OleMissGlitter, I'm sorry to hear your parents lost their house. :( I'm glad they and you are safe... Take care.

^^^^^^
Sorry to hear that - glad your family is safe.

On Yahoo news: Governor: Everyone Must Leave New Orleans:(

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...ane_katrina_19

Gas is to hit 4 dollars a gallon...oh man.

I am so sorry to hear that OleMissGlitter. My heart goes out to you and your family.


On the note of looting...apparently it isn't just stores that people are looting. There have been some "SCUM" (sorry that is what I think right now) who have been breaking into people's HOUSES!!! How can they be so rude and inconsiderate. :mad: I have to agree that those pictures of the looting just drove me crazy.

(((((((((((OleMissGlitter))))))))))))

Just a short note to let everyone know I got out of NOLA safe and sound, and I'm in Jacksonville, FL.

I'm interested to hear if anyone else from NOLA fared OK.

Special hugs to my BSP sisters.

What drives me crazy is how they like to caption pictures and word articles as noted here.


Sorry to hear about the house OleMissGlitter.

(((((((((OleMiss Glitter & family))))))))))))

I am relieved to hear that your family is safe, and has insurance. I hope all GCers who were Katrina's way are safe, too. Bobby the Don told us that one of our sisters who doesn't post often (Grace_E) hasn't been heard from... :(

OleMissGlitter I feel so sorry for you and your parents... the CBC's footage from a helicopter flying over Pass Christian and the highway showed just how little is left of the houses and the highway - I hope that your family was able to save many treasured items. :(

I'm sorry to hear about your family's home, OleMissGlitter. But I'm glad to hear that they're all safe.

I thought that I had seen the worst when I was living in SoFla during Hurricane Andrew. This is much worse! SoFla didn't have the flooding problem so we were able to begin making repairs as soon as the winds died down. It still took years to rebuild some parts of Miami! I can't imagine the time it will take to rebuild New Orleans.

No, it will definitely happen, and I don't think that's a bad idea.

New Orleans levees are currently built to handle Cat 3 storms. They only gave in a handful of places -- granted that was enough to wreck havoc. But this was a 500 year storm, meaning only to be expected once in any 500 year period.

They'll rebuild, and they should. New Orleans has too much history and too much pride not be rebuild. And they may strengthen the levees in the process.

I can speak from some experience with living through major hurricane damage. When it happens, a real "we're not going to let this defeat us" attitude takes over. It becomes important to rebuild -- it's a kind of victory over the tragedy.

Rude and inconsiderate?! I think the words you're looking for are immoral and criminal.

Food that's going to spoil, medicines, etc are one thing. But anything past that is just plain immoral.

Really, really sorry to hear that, OleMissGlitter!! I'm glad everyone is safe (your'e right -- that really is what matters), and hope the pieces can get put back together soon.

Thanks everyone. Hugs to all of you all! You are wonderful! It is so surreal though.

My dad just got word he is going to Houston to run his bank (well he's in HR) where they have an office there. His bank is Whitney National Bank out of New Orleans.

I just ate lunch with my parents and sister and they are already looking for an apartment for now in Hattiesburg, MS. From there they will figure out if they want to rebuild in Pass Christian (highly doubtful since my parents had a summer home when they were children there their families lost to Camille in 1969). Anyway, they might go to Hattiesburg.

Ole Miss has started to collect cash to be given to students who lost everything in the Hurricane. There are so MANY students from the coast and New Orleans up here and the AL Coast.

Thank you all once again.

God Bless you all.

For the person who wondered about volunteer opportunities, our local news web site has this article posted:

Local Volunteers Wanted For Hurricane Relief
Red Cross Prepares To Send More Staff, Volunteers

POSTED: 8:47 am EDT August 31, 2005

The Washtenaw County chapter of the American Red Cross is recruiting volunteers to help victims of Hurricane Katrina.

American Red Cross officials said they are preparing to send an additional 1,900 trained staff and volunteers into the states devastated by the hurricane. They are recruiting local residents who are interested in participating in the emergency response operation.

To qualify for deployment volunteers must:
Be 18 years old.
Have a valid drivers license.
Be in excellent health.
Be willing and able to accept a hardship assignment.
Be ready and available to receive training and to be deployed for a two- to three-week assignment.

The American Red Cross has launched the largest mobilization of resources for a single natural domestic disaster in the 125-year history of the organization, according to Red Cross officials. Volunteers are already on the ground staffing hundreds of shelters for tens of thousands of people from the panhandle of Florida, across Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia and Texas.

For more information on how you can be a member of the Hurricane Katrina relief effort call the Washtenaw County Chapter at (734) 971-5300

From the Yahoo News article posted above...

...and the governor said Wednesday the situation was growing more desperate and there was no choice but to abandon the flooded city.

Wow. Just to hear the words. Amazing.

Something just occurred to me - my apologies if this has already been mentioned.

Some companies will match their employees' charitable donations to certain non-profits. For those of us out in corporate America, check with your HR or payroll department to find out if your company has a matching program and which charities they'll match donations to.

Interested question. Can we compare the Tsunami to this hurricane?? In terms of number of people affected and the financial resources of the countries?

Great idea aephi alum. :)

Right now, my company is still trying to locate our unaccounted for employees in New Orleans when it just occurred to me. I'm am blessed to work for a national company that is actually doing something for those employees affected by this Hurricane. For example, they will still get a paycheck every pay period - regardless where they are or how long it takes them to get back to the area. In fact, New Orleans employees are in the process of being relocated to other places (including their shelter, food, etc.).

But what about the large percentage of people who aren't blessed like that? Who's job (the company, the building) is gone right along with their home and belongings...how do they make it? You can only live off savings and credit cards for so long - and hotels are expensive. How will they survive?

I hope something positive will occur out from all of this devastation...

My soror, AKA2D91' lives in New Orleans was able to evacuate to her folks house in Baton Rouge...

She remains positive...

But, I still hear utter loss for words for someone who is actually down there dealing with this "insanity"...

I hope folks who remained in NO and MS will have some potable water to function.

Last night I commented that looters should be shot on first sight. I know it is WAY overboard, but to see how "proud" some of those looters were and how vicious they were...it made sense to me. Was I hearing things when I heard that a police officer was seriously wounded by a looter who he was trying to get to stop?


That has crossed my mind also. All the money that was raised for the tsunami, it makes you wonder if people are going to donate here in the US or across the oceans.

/begin sarcasm
I doubt it though...we are the country everyone depends on for relief. Why help us? :rolleyes:
/sarcasm

I don't know the policy down there... but I do know with aid to civil authority the Canadian and UK militaries follow a policy of 3 verbal requests for the looters to stop and drop what they have taken... the next step is what we call the "warning shot" ie. the first warning shot the looters hear is the shot that killed the guy nexy to them. While I can understand people needing food and water - it's the other looters that should be shot.

When people only care about themselves in a disaster such as this - they weaken and damage the community further. The first step in any recovery is law and order - if someone is concerned about their personal safety or their possessions it'll hinder any rebuilding or recovery.

Completely different scale of disaster - but nonetheless aid is being prepared... I know all the churches, temples, and mosques around here have been holding collections in preparation for relief - now that the scope of the disaster is becoming known I'm sure they'll step it up an notch.

As for the government - Canadian disaster response teams are prepped and waiting (ie. SAR Teams, the military team sent to for the Tsunami) but are awaiting an official request from the US government (is needed for "foreign troops" to deploy). The Canadian Red Cross will be flying down by the end of the week with 100s of volunteers to help with logistics, support, and aid.

As long as they pay themselves to rebuild and don't rely on insurance then why not rebuild. BUT, if they are expecting insurance companies to keep footing the bill and then everyone elses premiums go up (those of us that would never live on a flood plain) then no I don't think they should. Or another solution may be to have outrageous premiums so it discourages people from building on a flood plain (they do this in Texas I believe). This will happen again-it is just a matter of time-why keep putting you and your family through that? Maybe it will be another 500 years maybe it won't?

It reminds me of the Californians that kept building their houses on the sides of hills that were basically dirt and mudslides continued to destroy them-if they want to continue to live there and take the risk then they need to pay for damage themselves. I would love to live on the coast, but knowing the risks and seeing it year after year on the news-it is just not a smart thing to do. Especially living BELOW sea level:confused: .

My employer just sent out an email stating that all employee donations made to our TCUF (Texas Credit Union Foundation which aids in disasters such as this) will be matched!

For what it's worth, I don't think this can be compared to the tsunami at all. I've gone through the aftermath of a major hurricane, and I was in Thailand a few days after the tsunami. Huge difference.

I read an article about how various organizations in SE Asia are trying to mobilize as much as they can. Remember, the countries most impacted by the tsunami are nowhere near as wealthy as the US; there are areas that haven't even recovered. Besides, there aren't that many international aid organizations in that part of the world...most are based in the US or Europe anyway.

Agreed. I turned on my local news this morning to see something besides Katrina and the only story they were reporting was a major marina where about 50 good sized boats (some liveaboards) were on fire. So much for trying to get something a little less sad.....

I agree..........

People ought to listen to Mother Nature.

My heart goes out to all on GC who have family and friends affected by this tragedy.

My mom's neighbor has a son who lives in Metairie and he came up here on Sat. He said he doesn't know if he has a house to go back to or not.:(

Somebody want to explain to me why 1500 police officers were ordered to stop search and rescue so they can focus on arresting looters???:rolleyes::mad:

Nahhh....let 'em loot. Right now they feel powerful...probably have never felt this powerful in their lives. So let em grab all the moldy shoes and jeans they can grab.

They'd just be the LAST ones on the evac train if I were making decisions.....

PsychTau

(honestly, I can probably see why they are psychologically motivated to loot. However, when this is all over, they STILL won't have gotten any farther ahead. They still don't have a home, and a few pairs of jeans and a stereo aren't going to help them get one. That's the sad part...they can't see too far into the future).

Seriously people, the looters should not be the focus right now. If they are harming others, then that is different. But most people are just wanting to eat. Let them be.

I concur. But this is Louisiana and our state government has the inability to focus on the issue at hand most of the time. My reaction to hearing that was simply.... "The city is 80% under water WTH use will that flat screen TV be anyway? Basically, who cares!" Thousands of people have drowned and they're concerned about businesses with OMG insurance.....go figure. There are some people who have resulted to violence, frustration and a sudden surge of powerfulness perhaps. Those people should be handled but those cases are a very VERY small percentage of what's going on.

Not while the Army Corps of Engineers yells more loudly that they can tame nature.

A few things bother me about this situation:

1. This could have been avoided. The city of New Orleans itself wasn't actually HIT by the hurricane the issues came due to flooding which EVERYONE and I mean EVERYONE in Louisiana knew was going to happen. I found this out freshman year of high school, we're not at all surprised.

2. Why weren't provisions made to get people out of the city? A mandatory evacuation was issued yes, and those with the MEANS to evacuate did that. The people who remainded in the city were the poor or those with nowhere else to go, plain and simple. City buses could have been used to get those people out of the city. New Orleans, the state of Louisiana made NO effort whatsoever. Basically, our government decided that certain people were expendable.

3. Why is New Orleans the only focus? In Gulfport, MS alone 80 people died. In Slidell, LA which is near New Orleans the city is GONE not flooded, not in trouble G O N E! We're talking damage you can't imagine.

1. That is why I question the rush to rebuild everything. Perhaps they should take their time and if they feel they must rebuild, then get some good engineers in there to build decent levees that can withstand something like this (if there is such a thing). Right now, they can't even figure out how to temporarily fix the breach so that the water can be pumped out.

2. CNN was showing city buses going up and down the streets and taking people to the Superdome on Sunday and Monday morning. Some people refused to leave. I don't know whether they got to every street/neighborhood with the buses, but it did look like they tried. I saw someone sitting in a third floor apartment who told the Coast Guard out the window that they weren't leaving because they had food and water. This was yesterday and the water was up to the second floor. That's nuts.

3. New Orleans isthe focus because the situation is still getting worse there. I'm seeing a lot of footage from Slidell and also from Gulfport. But, food, ice and water are making it to Gulfport right now and it's more shocking to see people sitting on their roofs waiting for rescue than to see the damage in Gulfport. I did see a lot of Gulfport coverage though. New Orleans is also more well known and has a larger population. This doesn't make Gulfport less important, just less newsworthy to the media, I guess.

I am definitely impressed with Texas. I saw a news clip a little while ago where he was saying that they are preparing their schools to take in the kids from New Orleans who are being bussed to the Astrodome. That's really amazing. A reporter asked where the money was going to come from to cover all the expenses and he said it didn't matter, we have to take care of people first and figure the rest out later. Very impressive man, in this situation anyway. (I don't know anything about him otherwise).

The whole thing is just so incredibly tragic, for everybody affected.

Speaking of looters
 

I don't appreciate how the media is trying to play on steretypes when it decides to make the distinction between "looting" and "finding".

http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...24#post1084224

This is some bull. People are dying/starving and the media is trying to play up on people's fears (and ratings I'm sure) with this mess. :mad:

Sorry for the double post. I just found an article that details why the mayor is moving police to stop the looters. Apparently they are now looting places like nursing homes, threatening the staff and residents, etc. The article

Nagin told The Associated Press that looters are starting to get closer to heavily populated areas including hotels and hospitals. He said police will "stop it right now."

Even a nursing home was targeted by looters, who took a bus and threatened the driver and residents. The home plans to relocate residents and its director said she's considering arming workers.

The top Homeland Security official in New Orleans said bands of gunmen are roaming through the city.

Terry Ebbert said looters have been breaking into stores all over town to steal guns. The Times-Picayune newspaper reported that the gun section at a new Wal-Mart has been cleaned out. And the thieves are apparently using their new guns, with shots heard through the night.

A spokeswoman for Louisiana's governor said workers at Children's Hospital huddled with sick kids and waited for help to arrive as looters tried to break in, but help never came.

I heard him on NPR earlier today talking about this. Like you, I was impressed. :)


ETA: Why would you break into a hospital? Good grief.....

You made some great points.

But the city taking people to the Superdome is not what I was speaking of. The Superdome already had leakage problems prior to them arriving there. I meant taking them out of the city. Even if it meant staying on the bus for extended periods of time, out of harms way is most important. And then in the Superdome the National Guard didn't have the food or resources to feed the people housed. Now, call me crazy but if a city, state, government knows that it has to make provisions to house around 15,000 people for at least a weeks time shouldn't there have been SOMETHING done prior to their arrival? Why was there no food, this is Louisiana food is not a scarce resource. Why weren't blankets and pillows for some of the homeless who had to be housed? We live in a very giving community, the community organizations in Louisiana have literally storage areas full of donated supplies.

The problem was it was expected that this was going to be another, hit and miss. That Katrina was going to skip over New Orleans as other storms have done. They just dropped the ball, they really did.