Cleolinda everywhere

A post that is not (much) about Katrina:

My eyebrow hurts, y'all. My eyebrow. The left one--it's my right eyelid that's got the twitch. I tend to get it any time I do a lot of reading on the computer--like writing a paper, or when I would pull hours trying to update my poor movie site.

It's sad that I'm kind of looking forward to class on Wednesday--it'll be a long afternoon rather than my short jaunt to class, because I have to go xerox an article and then, y'know, read it for that day's discussion--because at least it's time I don't have to spend thinking about Katrina.

(My stepfather made the mistake of saying, in offhanded tones of disgust, that "so many stupid people just didn't leave." Hooooooooooo boy. I've unintentionally become the local Katrina expert, so you can imagine what happened next. I started off with "They didn't order the evacuation until after the buses and trains had been stopped," and finished up with, "... because you can't take pets to shelters." He dotes on the pomeranians, so he was pretty quiet after that.)

Anyhoo. When I'm not compiling news and feeling a little deader inside, I'm trying to clean the Bottomless Room o' Crap. I've gotten through the old pile of Vogues and all the Entertainment Weeklys now. Well, except the huge stash of magazines under my bed, but if my mother doesn't see them, they don't exist, as far as I'm concerned. I am a touch OCD (see: dire need to compile hurricane news), but I don't wash my hands obsessively or go back to see if I turned off the stove 548 times; I save magazine articles and photos. At one point, I had quite an extensive filing system for them, which is buried somewhere in my closet now, I think. Some of it was a fannish urge to collect, but a lot of it was just, "I need to write a story about what's going on in that picture." Or "I totally need this article about homemade meth labs for research. I will use this someday." Or "The girl in this picture looks a lot like what [character] looks like in my head." I don't know which is the more obsessive part--the clipping of magazines itself, or the need to hoard the results.

The only thing I have going for me in this respect is that eventually I will burn myself out, temporarily if not permanently, and the clipping urge will go dormant for a while. Actually, having the internet has abated it in great part--you can save image files and sort them much more easily, or if nothing else, you know there are huge galleries of pictures out there that you don't have to save (even if you then go save them anyway).

But add all my school papers and boxes of books and file folders full of story manuscripts to the giant mass of magazines, and you see why "cleaning" is taking me a long, long time.

Oh, random thought: I did find out that October 20th is for sure the release date for the book, and if there's a site that says anything else, they're just on crack, because... October 20th. (And if it's got the wrong name for author, we know about it and are trying to fix it.)

( More designs )

AP/Reuters articles

( We're going to have to go house to house in this city. We're going to have to check every single place to find people who may be alive and in need of assistance )

Okay, I have such a swamp of links that I'm going to spam you with a few separate entries by topic. This one is charity and aid.

Most people I'm talking to are overwhelmed with frustration that they can't do anything--not just donate, but physically go down to New Orleans and do anything. Let's face it, though--even if you and I drove down there, they wouldn't let us in. And even if we got in, we would (well, I know I would) not be much help. If you're trained in medical or rescue aid, that's one thing; but most of us aren't, and would only get sick, injured, and/or in the way. Now, when the city is finally drained and Habitat for Humanity goes down there to rebuild--yeah, that's when you can go down and help. But right now, the most helpful thing you can do is 1) donate money and 2) keep yourself informed in terms of all sides of the story. (You'll see what I mean in the next entry.) We're just going to have to be keyboard warriors for now.

anatsuno, bringer of many links this weekend:

People can now also donate time online to help gather and consolidate missing persons / found persons messages from all over the place.

A different kind of help you can donate to.

Some people are writing about NOLA reconstruction.

fandom_charity

keever

anne_jumps

potatofishy

Hey Cleo. I live in West Virginia, and a whole bunch of the stereotypes are true--many people have bad grammar, bad mullets, bad teeth--but here's a great one: West Virginians are kindly, welcoming people with big hearts who just want to help. Our governor, Joe Manchin, just issued an open invitation to NOLA refugees to come stay here. They're being flown up on military transports and housed in a base, where they'll go through a sort of triage and get plenty of food, water, clothes, and hot showers. They first wave of people is coming now--about 80. Our local news says they expect maybe 500, all told. That's not many of the thousands and thousands displaced--but it was enough to make me cry (I'm a big baby). As far as I've heard, Manchin's the first governor of a state not immediately in the area to open it up like this. I hope more follow.

I got most of this from my local news; I couldn't really find an online news resource. I did manage to find Manchin's statement, though.

My favorite part? Manchin described WV as a big family. Even though I badmouth you all day long for having no cities and no culture, I love you, West Virginia.

It's funny--some of y'all seemed worried about me, but collecting all the news hasn't burnt me out emotionally at all. I think I'm sort of in a state of emotional disconnect at this point (again, because it cannot be said too many times: not watching the disaster on TV helps a lot), and I'm pretty sanguine about everything. It may even be that compiling news makes me feel like I'm being useful in some small way. My eyes are getting very tired, though.


Remember the last entry with "Bad news: Halliburton gets a NOLA cleanup contract"? Well, ter369 points out something I hadn't thought of: "I'm here in Houston, where Halliburton getting contracts means more jobs, not only in New Orleans, but here in a city with tens of thousands of new residents this week."

( Reader notes, updates, and requests )

"I ask you to mount a collective scream of outrage and wolf howls into the airwaves, radio and TV stations, so that we can come in to do what we have always done in times of disaster and that is to lend a genuine human effort that is tribal community oriented and truly compassionate."


ETA, 10:30 pm: And just when you think things can't get any better, Chief Justice Rehnquist dies. Aaaaaand the battle for ideological dominance begins.

ngocbui

Hi. Thanks for those links. I have family that were lucky enough to evacuate New Orleans and are now staying with my parents just west of New Orleans. They are lucky to be alive, but have found out that they lost everything--all their homes, possessions, and livelihood. They are left with just the clothes on their backs that they evacuated with.

Also, I hope word also gets out that there are over 500 people still trapped in Versailles (a big Vietnamese community on the East Bank of N.O.) in Queen Mary Catholic Church. They are up to their necks in sewage/flood water. Helicopters keep passing them by and they have not been rescued yet. They have run out of food and water and are still waiting for help. CNN did a small blurb on this, but I feel like no one wants to get them out. It is so frustrating.

Here is some information I just found out that might be helpful to some of your readers who have loved ones who have also evacuated.

hope everyone's friends and family are all safe. Just heard from a friend that the victims of the hurricane are able to get aid from FEMA. you can register online or call 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) for assistance. you can get refund for all the money you put out for the hurricane like hotel costs, gas money, food, etc. you can also get federal aid for temporary living costs such as rent, food, etc..... i've also heard that you can go to the food stamp office and show your ID and get some federal aid. so spread the word.

http://www.fema.gov/register.shtm

mybelle1975

You'll reach so many more people than I will ever hope to, Cleo, and with all the depressing and horrifying stories you're linking in your journal, I come bearing a bit of light.

A woman named Elizabeth, along with her church, is doing something a bit different. She's thinking more along the psychological needs of the victims. A convention center in Gadsden, near her, houses refugees from the hurricane, 150 children among them. What Elizabeth wants to do is go to KBToys and purchase $20 gift cards for the children, and has arranged transport so that she can give the certificates to the children and take the families to the store herself so the kids can purchase the toy that they want.

Her blog is here: http://www.decablog.com/jett/blog.php

She outlines her plans, her reasons, and has a paypal link in the first three entries. Check it out, and if/when you can spare a bit of change, consider passing it along to Katrina Kids Relief. If you prefer to send her a check or money order, you can email her about that, the link being there at her blog. If you can't spare the change, maybe share the link with your friends, or just copy/paste this post into your own journals and whatnot, every little bit helps.

invisible__girl

The ARC can't enter NO with relief, yet: The report of a checkpoint on one of the intact bridges turning people back.

Firefighting gear stockpile unused.

FEMA wouldn't give permission to airdrop food.

Northern Command has been ready for days, just waiting on orders.

Feds delayed the paperwork for other states to send their National Guard troops for days.

Louisiana begged for help on Sunday.

All helicopter flights were grounded during Bush's visit (that means moving patients, food delivery, search & rescue). [My note: well, that's probably standard during a presidential visit. Ill-advised at this time, perhaps, but standard.]

DHS/FEMA turned away assistance from Chicago.

Someone on DailyKos has come up with a much longer list of aid offers delayed and denied. They didn't want to believe it, either, but also point out that the overall effect could be the result of mixed intention and ineptitude: "Possible motives?  Note that any or all of them can apply, simultaneously; actions are often taken for more than one reason." If you read no other link, read this one.

aralinde

superego_18

KING: Anderson Cooper in Biloxi, Mississippi and you were an angry man today, Anderson, at what?

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I wouldn't say I'm angry, you know. I think I'm tired of hearing the politicians say that, you know, they understand the frustration of people down here. To me, you know, it's not frustration. It's not that people are frustrated.

It's that people are dying. I mean there are people dying. They're drowning to death and they drown in their living rooms and their bodies are rotting where they drowned and there are corpses in the street being eaten by rats and this is the United States of America.

hey since a billion people read you, please let them know this:

Okay, just to stress for people not from NOLA. DO NOT BELIEVE CLAIMS OF RACISM in regards to rescuing. The fact of the matter is, this is created partly from anger of the stranded citizens and partly by the media. The fact is, The LARGE majority (i'd wager 90-95%) of the people who didn't/couldn't evacuate are poor black people. New Orleans is in impoverished city. Are black people dying because they're not rescued in time? Yes. Sadly. Very sadly, yes. Are white people being saved because they're white? HELL NO. Why? Because white people could afford to get out of town. I am not stressing the superiority of a race over another. It's just simple facts. NOLA is divide along poverty lines and those lines double as racial. It's a very unfortunate situation. How many white people have you seen rescued from rooftops? MAYBE 1? Probably elderly? That's because the neighborhoods hardest hit by flooding were unfortunately prominently black, poor neighborhoods. Remember, 70% of the population of New Orleans is non-white.

I hate that these people are dying and stranded, especially because they could do nothing to help themselves. They just couldn't get out. But these media accusations are baseless and are bold faced lies. And they only worsen the situation.

squirrelgirl22

shadbolt75

squirrelgirl22

shadbolt75

From littlebitca:

Drowning New Orleans: "A major hurricane could swamp New Orleans under 20 feet of water, killing thousands. Human activities along the Mississippi River have dramatically increased the risk, and now only massive reengineering of southeastern Louisiana can save the city. [...] Large hurricanes come close every year. In 1965 Hurricane Betsy put parts of the city under eight feet of water. In 1992 monstrous Hurricane Andrew missed the city by only 100 miles. In 1998 Hurricane Georges veered east at the last moment but still caused billions of dollars of damage. A direct hit is inevitable."

The date of the article? October 2001.


From atalantapendrag: Cancer Cluster or Coincidence?


( scott_lynch is my hero )

interdictor

I cannot confirm the Superdome "chemical plant" explosion you guys are reporting. When Bravo Team becomes functional this morning, we're going to do a Medium Range Recon Patrol around our section of the CBD. We need to access the area for potential human threats, situational threats (burning buildings, etc.), flooding, potential evac routes, military and civilian authority presence, etc.

We bring the camera with us everywhere we go, whether it's to empty fuel into the tank or perform personal hygiene.

Everyone has secondary responsibilities. Crystal, for instance, has the secondary responsibility of organizing physical assets. Sigmund's secondary responsibility is photography. Donny's secondary responsibility is inter-team communication. My secondary responsibility is first aid. And so on.

In the days to come, as the nation and the people along the Gulf Coast work to cope with the disastrous aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, we will be reminded anew, how important it is to have a federal agency capable of dealing with natural catastrophes of this sort. This is an immense human tragedy, one that will work hardship on millions of people. It is beyond the capabilities of state and local government to deal with. It requires a national response.

Which makes it all the more difficult to understand why, at this moment, the country's premier agency for dealing with such events -- FEMA -- is being, in effect, systematically downgraded and all but dismantled by the Department of Homeland Security.

Doctors at two desperately crippled hospitals in New Orleans called The Associated Press Thursday morning pleading for rescue, saying they were nearly out of food and power and had been forced to move patients to higher floors to escape looters.

(See the video report of a sniper attack at Charity Hospital -- 1:06)

callmecayce

This morning, we've launched an emergency national housing drive to connect your empty beds with hurricane victims who desperately need a place to wait out the storm. You can post your offer of housing (a spare room, extra bed, even a decent couch) and search for available housing online at: http://www.hurricanehousing.org.

stepliana

Due to the hit from Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast region, the Louisiana SPCA moved all animals out of their shelter to the Houston SPCA. We are now accepting animals from those who are staying in Houston Area Shelters. For those needing shelter for their pets, please call our hotline at 713-802-0555.

Monetary donations are needed to help us care for the over 260 extra animals in our shelter and to help us help the Louisiana SPCA respond to the needs of the animals still in the area.

lederhosen

zarq

On New Orleans' Canal Street, which actually resembled a canal, dozens of looters ripped open the steel gates on clothing and jewelry stores, some packing plastic garbage cans with loot to float down the street. One man, who had about 10 pairs of jeans draped over his left arm, was asked if he was salvaging things from his store.

"No," the man shouted, "that's EVERYBODY'S store!"

"It appears that the money has been moved in the president’s budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that’s the price we pay. Nobody locally is happy that the levees can’t be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us."

-- Walter Maestri, emergency management chief for Jefferson Parish, Louisiana; New Orleans Times-Picayune, June 8, 2004.

ccaretta

elbiesee