Katrina- Aftermath
 

weve all seen the devastation caused by sundays hurricane in the usa, what i can,t understand is when these disasters occur in the world,Britain, and other countries usually within 48 hrs announce that they are sending aid teams etc to assist= as in the tsunami in the far east, subs at the bottom of the sea etc, sofar i have not heard one country announce anything, WHY? is it cos the usa is the richest country in the world? cos if thats the reason something is sadly wrong in my view. AID means for anyone surely! these people in this catastrophe certainly are not all rich. plus its obvious to anyone watching the news although the usa government are doing all they can,the magnitude of whats happened is to much to deal with this as quickly as they would like, i always thought we were allies! :confused:

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Maybe cause america is way too big headed and believes it "doesn't need help" blah blah blah america is so0o0o great , we can do it all ourselfs.

America's pride is going to be the death of them, personally I don't care it's there own fault.

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What a complete pratt!!!!!!!!!

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Seconded......

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Cashman and myself spoke about this over a brew this afternoon.

The people who are suffering may live in the richest country in the world, but a lot of them aren't rich and have lost everything and will face weeks if not months before basic ammenities are restored.

All this plus the threat of disease, a tragedy, the people sheltering in the Super Bowl in unbearable heat and no sanitation was heartbreaking.

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Sam, you really need to start putting your brain into gear before setting your mouth in motion.

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Actually Cashman, offers have come in from countries throughout the world and I'm sure the people of the northern Gulf Coast are very grateful for that. It really was a disaster of immense proportions and is said to be the greatest natural disaster ever in the USA. Your concern does you great credit, thank you.

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That's just plain sick, suffering is suffering wherever people live.

Your comments about friends is sadly starting to make sense.

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http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...home-headlines

Maybe this will help him/her understand a bit more.

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Katrina as junior Bush would say is an act of god and nothing to do with global warming (alledgedlly). Unfortunatley it is the poor and helpless who suffer which in the richest country is a disgrace. Less war and more money to stop this happening is a priority. Peoples life is the most valuable thing there is. :(

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Your are quite right, about 28% of people who live in the New Orleans area are below the poverty line and although there was a mandatory evacuation of the city, many of these people had no real means to get out. The authorities would be well advised to fill the area in and build the city somewhere else, ie. not below sea level and not surrounded on three sides by bodies of water.

Two people actually died in the bowl where they were sheltering because, although the building was designed to withstand 200 mph winds, part of the roof came off. These poor souls are now being transferred by buses to a similar bowl in Houston, Texas in order to take them away from the obvious dangers of falling masonary and disease. It's a very sad state of affairs.:(

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Bazf, just of interest this is the biggest item of news here since the 7/7 bombings, so we are seeing lots of pictures.


On a slightly different note, us not forget that this is still only half way through the hurricane season & given the current high water temperature in the mid-west atlantic the probability of another one of these is very high. I know you and JohnW are right in the main path so best of luck!

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thats heartening to hear john, just havent heard anything on british tv about any aid offers,despite the immense coverage the disasters had. as weve been out there a couple of times since 9/11, we found the the southerns states people really friendly and helpful,and its really grieving us. and i can,t bring myself to respond in the thread to those stupid comments,cos if ido i will no doubt be banned from the site. :mad:

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Charity begins at home regardless of who needs it. The media will only show what they think we want to see, selective amnisia would be the best discription. When a disaster happens we should all rally round as we could be next and how would we feel in that position.

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Thanks for your thoughts T and yes if it had turned right while it was steaming up the Gulf of Mexico I may not be writing this now. I was just watching the news and they mentioned that the British were sending a team from International Rescue so people are rallying around.

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This is a terrible catastrophe and my heart goes out to those who are caught up in the middle of it. I cannot imagine being part of a report I have just read, where a mother has to explain to her evacuated children that the lives they once led and took for granted were now over, but although they had lost everything they could take heart and be thankful that they were at least all together!

However, being something of a cynic, and at the risk of incurring the wrath of our American members, it does occur to me to wonder about the adviseability of building a city six feet below mean sea level. Especially in an area as prone to devastation by hurricanes as are the gulf states. Surely, anyone with a grain of sense can see that the writing has been on the wall for New Orleans for quite some time? Is there perhaps just a shade of arrogance here in thinking that something with the energy equivalent of 100 nuclear bombs (approx.) would not dare to turn up on their doorstep? Or that we are so technologically sophisticated we can deal with anything that nature cares to chuck at us.


The same is true of other cities though; San Francisco and Naples spring readily to mind. What is it about the nature of human beings that makes them congregate around such obviously dangerous areas?


Perhaps one good thing which might come out of this tragedy is the realisation that we mess around with nature at our peril, and that now might be a good time to start repairing some of the damage our selfish species has caused. I am not overly optimistic though.

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really glad to hear we are sending a team out,was no mention on our news,and agree with what tealeaf says, and hope you and john keep safe.

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My heart goes out to the people of the Southern States of America that have been affected by this terrible natural disaster. How sad it is to see the old, the weak and the vulnerable suffering even more. It must be devastating to lose your property, however poor it may be......but to try to hang on to someone you love and find them swept away by the flood water doesn't bear thinking about.
Samael may learn some compassion as he gets older and has more experience of life......until then Samael I respectfully advise you think before you comment.

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As it is unfortunately still hurricane season out there then there is a high posibility of more misery. They clean up the effects of one storm only to be hit by another and as we cannot control nature we will see more death injury and suffering. It is something that we will never get used to nor be able to ignore, the urge to help is the one never changing part of human nature that will always win through along with not olowing such disasters to grind us down.

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[QUOTE=Acrylic-bob]
What is it about the nature of human beings that makes them congregate around such obviously dangerous areas?



Economics.

Towns and cities have been built in the most disadvantaged positions because of the economic benefits throughout history.

Would you suggest that the whole of East Anglia and the Netherlands be moved to higher ground as well as New Orleans?

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:( [QUOTE=garinda]You are right of course, towns were traditionally built on rivers, both for transport and drinking facilities. Mighty old London is prone to flooding, hence the Thames barrier. But East Anglia and the Netherlands are much larger areas than New Orleans and land is at a premium in both Holland and England and neither of these lands are prone to hurricanes. There's plenty of land out here to build on without building below sea level. It was indeed, as AB says, not the brightest of moves. :confused: It is enclosed on three sides by water and that coast suffers badly from hurricanes. It really doesn't make a lot of sense.:(

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It would not mater how good the defences are because the "big one" will always get through. The Dutch have had centuries of practice at building defences but still get caught out. As the reclaimed land is so fertile then man will always try his luck to make a buck. London may have the Thames barrier but thats no guarantee against flooding as there are still the feeder rivers.

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I'm glad to hear that aid is being sent, I thought it was strange that nothing had been reported on UK news, its really heartbreaking to see these people old and young and feeling powerless to help. I think its for us to comprehend the enormity of the situation.

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This may sound really cheesy but will say it anyway....

God Bless America :)

I hope the devestation we have seen over the past few days is soon cleared and those that have lost can begin to mourn. Lets just hope we will never see the likes of it again, although that is highly unlikely.

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your right red it does sound CHEESY= agree entirely though.

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It's heartbreaking to watch footage of this disaster and I am glad that aid is getting through. The news here seems to be concentrating on people looting today. These people now have nothing, no food, no clean water, no clothing, no medications. If looting is the thing to do in order to preserve the lives of themselves and their families then it has to be done. I know that some people will always take advantage of a disaster of this magnitude in order to loot and capitalise from the chaos, but I believe that the vast majority are merely trying to stay alive. It's like watching footage from a third world country at the moment and I do hope that the situation improves soon....:)

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Myself and Mrs H watched the unfolding news with great sadness. We loved the city when we went there 3 years ago and always talked about going back again one day.

However, questions have to be asked about the effectiveness of the relief operation. Why, 3-4 days after the disaster, are people still stranded in the city without food and drinking water? If the US can organise an army to be sent to the other side of the world, surely they can mount a rescue operation for thier own people more rapidly than this?

Re: Katrina- Aftermath
 

Federal disaster declarations blanketed 90,000 square miles of the United States — an area almost as large as the United Kingdom. Death estimates still ranged in the thousands, with countless people missing, including rhythm and blues legend Fats Domino. The 77-year-old singer-pianist, whose real name is Antoine Domino, lives in New Orleans' low-lying, flooded Ninth Ward. Estimates of the damage reached $50 billion, by far the highest ever associated with a U.S. natural disaster.
Its now time for the blame and it will start at the top, FEMA, Homeland sercurity,Red Cross and of course the Police chief and Rescue crews they had a few days notice and still got caught off guard. (sound like when it snows in England) Facing blistering criticism for his administration's response to Hurricane Katrina, U.S. President George W. Bush admitted "results are not acceptable" and pledged to bolster relief efforts with a personal trip to the Gulf Coast.
Speaking on White House grounds just before boarding his presidential helicopter, Marine One, Bush stopped defending his administration's response and for the first time criticized it.
"We'll get on top of this situation," Bush said before he left to tour the disaster zone, "and we're going to help the people that need help."
So hopefully help is on its way, some of the pictures just make you want to do something no matter how little.

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I hope they have learned some lessons, because they may well need them very, very soon. Look whats coming in from directly east of Cuba:

http://www.ghcc.msfc.nasa.gov/GOES/goeseasthurr.html

Re: Katrina- Aftermath
 

Thats the last thing that area needs is another dose of misery and destuction my heart goes out to them poor souls. :(

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lets hope not tealeaf, do you know where thats heading for? i just can,t get my head round the magnitude of this disaster, can,t understand why thousands are still in this situation, can,t understand why theirs been total silence from our own government,i certainly have not heard anything. i know i,m a cynical get but i,m seriously begining to wonder.

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Things are getting to gear for a releif affort the "I tunes music site is asking for donations to the American Red Cross


Our hearts go out to all the victims of Hurricane Katrina American Red Cross The devastation in the wake of Hurricane Katrina is heartbreaking, and our thoughts are with those struggling in the aftermath of this disaster. As victims of this natural disaster are attempting to recover, American Red Cross volunteers have been deployed to the hardest hit areas of Katrina's destruction, supplying hundreds of thousands of victims left homeless with critical necessities. By making a financial gift to Hurricane 2005 Relief, the Red Cross can provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to those in need. We urge you to contribute to this worthy cause.

Make A Donation

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If you jiggle the amimation on the NASA satalite piccys, you'll get a westward projection passing between Cuba & Florida....but as we know, these things do change direction.

Once again,good luck Bazf & JW.

As far as I am aware, nothing on this latest hurricane as yet been announced by the British media.

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http://hurricane.weathercenter.com/

This is the site I use to track them and it has come in useful more then once, only a month to go then its back to normal for Florida.

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Quite agree with Lettie on the looting, i am sure that i would be joining the looters if it meant the difference to me and my family staying alive or perishing. Seen some footage today about diabetics not been able to get the insulin they require, that must be awful. (Which i presume is the same for a lot of other drug dependant illnesses.) Just hope the aid gets through as fast as possible. As Harwood says God Bless America.

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The scenes we've seen on television, and have read reports about, are just as distressing as anything we witnessed after the tsunami.

The most frightening thing was how fragile our so called civilised societies are away from anarchy. Seeing people rioting because they are so desperate to escape the Super bowl, and the emergency services being shot at by the people that had looted the gun stores, was truly frightening.

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just read on ceefax that our foreign office say that aid/assistance was offered, but was refused, whats going on? we all know the media/ governments only tell us what they choose, but if this is correct i wonder if the american media have reported this? this emergancy should to me be all hands to the pump- not we can manage, if this is correct i despair.

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Yo all remember last year on Boxing day.America was one of the first to send help.Where is the help when America needs it.
Again i have heard that some countries are scared of helping in case of terrorists attacks.

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Never read a bigger load of bull****e in my life! The yanks new that this disaster was on its way!what have they done ..............get out now! some organised crime outfits decided to stay,if it was a oil rich country how long would it have took the yanks?what a load of bullshi-te.just step back and have a look at yourselves, some little arab country gets run over you are there,kosovo, you are there . your own country kiss my ass nowhere to be seen!

YANK THE ****.**** THE YANK.

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I think that is very harsh staggers, when it comes down to it these are peoples lives regardless of which country they live in. THEY are the victims so lets concentrate on them and not get into the tittle tattle about what THE americans may or may not have done. This is where our own human nature comes into play.

I thought it was a good link Bazf, especially regarding sri lanka who are still trying to overcome the tsunami disaster

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SORRY HARWOOD THE YANKS PUT THE STORM ON OUR SCREENS AT HOME AND THEY KNEW WHAT WAS COMMING!SO WHY ARE THEY NOT PREPARED FOR THIS ? THE ONE AND ONLY ALMIGHTY POWER CANT STOP A BIT OF WATER? beggers belief, 4 days later and they have still done jack sh-ite come on lyndsey whats happening.they can send a task force to any corner of the world, but they cant look after there own?

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I agree with Staggers America knew the hurricane was coming and ordered the people of New Orleans to leave. Why then did they not provide transport for the hospitals & poor who had no transport of there own so they too could leave? As has been said the bowl they were told to shelter in was not safe. Those with money could leave those who had none were left to fend for themselves. I think it's disgusting that a country as rich as America should leave it's sick and poor to suffer & in many cases die in this way
As for the looters they are only committing a crime if they are taking anything other than food, fluids or medical supplies after all they are just trying to survive

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I agree with staggers.Anybody who builds a city that far under sea level is basically asking for trouble.It was in fact then an artifucial tragedy, man made, but then again the Americans seem to thínk that owt like thís will never happen to them.Sometimes i get the feeling they think they are immune to things and nothing and nobody would dare do owt to America.

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errrr?? Who's lyndsey????

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good link cheers bazf, think recriminations at this point are cheap staggers,were talking disaster and peoples lives here, that is the main priority, blame comes later.

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Ermmm, possibly something of a backtrack of sorts here, I have just discovered that New Orleans, like Venice, is sinking, apparently; at the rate of three feet per century. Which would account for it currently being six feet below mean sea level. When it was originally laid out it would probably have been a couple of feet above mean sea level and there would have been little danger. However, the current flood defences were designed in 1953, so they are just a tad out of date it would seem.

It must also be said that, given a good week's warning that the storm was headed their way, the planning of the evacuation and the relief effort has been, to say the least, a mess. Lives that would otherwise have been safe, have been lost.

I was surprised to read that Sri-Lanka (formerly Ceylon), despite still struggling to cope with the effects of the Christmas Tsunami, has pledged $25,000 to the Red Cross disaster relief fund. While all that Georgies best mate, Tone, has said is that Britain stands ready to offer whatever help may be required. Not exactly a response on quite the same level as the "widow's mite" from poor Ceylon. No mention of diverting the Royal Navy to help out with the evacuation or sending helicopters - or a crack team of British Civil Engineers to help with the improvement of flood defenses for the future, when New Orleans will be NINE feet below mean sea level!

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There was adequate warning, but where are you going to evacuate up to three million people?

New Orleans breathed a sigh of relief when it appeared to have missed most of the damage, it was only afterwards that the chaos started there.

Talking of sea-levels, it said on the BBC2 programme Coast last night that Scotland is rising by 2mm a year and the south of England is sinking by 5mm a year.

We are living in the middle of a see-saw.

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Ahh yes, but overall the uk and most of Europe are still in the process of rising as a result of the thawing of the last ice age.

Interestingly. I only found out the other day that there are land tides which work in the same way as sea tides and which circle the globe every twelve hours. So even on dry land we are constantly bobbing up and down! Comforting thought!

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:( I was watching the news about the aftermath births deaths shootings and all the rest of it and thinking it was like something you would unfortunately find in Africa or the Far East. Yet this is the worlds top dog and boy did it take a blow below the belt. There are people still in that place which shocked me to the point of an up chucky. Those who could get out baled those who couldnt stayed frail injured old ethnic minorities, yet why with all the resourses did it happen so far the race card has surfaced along with there was to much to do (aka unco-ordinated). The questions for answering are who takes the blame, why did it take so long to orginise, when will the rest be evacuated, what will they learn from this and god forbid where could the next one like this hit. Sobering thoughts which hurts like hell when I see those pictures.:( :( :( :( :(

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Your quite right that there was adequate warning and where would you put 3 million people?
The thing to remember is human nature, out of the ones that didn't evacuate a lot stayed because they didn't want too. Last year when we were going through it we looked at our options and the sensible thing to do was leave and find a hotel futher north but we um-ed and arr-ed and made the excuse that we had the 2 dogs and as shelters don't take them and most hotels don't we would brave it out. People feel safe in thier homes, the old saying my home is my castle etc... Luckly it didn't hit and we were ok a bit of roof damage and a new fence, but if it had who could we blame, the goverment for not sending buses, the Redcross for not airlifting us out. Remember when critizing there are always 2 sides to a story.

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dont hold your breath the home gard have managed to get there and its only 7 days later, what where they doin?

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you could shift 3 million people no probs what is left behind are looters and pillagers. the area that was hit is god knows the size of the U.K. but when people are watching it arrive on there tellys the yank government should have been ready to move in.yes all you accy webbers saying it was harsh but you are talking about the super power that puts people in space, they can wander around the moon and mars ! but they cannot get aid to someone in there own country took them 7 days. IRAQ 24 HOURS.

Re: Katrina- Aftermath
 

Thought you might be interested in two "inside views" which I received via my cousin. This first one is from a doctor in New Orleans:

Aug. 31, 2005

This is a dispatch from New Orleans from Dr. Greg Henderson, a pathologist who recently moved from Wilmington:

Thanks to all of you who have sent your notes of concern and your prayers. I am writing this note on Tuesday at 2 p.m.. I wanted to update all of you as to the situation here. I don't know how much information you are getting but I am certain it is more than we are getting. Be advised that almost everything I am telling you is from direct observation or rumor from reasonable sources. They are allowing limited internet access, so I hope to
send this dispatch today.

Personally, my family and I are fine. My family is safe in Jackson, Miss., and I am now a temporary resident of the Ritz Carleton Hotel in New Orleans. I figured if it was my time to go, I wanted to go in a place with a good wine list. In addition, this hotel is in a very old building on Canal Street that could and did sustain little damage. Many of the other hotels sustained significant loss of windows, and we expect that many of the guests
may be evacuated here.

Things were obviously bad yesterday, but they are much worse today. Overnight the water arrived. Now Canal Street (true to its origins) is indeed a canal. The first floor of all downtown buildings is underwater. I have heard that CharityHospital and Tulane are limited in their ability to care for patients because of water. Ochsner is the only hospital that remains fully functional. However, I spoke with them today and they too are on generator and losing food and water fast.

The city now has no clean water, no sewerage system, no electricity, and no real communications. Bodies are still being recovered floating in the floods. We are worried about a cholera epidemic. Even the police are without effective communications. We have a group of armed police here with us at the hotel that is! admirab ly trying to exert some local law enforcement. This is tough because looting is now rampant. Most of it is not malicious looting. These are poor and desperate people with no housing and no medical care and no food or water trying to take care of themselves and their families. Unfortunately, the people are armed and dangerous. We hear gunshots frequently. Most of Canal street is occupied by armed looters who have a low threshold for discharging their weapons. We hear gunshots frequently. The looters are using makeshift boats made of pieces of styrofoam to access. We are still waiting for a significant national guard presence.

The health care situation here has dramatically worsened overnight. Many people in the hotel are elderly and small children. Many other guests have unusual diseases. ... There are (Infectious Disease) physicians in at this hotel attending an HIV confection. We have commandered the world famous French Quarter Bar to turn into an makeshift clinic. There is a team of about seven doctors and PAs and pharmacists. We anticipate that this will be the major medical facility in the central business district and French Quarter.

Our biggest adventure today was raiding the Walgreens on Canal under police escort. The pharmacy was dark and full of water. We basically scooped the entire drug sets into garbage bags and removed them. All under police excort. The looters had to be held back at gunpoint. After a dose of prophylactic Cipro I hope to be fine.

In all we are faring well. We have set up a hospital in the the French Qarter bar in the hotel, and will start admitting patients today. Many will be from the hotel, but many will not. We are anticipating dealing with multiple medical problems, medications and and acute injuries. Infection and perhaps even cholera are anticipated major problems. Food and water shortages are imminent.

The biggest question to all of us is where is the National Guard. We hear jet fignters and helicopte! rs, but no real armed presence, and hence the rampant looting. There is no Red Cross and no Salvation Army.

In a sort of cliché way, this is an edifying experience. One is rapidly focused away from the transient and material to the bare necessities of life. It has been challenging to me to learn how to be a primary care phyisican. We are under martial law so return to our homes is impossible. I don't know how long it will be and this is my greatest fear. Despite it all, this is a soul-edifying experience. The greatest pain is to think about the loss. And how long the rebuid will take. And the horror of so many dead people .

PLEASE SEND THIS DISPATCH TO ALL YOU THING MAY BE INTERSTED IN A DISPATCH from the front. I will send more according to your interest. Hopefully their collective prayers will be answered. By the way, suture packs, sterile gloves and stethoscopes will be needed as the Ritz turns into a MASH

Greg Henderson



This second one is taken from a report from our church in the area:


Katrina’s devastation may be the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States. Over a million people have been displaced from their homes in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama by savage winds and murky, rising floodwaters contaminated with sewage and bodies. Eighty-five percent of New Orleans is under water and rescue workers are marking X’s on houses that contain the dead.

Martial law has been declared in the city and all residents are being asked to leave. All the lanes on all the roads around New Orleans are one way—leading out. Coastal cities and towns in Mississippi and Alabama have been devastated by the tidal surge.

Ole Christensen, President of the Denham Springs Stake (of the LDS church) and chairman of the regional welfare committee, gave the most graphic description, “It reminds me of the chaos in 3 Nephi.” That completes the picture. Utter catastrophe. The face of the world changed.

“I’m sure the people then were probably numb too,” said President Christensen. You really don’t have time to think about it because the phone never stops ringing.”

“This is something you think will never happen,” said his wife, Joyce.

Most of us are experiencing Katrina’s wake through television images of desperate people who have become refugees with no place to go, huddled in the Superdome or climbing, drenched out of water, saying they have no food, no water and no one to tell them what to do.

Latter-day Saints knew immediately knew what to do. When the storm hit, Priesthood leaders began what is an ongoing assessment of the whereabouts and well-being of the members. The Church has announced that all missionaries were evacuated before the storm hit. There are no reported deaths or injuries of members although many have not been accounted for.

President Christensen said the Baton Rouge temple was undamaged, though it lost its power for a period of time. Of the 43 buildings in the five stakes of his region, most of buildings sustained little or slight damage, except for those buildings in the areas hardest hit—the New Orleans Stake and the Slidell Stake. Because communications has been nearly impossible with those regions, the fate of many of those buildings is still uncertain.

“My best guess” said President Christensen, “is that two of the buildings in the Slidell area have some water in them. We do not have reports out of some areas—even by satellite phone.

“The New Orleans Stake is a whole different story. We believe that the New Orleans stake center has water in it We have no idea what has happened to the chapel in Port Sulphur. The worst scenario is that it is now part of the Gulf of Mexico, but, of course, we just don’t know.

“We received a report that some members were stranded on the west bank of New Orleans and that President Scott Conlin has organized a caravan of vans to see if he can go pick them up.

As of Wednesday, approximately 10 meetinghouses throughout the disaster area were being used as emergency shelters for members and their neighbors. Many of these had two or three hundred people or more in them.

President Conlin had also developed a warning system and evacuation plan for the New Orleans stake which was put into place this past weekend. This stake has an automated phone system so that the stake president put in a prerecorded message on Saturday and again on Sunday morning that rang into 1700 homes. The message was to evacuate the city. If they weren’t leaving their homes, they were given an 800 number so they could report where they were going to me.

The evacuation plan called for people to go to three different stake centers—two in Mississippi and one in Louisiana that were near the three major arteries that lead out of the city. A member knew which one to go based on the highway that was closest to him.

Of course, there is no way to estimate at this point how many people have lost their homes. “These people are displaced,” said Joyce Christensen. They can’t go home. They have nothing to go home to. We’re still just processing what has happened.”

Though Slidell was one of the hardest hit areas, the Bishop’s Storehouse, which is nearly new, only suffered a bit of water damage when water from the storm leaked through the waters and doors. The power grid was badly damaged and it may take as many as eight to twelve weeks to restore electricity. (Bishop’s Storehouse is part of the LDS church welfare system which helps out members who are out of work/ill etc and run into temporary difficulties. Members contribute monthly towards the storehouse which in turn then helps out those in need.)

At the storehouse, a generator was immediately put to work and commodities continued to roll out the door.

Kevin Nield, director of Bishops' Storehouse Services, said that to this point the Church had responded with 14 semi-trailers full of necessities like water, tents, sleeping bags, tarps, chainsaws, generators, canned food and hygiene kits. When the Church saw the storm danger, “simultaneously we sent supplies to be pre-positioned in those locations to be close to the needs.”

Needs are assessed by priesthood leaders with some guidance based on the experience of the welfare department. Every evening priesthood leaders have been on a conference call with officers in SaltLake so that the Church can be appropriately responsive to needs.

Bennie Lilly, Area Welfare Manager for the North American Southeast Area, talked to Meridian from the Slidell bishop’s storehouse. “It’s hot and humid here. People are tired. About 10,000 members live in this area who have been affected by Katrina.

“Where I am standing, I see a tree that has fallen through the roof of a house and just beyond that a church that has lost its roof. There is no water, but still Bishop David Navo of the Mississipi Picayune Ward is here getting commodities for his hard-struck members.”

Housed in a Church

Bishop Navo’s ward members have no communications whatsoever. (an LDS “ward” is like a C of E parish and the LDS Bishop the equivalent of the C of E vicar) No cell phones. No pay phones. No electricity. Stores are closed, but Wal-Mart is letting a few people in at a time to buy items with cash.

Limbs, trees and branches are down everywhere and many of the roads are nearly impassable. Katrina’s eye passed over Picayune and so they were hit hard.

“Oak trees so big that you couldn’t put your arms around their trunk went down,” he said.

Bishop Navo cannot contact every ward member, so the night before the storm hit, he and his family moved into the Church to be there in case any members had to find shelter there. Come they did, by the scores. They pooled what food they had. The storm hit and the next day misery set in with soaring temperatures and no water and food.

Thus Bishop Navo came to the Slidell bishop’s storehouse for food, water and generators to supply the needs of those living in the church.

What especially pleased him, however, was that a woman who had adopted two special needs children received something she desperately needed. When the children got too hot, they had a tendency to go into seizures, and she needed a generator to keep them cool. Bishop Navo made sure she received the first generator from the Church’s supplies.

Of course people will need more than commodities as the awful realization bears down day in and out of what they’ve lost. LDS Social Services is sending help into the area to support member’s emotional needs—almost a kind of grief counseling. People are reaching out to each other with open homes and open hearts.

And in the long run? How will people rebuild lost homes and opportunities, swallowed under floodwaters or howling winds? That will take a longer assessment.

For New Orleans to be habitable again, they will have to start from the ground up with a completely new infrastructure—including roads and power.

Personally I'm totally lost for words to express how I feel about this disaster. I cannot begin to imagine the horror of it although hearing reports from inside the area makes it all the more real and personal somehow.. I totally agree that those who are looting for food etc to stay alive cannot be regarded in the same light as criminals who are stealing things they do not need. It's all about survival. Perhaps New Orleans just simply won't exist after this. Looking at the aerial photographs it is difficult to imagine how it can ever be restored. Would people want to live there again with the danger hanging over them? Would it be possible to rehouse them in a safer area?

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thanks for that willow! i would think that if new orleans is rebuilt,the first job should be bigger stronger levees, we all know the force of nature is terrible,but it would be madness not to take this into account. still havent heard anything about old algiers,imagine its gone but would appreciate any info.

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I agree some places are no go areas after dark, and I had to get the tube in Brixton for two years. If however you were a cabbie in Brighton and got a sixty mile job to Brixton, I'd have foregone the no drop off after dark rule for that fare.:)

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got to respond bazf new orleans does have desparetley poor districts, but must say as for going out at night, my missus and i went to a blues bar by cab into slidell-which i,m led to believe is one of the poorer/run down places, we got out of the cab looked around and it certainly did look iffy, we went into the bar, was made unbelievably welcome,great band on had a great night, left in the early hours,the barstaff had rang a cab for us, i certainly wouldnt think twice about returning to such a area, not thats likely given the devastion. oh and the patrons were 90% negro.

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i agree too! (god dad something we both agree on! first time ever hehe)

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They think that they are invinsible abroad yet because of this there aint enough people with the ability help at home. Now thats a poor set of affairs.

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Well I would love to see the response if anything like that happened in the UK, you can't even clear snow, and yes, guess what, it comes every year.

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It would depend on if anybody knew were to find Tony Blair.

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think he's in bognor or somewhere like that.............

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Have you seen the latest list of countries willing to help? amonst others: RUSSIA, CHINA, SOUTH KOREA, CUBA, VENEZUELA,KUWAIT, SAUDI ARABIA, QATAR ....and IRAN!

It is good to see that countries with long lasting disputes with the United States can put aside those differences in the face of a disaster.

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As with Bazf this has shown to the world the big secret that America has kept hidden. A massive underclass, usually black, who do not and would not recognise the America that is shown to the rest of the world. These people are suffering yet as with all humans in times like these they have reverted to base. i.e. survival of the fittest. looting, robbery etc is just the outwards signs that the 'fittest' are trying to make sure they come out on top. I would in teh same circumstances do whatever it takes to keep my family alive. If that involves robbing etc then so be it. I can repent and ask for forgiveness later.

The fact that America has and is still spending as massive amount on war in Iraq is what I find hardest to understand. That money alone would have made it possible to have prevented this catastrophe by moving people away from the area when they knew there was going to be a problem. However I find it difficult to understand why these people who claim to have no means of getting away didn't use the one god gave them. Even at an easy pace it is possible to walk 20 miles in a day. Couldn't the powers have organised mass walks to safety?

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A SADSTATE OF CORRUPT LOCAL GOVERNMENT LOOKING FOR A HAND OUT.

Politics over duty



This is a post from a fellow over in Merritt Is, FL, a reporter who's been researching what went on before the storm hit

I think all of Nagin's pomp and posturing is going to bite him hard in the near future as the lies and distortions of his interviews are coming to light.

On Friday night before the storm hit Max Mayfield of the NationalHurricaneCenter took the unprecedented action of calling Nagin and Blanco personally to plead with them to begin MANDATORY evacuation of New Orleans and they said they'd take it under consideration. This was after the NOAA buoy 240 miles south had recorded 68' waves before it was destroyed.

President Bush spent Friday afternoon and evening in meetings with his advisors and administrators drafting all of the paperwork required for a state to request federal assistance (and not be in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act or having to enact the Insurgency Act).



Just before midnight

Friday evening the President called Governor Blanco and pleaded with her to sign the request papers so the federal government and the military could legally begin mobilization and call up.



He was told that they didn't think

it necessary for the federal government to be involved yet.After the President's final call to the governor she held meetings with her staff to discuss the political ramifications of bringing federal forces. It was decided that if they allowed federal assistance it would make it look as if they had failed so it was agreed upon that the feds would not be invited in.

Saturday before the storm hit the President again called Blanco and Nagin requesting they please sign the papers requesting federal assistance, that they declare the state an emergency area, and begin mandatory evacuation.


After a personal plea from the President, Mayor Nagin agreed to order an

evacuation, but it would not be a full mandatory evacuation, and the governor still refused to sign the papers requesting and authorizing federal action.



In frustration the President declared the area a national disaster

area before the state of Louisiana did so he could legally begin some advanced preparations. Rumor has it that the President's legal advisers were looking into the ramifications of using the insurgency act to bypass the Constitutional requirement that a state request federal aid before the federal government can move into state with troops - but that had not been done since 1906 and the Constitutionality of it was called into question to use before the disaster.

Throw in that over half the federal aid of the past decade to New Orleans for levee construction, maintenance, and repair was diverted to fund a marina and support the gambling ships.



Toss in the investigation that will look into why the emergency

preparedness plan submitted to the federal government for funding and published on the city's website was never implemented and in fact may have been bogus for the purpose of gaining additional federal funding as we now learn that the organizations identified in the plan were never contacted or coordinating into any planning - though the document implies that they were.

The suffering people of New Orleans need to be asking some hard questions as do we all, but they better start with why Blanco refused to even sign the multi-state mutual aid pack activation documents until Wednesday which further delayed the legal deployment of National Guard from adjoining states.



Or maybe ask why Nagin keeps harping that the President should

have commandeered 500 Greyhound busses to help him when according to his own emergency plan and documents he claimed to have over 500 busses at his disposal to use between the local school busses and the city transportation busses - but he never raised a finger to prepare them or activate them.

This is a sad time for all of us to see that a major city has all but been destroyed and thousands of people have died with hundreds of thousands more suffering, but it's certainly not a time for people to be pointing fingers and trying to find a bigger dog to blame for local corruption and incompetence. Pray to God for the survivors that they can start their lives anew as fast as possible and we learn from all the mistakes to avoid them in the future.

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Now what johnw sent makes HBC look kind of respectable.

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it certainly beggars belief, if its true? havent a great deal of faith in reporters and press, could well be correct,but a cynical git like me thinks they tend to print what sells papers as the main bible.

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Well the thing to remember is that George Bush is doing a spin job, the reporter is a well known Republican supporter as is his newspaper and the mayor and the Govenor are Democrates. The fact that he handled 9/11 so well in his first term but handled this so badly will go against him and of course the Republicans in the next elections.
You think the Labor and Conservatives are nasty to each other, this lot would knock them in to a c ocked hat.

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AT the end of the day they are all cockeyed and are in it to win it, they dont care who has lost who, as long as they are alright thats all that matters, a bit like the ENGLAND TEAM TONIGHT, we are there so we dont care?

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I have to agree Bazf, George is doing a spin job. But then all the democrats are putting their spin on the whole thing as well. As per usual, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. I just get sick to death of hearing 'Dubbya' getting the blame for every damn thing that happens. There has been much said about him not giving a damn about New Orleans etc. Let's face it folks, New Orleans has been below sea level ever since the damn place was settled. The fact is that successive governments, both Democrat and Republican, are to blame for not building levies high enough throughout decades of office. Poor old George just happened to be in power when the big one struck. What did Bungalow Bill Clinton do for New Orleans when he was in power? Oh, that's right, he was too busy getting a blow job and playing hide and seek with his cigars in the Oval Office. There you go you see, it's so easy to criticise.;)

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If both parties put as much effort into avoiding these kind of disasters as they do into spinning and political points hunting then it would not have happened. Today any disaster is like a free for all for polititions at the expense of those who have suffers its a disgrace. To think we elect people like this to represent us then they try a verbal sparing match when they should be at peace and helping those in need. Since when did spin become more important than human life and suffering. Round them up and leave them in New Orleans for 72 hours and see if they like it.:mad:

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Thought you might find these photos interesting. It's also worth reading the captions because they give an insight into what it was/is like there and more of an understanding of why everyone didn't immediately evacuate. You need to click on each of the thumbnail thingies to move through them.

CLICK HERE

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Does not work or better said it did not for me

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Try these ones. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ynews_p...ina/favorites/
http://www.nola.com/hurricane/photos/

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After going through the pages and pics I feel humble compared to this our so called bad weather look like a small shower.