans area. Landfall is expected sometime around 3-5pm on October 28th. Take precautions now and prepare for a stronger than anticipated hurricane to roll through. As always, please listen to local, state and national government officials on the actions and steps you need to take.

NOLAReady states that you should be prepared to SHELTER IN PLACE by 2pm today. Take this advice from local leaders. The 1pm update from NOAA shows that New Orleans will be taking a direct hit from the storm and winds are expected to reach 86-115MPH in the core of New Orleans.

This. This is my life now. Memes and Hurricanes.

What is Damp May Never Dry!

This post has been updated as of 10/28 @ 1pm; Check Comments for Track Updates - Updated on 10/28 @ 1pm
Another one. Are you fat from Cosmic Brownies yet? Too bad, go get more. I'd tell you to go and buy some stock in McKee Foods, but they're private. If they ever IPO, head on over to /wallstreetbets and throw tendies at them. I digress, this is a tropical depression megathread. Anyways, this scientologist-god sounding named storm called Zeta is rolling into the gulf and has put us back in the C O N E O F U N C E R T A I N T Y. Might as well put the entire US in the cone since the election is next week. P.S. Go vote if you haven't.
In order to make it easier and provide current information to individuals, please keep the conversations surrounding the storm to this thread. We are trying to consolidate the more serious conversations/information to this thread. This post is automatically set to sort by new. It is highly recommended that you sort comments by new given the changing environment.
For the time being, memes and funny-ish posts can be standalone posts. This is subject to change depending on how the situation evolves. Despite all the humor surrounding it, please take this event seriously and make plans based upon your needs.
Below is some general information/advice, but should not be taken as official recommendations. Please listen to local/national authorities in determining your next course of actions. I will try to update this post with current information when I can.
Once the storm gets closer to landfall, we will switch from this standalone post to the /TropicalWeather live thread as it's a great resource to get up to date information on the storm.
P.S. If you believe something should be appended/amended to this post, please let me know and I'll be happy to consider it.

What is happening?

Zeta, the sixth letter of the greek alphabet and more annoying sistebrothething to Cthulhu, has arisen from the seas and is now entering the Gulf. In what is most assuredly the worst prank ever by NOAA Meteorologists, New Orleans is enjoying it's 7th time in the Cone of Uncertainty.
Hurricane Zeta has a very high probability to hit New Orleans. Latoya did not activate the shield quick enough! Landfall is expected to be tomorrow evening with the storm quickly - and I mean quickly - going over New Orleans. The eye is anticipated to be above New Orleans around 3-5pm and gone by 12pm/1am.
Please prepare for a high strength Category 1 storm tomorrow (10/28) by mid-day.

Where can I get more information on projected paths, evacuation notices, and general preparation information?

As always, we recommend paying attention to local and national media forecasts. Here are some official government links for you to monitor:

• NOAA/National Hurricane Center
• NOLA Ready
• NWS New Orleans
• State of Louisiana Emergency Portal

And some local news sources as well:

• WWLTV
• FOX 8
• WDSU
• NOLA.com
• WWL 870 AM Radio
• You can also text "ZETA" to 888777 to get text updates.

I'm a weather junky and I need my fix, what do you recommend?

Again, please take advice of your local and national government when making decisions. However, like you, we like knowing what the Euro, GFS, UKMET, HMON, HWRF, COAMPS and Navy models are all doing at all times. For these people:

• /TropicalWeather - Your favorite tropics subreddit!
• Tropical Tidbits - Levi Cowan is providing some of the best analysis on storms out there. Please consider donating to his patreon.
• Hurricane Watch Net - Amateur Radio Operators trained to provide emergency information when stuff goes HAM.
• Mike's Weather Page - If you like seeing a website designed in the early 2000s with a bunch of hurricane graphics on one page, this is the spot for you.
• NBC 15 Youtube Channel - Mobile is part of the Swampborn Krewe and they have Alan Sealls on the team, arguably one of the best Hurricane Meteorologists the South has. Highly recommend watching his daily videos (they get posted on /tropicalweather).
• Tropicswx.com - Made by redditor Michael424242, similar to Mike's Weather Page, it's an aggregated dashboard of all the things.
• Yale Climate Connections - Weather Underground used to maintain one of the best blogs called Category 6, after being bought by the Weather Channel, they shut it down. Jeff Masters has moved to the Yale Climate Connections being posted under "Eye on the Storm."

Should I evacuate?

Please refer to the above local/national section when making your evacuation plans. Every person's situation is different. Please begin making preparations 3-4 days out. We will attempt to monitor and post evacuation updates below. For a complete up to date list, please visit this WDSU link.
Mandatory Evacuations (As of 10/28):
Orleans Parish

Officials haven't declared any mandatory evacuations in this parish yet. Stay tuned for updates.

Jefferson Parish

• Mandatory evacuation for campers, RVs and boats in Grand Isle starting at 11 a.m. Monday.
• A mandatory evacuation for the town of Jean Lafitte, Lower Lafitte, Crown Point and Barataria starting at 6am on Wednesday.

St. Bernard Parish

Officials haven't declared any mandatory evacuations in this parish yet. Stay tuned for updates.

Plaquemines Parish

Officials haven't declared any mandatory evacuations in this parish yet. Stay tuned for updates.

St. Tammany Parish

Officials haven't declared any mandatory evacuations in this parish yet. Stay tuned for updates.

Terrebone Parish

Due to the potential of 2-4 feet of storm surge outside of the Terrebonne Levee and Conservation District Morganza to the Gulf Levee System and the coastal areas of Terrebonne Parish by Hurricane Delta, Parish President Gordon Dove and Terrebonne Parish Sheriff Tim Soignet are calling for a mandatory evacuation of Zone 1 of Terrebonne Parish, effective at 10 a.m. Starting 10/28, ALL residents living in manufactured homes in Zone 2, which includes the communities of Lower Dularge, Dulac, Chauvin, Montegut and Pointe Aux Chene are under a mandatory evacuation.

Voluntary Evacuations (As of 10/28):
Orleans Parish

Voluntary evacuation for areas outside levees that include Venetian Isles, Lake Catherine and Irish Bayou starting at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Jefferson Parish

A voluntary evacuation is in effect for the town of Jean Lafitte, Lower Lafitte, Crown Point and Barataria and will go into effect at 4pm on Tuesday. This has become a mandatory evacuation.

St. Bernard Parish

Officials haven't declared any voluntary evacuations in this parish yet. Stay tuned for updates.

Plaquemines Parish

Effective 8 a.m., Wednesday, October 28, 2020 Voluntary Evacuation will be ordered for the following areas:

• The entire East Bank of Plaquemines Parish
• West Bank of Plaquemines Parish from Phillips 66 Alliance Refinery to Venice.

St. Tammany Parish

Officials haven't declared any voluntary evacuations in this parish yet. Stay tuned for updates.

Terrebone Parish

A voluntary evacuation of ONLY the Pointe-aux-Chenes area of Zone 2 effective at 10 a.m.

What schools will be closed?

Schools will likely be closed the day before the storm. Depending on the extent of the damage and various other factors (power, water, etc.) it's unknown for how long the schools will be closed for.
We recommend that you monitor your local parish's school district websites for up to date information on school closures. That being said, we'll post information as it becomes available. Please refer to this WWLTV article for up to date school closure information.
Please note, most of these notices apply to public schools. Most private institutions abide by the local Parish's closures, but please refer to your specific school for up to date information.
Additional Commentary: Sorry kids, it looks like 2020 has decided that schools will just go virtual instead of close! RIP Storm Days.
Orleans Parish

• Public Schools will do virtual learning Wednesday and Thursday.
• Catholic Schools will do virtual learning Wednesday.
• University of Holy Cross (Closed Wednesday, TBA Thursday)
• University of New Orleans (All classes will be online starting Wednesday)
• St. Katharine Drexel Prep will do virtual learning Wednesday
• SUNO will do virtual learning Wednesday
• Delgado closed Wednesday no virtual learning either (whoa!)
• Loyola will do virtual classes Wednesday. Thursday TBD.
• NOCCA will close at 1 pm Wednesday, reopen at 1 pm Thursday
• St. Katharine Drexel Prep will do virtual learning Wednesday

Jefferson Parish

• Jefferson Parish schools to do virtual learning Wednesday, Thursday classes are cancelled.
• Catholic schools will do virtual learning Wednesday
• Concordia Lutheran (Closed Wednesday)
• Ridgewood Prep closed Wednesday

St. Bernard Parish

• St. Bernard Parish public schools will do virtual learning on Wednesday
• Nunez Community College will do virtual learning Wednesday

Plaquemines Parish

• Plaquemines Parish public schools will do virtual learning until further notice

St. Tammany Parish

• St. Tammany Parish public schools will be closed Wednesday (Rare Storm Day!)
• Northshore Technical Community College will do virtual learning Wednesday
• St. Margaret Mary Catholic will conduct virtual learning Wednesday

Cat 3 then flee, otherwise I'm staying.

Cool. Good For You! Some people aren't so lucky and can't afford to stay. However, here's some general advice for those of us who are new to those whole hurricane thing:

• Expect your power to go out. Entergy NOLA is a regulated monopoly and it's hot garbage. You should anticipate your power going out for up to a month in the middle of October (Maybe Sweater Weather).
• Expect it to flood. If you're expecting the SWBNO to do their job, I have a bridge to sell you. Move your cars to the neutral ground or a high spot.
• Wear your damn masks. THIS IS A 2020 COMBO SPECIAL!
• Fill up your gas tanks. Or charge your electric car. Doesn't matter, just make sure you can leave if you need to.
• Stock up on your essentials. Do this now. Do not wait. Cosmic Brownies will sell out.
• Get cash from the ATM. What? You think credit cards and apple pay works during a power outage? Nope! Prepare to go analog and get some cold hard cash from the ATM. When you need to go to Schwegmann's to get some rice and beans, you'll be able to pay.
• Get you and your pets medicines. This is often overlooked. If you have essential medical needs, get your refills now (this includes the good bois and cool cats and kittens).
• Fill up your bathtub the night before. Boil advisories are expected and you will need water to flush the toilets.
• Put bottled water in the freezer. Trust me on this one, fill your freezer to the MAX with water bottles. It will keep your freezer colder for longer and you'll have cool water during an extended power outage. Also, keep your fridge and freezer closed for as long as you can.
• Charge your spare batteries. If you have external rechargeable batteries for your phones, charge them up now. This includes laptops as well - you can charge your phone with a laptop!
• Turn around, don't drown. Do not be a dumbass and drive through high water. I don't care if your Tesla can float or if your F150 is lifted for her pleasure. Don't drive through high water.
• GO VOTE EARLY! It's a late October surprise. Vote early so just in case the situation gets worse, you at least know you've done your civic duty, you patriot.

What should I buy?

/TropicalWeather has a fantastic mega-thread on this that we are stealing. We highly recommend visiting this link and making sure that you have all of these things in your household.
Also pop-tarts. All the pop-tarts. Brown sugar for life though.
New for October: C O S M I C B R O W N I E S

How much alcohol should I stock up on?

Yes.

What about public transportation? Will it still be operational?

While a lot of people don't have reliable alternative transportation, always make sure you have a plan. In general, you shouldn't expect public transport to operate during a hurricane. Don't rely upon it. Make plans to move to a safe location or a shelteevacuation center prior to the storm.
Should you need evacuation notices and/or assistance, please review the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority's website for further information on public transportation and and out of the city in the event of a mandatory evacuation.
Update as of 10/27 from RTA:

In preparation for expected impacts of Hurricane Zeta, the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority will suspend all bus, streetcar, and ferry services beginning at noon on Wednesday, October 28th. All transit operations will remain suspended until further notice and until it is deemed safe for service to resume.

Sandbags?

I will be publishing some of the major parishes below. For a more complete up to date list, please refer to this article on WWLTV:
Orleans Parish

In partnership with the New Orleans City Council, the City of New Orleans will provide sandbags on Tuesday, Oct. 27 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. (or until supplies last) at the following locations:

• Arthur Monday Center, 1111 Newton St.
• Dryades YMCA, 2220 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.
• Saint Maria Goretti Church, 7300 Crowder Blvd.
• NOFD Engine 8, Desire and Law Streets

Jefferson Parish

Officials haven't provided any update for this parish yet. Stay tuned for updates.

St. Bernard Parish

Officials haven't provided any update for this parish yet. Stay tuned for updates.

Plaquemines Parish

Starting today, October 27, 2020, at 12 PM Noon parish-wide sandbag locations will be open. See below for sandbag locations. Residents should bring their own shovels.10 bags max. Bags will be provided. :

• Plaquemines Parish Government Complex, PROWM Building (333 F. Edward Hebert Blvd, Belle Chasse, LA 70037)
• Port Sulphur YMCA, 278 Civic Drive, Port Sulphur, LA 70083
• Buras YMCA, 36342 Hwy 11, Buras, LA 70041
• Boothville Area across from Boothville-Venice Elementary School
• Davant Community Center, 15577 Hwy 15, Braithwaite, LA 70040
• Braithwaite Auditorium, 1253 LA-39, Braithwaite, LA 70040

St. Tammany Parish

Sandbags will be available at six locations on Tuesday, Oct. 27 from 7:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. People are asked to bring their own shovels. There will be help for the elderly or infirmed.

• St. Tammany Government- Building - 21410 Koop Dr., Mandeville
• Airport Road Barn - 34783 Grantham College Rd, Slidell, La
• The Old Levee District Site - 61134 Military Road (Hwy 190) Slidell, La.
• Fritchie Barn - 63119 Highway 1090 in Pearl River
• Keller Barn - 63131 Fish Hatchery Road, Lacombe
• Covington Barn - 1305 N. Florida Street, Covington

Can you sharpie this situation away?

Neither NOAA nor FEMA recommends this. It doesn't work.

What is Damp May Never Dry!

P.S. Check out the What is Damp May Never Dry Shirts if you haven't! Almost all the profits will be given to help SW Louisiana recover from Hurricanes Laura and Delta.

Hurricane Delta is currently a Category 3 hurricane and is expected to remain or near that strength at landfall.

• Check your local weather or emergency management agency for more specific information where you are.
  
• Here is the latest Public Advisory /En español aquí
  

A note on the name: When we go past 21 named hurricanes in a season, we switch to the Greek alphabet. It is 21 because in the English alphabet name list we do not use Q, U, X, Y and Z. This has only happened once before, in 2005. Here's the Greek alphabet, for reference: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Theta, Iota, Kappa, Lambda, Mu, Nu, Xi, Omicron ^{Persei 8} , Pi, Rho, Sigma, Tau, Upsilon, Phi, Chi, Psi, Omega. You can learn more about hurricane names here.
 
 
Please look to local news, local weather, and local and state emergency management agencies to find out more about how you may be affected, if you need to evacuate, and steps on getting prepared. Please everyone stay safe.
 
U Forecasts, Predictions, and Watches/Warnings

• Updates: National Hurricane Center, the NHC page on Delta, Weather.gov, wind speed, Google's Crisis Map
• Useful Twitter accounts: NHC-Atlantic, FEMA; NWS, and for NWS offices in New Orleans LA, Lake Charles LA, Birmingham AL, Jackson MS; Louisiana Department of Public Health Twitter, NOLA Ready
• Relevant Twitter hashtags with updates: #HurricaneDelta
• State specific emergency management agencies: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia
• For more information check out /TropicalWeather.

 
Tulsa Preparedness & Planning
College students should check out their university's emergency alert system - if you're not signed up to get notices, you should!
Useful links on: hurricane preparedness, emergency kits, emergency supplies for your car.
 
Louisburg Other things worth thinking about or getting:

• General: A cooler. Fun/mental health stuff - books, games, etc. Cash. Weather radio and batteries. Flashlights > candles. Backup cell phone, laptop, or other batteries. Extra water. Hand sanitizer. Comfort items (a toddler's blankie, the puppy's favorite toy, your grandpa's watch you can't imagine losing).
• Specialized: Transportation and assistive devices (think especially about children, pets, the elderly, people with disabilities).
• Cars: Gas. Window breakeseatbelt cutter.

 
Gattaca Florida Safety:

• Check your smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector batteries!
• Watch out for downed power lines. Never assume it is dead. Avoid it.
• Assume floodwaters are deeper than they look. Turn around, don't drown.
• Learn your flood and evacuation zones!
• Food safety from the FDA and USDA.
• If your home floods and you need to go up, head for the roof. Keep an ax in your attic to get out that way if you need it.
• Be aware of potential 911 delays.
• Evacuate! If you can, check on people you know to see if they need help evacuating if you can offer it or put them in touch with someone who can.

 
Hertfordshire Documentation:

• Bring it with you.
• Store it in a plastic bag to they are together and stay dry.
• House deed/rental agreement/lease.
• Insurance information (home, car, renters, medical, flood).
• Identification (ID card/driver's license, passport, Social Security card, marriage/birth certificates).
• Take photographs of your home before you evacuate and when you return. Good documentation of the damage may help if you need to file an aid or insurance claim.

 
For long-term preparedness, check out CERT training information.
 
Holland Evacuation

• Red Cross Shelter Finder
• Ready.gov Shelter Information

College Information
We'll be updating this list as we get information.
 
/CFB Ball Louisiana

University	Update	Sources
Grambling State	Monitoring	1
Louisiana Tech	Monitoring	2
LSU	Monitoring	3
LSU Alexandria	Online on Friday	15
McNeese State	Closed scheduled to reopen on Monday 10/12/20	4
Nicholls State	Monitoring	5
Tulane	Monitoring	6
South Louisiana Community College	Classes after noon on Thursday move to online. Classes canceled Friday.	18
Southeastern Louisiana	Monitoring	7
Southern University	Classes after noon on Thursday move to online. Classes canceled Friday.	8, 17
UL Lafayette	Classes after noon on Thursday move to online. Classes canceled Friday.	9, 16
New Orleans	Monitoring	10
Dillard University	Monitoring	11
University of Holy Cross	Monitoring	12
Loyola University New Orleans	Monitoring	13
Xavier University Louisiana	Monitoring	14

 
Sources
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18
 
Touchdown Game Information Penalty Flag
We'll be updating this list as we get information.
This list includes all games played with teams in affected states. Many may not be affected, but given the ripple effects of things like travel and the particular complications of scheduling this season, we've listed them all here for reference.

Date	Time	Home Team	Away Team	Game Location	Update
10/8	7:30 PM ET	Houston	Tulane	Houston, TX
10/10	Noon	Liberty	ULM	Lynchburg, VA
10/10 10/14	Noon 7:30pm ET	Louisiana	Coastal Carolina	Lafayette, LA	Date and time changed. Source
10/10	4:00 PM ET	Auburn	Arkansas	Auburn, AL
10/10	4:00 PM ET	Southern Miss	FAU	Hattiesburg, MS	Postponed. Source
10/10	6:00 PM ET	Ole Miss	Alabama	Oxford, MS	Pushed back to 6:30 PM ET Source
10/10	7:30 PM ET	Louisiana Tech	UTEP	Ruston, LA
10/10	7:30 PM ET	Kentucky	Mississippi State	Lexintgon, KY
10/10	9:00 12:00 PM ET	LSU Missouri	Missouri LSU	Baton Rouge, LA Columbia, MO	Time and location changed. Source

 
Learn More

• What are different hurricane categories?
• What is the difference between a watch and a warning?
• What is the Waffle House Index?

What is Damp May Never Dry!

This thread has been updated as of 3pm on 9/14
A storm is in the gulf and might be headed our way. As such, it's time for a megathread!
In order to make it easier and provide current information to individuals, please keep the conversations surrounding the storm to this thread. We are trying to consolidate the more serious conversations/information to this thread. It is highly recommend that you sort comments by new given the changing environment
For the time being, memes and funny-ish posts can be standalone posts. This is subject to change depending on how the situation evolves. Despite all the humor surrounding it, please take this event seriously and make plans based upon your needs.
Below is some general information/advice, but should not be taken as official recommendations. Please listen to local/national authorities in determining your next course of actions. I will try to update this post with current information when I can.
Once the storm gets closer to landfall, we will switch from this standalone post to the /TropicalWeather live thread as it's a great resource to get up to date information on the storm.
P.S. If you believe something should be appended/amended to this post, please let me know and I'll be happy to consider it.

What is happening?

Hurricane Sally is off the SE Coast of Louisiana and is anticipated to keep moving NW towards the Louisiana/Mississippi Gulf Coast over the next 48 hours. The storm is projected to reach hurricane force winds before making landfall sometime between very late Monday night/Tuesday morning. Most models are now predicting a Cat 2-3 landfall.
This storm is not necessarily going to be a huge wind concern - but due to the slow moving nature of the storm, this is expected to be a major rain event with up to 10" anticipated over the next week.
As of 2:40pm on 9/14, the storm has moved slightly more east and we're expecting an Gulfport/Biloxi landfall. We're still not out of the woods yet, but it looks like we might get some western rain bands (as dry as the western side looks). Expect the worst, hope for the best.

Where can I get more information on projected paths, evacuation notices, and general preparation information?

As always, we recommend paying attention to local and national media forecasts. Here are some official government links for you to monitor:

• NOAA/National Hurricane Center
• NOLA Ready
• NWS New Orleans
• State of Louisiana Emergency Portal

And some local news sources as well:

• WWLTV
• FOX 8
• WDSU
• NOLA.com
• WWL 870 AM Radio
• You can also text "SALLY" to 888777 to get text updates.

I'm a weather junky and I need my fix, what do you recommend?

Again, please take advice of your local and national government when making decisions. However, like you, I like knowing what the Euro, GFS, UKMET, HMON, HWRF, COAMPS and Navy models are all doing at all times. For these people:

• /TropicalWeather - Your favorite tropics subreddit!
• Tropical Tidbits - Levi Cowan is providing some of the best analysis on storms out there. Please consider donating to his patreon.
• Hurricane Watch Net - Amateur Radio Operators trained to provide emergency information when stuff goes HAM.
• Mike's Weather Page - If you like seeing a website designed in the early 2000s with a bunch of hurricane graphics on one page, this is the spot for you.
• NBC 15 Youtube Channel - Mobile is part of the Swampborn Krewe and they have Alan Sealls on the team, arguably one of the best Hurricane Meteorologists the South has. Highly recommend watching his daily videos (they get posted on /tropicalweather).
• Tropicswx.com - Made by redditor Michael424242, similar to Mike's Weather Page, it's an aggregated dashboard of all the things.
• Yale Climate Connections - Weather Underground used to maintain one of the best blogs called Category 6, after being bought by the Weather Channel, they shut it down. Jeff Masters has moved to the Yale Climate Connections being posted under "Eye on the Storm."

Should I evacuate?

Please refer to the above local/national section when making your evacuation plans. Every person's situation is different. Please begin making preparations 3-4 days out. I will attempt to monitor and post evacuation updates below, but please refer to this article by WWLTV for more up to date information:
Mandatory Evacuations (As of 9/13):

• The city of New Orleans is calling for a mandatory evacuation of areas outside of the levee protection system — Lake Catherine, Venetian Isles and Irish Bayou, starting Sunday due to forecasts for storm surge associated with Tropical Storm Sally.
  
• The entire East Bank of Plaquemines Parish and for areas on the west bank outside of the levee protection system - Myrtle Grove, Lake Hermitage, Woodpark, Happy Jack, Grand Bayou and Tidewater. Starts Sunday at Noon.
  
• The entirety of St. Charles parish is under a mandatory evacuation, effective Sunday.
  
• St John Parish: Areas North of Airline Hwy (including but not limited to: Cambridge, River Forest, Foxwood, Laplace Park, Belle Terre, New Era, Sugar Ridge)
  
• St John Parish: Pleasure Bend and low-lying areas North of I-10 in LaPlace, including Frenier, Peavine and Manchac.
  

Voluntary Evacuations (As of 9/13):

• Grand Isle Voluntary evacuation requested by 8 a.m. Sunday
  
• West Bank from Phillips 66 Alliance Refinery to Venice inside the levee protection system. Starts Sunday at Noon.
  
• Voluntary Evacuation from the community of Oakville to Phillips 66 Alliance Refinery.
  
• Port Fourchon is under a recommended evacuation ahead of Sally's arrival. Non-essential personnel should evacuate the port after securing any equipment in the area.
  
• The entirety of St. John Parish is under a voluntary evacuation, with parts in mandatory evacuation.
  
• All areas south (outside) of the Terrebonne Levee and Conservation District’s Morganza to the Gulf levee system beginning at noon Monday.
  
• Hancock County, Mississppi (Swampborn!) Beginning Monday at 7:00 a.m. for all low lying areas, residents living on rivers, river inlets, bayous, creeks, and in travel trailers, modular homes, mobile homes, homes under construction and or partially constructed homes.
  

Cat 3 then flee, otherwise I'm staying.

Cool. Good For You! Some people aren't so lucky and can't afford to stay. However, here's some general advice for those of us who are new to those whole hurricane thing:

• Expect your power to go out. Entergy NOLA is a regulated monopoly and it's hot garbage. You should anticipate your power going out for up to a month in the middle of September.
• Expect it to flood. If you're expecting the SWBNO to do their job, I have a bridge to sell you. Move your cars to the neutral ground or a high spot.
• Wear your damn masks. THIS IS A 2020 COMBO SPECIAL!
• Fill up your gas tanks. Or charge your electric car. Doesn't matter, just make sure you can leave if you need to.
• Stock up on your essentials. Do this now. Do not wait.
• Get cash from the ATM. What? You think credit cards and apple pay works during a power outage? Nope! Prepare to go analog and get some cold hard cash from the ATM. When you need to go to Schwegmann's to get some rice and beans, you'll be able to pay.
• Get you and your pets medicines. This is often overlooked. If you have essential medical needs, get your refills now (this includes the good bois and cool cats and kittens).
• Fill up your bathtub the night before. Boil advisories are expected and you will need water to flush the toilets.
• Put bottled water in the freezer. Trust me on this one, fill your freezer to the MAX with water bottles. It will keep your freezer colder for longer and you'll have cool water during an extended power outage. Also, keep your fridge and freezer closed for as long as you can.
• Charge your spare batteries. If you have external rechargeable batteries for your phones, charge them up now. This includes laptops as well - you can charge your phone with a laptop!
• Turn around, don't drown. Do not be a dumbass and drive through high water. I don't care if your Tesla can float or if your F150 is lifted for her pleasure. Don't drive through high water.

What should I buy?

/TropicalWeather has a fantastic mega-thread on this that I am stealing. I highly recommend visiting this link and making sure that you have all of these things in your household.
Also pop-tarts. All the pop-tarts. Brown sugar for life though.

How much alcohol should I stock up on?

Yes.

What about public transportation? Will it still be operational?

While a lot of people don't have reliable alternative transportation, always make sure you have a plan. In general, you shouldn't expect public transport to operate during a hurricane. Don't rely upon it. Make plans to move to a safe location or a shelteevacuation center prior to the storm.
Should you need evacuation notices and/or assistance, please review the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority's website for further information on public transportation and and out of the city in the event of a mandatory evacuation.
Update as of 9/13 from RTA:

In preparation for expected impacts of Hurricane Sally to the Gulf Coast region, the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority will suspend all bus and streetcar service beginning at noon on Monday, September 14th. Ferry services will be suspended after normal operations on Sunday, September 13. Services will remain suspended until further notice.

What schools will be closed?

Schools will likely be closed the day before the storm. Depending on the extent of the damage and various other factors (power, water, etc.) it's unknown for how long the schools will be closed for.
It's recommended that you monitor your local parish's school district websites for up to date information on school closures. That being said, we'll post information as it becomes available. WWLTV tends to have a good up to date listing that's available here. Most private institutions abide by the local Parish's closures, but please refer to your specific school for up to date information.
For universities, please refer to your university's individual emergency guidance.
Orleans Parish

• Orleans Public Schools: No in-person instruction will begin across school campuses tomorrow. All schools will remain on distance learning through at least Wednesday of this week.
  
• UNO: All Monday courses will be delivered online. All Tuesday classes (in-person, online and hybrid) are canceled. No face-to-face courses will meet on campus on Monday. Only essential personnel should report to campus Monday and Tuesday. All other employees should work remotely Monday.Tuesday is an emergency closure day for all other employees. Campus Dining will continue to offer food service for students living in the residence halls.
  
• Loyola University New Orleans: Will be open for operations as normal tomorrow until 4 p.m. Evening classes on Monday are suspended. Operations will be suspended Tuesday.
  
• Tulane: Classes will be held until noon Monday. Both online and in-person classes are canceled Monday afternoon through Tuesday. Wednesdays operating status will be determined in the coming days.
  
• New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary/ Leavell College: Cancelled classes and closed offices Monday-Wednesday
  
• New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary: Closed Monday through Wednesday
  
• NOCCA: Student classes/distance learning is cancelled Monday and Tuesday
  

Jefferson Parish

• All Jefferson Parish public schools will be closed Monday and Tuesday, as well as administrative buildings. All school and district activities are canceled during the two-day period and will be rescheduled.
  
• Concordia Lutheran School: Closed Monday. Closure decisions will be made daily by school administrators.
  
• JCFA East will be closed Tuesday and will ask students to work virtually on Wednesday.
  
• JCFA West will be closed Tuesday and will ask students to work virtually on Wednesday.
  

St. Tammany Parish

• Kehoe-France Northshore will be open on Monday and closed on Tuesday.

Plaquemines Parish

• All schools within the Plaquemines Parish School Board will be closed on Monday and Tuesday. Notifications of the school reopening date will be released at a later time.
  
• Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Belle Chasse: Closed Monday and Tuesday. Reopening information will be announced at a later date
  

St. Bernard Parish

• St. Bernard Parish Public School System schools and offices will be closed Monday. This closure includes students currently enrolled in our virtual learning program. Further updates will be provided on St. Bernard social media accounts and websites.
  
• Nunez Community College: Close Monday, Sept. 14 in anticipation of Tropical Storm Sally. Available classes will be offered virtually. Updates for Sept. 15 and beyond will be posted to Nunez.edu and all Nunez social media accounts.
  
• Our Lady of Prompt Succor in Chalmette: Will be closed Monday and Tuesday. Reopening information will be announced at a later date.
  

Lafourche Parish

• All Lafourche Parish schools will be closed Monday and Tuesday because of Sally. All employees will work remotely for those days, and virtual learning will be offered to all LPSD students to the best of the school district's ability. However, if teachers experience power outages, all virtual activities will be canceled. Also, any student that is unable to complete the assignments will be excused and allowed to make up any missed work. A decision will be made later concerning the remainder of the week.

Terrebonne Parish

• Terrebonne Parish public schools closed Monday and Tuesday

St. Charles Parish

• Public schools closed Monday through Wednesday for both in-person and virtual learning

Sandbags?

There is a complete list available from WWLTV. I will be publishing some of the major parishes below.
Orleans Parish:
Sandbags will be available beginning 8am on Sunday for Orleans Parish Residents:

• Arthur Monday Multi-Purpose Center, 1111 Newton Street
• Dryades YMCA, 2220 Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard
• Former Walmart and Sam’s parking lot, 6901 Bundy Road
• Milne Recreation Center, 5420 Franklin Avenue

St. Bernard Parish:
Self sandbagging will be available Sunday morning beginning at 8 a.m., going on until sand runs out. Residents can fill their sandbags at the following locations:

• St. Bernard Port – 100 Port Blvd., Chalmette.
• Government Complex – 8201 W. Judge Perez Dr., Chalmette.
• OTB – 4242 E. Judge Perez Dr., Meraux.
• Historic Courthouse – 1201 Bayou Rd., St. Bernard.

Plaquemines Parish:
Beginning at 10 a.m., parish-wide sandbag locations will be open, but residents should bring their own shovels and only take what they need. Bags will be provided. Residents can fill their sandbags at the following locations:

• Plaquemines Parish Government Complex, PROWM Building — 333 F. Edward Hebert Blvd, Belle Chasse, LA 70037)
• Port Sulphur YMCA — 278 Civic Dr, Port Sulphur, LA 70083
• Buras YMCA — 36342 Hwy 11, Buras, LA 70041
• Boothville Area across from Boothville-Venice Elementary School — Oiler Dr #1, Boothville, LA 70038
• Davant Community Center — 15577 Hwy 15, Braithwaite, LA 70040
• Braithwaite Auditorium, —1253 LA-39, Braithwaite, LA 70040

St. Tammany Parish:
St. Tammany Parish Government will open six self-service sandbag locations beginning Sunday. All locations will have sand and bags provided. Residents are asked to bring their own shovels in case all shovels provided are in use. residents are asked to limit the number of sandbags to 15 per vehicle. There will be someone on-hand to help the elderly and/or disabled at each location.
The locations will be open Sunday 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Monday 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• St. Tammany Parish Government - Building — 21410 Koop Dr., Mandeville, La.
• St. Tammany Parish Public Works- Airport Road Barn — 34583 Grantham College Rd, Slidell, La.
• The Old Levee District Site — 61134 Military Road (Hwy 190), Slidell, La.
• St. Tammany Parish Public Works- Fritchie Barn — 63119 Highway 1090, Pearl River, La.
• St. Tammany Parish Public Works Barn- Keller Barn — 63131 Fish Hatchery Road, Lacombe, La.
• St. Tammany Parish Public Works Barn- Covington Barn — 1305 N. Florida Street, Covington, La.

Can you sharpie this situation away?

Neither NOAA nor FEMA recommends this. It doesn't work.

What is Damp May Never Dry!

New Orleans is known for its vibrant nightlife, delicious food, and most of all, the good music and correspondingly good vibes that reverberate through The Big Easy. There have been many artists from New Orleans who went on to do great things from jazz artists to R&B singers, to Grammy award-winning rap artists.
What people overlook, however, is the influence that the local music scene has on the city. A point and time ago you could wake up at 3 o’clock in the morning, head to a 24-hour bar with a live jazz band on stage, and just enjoy yourself. On Sundays, you might be stuck in standstill traffic behind a second line, which is literally a walking parade with instruments and people following and dancing behind it. If you were feeling a more chill and relaxed mood, you could catch the Jazz Market, which features local talent during a weekly showcase as crowds gather to listen. And if any of those might be too much for you, you can catch any number of vibey local spots on any day of the week and get a good karaoke session in.
But what if I told you all of that came to a halt? In March 2019 the state of Louisiana went into lockdown mode, which closed restaurants, bars, clubs, and any other social gathering locations. This was of course because of COVID-19. At first, we were told to quarantine and stay in our homes for two weeks and everything would return to normal. So we all held tight to optimism that this was temporary. After the two weeks, we were told the lockdown was being extended a month and then things started to look bleaker.
When the month past, gyms, bars, and restaurants started to slowly reopen with limited capacity and new restrictions, but there was one group of people who were still on the back burner, the musicians. In 2020, New Orleans lost 75% of its live music revenue, according to Yahoo. Despite petitions, protests, and efforts made to mobilize city officials, the New Orleans music scene still has not recovered. As we inch toward a year of dark stages, the toll on our music community continues to mount.
In November 2019, New Orleans voted to slowly work live entertainment back into the city. But so far, it is nothing like it used to be. The city is now requiring all live entertainment to obtain a special—$100—event permit in order for the event to go on. You have to submit COVID-precaution forms and answer questions about the details of the function. Performances are limited to front yards, bars with an enclosed gate in the courtyard, wedding receptions, and adult entertainment venues, which follow the city guidelines of phase 3.3 (which limits capacity and emphasizes social distancing).
To dig a little deeper, I spoke to New Orleans resident and hip-hop artist, Chadvett Ebanks aka Chad Solo. Chad has been making music for over 10 years and has studied the beats of the city and bars of the greats. I asked Chad what has been the most challenging part of the music scene being shutdown? He replied, “there really is no challenge, all it does is help me focus on the music and the lyrics more.”
I asked him how not being able to perform live has held him back. He responded, “It doesn’t hold me back. It just gives me more insight on what I can work on for the future. It also gives me time to work on my social media promotion and get fans engaged through the internet”.
While we know not every musician shares Chad’s resolute optimism and ability to adapt, hopefully, he can be an inspiration. Chad has been working nonstop on new music and says he has a project coming later this year. He says COVID won’t be an issue because he’s been staying on top of his game and he refuses to let this slow him down. The Save Our Stages Act that Congress passed at the end of the year is another source of hope. The bill will provide independent music venues a grant equal to 45% of their 2019 gross revenue.

Covid-19 Live Updates: A Growing Number of Countries Find Cases of the New Virus Variant
Japan, France, Spain, Sweden and Canada are the latest countries to discover infections with the potentially more transmissible variant first reported in Britain. Surveys show a clear majority of Americans now embrace coronavirus vaccines. Africa struggles with its second wave.
Japan, Spain, France, Sweden and Canada find cases of the new coronavirus variant.
The E.U.’s vaccinations are set to begin Sunday, but a few places have jumped the gun.
Central and Southern California have 0 percent I.C.U. capacity, in a state already low on hospital beds.
Thanksgiving travel swelled caseloads less than expected. Could a Christmas surge also be muted?
In a shift, more Americans say they are eager to get vaccinated.
Even as health workers receive the vaccine, their family members must wait.
‘The second wave is here,’ and African doctors fear it will hit the continent harder than the first.
The pandemic’s blow to performing artists may create a ‘great cultural depression.’
Japan, Spain, France, Sweden and Canada find cases of the new coronavirus variant.
JAPAN IS CLOSED
The discovery of the virus variant in Japan prompted the country to close its borders to all new entry by nonresident foreigners.
The discovery of the virus variant in Japan prompted the country to close its borders to all new entry by nonresident foreigners. Credit...Kyodo News via Getty Images
Japan, Spain, France, Sweden and Canada have found small numbers of infections involving a new, potentially more transmissible variant of the coronavirus, most linked to travel from the U.K., where it was first detected.
The rapid spread of the variant led to the lockdown of London and southern England this week, prompted a temporary French blockade of the English Channel and resulted in countries around the world barring travelers from the U.K. Because few countries have the level of genomic surveillance that Britain does, there is concern that the variant may have been traveling across the world undetected for weeks.
A recent study by British scientists found no evidence that the variant is more deadly than others but estimated that it is 56 percent more contagious.
So far, the British variant has been diagnosed in seven people in Japan, the country’s health ministry said. All had either recently traveled to the U.K. or been in contact with someone who had.
The discovery in Japan prompted the country to close its borders to all new entry by nonresident foreigners. The ban will go into effect at midnight on Monday and last through the end of January, the public broadcaster NHK reported.
In Spain, the variant was found in the capital region, local authorities said on Saturday. Antonio Zapatero, a regional health official, said that four cases had been confirmed in Madrid, while another three were being treated as suspicious. At least two of the cases involve people who had recently been to Britain and then tested positive in Madrid, as well as some of their relatives.
The first case of the new fast-spreading variant of the coronavirus in France was identified on Friday, according to the French health ministry. Officials said that the patient was a French citizen living in Britain who had traveled from London to Tours, a city in central France, on Dec. 19, a day before the British government imposed a lockdown following the emergence of the variant.
Officials in Sweden announced on Saturday that a case of the variant had been detected there after a traveler visited Sormland, near Stockholm, from the United Kingdom over Christmas, Reuters reported. No additional cases had been detected, the Public Health Agency of Sweden said.
Health officials in Ontario, Canada, said on Saturday that they had confirmed two cases of the variant in the province. The two cases were a couple from Durham, about 90 miles northwest of Toronto. The couple had no known travel history, exposure or high-risk contacts, the province’s health ministry said.
It is normal for viruses to mutate, and most of the mutations of the coronavirus have proved minor. The British variant has a constellation of 23 mutations, several of which might alter its transmissibility. Vaccine experts are confident that the available vaccines will be able to block the new variant, although that has to be confirmed by laboratory experiments that are now underway.
The European Union’s member nations are scheduled to begin vaccinating against the virus on Sunday with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Hungary began administering the vaccine a day early, on Saturday.
A few other concerning variants have also been identified, including one in South Africa and another in Nigeria. The U.K. said on Thursday that it would ban travel from South Africa after the British health secretary, Matt Hancock, said two people were confirmed to have been infected with the variant that emerged there.
Germany and Singapore have identified infections with the new variant. And Denmark, which has wider genomic surveillance than many other countries, detected 33 cases of the variant from Nov. 14 to Dec. 14, according to the Danish health authorities.
The U.S. has not yet reported any cases of the U.K. variant. But the country will require all airline passengers arriving from Britain to test negative for the coronavirus within 72 hours of their departure, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. The rule will take effect on Monday.
Hisako Ueno and Mike Ives contributed reporting.
— Ben Dooley, Raphael Minder, Marc Santora, Isabella Kwai and Norimitsu Onishi
Tracking the Coronavirus ›
United States
On Dec. 25 14-day change
New cases 91,922* –11%
New deaths 1,129* –1%
*
World
On Dec. 25 14-day change
467,358 –5%
8,084 –1%
Where cases per capita are highest
Calif.
Tenn.
Ariz.
Ala.
Okla.
Ark.
Ind.
W.Va.
Del.
Miss.
Nev.
Pa.
Ga.
Utah
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/12/26/world/covid-updates-coronavirus
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3 European Countries Begin Coronavirus Vaccinations Early
Germany, Hungary and Slovakia began administering the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine on Saturday, one day ahead of the European Union’s official rollout.
Credit...Zsolt Czegledi/EPA, via Shutterstock
A 101-year-old woman in a nursing home in eastern Germany became the country’s first recipient of the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine on Saturday, a day ahead of the European Union’s planned immunization campaign, an ambitious effort to eventually inoculate more than 450 million people across the 27 nations in the European Union against the coronavirus.
Vaccinations also began in Hungary, where photographs showed health care workers getting the shot at the Southern Pest Central Hospital in Budapest. The authorities in Slovakia also began administering their first doses on Saturday, Reuters reported.
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Union’s executive arm, released a video in advance of the official rollout on Sunday, calling the campaign “a touching moment of unity.”
Roughly two-thirds of all Germans are willing to be vaccinated against coronavirus, according to a survey conducted by YouGov for the German news agency D.P.A., but more than half of respondents said they were concerned about possible side effects.
The doses for Europe are being produced at BioNTech’s manufacturing sites in Germany, and Pfizer’s site in Puurs, Belgium, according to the two companies, and countries across the bloc have begun receiving their first deliveries.
In Germany, all 16 states received 9,750 doses of the vaccine on Saturday. Each state is to send them to regional immunization centers, and then teams of drivers are to distribute them to nursing homes and care centers for the elderly across the country.
Karsten Fischer, who is responsible for managing the response to the pandemic in the Harz district of Saxony-Anhalt, said the logistics in his region made it possible to begin vaccinations within hours of receiving the doses, and he saw no reason to wait.
“We did not want to waste a day, as the stability of the vaccine decreases over time,” Mr. Fischer told the public broadcaster M.D.R. “We wanted to begin administering immediately.”
The first inoculation was administered in the city of Halberstadt, to 101-year-old Edith Kwoizalla; 40 other residents and 11 members of the staff at the nursing home also received doses, M.D.R. reported.
“Every day we wait is one day too many,” Tobias Krüger, the director of the home, told reporters.
Germany’s eastern states have been hardest hit by the second wave of the virus. More than 1.6 million people have been infected in the country, and more than 29,400 have died, many of them older citizens, especially those living in nursing homes.
Residents of nursing homes and their caregivers, as well as emergency medical staff and individuals 80 years and older, are set to be among the first vaccinated in Germany, based on a plan that was drawn up by leaders, medical advisers and members of the national Ethics Council. Members of the government do not plan to receive inoculations before their peers, Jens Spahn, the country’s health minister, said on Saturday.
“We have deliberately said that we will begin offering the vaccine to the most fragile,” Mr. Spahn said. “If there comes a time when it makes sense, say to bolster confidence, each one of us is ready to be vaccinated.”
— Melissa Eddy
Central and Southern California have 0 percent I.C.U. capacity, in a state already low on hospital beds.
Gabriella Ortega, a respiratory therapist, speaks to a health care worker who is helping to treat a Covid-19 patient at Providence St. Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley, Calif., on Dec. 17.
Gabriella Ortega, a respiratory therapist, speaks to a health care worker who is helping to treat a Covid-19 patient at Providence St. Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley, Calif., on Dec. 17.Credit...Ariana Drehsler for The New York Times
California, the wealthiest and most populous state of the world’s wealthiest country, has long had a dearth of hospital beds — just 1.8 beds per 1,000 people, according to 2018 data compiled by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Now a record-shattering slew of coronavirus cases has wiped out intensive care unit capacity in a large swath of the state.
Southern California, its most populous region, and San Joaquin Valley, a central region, have 0 percent I.C.U. capacity, keeping them under a stay-at-home order until at least Dec. 28, the California Department of Public Health said on Saturday.
Intensive care units in the Bay Area region are at 11.3 percent capacity and the Greater Sacramento Region has 16.9 percent capacity. Both will likely remain under the order at least into the new year.
Before the pandemic, California’s ratio of hospital beds per person was only slightly higher than Washington State and Oregon, both of which ranked last in the nation. Many of the state’s hospitals kept their number of beds low in part to limit costs.
I.C.U. beds have been limited as well: California only had 2.1 beds per 10,000 people, more plentiful than just 10 other states, according to KFF’s 2018 data.
California is the first U.S. state to report more than 2 million coronavirus cases so far. On Friday, the weekly average of new cases per day in the state was 36,418, according to a New York Times database. That is a 21 percent increase from two weeks prior.
The situation is now out of control, officials and health care workers have warned. At Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in South Los Angeles, resources are so stretched that gurneys have been placed in the gift shop and the lobby is being used to treat patients. And keeping health care facilities sufficiently staffed has been yet another hurdle.
Many European countries are under restrictions, but Christmas is celebrated so broadly — and New Year’s festivities will follow shortly — that the concern of a post-holiday spike reaches far beyond a single country.
Case numbers remain about as high as they have ever been, both in the U.S. and throughout the world. Total U.S. infections are about to reach 19 million, while the world total surpassed 80 million on Saturday afternoon, according to a New York Times database.
For now, the U.S. is no longer seeing overall explosive growth, although California’s worsening outbreak has canceled out progress in other parts of the country. The state has added more than 300,000 cases in the seven-day period ending Dec. 22. And six Southern states have seen sustained case increases in the last week: Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida and Texas.
The country’s virus-related deaths in general have continued to climb. And hospitalizations are hovering at a pandemic height of about 120,000, according to the Covid Tracking Project.
More than 330,000 people in the United States have died since the pandemic began, and two of the four worst days for deaths so far have been during the past week. A number of states set death records on Dec. 22 or Dec. 23, including Alabama, Wisconsin, Arizona and West Virginia, according to The Times’s data.
Holiday reporting anomalies may obscure any post-Christmas spike until the second week of January. Testing was expected to decrease around Christmas, and many states have said they would not report data on certain days. For Dec. 25, numbers for both new infections, 91,922, and deaths, 1,129, were significantly lower than the seven-day averages.
The lessons learned from Thanksgiving are mixed. Case numbers and deaths have continued to rise since, but the patterns look more like a plethora of microspreads than a mass superspreader event.
Over all, experts have told The Times, areas of the U.S. that were improving pre-Thanksgiving — like the Midwest — continued to do well afterward, while regions that were seeing higher numbers before the holiday continued to worsen.
Only time will tell whether new infections will result from increased exposure during the late-December holidays — from seeing family, passing through airports or buying food for celebrations. More than one million people passed through Transportation Safety Administration travel checkpoints on each of four recent days — Dec. 18, 19, 20 and 23 — but that was less than half the number for those days last year, according to the agency’s data. Only a quarter of the number who flew on the day after Christmas last year did so on Friday, and Christmas Eve travel was down by one-third from 2019.
So, as with Thanksgiving, Christmas will produce “a continuing ramification” of whoever is infected over the winter holidays, said Catherine L. Troisi, an infectious-disease epidemiologist at the University of Texas’ School of Public Health in Houston, so it is crucial to keep up protective measures.
Ever since the race to develop a coronavirus vaccine began last spring, upbeat announcements were stalked by ominous polls: No matter how encouraging the news, growing numbers of people said they would refuse to get the shot.
The time frame was dangerously accelerated, many people warned. The vaccine was a scam from Big Pharma, others said. A political ploy by the Trump administration, many Democrats charged. The internet pulsed with apocalyptic predictions from longtime vaccine opponents, who decried the new shot as the epitome of every concern they’d ever put forth.
But over the past few weeks, as the vaccine went from a hypothetical to a reality, something happened. Fresh surveys show attitudes shifting and a clear majority of Americans now eager to get vaccinated.
In polls by Gallup, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Pew Research Center, the portion of people saying they are now likely or certain to take the vaccine has grown from about 50 percent this summer to more than 60 percent, and in one poll 73 percent — a figure that approaches what some public health experts say would be sufficient for herd immunity.
Resistance to the vaccine is certainly not vanishing. Misinformation and dire warnings are gathering force across social media. At a meeting on December 20, members of an advisory panel to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cited strong indications that vaccine denouncements as well as acceptance are growing, so they could not predict whether the public would gobble up limited supplies or take a pass.
But the attitude improvement is striking. A similar shift on another heated pandemic issue was reflected in a different Kaiser poll this month. It found that nearly 75 percent of Americans are now wearing masks when they leave their homes.
The change reflects a constellation of recent events: the uncoupling of the vaccine from Election Day; clinical trial results showing about 95 percent efficacy and relatively modest side effects for the vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna; and the alarming surge in new coronavirus infections and deaths.
— Jan Hoffman
Even as health workers receive the vaccine, their family members must wait.
Dr. Taison Bell and his wife Kristen with family at home in Charlottesville, Va. Unanswered questions about how well the vaccine prevents the spread of Covid-19 means that safety precautions must stay in place among the vaccinated.
Dr. Taison Bell and his wife Kristen with family at home in Charlottesville, Va. Unanswered questions about how well the vaccine prevents the spread of Covid-19 means that safety precautions must stay in place among the vaccinated.Credit...Eze Amos for The New York Times
Shortly after 2 p.m. on Dec. 15, Dr. Taison Bell became the second person in his hospital, UVA Health in Charlottesville, to receive a dose of Pfizer’s new coronavirus vaccine. “I feel fine,” he said. “But my right arm, if you were to interview it, is probably not excited about what’s happened to it.”
👉🏼His limb experienced a bit of swelling and soreness, nothing out of the ordinary for a vaccine. It was a sign that the injection was doing its job: instructing Dr. Bell’s cells to churn out a protein called spike, which will teach his immune system to recognize and thwart the new coronavirus, should he ever encounter it. His second dose, scheduled for early January, will clinch the process.
The shot introduced a microscopic shift that will have an outsize impact on his risk of getting Covid-19. But, Dr. Bell said, little else in his life will change until more of his community joins the vaccinated pool.
Dr. Bell, 37, remains a relative rarity among the people he sees both inside and outside of work. His wife, Kristen, and their children, Alain and Ruby, are unlikely to be vaccinated before the spring or summer. They, like many others, will soon live in a home divided by the splinter-thin prick of a needle — one person vaccinated, three not. They represent a liminal state that will persist for months nationwide, as the first people to be injected navigate a new coexistence with the vulnerable at home.
Although the new vaccines have been shown to be highly effective at preventing people from developing symptomatic cases of Covid-19, little data exists on how well they can stop the spread of the virus, raising the possibility that vaccinated people, despite being much safer individually, could still pose a threat to those they love.
For that reason, “we’re still going to be taking all the same precautions,” Ms. Bell said. “Our day-to-day isn’t going to change for months, as the vaccines continue to get rolled out.
— Katherine J. Wu
A citizen journalist who chronicled Wuhan’s epidemic is going on trial.
Ms. Zhang in a video from her hotel room that she posted on YouTube. The unfiltered information she shared about the epidemic in her videos went against the government’s victorious narrative.
Ms. Zhang in a video from her hotel room that she posted on YouTube. The unfiltered information she shared about the epidemic in her videos went against the government’s victorious narrative.Credit...via YouTube
In one video, during the lockdown in Wuhan, she filmed a hospital hallway lined with rolling beds, the patients hooked up to blue oxygen tanks. In another, she panned over a community health center, noting that a man said he was charged for a coronavirus test, even though residents believed the tests would be free.
At the time, Zhang Zhan, a 37-year-old former lawyer turned citizen journalist, embodied the Chinese people’s hunger for unfiltered information about the epidemic. She was one of several journalists, professionals and amateurs, who had flocked to Wuhan after the lockdown was imposed in late January.
The authorities were preoccupied with trying to manage the chaos of the outbreak, and for a brief period, China’s strict censorship regime loosened. Reporters seized that window to share residents’ raw accounts of terror and fury.
Now, Ms. Zhang has become a symbol of the government’s efforts to deny its early failings in the crisis and promote a victorious narrative instead.
Ms. Zhang abruptly stopped posting videos in May, after several months of dispatches. The police later revealed that she had been arrested, accused of spreading lies. On Monday, she will go to court, in the first known trial of a chronicler of China’s coronavirus crisis.
The prosecution is part of the Chinese Communist Party’s continuing campaign to recast China’s handling of the outbreak as a succession of wise, triumphant moves by the government. Critics who have pointed to officials’ early missteps have been arrested, censored or threatened by police; three other citizen journalists disappeared from Wuhan before Ms. Zhang did, though none of the rest has been publicly charged.
Prosecutors have accused Ms. Zhang of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” — a frequent charge for government critics in China — and recommended between four and five years in prison.
Ms. Zhang appeared to know the risks of her actions. In one of her first videos, on Feb. 7, she mentioned that another citizen journalist, Chen Qiushi, had just disappeared, and another, Fang Bin, was under surveillance. Whistleblower doctors had been silenced, she added.
“But as someone who cares about the truth in this country, we have to say that if we just wallow in our sadness and don’t do something to change this reality, then our emotions are cheap,” she said.
Soon after her arrest, she began a hunger strike, according to her lawyers. She has become gaunt and drained but has refused to eat, the lawyers said, maintaining that her strike is her form of protest against her unjust detention.
— Vivian Wang
‘The second wave is here,’ and African doctors fear it will hit the continent harder than the first.
The Greenacres Hospital in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, has been overwhelmed by a crush of new virus cases.
The Greenacres Hospital in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, has been overwhelmed by a crush of new virus cases. Credit...Samantha Reinders for The New York Times
PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa — When the pandemic began, global public health officials raised grave concerns about the vulnerabilities of Africa. But its countries over all appeared to fare far better than those in Europe or the Americas, upending scientists’ expectations.
Now, the coronavirus is on the rise again in swaths of the continent, posing a new, possibly deadlier threat.
In South Africa, a crush of new cases that spread from Port Elizabeth is growing exponentially across the nation. Eight countries, including Nigeria, Uganda and Mali, recently recorded their highest daily case counts all year.
“The second wave is here,” John N. Nkengasong, the head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has declared.
When the virus was first detected, many African countries were considered particularly at risk because they had weak medical, laboratory and disease-surveillance systems and were already battling other contagions. Some were riven by armed conflict, limiting health workers’ access. In March, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the first African director-general of the World Health Organization, cautioned, “We have to prepare for the worst.”
But many African governments pursued swift, severe lockdowns that — while financially ruinous, especially for their poorest citizens — slowed the rate of infection. Some deployed networks of community health workers. The Africa C.D.C., the W.H.O. and other agencies helped expand testing and moved in protective gear, medical equipment and pharmaceuticals.
The reported toll of the pandemic on the continent — 2.6 million cases and 61,000 deaths, according to the Africa C.D.C. — is lower than what the United States alone currently experiences in three weeks.
But that accounting is almost certainly incomplete. Evidence is growing that many cases were missed, according to an analysis of new studies, visits to nearly a dozen medical institutions and interviews with more than 100 public health officials, scientists, government leaders and medical providers on the continent.
“It is possible and very likely that the rate of exposure is much more than what has been reported,” Dr. Nkengasong said in an interview.
Elsewhere, countries are bracing for their third lockdowns in the hopes of avoiding yet another wave of infections:
Austria entered a third lockdown on Saturday, with all nonessential shops and schools to remain closed for three weeks and movement to be restricted, after the country eased restrictions in mid-December to allow for preparations ahead of the Christmas holiday.
Until Jan. 24, people in Austria are only allowed to leave their homes for work, shopping or to exercise outdoors, and personal contacts are limited to no more than two households.
Ice skating rinks and ski lifts in the alpine country will remain open despite the lockdown, but operating at half capacity and with distancing requirements.
On Sunday, Israel is also set to enter its third weekslong lockdown following a sharp increase in positive coronavirus test results over the past week. Israelis will be barred from traveling more than 1,000 meters beyond their homes except those participating in protests, receiving a vaccination or fulfilling any other task on a list of exemptions, the government said in a statement on Friday.
Museums, malls, national parks, zoos, salons and many other places will be shuttered, but some schools will remain open, the government said. The lockdown is slated to go into effect about a week after Israel started vaccinating people against Covid-19. As of Saturday, more than 200,000 had already received the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
— Sheri Fink, Melissa Eddy and Adam Rasgon
The pandemic’s blow to performing artists may create a ‘great cultural depression.’
Soon after the pandemic struck, a year’s worth of bookings vanished for Jennifer Koh, an acclaimed classical violinist. She is now receiving food stamps.
Soon after the pandemic struck, a year’s worth of bookings vanished for Jennifer Koh, an acclaimed classical violinist. She is now receiving food stamps.Credit...Elias Williams for The New York Times
Since the start of the pandemic, millions of Americans have lost their jobs and tens of thousands of businesses have closed. But the losses in the performing arts and related sectors have been staggering.
During the quarter ending in September, when the overall unemployment rate averaged 8.5 percent, 52 percent of actors, 55 percent of dancers and 27 percent of musicians were out of work, according to the National Endowment for the Arts. By comparison, the jobless rate was 27 percent for waiters; 19 percent for cooks; and about 13 percent for retail salespeople over the same period.
In many areas, arts venues — theaters, clubs, performance spaces, concert halls, festivals — were the first businesses to close, and they are likely to be among the last to reopen.
The public may think of performers as A-list celebrities, but most never get near a red carpet or an awards show. The overwhelming majority, even in the best times, don’t benefit from Hollywood-size paychecks or institutional backing. They work season to season, weekend to weekend or day to day, moving from one gig to the next.
Jennifer Koh, a classical violinist with a dazzling technique, has ridden a career that any aspiring Juilliard grad would dream about — appearing with leading orchestras, recording new works, and performing on some of the world’s most prestigious stages.
Now, nine months into a contagion that has halted most public gatherings and decimated the performing arts, Ms. Koh, who watched a year’s worth of bookings evaporate, is playing music from her living room and receiving food stamps.
“My fear is we’re not just losing jobs, we’re losing careers,” said Adam Krauthamer, president of Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians in New York. He said 95 percent of the local’s 7,000 members were not working on a regular basis because of the mandated shutdown. “It will create a great cultural depression,” he added.
— Patricia Cohen
A nurse recalls 10 grueling months: ‘That’s how we took care of Louisiana.’
Yanti Turang, a nurse at University Medical Center in New Orleans, in March.
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Credit...William Widmer for The New York Times
As 2020 comes to a close, we are revisiting subjects whose lives were affected by the pandemic. When Campbell Robertson first spoke with Yanti Turang in March, she was working in a makeshift Covid-19 tent and treating patients with a novel coronavirus.
In the harrowing days of late March, Yanti Turang was a New Orleans emergency nurse with an ominously relevant résumé: Five years earlier, she had been working on the front lines of the Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone. What had been a curious background just a few weeks earlier was now expertise in demand.
A few days later, she was working in a Covid-19 tent when she got a call from a physician colleague. “She was like, ‘Can you help me build this hospital?” Ms. Turang recalled. “I said, ‘I don’t really know what you’re talking about.’”
This is how Ms. Turang became the deputy medical operations manager for the enormous field hospital set up by the National Guard in the New Orleans convention center. She would work there for the next eight months.
Though the census of patients at the convention center waxed and waned, it was a huge undertaking. Within her first week, Ms. Turang and her small team discovered that the field hospital was in many ways set up in preparation for a different kind of patient population than it would likely be getting. With the pandemic still new, she said, it was only just becoming clear how destructive it would be for people in nursing homes.
The convention center was set up to take in a typical mix of patients in hospital intensive care units — people who could feed themselves, could walk when they felt better and could turn over in bed on their own — so Ms. Turang and her team began hurriedly transforming it into a hospital designed to care for patients who are elderly, with all the chronic complications that go along with that.
“That’s the huge pivot that we made,” she said. “That’s how we took care of Louisiana.”
All of this work (she also took on a job as a medical consultant to a group of schools in the city) devoured her year. But this month, Ms. Turang was vaccinated, the first concrete signal that an end to the pandemic could be coming.
And after her shot, she did something that she had not allowed herself to do much over the last 10 exhausting, demanding, grief-filled months: She cried.
— Campbell Robertson
Pictures of unrefrigerated U-Haul trucks that stored bodies became one of the enduring images of the first wave of the pandemic in New York City.
Credit...Jonah Markowitz for The New York Times
At the marine terminal in South Brooklyn this month, a sign that said “funeral director” pointed to the left of a vast warehouse just past the guard gate. A row of 53-foot refrigerated trailers, about 20 in all, sat in the black-tarred parking lot.
New York City officials believe this little-known site will help them avoid a repeat of one of the most shocking tragedies of Covid-19’s first wave: the crush of bodies that overwhelmed the city’s capacity for dealing with the dead.
The city experienced a harrowing wave of fatalities as it became the global epicenter of the virus in the spring, with 17,507 confirmed virus deaths between March 14 and June 18. At the peak of the pandemic in early April, about 800 people died in a single day.
More than 135 refrigerated trailers were deployed to the streets around hospitals, in what became one of the most enduring images of the city’s crisis.
As of Dec. 4, the city’s facility at the marine terminal still held 529 bodies in long-term storage and 40 in refrigerated trailers — most of which had been there frozen for months. There is room for hundreds more. (The Wall Street Journal first reported that bodies were still being held at the facility.)
The city has not set a time limit on how long a body can remain there, as long as there are discussions underway with the family for a final resting place. The service is free, said Dr. Barbara Sampson, the city’s chief medical examiner.
How to find somewhere safe to store hundreds of bodies for long stretches was one of the hardest and most traumatic lessons in the first wave of the crisis, one that hospitals, funeral directors and the city medical examiner’s office are reviewing as the second wave of Covid-19 grows in New York.
During the first wave, shelves were placed inside the trailers at hospitals to double their storage capacity. But they were unstable and some collapsed when the trailers were moved. So the city sent strike teams of National Guard and medical examiner staff to hospitals to collect more than 2,000 bodies and bring them to the pier.
This time, the medical examiner has told hospitals not to install shelves, so trailers can be towed full to the pier.
— Sharon Otterman
RESILIENCE
A teacher in Iran bought hundreds of tablets for schoolchildren who could not afford them.
Hoseein Asadi has dedicated 28 years to educating elementary school children from villages and nomadic tribes in Iran.Credit...via Hoseein Asadi
Much as the pandemic has been a story of devastation and loss, it has also been one of resilience — of individual people, families and entire communities not only surviving a deadly threat but seeing in the moment a chance to serve others. We asked our correspondents around the world to share stories from this year that speak to the strength of the human spirit, and to how disruption can bring out the best in us.
The teacher had inherited $300,000 and was planning to buy a new car.
But when the virus came, and with it remote learning, he made a U-turn, instead deciding to buy 343 tablets for elementary school students shut out of class because their families could not afford the equipment.
For good measure, the teacher, Hoseein Asadi, also bought the children 30,000 masks to protect them from infection.
Overnight, Mr. Asadi became a national hero, appearing on state television and written about in local media outlets. The minister of education telephoned him to personally express his gratitude.
He has also inspired others to act.
State-owned industries, the private sector and ordinary Iranians have mobilized to raise money for tablets. Iranians in the diaspora as far away as Australia have also offered to help. So far, Mr. Asadi said, the education department has received and distributed 12,000 tablets to low-income school districts in several provinces.
“Creating happiness for kids who have nothing is the most rewarding feeling,” Mr. Asadi said.
— Farnaz Fassihi
Vaccines promise an end to the pandemic, but that future will not be evenly distributed.
A health worker taking a swab in Mumbai, India.
Credit...Divyakant Solanki/EPA, via Shutterstock
The end of the pandemic is finally in view. So is rescue from the most traumatic global economic catastrophe since the Great Depression. As coronavirus vaccines enter the bloodstream, recovery has become reality.
But the benefits will be far from equally apportioned.
Wealthy nations in Europe and North America have secured the bulk of limited stocks of vaccines, positioning themselves for starkly improved economic fortunes. Developing countries — home to most of humanity — are left to secure their own doses.
The lopsided distribution of vaccines appears certain to worsen a defining economic reality: The world that emerges from this terrifying chapter in history will be more unequal than ever. Poor countries will continue to be ravaged by the pandemic, forcing them to expend meager resources that are already stretched by growing debts to lenders in the United States, Europe and China.
The global economy has long been cleaved by profound disparities in wealth, education and access to vital elements like clean water, electricity and the internet. The pandemic has trained its death and destruction of livelihood on ethnic minorities, women and lower-income households. The ending is likely to add another division that could shape economic life for years, separating countries with access to vaccines from those without.
“It’s clear that developing countries, and especially poorer developing countries, are going to be excluded for some time,” said Richard Kozul-Wright, director of the division of globalization and development strategies at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in Geneva. “Despite the understanding that vaccines need to be seen as a global good, the provision remains largely under control of large pharmaceutical companies in the advanced economies.”
International aid organizations, philanthropists and wealthy nations have coalesced around a promise to ensure that all countries gain the tools needed to fight the pandemic, like protective gear for medical teams as well as tests, therapeutics and vaccines. But they have failed to back their assurances with enough money.
The leading initiative, the Act-Accelerator Partnership — an undertaking of the World Health Organization and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation among others — has secured less than $5 billion of a targeted $38 billion.
The United States has secured claims on as many as 1.5 billion doses of vaccine, while the European Union has locked up nearly two billion doses — enough to vaccinate all of their citizens and then some. Many poor countries could be left waiting until 2024 to fully vaccinate their populations.
India is home to pharmaceutical manufacturers that are producing vaccines for multinational companies including AstraZeneca, but its population is unlikely to be fully vaccinated before 2024, according to TS Lombard, an investment research firm in London. Its economy is likely to remain vulnerable.
“You need to vaccinate health care workers globally so you can reopen global markets,” said Clare Wenham, a health policy expert at the London School of Economics. “If every country in the world can say, ‘We know all our vulnerable people are vaccinated,’ then we can return to the global capitalist trading system much quicker.”
— Peter S. Goodman

updated as of 830pm 5/17
Please provide hard proof of business' irresponsibility (or good deeds for the venues we should support). We all know Tracey's and Still Perking are bad and why, but let's not shame businesses without proof. I'll update this list as names and proof (especially do not support) are posted. See how many times I mentioned proof? Don't "I saw blah blah blah" this shit.
There are currently 2 business on the do not support list and a few people are losing their fucking minds. The amount of good business so far has renewed a little of my faith in humanity. If your business, or the business you work for, is on the "do not support list," look at why. Then own up to your shit (or inform the owner so they can) and say what you're doing to rectify the issues.
Edit: Removed one business for now from "Do not support" Personal sources that have worked with owner agree that it was 50/50 chance he was hacked. Not good enough for me to keep on bad list or add to support
SUPPORT:

• All Relation brewery (Bartop fund to pay employees curbside beer!)
• Avenue Pub (taken shit seriously and great small business owner)
• Avery's on Tulane (Still closed, fed front line workers)
• Barcelona Tapas
• Bearcat (they're serving half price for service industry by phone orders)
• Blue Oak BBQ (They've been taking part in feeding service workers while still doing a good job of social distancing at their restaurant (to-go only))
• Boucherie (contributed to feeding healthcare workers free of charge while they were closed down (either directly or through Krewe of Red Beans in the past few months))
• Breaux Mart (has been maintaining safety standards & taking care of their employees from the outset)
• Brown Butter (Early social distancing measures, online and pay buy phone only orders)
• Buffa's (Set up a streaming service for performers to make $$ during shut down)
• Cake Cafe (Feed the front line)
• Carmo (has been providing free meals to anyone that needs it. )
• Cherry espresso (Front line worker support, social distancing)
• Circle Bar and Snake and Jakes (Phase 2 awesome bars that have supported local music, unconfirmed Circle Bar Struggling)
• Cochon and Link Restaurants (supplying meals three times a week to all of their employees and also other laid off service folks.)
• Coffee Science (good social distancing practices)
• Costco (Enforced social distancing, mask wearing, and product limits)
• Coquette (Worked with red beans to feed front line)
• Del Fuego taqueria (Curbside only, strict social distancing)
• District Donuts (strict social distancing, Buy a dozen donate a dozen for healthcare workers)
• Effervescence (Owner develvered food gave tips to laid off employees)
• El Pavo Real (social distance order and delivery)
• Finn's (handled social distancing and curbside correctly)
• Folgers Factory New Orleans (superb with enacting safety)
• French Truck (Closed their shops continued to delivered Coffee)
• Galaxie (Worked with red beans to feed front line)
• Good Karma Cafe (online ordering, tons of local produce, pickup at the door, social distancing, pay by Venmo, masks, plus great vegetarian, vegan, and healthy food)
• HEY CAFE COFFEE!
• Igors (Paying employees including estimated tip out)
• Joey K's (contributed to feeding healthcare workers free of charge while they were closed down (either directly or through Krewe of Red Beans in the past few months))
• Kermit's Mother in Law's Lounge (Free Hamburgers/ food for anyone sporadically)
• La Boulangerie
• Laurel Street Bakery (contributed to feeding healthcare workers free of charge while they were closed down (either directly or through Krewe of Red Beans in the past few months))
• Lilette (Worked with red beans to feed front line)
• Live Oak Cafe (Worked with red beans to feed front line)
• Manolito and Jewel of the South - (have taken precautions very seriously, quietly serving family meal to any out of work hospitality workers since day one. employee owned company that has been kept paid throughout and has health insurance etc already.)
• Marjie's Grill (Feeding first responders and healthcare workers)
• Mawi Tortillas (contributed to feeding healthcare workers free of charge while they were closed down (either directly or through Krewe of Red Beans in the past few months))
• Munch Factory (even with the city reopening business they still elect to only provide curbside service)
• Pagoda Cafe (Early protection measures, still closed, online tip jar)
• Paladar 511 (feeding first responders, takes care of staff)
• Palm and Pine (feeding unemployed service workers every Monday)
• Parkway (Front line worker and music industry support, PPE, golf cart parking lot develvery)
• Pat O’Brien’s bar (has been very good to its employees. Paying their insurance and in some cases for a 40 hour work) Still awaiting more confirmation
• Port Orleans (feeding medical staff and first responders, but eventually anyone could go over there and get a meal)
• Ruby Slipper (Fed employees and their families for the past 2 months)
• Saba (they’ve been providing food for healthcare workers)
• Sarita's Grill (contributed to feeding healthcare workers free of charge while they were closed down (either directly or through Krewe of Red Beans in the past few months))
• Second Line Brewing (Solid social distancing)
• Seven Three Distilling (Online only sales, made hand sanitizer, helped other small businesses)
• Small Mart (Converted store for better social distance ordering)
• Sneaky Pickle (Has been selling produce to stay afloat and help the community)
• Sofia (providing $4 meals to industry workers during the shut down & have been honoring the measures put in place to protect workers & guests)
• Solo Espresso (shut down early and opening sparingly. has gofund me to try and keep the doors open)
• Southerns (Feed frontline and hospitality workers)
• Steins (they've been doing a great job with protocol and take it very seriously)
• Toup's Meatery (Been providing free lunches every day for service industry employees)
• Trader Joe's (Social distancing, mask, free flowers randomly when you're leaving)
• Twelve Mile Limit (supported employees, still not opening until safe)
• Urban South Brewery (gave free beer and meals to hospitality workers)

DO NOT SUPPORT:

• Still Perkins (employees are trying to unionize, owners not paying proper wage or providing PPE)
• Tracey's (Irresponsible and asshole owner at the beginning of lock down St Paddy's day)

"In partnership with the City of Austin, the Austin cohort of the Reopening Every Venue Safely (REVS) campaign has released best practices to help music venues reopen safely.
This music venue best practices guide was developed by local industry representatives with input from local leaders about steps the Austin music venue community should consider taking during the COVID-19 pandemic. This guide is not advocating reopening venues at this time. Instead, this living document is the first step in a longer process and is intended to give venue owners and operators time to digest the information, make informed decisions, and enter into a dialogue with artists, staff, guests and the City before safe reopening occurs.
The Reopening Every Venue Safely Austin Best Practices Guide outlines practical actions venue owners and operators can undertake when they decide it is time to reopen safely. The guide includes best practices for what artists, venue operators, and production staff should consider prior to, during, and after a show for tasks such as how to manage gear, a notification system in the event of positive cases, and ways to manage crowds safely.
“We partnered with local music industry colleagues and got input from the City to create best practices for when music venues can reopen. We expect this document to evolve as the situation changes with COVID-19,” says Don Pitts with Music Cities Together.
Austin-Travis County remains in Stage 4 of the COVID-19 risk stages. ICU hospitalizations and ventilator access remain a concern, and there is continued risk for further shutdowns if personal safety precautions are not taken. At the moment, Austin Public Health (APH) officials are warning the public that large gatherings at live events and even smaller family gatherings pose a high risk of spreading the virus. Austin-Travis County residents are strongly urged to continue to stay home when possible, wear face coverings, and practice social distancing.
While the City and County continues to manage the immediate health crisis, the community must simultaneously plan for what reopening safely will look like when it is time to do so. City, County and local industry leaders working together is key to understanding the future of live music and the special events industry in Austin, Texas.
“The situation for Austin music venues is daunting. We’ve seen a study that shows as many as 90% of local music venues could close permanently by October,” says Bobby Garza with Music Cities Together. “We know we can’t reopen right now, but we need to be prepared for the new normal when reopening happens. The REVS guide is intended to help our industry plan for what that looks like.”
The City of Austin is also developing Event Reopening Guidelines for the broader event and venue industry in partnership with APH, Austin Convention Center, Austin Center for Events and others. These guidelines will include both best practice recommendations and new COVID-19 health and safety plan requirements for event and venue operators of all types. Industry professionals can expect to see these new guidelines and requirements within the next month.
Further resources for the creative sector economy include a series of available grants. COVID-19 relief funding opportunities, including the new Austin Music Disaster Relief Fund Reopening, can be found at www.atxrecovers.com. A total of $6 million has been dedicated to COVID-19 creative sector recovery including $3.5 million from the CARES Act, $1.5 million from general fund emergency reserve, and $1 million from Creative Space Assistance Program.
About Reopening Every Venue Safely (REVS)
REVS is MCT's national campaign to develop and disseminate best practices and action plans for the safe and judicious reopening of music venues in the wake of COVID-19. Nationally, there are 11 partner cities currently participating in REVS: Albuquerque, NM; Austin, TX; Charlotte, NC; Chicago, IL; Cleveland, OH; Denver, CO; King County/Seattle, WA; Los Angeles, CA; Louisville, KY; New Orleans, LA; and Portland, OR. More details: www.musiccitiestogether.org/revs "
View the full press release here.