Devastation in the South

Sande J · Posted: 8/31/2005, 6:12 pm Post subject: Devastation in the South

My sister -in -law in North Carolina has family (stepbrother, wife and kids and stepmother) the brother lives (correction.... lived Sad

) in Biloxi and his mother in New Orleans. They were amongst the folks that did get out of the area and went to Birmingham to stay with other relatives. Well they found out today that they lost everything in both places so that sort of hits close to home. Luckily their family was well prepared and will have accomodations in Ala. I am sure more of you are connected to the disaster in one way or another, but I just wanted to encourage everyone to help out in the cause and donate to the Red Cross or Salvation Army or some type of agency that is offering help to all these folks. My heart totally goes out to the folks that barely have the means to make it thru a normal day, let alone now. Many prayers to all of them. Thanks ya'll Smile

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RedRoxx44 · Queen of the Walkabout Joined: 15 Jan 2004 Posts: 1167

Having spent some time in New Orleans and having relatives in Gulfport (they went to Tennessee and got out of this mess), I second the prayers sent. I have made my donations, just wish I could do more. I will always remember the evenings spent in the French Quarter, or walking down the shady and sublime St. Charles Avenue. The back streets, bayous, Tippateenas place (sp) where some of the blues greats hung out.
It was a different world. Right now we are seeing a bad side to it with the looting, but I'll bet a lot of good, heroic things are happening now too that we don't see or hear about. People tend to pull together in time of catastrophy.
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Daryl · Posted: 8/31/2005, 9:19 pm Post subject:

I have friends that were 30 miles north of Biloxi on vacation. I managed to talk to them Monday night very briefly and they are all well, but shaken. I have no clue how they plan on getting back now... Nice vacation.
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Shawn · Posted: 8/31/2005, 9:40 pm Post subject:

I was checking out Craig'sList and saw hundreds of offers for free housing from all over the country. How graciouis!

How would you check someone out before letting them into your house, most for free? Is it wierd to think that? Less than "christian?" I would consider it but I think I'm paranoid about who I would let in.
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Daryl · Posted: 9/1/2005, 11:33 am Post subject:

I want to cry, scream, and yell all at the same time with the news stories of the looters and trouble makers. How many innocent people will die because efforts now have to be focused on them? Shoot them all.

I also think it's sad that the people that have already been rescued and staged at the convention center are complaining about the conditions they are in. You were warned to evacuate days before the storm hit! You chose to stay and now you complain about your rescue??? What's more important, your current comfort, or rescuing more people that are still stranded??? If these people can walk, why are they not helping? Are they just sitting there waiting to be taken care of and complaining?

Maybe both of these issues are because most of the people that did not evacuate were the stupid ones?
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oriole_scott · Joined: 18 Jul 2004 Posts: 166 Location: the cornfields

Davis2001R6 · Joined: 12 Dec 2003 Posts: 5591 Location: Italy

Well I agree to have sympathy for everyone effected the Katrina, but I disagree that everyone who could evacuate, tried to evacuate. That is definitely not the case. It's really horrible over there right now with people shooting at the firefighters and police officers. It just seems like total chaos over there.

To answer the question of letting someone stay with you, if I had any connection to someone in the area I would offer my place up, whether it be direct friend or family or just a friend of a friend. All the people I know that live / lived down there all evacuated out when told to and are safely in other states right now.

Daryl · Posted: 9/1/2005, 4:13 pm Post subject:

It's a natural diaster, people are dying as you read this, thousands could already be dead, the rescuers are getting shot at (What the heck is up with that???) and some people are complaining on the news that not enough is being done for them? They need to have a little consideration for others. They are not trapped on a roof, they are not trapped in a attic. They are now more safe then others and are no longer a priority victim. The rescuers are doing the best they can. When someone is safe and on dry land they let go of their hand and go rescue someone else.

I'm sure the majority are not complaining and they are simply happy to be alive. My comments are not directed to them. My comments are for those few that are complaining. People are out there risking their lives for them, and they are complaining that it's not enough???
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Abe · Joined: 11 Jul 2004 Posts: 436 Location: Prescott Valley

Witnessing anarchy rearing its head? If only briefly. Because we are a great nation we are not immune to these social ills we are witnessing; in which, other parts of the world experience daily. It is a tragedy in that neck of the woods, where we can see the different faces of humanity, their true colors you might say, and we really should not be surprised. But we can help, through prayer, and donations to the Red Cross.
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Sande J · Posted: 9/1/2005, 6:54 pm Post subject:

We are hikers, backpackers, explorers...used to taking on challenges outdoors, (in fact we choose to!)

BoyNhisDog · Posted: 9/1/2005, 8:13 pm Post subject:

What happened to those people is horrendous beyond belief. The news shows the looters more than anything but like the chief there said, there are tens of thousand of people just trying to get to somewhere they can survive. They need food, water and safe place to rest. What they had is gone. Their jobs are gone, their shelter is gone and they are pretty much cast to the wind. A small percentage are committing crimes. I saw one middle aged woman who was being robbed by a young, strong male. He was riffling her purse, which was still on her shoulder, and throwing anything that did not interest him into the water. There she was, already stressed and this piece of work takes whatever she has left. Doors are being kicked in during the night. Those people need help as fast as they can get it.

I have been in touch with a friend close to the area and his observations are very interesting; "..this had become a staging area for relief efforts...looks like we are mobilizing for Iwo Jima..."
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Shawn · Posted: 9/1/2005, 8:33 pm Post subject:

I was wondering if something like that happened here, how would we react, as a community, and individually. Are people the same all over?
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evenstar · Joined: 03 Jan 2003 Posts: 5548 Location: SCW by way of CA

According to Newsweek, 67% of New Orleans population is/was black and more than 30% of those lived below the poverty level.
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Trishness · Posted: 9/1/2005, 9:31 pm Post subject:

I don't know if any of you have personally experienced being in a hurricane but I have and can tell you it is a horrifying experience. I lived on the CT shoreline for many years and went through two category 3 hurricanes (Gloria in 1985 and Bob in 1992). Those are winds from 111 to 133+ MPH. I can't even begin to describe the damage and devastation I've seen from these but at least we were above sea level. I had an 80 foot cherry tree fall across my property not 20 feet from my house and had half my roof torn away. We had wind gusts of 135+ MPH during Gloria and I wasn't able to leave my home for days.......no power for 2-3 weeks, the roads were blocked by fallen trees. The sound of that wind will leave you numb, especially when you hear your roof being torn off.

It has long been known for YEARS that if a major hurricane hit near New Orleans it be a disaster. Even though New Orleans is a "tourist town" it also has a very high unemployment rate (I think it was somewhere in the 30% range) and many of the residents are on the poverty level or worse. Even though they were given the mandatory evacuation order, many of these people didn't have the means or money to leave town. How many times have we heard "New Orleans was spared" when a 'cane hit the Gulf Coast in recent years? And a city built on land that is below sea level with levees that have been known to be eroding for decades?

I think the present administration is too absorbed in the Middle East and wasn't too quick to act for a natural disaster in our own country. It took them 2-3 flippin days to take the directive and get the amount of National Guard and FEMA people in there. There is NO excuse for that.

My heart goes out to everyone on the Gulf Coast who has lost everything and everyone. I have family in Gulfport, MS that did lose everything.

Crying or Very sad

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~~~Trish~~~

"Eastward the dawn rose, ridge behind ridge into the morning, and vanished out of eyesight into guess; it was no more than a glimmer blending with the hem of the sky, but it spoke to them, out of the memory and old tales, of the high and distant mountains." � J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of The Rings.

matt gilbert · Joined: 28 Jul 2003 Posts: 698 Location: Mesa

I watch with horror what's going on in the south. Not just the havoc that the hurricane brought but the complete lack of response by the government. From afar, in the comfort of my home (read; dry home) I don't agree with those people shooting at the S&R teams but I would be frustrated too. How many times have you seen a long drawn out shot of some people on a roof desperately waving signs and pleading for help all taken from a helicopter? Those people don't care who helps them. But nobody is helping them. The news people virtually mock them. They swoop in on helicopters and in news vans, they take pictures and they leave. All the while the media criticizes the government and aid organizations for not doing enough. What are they doing? Why aren't they dropping cases of water out of thier helicopters? Why aren't they evacuating those in critical need of care themselves? I'm sorry but if I were in those peoples positions and I had to watch countless helicopters (helicopters that could be taking me off my roof) circle over me, taking my picture, I might shoot at the next one I saw also.

I recognize that the media presence isn't large enough to fix the problem, not even close... but they are there, and they are doing nothing.
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