100,000 Dead??

[sadie147]

Re: 100,000 Dead??

I live in the Houston area and not only is the Astrodome housing refugees, but the Arena next door, the GR Brown Convention Center downtown, 2 large shelters in Texas City and numerous church shelters around town. I am not going to get into what the Red Cross is doing or not doing, but it is the other private organizations who are stepping up to the plate here in Houston to take care of our neighbors. The Salvation Army is providing clothes and the Interfaith Ministries (a collection of churches) is providing the food at the Astrodome. The mayor here just authorized 10 million from the city budget to defray some of the costs. Whether any of the aforementioned will be reimbursed from the donations pouring in is anybody’s guess.

I will say that this town has turned out for our Louisiana friends and it makes me proud. The local news stations are telling people that they are turning away people and medical personnel showing up to help – they have enough help. I guess since we also live on the coast, we understand their plight and know it could have been us and not them.

i congratulate you and your city..for what you have done for these ppl (they keep calling them 'refugees' and that bothers me..the are AMERICANS they are not refugees).

but i still have to ask...what is the purpose of FEMA? someone please enlighten me...

[Barbde]

Re: 100,000 Dead??

Sadie from what we went though with Frances and jeanne last year here is what I know about FEMA. If you have no home insurance they are there for you. I know a guy who's house is paid for, and he had no insurance. He called Fema after Frances. They came out, surveyed his damage and deposited funds directly to his bank account within a couple weeks to repair his roof and drywall etc. Then along came Jeanne. He made no phone calls, a FEMA adjuster showed up at his door unexpectedly after Jeanne. And he got paid AGAIN for those same repairs! Now of course in 3 weeks time between the storms, he had not gotten a new roof or gotten any of the major repairs done. I was in shock. Meanwhile, most of us who pay insurance had still not seen an insurance adjuster yet! FEMA also provides housing for those who lost their homes. Lots of folks living in FEMA trailers either parked in their driveways or in "villages" that were set up. I know of another family that is still living in FEMA housing. I believe they are allowed up to 18 months at no charge. I did get some reimbursement from FEMA for a generator we bought prior to Jeanne. That was unexpected and I was grateful for that because it had been purchased on our credit card and was a pretty big expense that we really could not afford at the time, but really couldn't afford to do without.
The thing that amazed me with FEMA is that there is no real consistency with who got help and how. I called them after Frances, because all over the news that we were getting on our little battery operated TV was to call FEMA. I got a packet in the mail shortly after offering a business loan. They would do doing if you have home owners insurance as I said. And I do have a small business that was basically shut down for the month of September last year. However in looking at the loan, the rates were higher than what I could get on my own. And if I remember correctly it was like a 30 year payment plan WITH a prepayment penalty! WTH? No thanks.
Another neighbor called them, they came out to their house. Actually 2 neighbors had them come right to the house. One neighbor was handed a check on the spot for reimbursement for a chain saw he had to buy as well as his generator. The other neighbor didn't get anything, but an appraisal. There was definitely no consistency in what I saw coming from them. And nothing saying "if this is your situation, this is our response". And while we had national guardsman out here protecting our city, sleeping in tents or where ever people could put them up. FEMA people were staying in Palm Beach at a posh hotel?? It was very confusing.
Another of their acccomplishments (not the right word, but it is early) was the distribution centers that were set up. Semi trucks full of water and MRE's rolled in. Tarps for roofs were distributed and ice. I have to tell you those semi trucks rolling in were a welcome sight for sure.

[Barbde]

Re: 100,000 Dead??

http://www.fema.gov/news/dfrn.fema?id=4487

[Barbde]

Re: 100,000 Dead??

here is a link to individual assistance programs
http://www.fema.gov/rrr/inassist.shtm

[Bugaboo]

Re: 100,000 Dead??

Condi Rice was in NYC buying $3,000 shoes the other day and shooed away people who were asking her how she could do that given the disaster.........

While her actions may have seemed insensitive her job is the Secretary of State and she deals with foreign countries. No argument or anything...just throwing that out there for those who may not be familiar with some government positions.

What completely puzzles me is Louisiana has been hit by 2 of the worst hurricanes in America's history (now 3) where was their plan? They sent people to places and then had no back up to keep them there with even the basic of neccessities. This hurricane wasn't a matter of "if" it was a matter of "when" why did they not plan better? And that one year of funding the Bush Admin cut is pointless on a plan that was going to take 10 to 20 years. I truly hope that out of all of this every state in this nation will take a better look at their emergency plans and act accordingly.

[shawnee]

Re: 100,000 Dead??

Although I live in Singapore I was at at the Convention Centre in New Orleans for a food technology show happily handing out pamphlets & collecting name cards, I also has a couple of good nights in the 'Quatah' showing some of my Singapore colleagues around

Imgine my consternation to see what happend at the Convention Centre over the past few days

Anyhow I was happily putting some Tabasco on my dinner tonight & went oh my god, Avery Island, it must be wiped out

So here for all of you is a bit of good news for a change


http://www.tabasco.com/

[Finelly]

Re: 100,000 Dead??

Thanks, Shawnee! My husband was wondering about the Tabasco folks the other day.....

[kkat55]

Re: 100,000 Dead??

Hi!

I've read so much on the damage down in Louisiana (I'm from Slidell, right across Lake Pontchartrain) that my mind is saturated. Somethings that I've read and thought you might be interested in are below:

I just wanted to stop by and post a link to the mayor of NO's speech http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/02/nag...ipt/index.html and also to add (my DH had read something like this to me during the week) that the levees are owned by the federal government. The Corp of Engineers had told the federal government that the levees were not strong enough for a major storm and kept begging the government to fix them. They don't belong to New Orleans and they were not allowed to touch them.

New Orleans has been afraid for a while about the damage that could be done, but their hands were tied.

I'm not sure, but I believe when New Orleans was first built that it was above sea level. The ground is soft (why we don't have basements there) and wet so I believe even with pilings underneath the ground that everything is still sinking slowly over time. I don't think they planned to build a city below sea level -- it just slowly happened.

Anyway, I just wanted to add this to this post.

~Kat

[Bugaboo]

Re: 100,000 Dead??

I'm not sure, but I believe when New Orleans was first built that it was above sea level.

No, it has never been above sea level. Take a look at history...it wasn't a matter of "if" it was a matter of "when" and they were not prepared even though they should have been. At this point I just want to help my fellow Americans. I'm tired of all this finger pointing because it gets us nowhere. We can argue this until the cows come home because a lot of us sit at a very comfortable perch. We're not down there dealing with this. In the true American spirit we need to come together...to help those in need. The more we argue against one another the more we show those like in 9-11 that we are somehow divided...when truly we are not.

[Iapetus999]

Re: 100,000 Dead??

The more we argue against one another the more we show those like in 9-11 that we are somehow divided...when truly we are not.

I think it's been obvious for a couple years this country is way divided...and a lot of people in NO are claiming they are suffering because of it.

It's definitely should be wake-up call to our govt.

I think part of the finger-pointing exercise is to argue whether we want to keep the same govt people around thru the recovery/next disaster and whether we think they're competant enough to handle it.

[Finelly]

Re: 100,000 Dead??

I disagree.

Arguing about how our government functions and SHOULD functions is a hallmark of democracy. The MORE we demonstrate our ability to reflect, re-evaluate, argue passionately about how things can be improved, etc., the more we are showing those terrorists up. More importantly, we are demonstrating to the people of the middle east and other non-democratic nations that people power is achieved when everyone is permitted to use their voices without fear of retribution.

[Iapetus999]

Re: 100,000 Dead??

I disagree.

Arguing about how our government functions and SHOULD functions is a hallmark of democracy. The MORE we demonstrate our ability to reflect, re-evaluate, argue passionately about how things can be improved, etc., the more we are showing those terrorists up. More importantly, we are demonstrating to the people of the middle east and other non-democratic nations that people power is achieved when everyone is permitted to use their voices without fear of retribution.

I like how sometimes we completely agree and sometimes completely disagree

Anyways I'm with you on this one.

[Bugaboo]

Re: 100,000 Dead??

Actually, I am too believe it or not. I didn't word my post very well. As long as we argue while taking action to help others it shows unity. It's the people, not the government, that make this country amazingly unique. Let's wow the world again...let's show them how we take care of each other...the spirit of the American people will prevail.

[cleochatra]

Re: 100,000 Dead??

As long as we argue while taking action to help others it shows unity. It's the people, not the government, that make this country amazingly unique. Let's wow the world again...let's show them how we take care of each other...the spirit of the American people will prevail.