One of the bloggers interviewed a local cop. Here is the blogger's account of the cop's story:
He turned the corner onto Canal Street and it looked like a flea market. People breaking into every store, going to the neutral gound (median) and trading and selling everything.
They broke into Winn Dixie Monday Night. Do they steal food? No. Cigarettes and liquor. Store was a mess. All the meats were going to waste so the districts went over there to salvage food for officers. Many cops have been eating MREs.
The Iberville Housing Projects got pissed off because the police started to "shop" after they kicked out looters. Then they started shooting at cops. When the cops left, the looters looted everything. There's probably not a grocery left in this city.
Over 30 officers have quit over the last 3 days. Out of 160 officers in his district maybe 55 or 60 are working. He hasn't seen several since Sunday. HQ is closed, evacuated. No phones to contact them.
We're watching the actual breakdown of our society. It's NO today, but it could be any city next time.
One thought that keeps coming to mind is something Fr. Coropi said in one of his talks/tapes...."Immorality is the single greatest threat to national security". He developed a powerful argument to support the thesis.
We have taken God out of the schools and out of the public square. God will not intrude where he's not wanted. So now people say....God help New Orleans. Whenever great disasters like this occur great good come out of it. Perhaps a return to moral life will be a result of this terrible tragedy.
My post for today will describe the way assistance is delivered.
In the overall scheme of things, the American Red Cross is the agency designated to provide mass care. The ARC is charged by the US government with developing organizational and financial capability to step in to take care of people harmed in a disaster. Both operations are conducted by paid and volunteer staff. In a major disaster thousands of disaster trained volunteers working under the direction of paid staff and senior (battle hardened) volunteers are deployed in the disaster area. The American Red Cross does not get taxpayer funds even though it has a federal mandate to act. The ARC funds are all donated by Americans.
The RC works closely and operates to perform specific designated tasks with/for FEMA. ARC is charged with opening and operating shelters to administer MASS CARE. That is the primary function of the RC in a disaster is MASS CARE. FEMA tends to deal with infrastructure and business/industrial and the RC deals with people. The early MC is food and shelter. The mass care function includes taking food to the affected areas and feeding in the field. This work is done by the fleet of Emergency Response Vehicles deployed from local ARC chapters across the country. ERV’s, the red and white ARC vehicles seen on TV are typically prepositioned before a hurricane to be ready to serve the damaged areas as soon as possible. There was an AP photo of one of these vehicles, Number 2017, that was prepositioned too far forward.
To administer long term care, that is to bring some degree of normalcy on a long term basis, it is necessary to determine the precise status of every person harmed by the disaster. The aid must be precisely tailored to each individual. At some point the individuals must be separated from the mass and have persona, specific needs administered. The RC has an army of volunteers who sit down and interview the families to determine what is needed. Drugs, eyeglasses, oxygen, etc etc are all required in specific but variable quantities that must be determined by face to face interview.
Another important part of the MC task is damage assessment. The Red Cross is responsible for assessing the damage to residential structures. That is, the ARC being responsible for MC to people determines the damages to people’s living quarters. The Damage assessment is done by RC volunteers trained to make the field surveys. The DA people visit every residence with damage. Again, the damage assessment involves locating on the ground every residential structure and making a determination of the damage and habitability. The damage assement data is done street by street, blick by block, house or apartment by house. The data is used to determine what level of care is required. There is commonly fairly high level of people claiming a much higher degree of loss than that actually experienced. It is unfortunately, necessary to try to separate those truly in need from those who want to improve their position of minor damage. A person who has lost their home must be given a higher degree of assistance than a person with water in the basement or water leaking around the chimney. This difference will not be of importance in NO where all is gone as it will be in MS where houses are gone and houses are merely damaged.
The application of all of the above is very difficult in NO. The sheer number of persons is extreme. The Damage Assessment is really not too hard for much of the city. The residential city is uninhabitable. The residential city is totaled. The criteria for a total loss is water over 24” over the floor level. This is generally the height of electrical outlets and water over this height generally means the residence is destroyed. It can not be restored to habitable condition. The reasons are complex but in a legalistic society subject top law suit by sneezing on someone, this degree of damage is considered to be uninhabitable.
To sum it up, NOLA is now a collection of uninhabitable structures that must be essentially replaced before the population can return.
The current efforts in NOLA seem to portray a failure to deliver needed services to the affected people. I have come to believe that a purposeful effort is being made to cause total evacuation. Services can’t be delivered ever in the destroyed, uninhabitable city. The people staying think they can stay…… they can’t . They must leave. Eventually, perhaps today, the message will dawn that if I’m going to survive I must get out of here. The busses will come and haul them away to Red Cross shelters where they will be cared for as it all gets sorted out.
These are 800 words attempting to describe an organizational relationship and the job of the American Red Cross. I hope the details are all currently correct. Don’t pick it to death, it is mostly correct.
There are many retired Freepers who can call their local chapter this morning and ask about a disaster training class. They will train you and send you to the area for three weeks. It will be long hours and hard work. They might even have disaster jobs locally to support those who have gone to the field. It is going to go on for a very very long time.
What we're doing about it:
* The Puerto Rico National Guard has dispatched 1,122 troops to the disaster area, to include a Military Police battalion (minus a company that's deployed elsewhere), 22 water purification specialists and five C-130 airplanes.
* The Puerto Rico State Emergency Management Office is sending 60 disaster recovery specialists to MS.
* The following island universities will grant late admissions to NO area students displaced by the storm so they can complete their semester: Inter-American University of Puerto Rico, The University of Puerto Rico, Sacred Heart University, Pontifical Catholic University, Metropolitan University and Turabo College. They're saying they will try and comp it.
* Puerto Rico residents stranded on the mainland by the storm may call toll free at 1-866-280-4357 for assistance.
* The company I work for has adopted the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief organization and have raise $1,500.00+ so far, mainly from employees and company matching funds (we're not a big company).
A fire just broke out down the street from Interdictors web cam.
http://www.livejournal.com/users/interdictor/
I just heard "black genocide"" from a reporter on cspan.
The black caucus is giving state and local authorities a pass.
I'd like 2 add two excellent Christian relief organizations to the list:
Southern Baptist's NAMB: http://www.namb.net/
Samaritan's Purse: http://www.samaritanspurse.org/
Due to the recent damages in Louisiana caused my Hurricane Katrina, Coastal Moving & Storage has volunteered to dispatch their Trucks to transport donated items such as those listed below for the victims who have either had major damages to their homes or have completely lost their homes. These trucks will be met in Louisiana by the Red Cross.
Water, Non Perishable Food Items, Baby Items, OTC Drugs, Cleaning Supplies, Toiletries, Feminine Supplies, Paper Products, Linen Items, First Aid Supplies, Batteries, Flashlights, etc.
Any donations that you can make to help those in need would be greatly appreciated. DoubleTree Hotel Atlanta/Roswell, located at 1075 Holcomb Bridge Road, Roswell, has agreed to be a drop location for this effort. The Coastal Moving truck will pick up donations behind the hotel on Friday, 9/2/05 from 8am-10am and Saturday from 4p-6p. Volunteers are also needed to help load the trucks.
Anyone seen Anderson Cooper? Did CNN yank him for not making nicey with Mary Landrieu?
This EXACT senario was predicted in a 5-part special report in the Times Picayune a couple of years ago. It's amazing just how close the predictions in the report are to the reality of what is happening now.
"Amid this maelstrom, the estimated 200,000 or more people left behind in an evacuation will be struggling to survive. Some will be housed at the Superdome, the designated shelter in New Orleans for people too sick or infirm to leave the city. Others will end up in last-minute emergency refuges that will offer minimal safety. But many will simply be on their own, in homes or looking for high ground.
Thousands will drown while trapped in homes or cars by rising water. Others will be washed away or crushed by debris. Survivors will end up trapped on roofs, in buildings or on high ground surrounded by water, with no means of escape and little food or fresh water, perhaps for several days."
http://www.nola.com/hurricane/?/washingaway/
It took 4 days to get FEMA into Florida after Andrew.
And to the race baiters who have been saying the response took so long in NO because the victims were black, this article disproves that disgusting notion.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1475877/posts
Jesse Jackson has arrived. I feel better already. Not.