Something to smile about.

The link below is the Hurricane Relief page from one of the links Marcie posted the other day. It is truly heartwarming to read about their experiences as they try to help all these innocent homeless animals displaced by Katrina. With so much awful news out there, I thought you could all use a smile. I know I needed one.

Kathy

NSALA Hurricane Relief

Jim, I am really glad to hear your sister's good news. What a relief!

Good to hear, Jim!

Masaki

I have heard this General on CNN. He is definitely the person to lead the recovery down there. I'm pleased as punch that finally a real leader is in command. (nuff said. ;) )

The American Bar Association is recruiting volunteer lawyers to help the survivors deal with all the legal issues that they will be faced with, such as getting financial aid, learning their rights, filling out forms, etc. Since I have just been retired, I've contacted them to see what I can do. They are primarily looking for lawyers admitted to practice in LA, MS & AL, but there may be roles for others. We'll see if there's something I can do with them to help.

Sorry for the double post. Ignore this & the post below

YES - This is to be ignored!

Finally a REAL LEADER is in command??

It's about time. I just got to say everyone on this board new 2 days before Katrina hit what a mess this was going to be. It isn't rocket science. The government took until now to get it's pants on.

I heard on the radio that there could be pressure for the LA Govenor and N.O. Mayor to resign for not calling for a mandatory evacuation ahead of time. Sounds like they really dropped the ball.

Gil,

That's a great idea. So much facing these folks. The paperwork will be overwhelming and many will lose out if they don't have professional help. I'd bet even the pros are going to struggle with whatever convoluted rules our government dreams up.

Kathy

When did they actually call for a mandatory evacuation? How much notice did folks really get?

The Philly Inquirer reported this morning that about 30,000 people in New Orleans don't have cars.

Kathy

Kathleen:

On Sunday, at 1000 CDT, the mayor ordered the evacuation. He exempted hospitals, hotels, and a couple of others that I have forgotten.

Over the weekend, I had been on a couple of weather blogs. The host meteorologists to these blogs both said they were surprised Saturday when no evacuation was ordered for New Orleans.

When, the order was finally given on Sunday, they waited until 1000 CDT. They did not use city busses for those without cars; they told everyone to come to Superdome. They said tourists should stay in hotels as flights were being cancelled. They didn't airlift critically ill from hospitals because they were concerned with injuries that may be caused.

I am sorry that I am vehement on this topic. I watched the storm and reports on New Orleans all last weekend and was sickened at such stupidity.

Sorry,

MSN is carrying this story: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9188316/

Apparently, Carnival ships from home ports of New Orleans, Galveston, and Mobile are being rented for six months to the US government to house up to 7,000 people displaced by Hurricane Katrina. The passengers who had booked passage on these ships will be refunded, and the Carnival CEO apologized to them, and said they would receive a $100 credit on a future cruise. ($100. towards future cruises may not sound too enticing especially for those that had already booked flights, vacation time or have to re-book on another line for original dates at higher fares even if it is for the greater good).

"When, the order was finally given on Sunday, they waited until 1000 CDT. They did not use city busses for those without cars; they told everyone to come to Superdome."

Marc,

I've been to several blogs that have the picture of over 200 buses submerged in the water(if I wasn't technically challenged I would import the picture here). It breaks my heart to see this waste of resources and that all these buses were not deployed as soon as the mandatory evacuation was given.

Marc...no matter how stupid you may feel these people are, I think many of us don't understand that not everyone is listening to the weather channel or Fox News!

I also think many people don't realize that it was the end of the month and the families that live from paycheck to paycheck were broke - even IF they had a car they probably couldn't afford to fill the tank.

It's pretty easy to sit in our middle or upper class homes with college educations and judge the people of New Orleans, but I don't think many of us have walked in their shoes.

I agree Margo you hit the nail on the head - people who live paycheck to paycheck, have never traveled more than 15 miles from their homes, are uneducated, scared, worried about their kids, aunties, etc and do not have alot of faith and trust in "outsiders" can make poor decisions - God bless all of them

What's so frustrating about the whole situation is that better leadership from the state and local authorities could have made a HUGE difference. It's like they were waiting around for the feds to do something first. It just doesn't work that way in our country. The state and local governments have to act first. That's why we have them!

I love this board as we, close friends and LCT friends, can agree to disagree and do it without all the nastiness that was on that other board -

Margo, I am not saying the people of New Orleans did anything wrong. I am saying that the politicians in New Orleans did many things wrong. The politicans new the storm was coming. They knew that many of their residents didn't have the werewithal [sp] to evacuate. They also were afraid of legal ramifications if they ordered a mandatory evacuation (that is why they didn't evacuate on Saturday) and liability if they ordered the hospitals evacuated.

I, like Lawrence, believe that the local authorities let down their constituents. I totally understand why so many were either not able to or refused to evacuate.

We went out to dinner with 9 people last night - we talked and argued Kristina all night - a diverse group politically - I think the blame factor will be argued for years - taking the blame out of it, it is one sad pathetic situation -

JoAnna - very well said.

I remember in the 1994 earthquake. I lived 2 miles from the epicenter. It took 3 or 4 days before we had government help. The fire and police department had it's hands full. My house was on the lower corner of a large condominium nad all of my walls were cracked through, my door frame so bent you couldn't open/close it. Gas lines were broken so no hot water or cooking. Fire hazard, actually. Continual aftershocks too.

We had a lot of people go and live in the parks after the earthquake waiting for the government to bring them food etc. There were stores that were open. I didn't get that - why? We just went and bought stuff that didn't need cooking. We did not want to deplete our emergency supply when we didn't have to. The water trucks (Arrowhead/Sparkletts) we literally on corners giving cases away.

Anyway, it took time, even with a disaster plan, The most needy got services first. We had pretty strong civic leadership then. They called for help right away. They instructed us what to do to avoid panic.

But the day after Katrina, I saw the governor interviewed and all she did was say that the residents should pray. She never gave any kind of orders. She never said she called on the Feds to come and help. She never made a plea for help from unaffected surrounding government agencies.

My neigbor just informed me that they were scheduled to be on one of the Carnival ships next week. Now they don't know what to do since they already have airline tickets.

LT. Gen Honore just interviewed by Geraldo on Fox - what an incredible man!!!

He was also on 60 minutes. The General takes no flack. Colonel Wes is certainly correct about this guy.

Hi all.
Just want to share my experience down here in Houston working as a relief worker. I have never done anything like this. But, what an incredible experience it has been. I've worked 2 days now at the Astrodome & Reliant Park. I'm an escort for the arriving evacuees. I help them to tirage, if needed, get them food, help them to a cot, point out the various stations of assistance, phones, FEMA, message boards, child care, etc. The location is very close to the Texas Medical Center so there is a shuttle service for doctors & nurses going back & forth. This is working so well. I'm so utterly impressed with how Houston has managed this horrendous task! What a well run city under such incredibly tough circumstances. There are so many police from many Texas counties, Texas Rangers, and the National Guard. The Houston Mayor & Texas Governor have not left a task undone. People don't even need to be told to help out-it's a wonderful thing to see thousands & thousands of volunteers. I sat in a class with a truck driver & a lawyer. Everyone loves to applaud the Nat'l Guard when they come in as a team.

The hardest part is seeing the section for the children who have lost their parents....utterly heartbreaking to say the least. My heart stopped when I saw their cots with little stuffed animals placed on top, waiting for them. There are no words for that scene except that they are being very well taken care of & protected - no doubt about that. My sister helped two teenaged girls who were being temporarily adopted by a local family until their parents are located. So many stories......

I sit with the newcomers & let them just talk, relax, but the one thing they want the most, is a big hug! So, we just hug & hug & then we cry & cry together. These people are so loving & kind. I never thought I would ever feel like I had just made 18,000 new friends. (I became close to a family who I would love to take home with me to Calif.) So many need temporary homes.

I have spoken to Betty (our LCT Betty) & hope to get together for coffee or lunch in between schedules at the dome. It will help to put my head down & share this in person with her. I hear she's been working hard in this project for her church. It's nice to have an LCT friend when things are so tough. (Thanks LCT!)

I jotted down some of the evacuees' messages that they want everyone to know. Here are a few: "Thank you, thank you all, from the bottom of our hearts for helping us. We want you all to know that we appreciate everything. We were so scared. We just want to get back on our feet & work. We don't want to be a problem to anybody. Thank you Texas! Thank you America!!"

And, from me, thank you LCT members, for your generosity & caring.

michele

I cannot imagine the pain and sorrow - you are helping tremendously!!!

BRAVO, Michelle!!!

Michele, you are my idol. Your post made me get misty. I can't say enough how much I admire you.

Michele,

I think what you're doing is great.

Michele,

Your selflessness, caring and generosity is truly amazing!

AMEN! As I was taught, "There but for the grace of G-D go I."

Michelle, thank you.

Michele and Betty, thank you for helping. You are two very special people!

Michele and Betty,

People like you are what make this a great world to live in. Thank you!

Michele - what a great post. It's truly one of the few uplifting things I've heard in relationship to Katrina. Thank you and Betty for what you're doing.

Masaki

The neighboring states and communities, especially Texas and Baton Rouge, are doing an amazing job of helping the folks who must leave to find a safe place to begin rebuilding their lives and cities. Please accept a huge round of applause and thanks for their immediate response. A special deep thanks to the relief workers, police, utility workers, firefighters, EMTs, National Guards, doctors, nurses, hospital workers, ministers, rabbis, priests and others who all who stayed in the impact zone for DAYS under the same horrible conditions to provide what help they could. Floods last a long, long time. Donations are so important and thanks to all of you who have sent them in. There's more, though, we can each do.

The Texas governor called for other states to help out and take some of the evacuees into their communities, too. One plane has already landed in Phoenix, AZ according to CNN. As great as the neighboring states are, we can all help by opening our communities. If we as a country can get hundreds of thousands, or even better millions, to each participate in the rebuilding and resettling efforts from this national disaster, it will be a story our grandchildren will love to hear. Our great-grandparents rebuilt Chicago from a devastating fire and our grandparents righted San Francisco (another national treasure). We can do it with a lot of hard work, compassion and some sacrifice.

Spread caring and hope .. it's a powerful antidote for those directly affected by huge losses to take those first steps towards recovery.

There are 1.4 million people in greater New Orleans from the 2000 census. The numbers are bigger when you include the Gulf Coast of Mississippi population. Conservatively, that means to me there are 500,000 OR MORE of our fellow Americans needing a home away from home for the foreseeable future. School starts this week for the children; memorial services need to be held to grieve those lost in the disaster; our relocated citizens need jobs to also participate in the recovery process; they need to cook their own kind of food and enjoy the ability to do their own shopping. The list goes on & on. Housing and services are needed for the thousands of workers directly rebuilding the impact zone and to run the refineries and ports.

Call your state governors and representatives Tuesday to find out what your states are doing to accept and welcome evacuees - or encourage them to get going! Those great volunteers, like Michele and Betty, will need others to relieve them in caring for our countrypeople in the next few weeks and months. Help will take many forms. It can be as close to home as looking after a neighbor’s home, garden or pets if they are among the second or third wave of relief workers. And we KNOW LCTers are fantastic with pets! :D

IMHO it's a more productive place for us to focus our energy right now. We certainly need to take time later to figure out how to improve our disaster services effort. Now is NOT the time to even create the appearance of placing blame. The Red Cross (disaster recovery specialists, along with the Salvation Army, who have the experience of planning and front-line deployment of most every disaster) has put out an emergency request to train and deploy 9,000 extra volunteers. That, more than anything, tells me this is a national disaster of unprecedented recent proportions. Thank you for listening and for taking part in a historic rebuilding and recovery effort.

Cheers, Anne

Anne:

Very well said! Yesterday 30 storm refugees in need of hospitalization were flown to Tampa for care.

One of my friend's husband works for Florida Power and Light. He has moved from repairing Miami storm damage to Mississippi. He will be gone indefinitely - they are bringing sleeping bags etc. because they will be housed in tents.

Another friend whose husband works in the Sheriffs Department said that 25 officers have already left for Mississippi and they will continue to rotate law enforcement personnel there as long as help is needed.

These are just two instances I know of personally, there are certain to be countless others. The people of Florida know the wrath of hurricanes and understand we could be just as devastated.

We are here on the Voyager having this wonderful vacation and it just breaks my heart to watch the CNN coverage - its awful, just awful. To those of you who are out there helping, you are truly angels to those poor people. Michelle, I have tears in my eyes just reading your post - you are an angel of mercy for sure.

RSSC put a notice in our rooms yesterday, a form to fill out if we wanted to donate to the Red Cross - I don't know how many people turned them back, but we did, and felt we had done very little but it was a way we could something, even from here.
As mentioned on another thread, we have Frank's sister and brother in law in Biloxi, and they did not leave, and it was days, till yesterday actually before we had some real detailed info as to their status, and its not good, but they are alive, are uninjured and determined to rebuild and stay in Biloxi which they love. The ship has been wonderful to us, making phone calls to our daughter to try and find out anything we could, and today we will call them (Franks sister)and get a chance to speak to them directly - but the devestation is just unbelievable.

I'm sure you're so relieved, JoAnn, to hear the news that your family is OK. In time, they will rebuild their lives. In the interim, it's important for all who have gone through this horror to know that there are many making contributions in this effort. We will keep your family in our prayers and hope for the very best for them.