NOLA Relief, Pt. 2: what smashsc said.

[liz_marcs]

Once more pimping The American Red Cross relief efforts. Choose "Hurricane 2005" relief on the donations page.

I won't duplicate the efforts of smashsc, who has compiled a list of Web sites for news and relief efforts.

In addition to the list provided by smashsc:

Second Harvest, the food bank network, not only had ten of its food banks and hundreds of related agencies wrecked by the hurricane, they are also coordinating efforts to bring critical food and water supplies to the region. If you feel more comfortable paying directly for critical food and water for the survivors and evacuees, rather than tossing money into the Red Cross's more general needs fund for Katrina, go here.

Any help you can give I'm sure will be appreciated.

Also via the_red_shoes, Making Light is tracking news about the aftermath of Katrina here

Also via the_red_shows, wicked_wish points out some very salient points about what went wrong with the evacuation order and what continues to be wrong news coverage in the aftermath. People are forgetting: New Orleans, Biloxi, and other large cities in the southeast are among the poorest in the nation. You can call evacuation all you want, but if you don't have the means to find shelter, let alone the means to leave, you really have no choice but to stay. And I'm sorry: but if something catastrophic like Katrina blew through Boston tomorrow and flattened my area and I was trapped with no way to leave, you can bet your ass I'd be tooling up and going "shopping" at my local grocery story and pharmacy. Survival comes first, and that means preserved food, bottled water, and medical supplies.

harmfulguy may be himself out of harm's way, and his family managed to evacuate before the worst, but they are now living with relatives and unsure about the status of property and belongings. He's blogging about the experience in his LJ.

insomnia is continuing his blogging about the aftermath of Katrina as well as some important information on why things spiraled so quickly out of control and continue to descent into chaos. His blog is a must-read. I'll just simply point in his direction and say: "Waht he said." I'm too pissed to trust my language to do anything more.

ETA: Of all things, Editor & Publisher is maybe doing the best job I've seen in the newsmedia of covering Katrina from all angles. Coverage includes:

• on-the-ground blogging of rescue efforts
  
• how the local news media is adapting and cooperating to provide coverage, considering that some newspapers don't have offices right now (hell, the Times-Picayune can only publish on the Web; the newspaper is not publishing an actual newspaper right now)
  
• summary of Times-Picayune articles dating from 2004 warning about the long-term affect of cuts to the Army Corps of Engineers and the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project (SELA). These cuts, btw, were used to fund Bush's tax cuts and the Iraqi boondoggle. (It should also be noted that I've seen reports that 35% to 40% of the Louisianna National Guard are currently now fighting in Iraq and are not available to do the jobs they actually signed up for, namely, keeping peace in their home states during emergencies.)
  

Addional ETA: Wikipedia already has the most comprehenshive and well-researched overview on Katrina I've seen yet. Click and be awed!

Comments

[harmfulguy.livejournal.com]

Just to clarify: My family was out of harm's way; they evacuated over 200 miles inland on Sunday. Except for a very few storms with particularly erratic paths, they have evacuated for every major storm that looked like it would come close, at least since Camille back in 1969. They are safe, and should have the resources and family support to start over if necessary. Many people don't; see Liz's remarks on Red Cross and Second Harvest.

Their house, on the other hand, was very definitely in harm's way. I won't know the specifics for days, but their house was in an area of the Mississippi coast in which 90% of homes have been completely annihilated.

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

I corrected it according to your message. :-)

And thanks for backing me on the Second Harvest thing. I've heard of it before since I used to shop in a supermarket when I lived in RI that used to donate XX-number of dollars to it for every $50 you spent there (or maybe $75), anyway, I know what it is, but a lot of people don't.

[harmfulguy.livejournal.com]

Thanks. One of the things helping me cope with this at all is reminding myself that the possessions that were probably destroyed are nowhere as important as the lives that weren't.

By the way, bradhicks has written a good defense of looting (http://www.livejournal.com/users/bradhicks/170904.html) in a disaster as big as this one. I might make a distinction between business merchandise and somebody's personal possessions (and their sentimental value), but when the destruction is this complete, even that doesn't seem to matter.

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

Actually, I can see why someone would loot electronic equipment:

Barter on the blackmarket in exchange for money, medical supplies, and food. Granted, I'm not entirely sure how many people are thinking this long term in the devestated areas, but I could definitely see me pocketing several mega expensive iPods with batteries (something small and easily portable) to use as barter a month or two down the road.

Frankly, I think looting is a reasonable response in this situation. This is all about survival over the long and short term.

And as has been pointed out, most of the "looters" are actually carrying basic necessities and not the huge X-Box. What are they supposed to do? Let that stuff rot on the shelves when they've lost everything? And who the hell are they supposed to pay when they go grab food, bottled water, batteries, flashlights, and camping gear?

I mean, honestly....

[learnedhand-dj.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the link to insomnia's LJ.

On the looting question, I have no problem if people are going into supermarkets for food or drug stores for medical supplies. I don't even have a problem with people getting clothes if they have lost theirs. What I do have a problem with is the guy who was mentioned in a recent AP report. He was walking out of a store carrying 10 pairs of jeans. The reporter asked him if that was his store, and his reponse was, "no, man, that's everybody's store." Okay, if it is "everybody's" store, why are you walking out with 10 pairs of jeans? I highly doubt he needed 10 pairs of jeans to get him through until he gets evacuated. A couple of pairs, fine. But 10? That's hoarding, and means the next guy who needs a couple of pairs of jeans won't have them.

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

Totally don't disagree.

I'm not saying there aren't a lot of asshats in the crowd and I'm not saying there aren't hoarders.

But I'm getting truly pissed off by the holier-than-though coverage of the looting.

Most of the pictures I see are people streaming in and out of grocery stores carrying one, maybe two not-entirely-full trashbags full of stuff. If I was stocking up for a family of three or four for two weeks, that's about right, and that's assuming there aren't diapers involved.

[misagoddess.livejournal.com]

Thank you Liz.

I said much the same (just not as eloquently) in my lj. And thanks for all the links for information and for helping out the people of New Orleans.

[smashsc.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the links to other people's thoughts.

I'm too pissed to trust my language to do anything more.

Right there with you. I've just been linking because there is all too much anger and sadness, and if I start really talking a public forum won't be the proper place but links I can do.

[msp-hacker.livejournal.com]

Thank you for posting the link about the cuts for Army Corp of Engineers and SELA.

Before they even started tracking the storm, I remeber a documentary that included a section about New Orlens and flooding, and even then they said that New Orlens was incredibley vulnerable. And now I know one of the reasons why and now I don't feel like a cold hearted bitch for thinking that this could have been prevented.