Katrina & Rita

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

This is sad news.

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana, Sept 21 (Reuters) - The death toll from Hurricane Katrina climbed to 1,037 after Louisiana officials on Wednesday raised the number of confirmed fatalities in that state to 799.

There were 219 dead in Mississippi and 19 deaths confirmed in Florida, Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee from the Aug. 29 storm.

And they’re still looking for bodies.

Here’s hoping that Rita won’t cause more deaths. If you’re in the Rita-zone - get out now. We’re praying for ya’ll.

Friday, September 16, 2005

I have little to say about the President’s CSI premiere pre-emptor last night except this - please don’t spend so much of my (future) money.

I realize that it’s going to take a lot more than the insurance companies will be able to dole out to rebuild. However, I don’t believe that this large of a financial commitment at a national level is necessary.

Where’s the responsibility of the city itself? The region? The states?

I’m all for some federal assistance, but not at this huge level.

Thursday, September 08, 2005

As Thinkling Bill said, this is prescient.

It was a broiling August afternoon in New Orleans, Louisiana, the Big Easy, the City That Care Forgot. Those who ventured outside moved as if they were swimming in tupelo honey. Those inside paid silent homage to the man who invented air-conditioning as they watched TV “storm teams” warn of a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico. Nothing surprising there: Hurricanes in August are as much a part of life in this town as hangovers on Ash Wednesday.
But the next day the storm gathered steam and drew a bead on the city. As the whirling maelstrom approached the coast, more than a million people evacuated to higher ground. Some 200,000 remained, however—the car-less, the homeless, the aged and infirm, and those die-hard New Orleanians who look for any excuse to throw a party.
The storm hit Breton Sound with the fury of a nuclear warhead, pushing a deadly storm surge into Lake Pontchartrain. The water crept to the top of the massive berm that holds back the lake and then spilled over. Nearly 80 percent of New Orleans lies below sea level—more than eight feet below in places—so the water poured in. A liquid brown wall washed over the brick ranch homes of Gentilly, over the clapboard houses of the Ninth Ward, over the white-columned porches of the Garden District, until it raced through the bars and strip joints on Bourbon Street like the pale rider of the Apocalypse. As it reached 25 feet (eight meters) over parts of the city, people climbed onto roofs to escape it.
Thousands drowned in the murky brew that was soon contaminated by sewage and industrial waste. Thousands more who survived the flood later perished from dehydration and disease as they waited to be rescued. It took two months to pump the city dry, and by then the Big Easy was buried under a blanket of putrid sediment, a million people were homeless, and 50,000 were dead. It was the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States.
When did this calamity happen? It hasn’t—yet. But the doomsday scenario is not far-fetched. The Federal Emergency Management Agency lists a hurricane strike on New Orleans as one of the most dire threats to the nation, up there with a large earthquake in California or a terrorist attack on New York City. Even the Red Cross no longer opens hurricane shelters in the city, claiming the risk to its workers is too great.

When do you think this was written? Would you have guessed it was October 2004? Me, neither.

Wow.

“The killer for Louisiana is a Category Three storm at 72 hours before landfall that becomes a Category Four at 48 hours and a Category Five at 24 hours—coming from the worst direction,” says Joe Suhayda, a retired coastal engineer at Louisiana State University who has spent 30 years studying the coast. Suhayda is sitting in a lakefront restaurant on an actual August afternoon sipping lemonade and talking about the chinks in the city’s hurricane armor. “I don’t think people realize how precarious we are,”
Suhayda says, watching sailboats glide by. “Our technology is great when it works. But when it fails, it’s going to make things much worse.”
The chances of such a storm hitting New Orleans in any given year are slight, but the danger is growing. Climatologists predict that powerful storms may occur more frequently this century, while rising sea level from global warming is putting low-lying coasts at greater risk. “It’s not if it will happen,” says University of New Orleans geologist Shea Penland. “It’s when.”

Go read the whole article - fascinating stuff.

My church took up a collection for Katrina relief at both services on Sunday. Our auditorium holds about 600 people, but because it was a holiday weekend, neither service was full. I estimate that we had maybe 900-1000 people in attendance between both services.

Our pastor made an appeal for giving for Katrina relief - we’re partnering with a camp property that is affiliated with our “denomination”* (we’re non-denominational but affiliated with the Church of God) that is in Alexandria, LA. The camp asked for supplies and so our pastor announced that we would be taking a truckload of stuff to the camp at the end of the week and asked for people to consider bringing those supplies to the church this week for that effort as well.

I was at the church last night for worship team practice and I saw huge stacks of diapers, toilet paper, paper towels, paper plates, picnicware, feminine hygiene products, toiletries, etc. Also, in a back closet they were collecting toys, books, clothes, bottled water, and food items. I dropped off our contributions and headed to practice.

We talked about the amazing generosity of our church family for a bit - people gave just under $27,000**. When our pastor called to tell the camp director he thought the number quoted was $2500. There was a lengthy silence when the actual amount sunk in.

It’s great to know that our little part of the Body of Christ has stepped into the gap to help. What’s even greater is that we plan to stand with these folks for the long haul by sending mission teams down there a few times in the next year to help rebuild and minister to those who are displaced from their homes. And it’s grea to know that there are countless other churches around the country who will do the same.

* The camp is offering shelter for those who have been evacuated or can’t get back to their homes or need a place to stay on their journey to other destinations.

** Roughly $1800 will be used to pay for the truck rental and fuel to get there. The truck will be left in the region because we were told they desperately need them. The guys driving the truck will be flying back home.

One family’s home post-Katrina. Daniel

lives

lived(?) in Slidell, LA.

The floor is covered in stuff. A mass of fungus grows on the table. Mildew covers the walls. The stench demands description, but you will need a better writer. If you shoved ten pounds of rotting meat into a school gym locker with several varieties of gourmet cheese and a dead skunk, you might get close.

I can’t imagine it.

Daniel, ya’ll are in my prayers.

Via Eric

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

The good news is that we’re able to submit the timekeeping information to get everyone paid. The bad news is that the back up system is running super slow. I couldn’t even log in yesterday until about 4:30pm. I managed to get about a dozen people in at that time. This morning it’s taking me maybe four times as long to get this task done as normal because with each person I need to start from scratch with the system.

1. I log in and load the data for my office (I have access to the data for all three of our offices).

2. I select the person whose time information I need to submit.

3. I enter the data and click on “save.” At this point the system locks up and I am required to log out. Fortunately, I haven’t lost any data in this step so far.

4. I go back to step 1 and when the person’s page is loaded, I then click on “verify” to verify that this is the final data. At this point, I may or may not need to log out again. Depends, I guess. If I do have to log back out, then I restart at step 1 again. If not…

5. I then click on “print” to print the report.

6. I start at step 1 again because it locks up after printing and I’m not able to upload the next person on the list.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to be in the system. But I’m very frustrated at the time that’s being wasted on this today.

*sigh*

LATER (almost 4pm): Still trying to get the last timesheets done. Still having troubles with the system. What a complete waste of the day.

Following up on yesterday’s post regarding the use of the word “refugee” to describe those who have been displaced by Katrina, we have this article.

NEW YORK — What do you call people who have been driven from their homes with only the clothes on their backs, unsure if they will ever be able to return, and forced to build a new life in a strange place?

News organizations are struggling for the right word.

Many, including The Associated Press, have used “refugee” to describe those displaced by the wrath of Hurricane Katrina (search).

[...]

Others have countered that the terms “evacuees” or even “displaced” are too clinical and not sufficiently dramatic to convey the dire situation that confronts many of Katrina’s survivors.

President Bush, who has spent days trying to deflect criticism that he responded sluggishly to the disaster, weighed in on Tuesday. “The people we’re talking about are not refugees,” he said. “They are Americans and they need the help and love and compassion of our fellow citizens.”

The 1951 U.N. Refugee Convention (search) describes a refugee as someone who has fled across an international border to escape violence or persecution. But the Webster’s New World Dictionary defines it more broadly as “a person who flees from home or country to seek refuge elsewhere, as in a time of war or of political or religious persecution.”

The criticism has led several news organizations to ban the word in their Katrina coverage.

[...]

“The AP is using the term `refugee’ where appropriate to capture the sweep and scope of the effects of this historic natural disaster on a vast number of our citizens,” said Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll. “Several hundred thousand people have been uprooted from their homes and communities and forced to seek refuge in more than 30 different states across America. Until such time as they are able to take up new lives in their new communities or return to their former homes, they will be refugees.”

So the quibbling continues. Fine.

Comments are closed on this post because I don’t feel like dealing with the same stuff as yesterday. I get what everyone is saying. We can all agree to disagree on the use of a term to describe these poor people. What we can agree on is that they are homeless, unemployed, and in need and that this should be a temporary condition. So click on any of the links you see on this page that are related to Katrina relief and help someone.

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

The guests were finally rescued by Louisiana game wardens, who entered the hotel with rifles and fixed bayonets.

Fixed bayonets? This is disgraceful.

Via Susan B.

I don’t understand why people have a problem with the term “refugee” when the people who have fled the Gulf coast are referred en masse. The dictionary definition fits them to a T:

ref·u·gee   n.

  One who flees in search of refuge

Why the quibbling? It is not a derogatory term by any stretch. It’s calling a spade a spade.

Yes, other terms also apply: evacuee, victim, survivor, to name a few. But to take political correctness to such an extreme as to make refugee a repugnant word is ridiculous.

Via email from our HQ, the US Postal Service is suspending service to certain zip codes within the Katrina ravaged region:

Effective immediately, the Postal Service is not accepting any Standard Mail (Letters and Flats) or Periodicals Mail — from any source — addressed for delivery within the following three-digit ZIP Code ranges: 369, 393, 394, 395, 396, 700, 701 and 704.

This emergency action has been taken as a result of severe facility damage, evacuations and other issues resulting from Hurricane Katrina.

We are now formulating plans to address the handling of Standard and Periodicals Mail already in the mailstream and addressed for delivery to these eight ZIP Code areas.

We will update this information as circumstances warrant.

Check the USPS website for additional updates.

Monday, September 05, 2005

Bill Whittle has finally posted.

Go. Read.

Sunday, September 04, 2005

My church is partnering with a camp in Alexandria, LA, (that is affiliated with our church “denomination”) where many displaced by the flooding in New Orleans have passed through. It’s a great place to help people - there are beds, a cafeteria, running water, and plenty of people who are willing to help. Their problem is that while they have plenty of money to buy the things that they need to lend aid, they can’t get to a place that has the supplies. And so my church is going to collect the necessary supplies this week and send a truck to the camp next weekend (I think).

We will be collecting stuff at the church this week and what they’re looking for are the things we take for granted in our daily lives:

toilet paper
paper towels
paper napkins
soap
toothbrush
toothpaste
shampoo
diapers
baby wipes
feminine hygiene products
underwear
socks
t-shirts
baby clothes
non-perishable food
water

That is just a short list. I pulled some extra pantry items out of my kitchen and plan to add more that I will take to the church when I go for vocal practice this week.

If you are in northern Virginia, please consider contributing some goods to the truck. Address information for Fairfax Community Church is on the website.

From my future SIL, via email:

If your churches, service organizations or youth groups are looking for a way to contribute in a very necessary and practical way, the IOCC (International Orthodox Christian Charities) has a program that provides hygiene products packaged for the individual needy:  http://www.iocc.org/kits.

Each year my church (adults and children) assemble these together and send them out.  They are distributed all over the world and have been distributed to other hurricane victims here in the USA in the past.

This is all that is involved and will help many displaced people.

Buy a one-gallon plastic bag with a zipper closure and fill it with the following items:

One hand towel
One washcloth
One comb
One metal nail file or nail clipper
One bar of soap (bath size)
One toothbrush
One tube of toothpaste (4-7 ounces)
Six Band-Aids

Secure the bag and pack it in a box. Secure the box with packing tape.

Clearly mark the outside of the box with the words “Health Kit”, apply the correct amount of postage and mail the box to the following address:
IOCC / Church World Service
Brethren Service Center Annex
601 Main St.
P.O. Box 188
New Windsor, Md. 21776-0188

Be sure to include the name of the parish, group or individual sending the kits on the box.

This is an excellent idea. As Beau’s Sis said, imagine how wonderful it is to be able to simply brush your teeth!

What was to be a one day fundraising event has been so successful that it’s now being extended through the weekend - Blog Relief for Katrina. Donations through this effort are nearing $500K. Impressive.

So to remind you, I selected Feed the Children is the charity to plug. Why? Because a donation of $50 will provide 350 pounds of food to those in need.

Feed The Children has more than 35 truckloads of relief supplies, including food, bottled water, cleaning supplies, paper products and other emergency essentials on their way. They are heading into Louisiana, Mississippi, and the surrounding areas that were hit by Hurricane Katrina.

Truckloads are also on their way to Texas, Georgia and Tennessee to assist in relief efforts for those who have been evacuated from the devastated areas.

Feed The Children will continue to provide supplies and relief to the individuals, children and families affected by Hurricane Katrina for as long as necessary.

Will you help us?

Go. Donate now. The smallest amount of money provides a large amount of food relief.

Friday, September 02, 2005

Via This Guy Falls Down (who happens to be run by Mark Lee of Third Day), comes the word that a local Houston Christian radio station is collecting gift cards for refugees who are in their city. This is a great way to help these people have a feeling of self sufficiency - they can go to local stores and get what they need themselves.