i visited with my aunts & uncle last night. i think they're still a little shell-shocked and disbelieving of just how bad it is. they see the footage and yet they keep saying they'l be going home next week. my Aunt June left her cats behind with a whole lot of food & water. not nearly enough i fear...

please, everyone. do what you can for these people. and most especially for the people not as lucky as my family & Tam's family who have people & places to go. most of the people who've lost everything had damn little in the first place.

and thank you to those who already have helped.

quote:

Originally posted by Anita Cocktail:
they see the footage and yet they keep saying they'l be going home next week.

my family thinks they'll at least be able to go take a look at their houses.. i'm not so sure

i just spoke to my mom..
my sister e-mailed my mom's boss and he finally got the e-mail and called
he made it though the hurricane in the closet upstairs while the house shook around him
when he saw the gangs roaming the streets he left the city to find his family in florida
he took his dog, the cats he could find, and some neighbors (dropping them in baton rouge)
so he escaped between the storm and the levees breaking.. he's a live and well in destin
and swears in the future he will listen to the women in his life

hehe...proof that out of bad comes something good. *S* A man listening.

The company I work for is now taking donations to help the people in LA, Miss and Alabama...We are suggesting cases of water be donated by customers and the company will match them case for case, we are also taking cash donations going to the same project...They plan on sending them out on Monday....We've had a lot of response to this I'm happy to say...We do what we can

i want to know why the hell people are dying for lack of water. why aren't the buses that are coming in not filled with supplies? why hasn't the military brought in water cisterns (they're probably all in Iraq...)? why aren't convoys of semi's heading tinto the city? after what i saw last night it seems like we're just letting people die...it doesn't make any sense.

Heard from a sometime collegue who is based in New Orleans. She got out okay with the dogs and one son, but most of her files are lost (she worked out of the house). Her other son in the navy was based in Biloxi and apparently is sitting in the middle of the Gulf on his ship. He has most likely lost everything. She says she may have a house if the roof wasn't blown off or an oak tree blown down on it or if the waters didn't rise higher and if the place wasn't looted.

quote:

Originally posted by Smirk Morgan:
Heard from a sometime collegue who is based in New Orleans. She got out okay with the dogs and one son, but most of her files are lost (she worked out of the house). Her other son in the navy was based in Biloxi and apparently is sitting in the middle of the Gulf on his ship. He has most likely lost everything. She says she may have a house if the roof wasn't blown off or an oak tree blown down on it or if the waters didn't rise higher and if the place wasn't looted.

I heard something (or maybe read it- I forget) about the possibility that the military may allow those serving overseas who have been directly affected by Katrina come home. Who knows if that will actually happen but I hope so.

Sorry..should have clarified. Gulf of Mexico.

However, it would be nice if overseas military personnel were allowed to come back and take care of business.

we've got a lot of people comng into Austin. volunteer efforts seem to be well coordinated from what we saw when we dropped off stuff today.

My mother was just telling me that she heard that they are bring something like 5,000 people up here to MI to give them shelter. That is so crazy and sad at same time.

this is an email i got from a local volunteer:
Dear Friends,

You will no doubt be as proud of Austin and Central Texans, as I am when you
hear how my day went at the Palmer Events Center.

I took sheets, blankets, pillow cases, pillows, towels, wash clothes and
some women's clothing into downtown Austin after collecting same from
Wimberley neighbors. On the road I saw two groups collecting money for the
victims -- both in Dripping Springs.

Austin's City web page said to take the items to the Motorola offices on
183, but first I stopped off at the Palmer Events Center to volunteer at the
computer bank.

There was an immediate need for the bedding right there so I took it in and
stayed the rest of the day. I hear on the news tonight that the cots aimed
for Palmer were needed in, and sent to Louisiana instead, so its an absolute
blessing that we were able to provide bedding early today. Palmer Events
Center is where people with non-life threatening health conditions, like
diabetes, are being treated. Now they have all the donations they need at
Palmer so you can look at this web site for information about how to help:
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/help/katrina.htm

Cool, clear and competent are the best words to describe the attitude and
feeling at the Center. Going in I got a badge with the word VOLUNTEER
printed on it. There are three groups at Palmer -- Volunteers, Medical
Staff, and GUESTS. These poor people from New Orleans are consider guests
in our city and being provided with real hospitality. I started saying
Welcome to Texas to them and everyone I talked to said something like, "I
have felt so welcome since I got here. Austin is a nice place."

On the second floor there is a bank of computers set up to facilitate the
connections with displace family members via a special data base program.
As a bureaucrat with computer skills, that was my main volunteer effort and
will be again tomorrow.

On the first floor there is a 'field clinic' set up for medical input.
Guests arrive at that door and are taken through a med-evaluation procedure
and treated. When that process is complete, he/she is taken to meet a guide
who then escorts them to the area for clean clothing, towels and toiletries.
Then they are shown to the showers and the sleeping area which consists of
four sections with about 20 air mattresses and cots in each one. You have
no doubt been to conventions where 'vendor booths' in the trade show are
defined by tall curtained partitions. Those have been pulled out of the
Events Center closets and used to define the sleeping area and provide a
modicum of privacy. The bed sheets that I took over this morning were used
in that area.

Every now and then, one of the guides would come up to a person I was
talking to and gently asked if they had the prescriptions, if they were
feeling OK, etc. Just keeping track of the Guest who has been through so
very much.

At one corner, there is a large screen with CNN showing -- and for a man
named Vic, these were his first images of the city. He was plucked from a
car garage roof along with about 100 of his neighbors. A high school girl
who had been at the Super Dome was separated from her "mommy" but got in
contact with her mother and her friends on the telephone. After the tears,
she was still holding it together, but it was evident that some form of
shock was still gripping her.

The food and beverage area was completely accessible to all. I worked with
an upscale couple who were here before the worst of the disaster and who
wanted to get Popeye Chicken for their fellow citizens. They convinced the
Popeye manager to give it to them for half-price and brought back $100 worth
of chicken for the Guests only. I got a table set out to serve it from and
told the TV people what was going on -- but they didn't film it.

One thing that really surprised me was how often the people from New Orleans
reacted with real happiness to find out that there were "red beans and rice"
from Popeye's.

There were also two other functions set up: computer based hunts for housing
and jobs manned by volunteers. So the Guest's needs are well served.

All of this goes on in a quiet, calm, reasonable and competent fashion.

I thought you might like to know.

i have been too busy with family to join the organized efforts here in town. i am in contact with a local UCC church trying to set up a fund raising lasgna dinner though. please---everyone do SOMETHING wherever you are...

This is a letter from my sister's best friend.


Hello,

I am sorry if I have not spoken with you directly. I feel like I have been
on the phone non-stop - collecting and sharing information. If I haven't
updated you, here is what we know about my family on the coast.

Everyone is safe. My parents, and Aunt and Uncle, and my sister's in laws
all stayed in Ocean Springs, MS. My sisters, another Aunt and family, and
grandmother all evacuated to various places (including my house).

It is nearly impossible to communicate with anyone. Phone lines are down.
Cell phones seem to work one in every 100 calls. Despite that, we have been
able to determine that no one is hurt in our family. However, we have
gathered some very sobering news.

My sister, Vanessa, evacuated with her family while her father-in law- and
brother-in-law stayed behind at her house. When things got really bad, my
dad took his canoe to Vanessa's house and rescued them. When he arrived,
water was about 7-8 feet deep and rising. Her belongings were floating away
in the filthy water.

We have talked with friends that are working to rescue folks that are
stranded on their rooftops in the low lying areas of Ocean Springs. They
say that there are hundreds dead. They are carrying people through the
water past floating bodies. Make shift morgues are being used to house the
dead.

The many bridges in the area are all down and most roads blocked. For the
ones that evacuated, they are scared of what awaits them. At the same time,
they want to go home and see what they have left and help in the rescue
efforts. But, there is nothing they can do. So for now, they are staying
away. There is very limited gasoline in the south (Vanessa said there is
none in Jackson, MS)even if you wanted to drive home. Also, no water,
electricity or phone on the coast. So, it just doesn't make sense to go
home at this point.

Since this is the first time my family has had to deal with this, I have
done some research into FEMA. Vanessa is not sure what her insurance will
cover. And, we don't know how long it will take to get assistance from
FEMA. The website indicates at least 2 weeks after the application is
filed. Take a minute to imagine what it will be like for her, her husband
and her two children when they go home. I imagine that nothing in there
house can be salvaged. The water is contaminated with sewage, dead animals
and people, and a variety of chemicals.

Vanessa told me that each member of her family has 3 outfits. Basically
everything they own fits in their duffel bags. Luckily, they will have
work. Vanessa works for a bank and it will be up and running as soon as
possible. David is a builder - he has lost all of his tools, and work truck
- but he has a very useful skill. No one knows when the kids will be back
in school.

We are so lucky here to have everything we do. Last night, it hit me when I
snuggled into my comfy bed with the A/C on and my clean glass of water on
the bedside table. Everything around me was a luxury that thousands are
without.

I want to encourage everyone to make a donation. Of course the Red Cross is
a great way to do that. But, I felt like I needed to do something
specifically for my sister. Because they are not working, they are running
out of money pretty quickly.

I have opened a bank account to gather money to help her. If you would like
to help her out, you can do so by making a deposit into the account or
mailing a check to me (I can get it into the account). The account number
is ********* at Bank of America. When you make a deposit, you will need to
tell them the account was opened in Georgia.

My sister will be very appreciative of each and every dollar that I can give
to her. Any amount that you can give will help her so much.

If you want to read more about the Mississippi Gulf Coast, this website
seems to have the most detailed info.
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/

I feel so sad when I see these pictures of my home town. It is such a
strange feeling to know that most of the familiar landmarks were I grew up,
are gone.

If you have any other friends or family in the area, I hope they are safe.

Sorry for all the sad news, but it makes us appreciate what we have. Give
your loved ones an extra hug today.


Best wishes,
Bianca


Just thought I would share. My family and I donated money to Bianca's family. I thought the idea of setting up an emergency account for her family was a good one. Who knows how long they'll be without a home or job.

Just a small story from New England...

Most of you know that I am an administrator in a facility for teens with emotional, psychiatric, behavioral and family difficulties. Big difficulties.
Since Katrina hit, my employees and I are have been successfully coordinating with a local volunteer fire company to donate supplies and get them in a convoy that is heading south tomorrow. I’m sure that many people on this board are making similar efforts. I wasn’t going to post about it here. It’s just what we do. However I did want to share this .
Late last week my staff and I wondered if the kids that we work with would want to help or even care (they were aware of Katrina from news reports). We thought we'd mention it and see what they said.
It just so happens that next week the group is taking their annual trip to the local amusement park. Usually the kids have to do fundraisers to earn the money for the trip but this year the park donated the admission. We had a meeting with the kids on Friday and basically said, " You're getting to go to the park for free instead of having to work for it and that's cool. There are some kids and families who not only don't have a park but don't have their houses..." We didn't even finish the sentence when they all just matter of factly said "We'll do a car wash and bake sale anyway and we will give the profits, along with our weekly allowance, to the Katrina victims." Just like that.
You have to understand that these are kids with big problems- runaways, gang members, abused kids, some with juvenile records…tough kids who have seen more in their 14 or 15 years than many of use could even fathom in our lifetimes. Many couldn’t find Louisiana or Mississippi on a map without help. Most have no family or home of their own. But none of that mattered in that moment. In that moment, they were the richest kids in the world.
So yesterday they washed cars and sold cookies and raised several hundred dollars and today they are going shopping to buy supplies to donate.
The human spirit, especially that of the young, never ceases to surprise and amaze me.

Those are amazing notes. I'm so happy about the people doing everything they can to help.

My mom told me about a small group of aprox. 18-25 year old N.O. residents who had decided to walk out of town instead of wait. As they were walking, the news reporters approached them and talked with them for a bit.

One of the girls asked the crew if any of them had a cell phone she could use.

They gave her the cell phone and she called her dad, told him where they were walking and asked if he could come pick them up. Turns out her daddy is a preacher man, so he hopped in the church van and drove to pick them up.

I can't imagine the relief he must have felt finally getting in contact with her after so many days of not hearing from her.

As Zoom said, Austin has become another staging/relocation point and the locals are out in full force.

I wish you all could see the fire in Zoom and le's eyes when they speak of their determination to do everything in their power to help anyone and everyone touched by Katrina.

And on a similar note, two of my good friends have opened their house to a family of eight. They recently moved and were in the process of prepping their old house to sell. Instead, yesterday our group spent the day prepping it to be a home. I am proud to call Jeff and Barbara and all of you my friends.

way to go, J&B!

local Red Cross announced it's maxed out with volunteers for at least a week & advise people to hold out for the long haul because they'll need to swap people out as time goes on. i'm proud of Austin & everyone here who's contributed to the relief effort in a tangible way...

Tam- Glad you're family is safe, sorry they lost their home.

i also donated to the Red Cross.

Mother Nature's a bitch, King Dubya's a shithead.

Yea I went to Tulsa over the weekend. I donated 50$ while I was there. It broke me but I still donated. I feel for all of the victims, we have 20000 in Fort Smith at Fort Chaffee.

aunt G went back home to kenner (jeff.parish) to be with her husband who's a police officer.. there's no electricity or water, but the hospital has asked her to come back to work if she can

uncle L went back with her, but his home (also in kenner) is a loss with the roof caved in (their sister, aunt C, lived there also)

mom and dad can't go back yet of course, but aunt G went down to the 17th street canal (the border btw jefferson and orleans parishes) and she says the water is still about 7-8 feet in their neighborhood
needless to say mom had a large chocolate fix tonight
she also filed for unemployment today

my sister finally convinced my @ aunts & uncle to register as evacuees so they can get some assistance as well as get on the national registry in case anyone wants to check on them. i think the grim reality is finally starting to chip away at their denial...

my cousin the retired cop made it back into the city to find his house wasn't nearly as bad as he'd thought is might be...only about an inch or so of water that was already gone. all they lost was some carpet & shoes. others of family definitely won't be that lucky.

who did your family register with?

hmmm... the Red Cross i think. i'll find out & get back to you.