Emerging National Emergency

[guymenton]

Rick is right. We have close to a million displaced Americans and it's going to take time for them to pick up the pieces of their lives, and they're going to depend on our kindness and help, especially those communities willing to absorb and support the poor folks. As a refugee to a country that has been very good to myself and my family, it really strikes a nerve for me to see this happening to American Citizens in our own country, and I owe it to this great country that has given so much to me, to give back as much as I can.

In light of this disaster, and how it not only caught so many people, but so many government agencies unprepared, I'd like to suggest a way we can all get involved to better help our communities in the event of a future disaster. Did you know many cities offer free disaster training for its residents? Officials know that in the event of a major disaster, with no official help, communities are going to need to count on ordinary citizens to be able to organize effectively, until real help arrives. So, the federal government has given local governments funding to train CERTs (Community Emergency Response Teams). These are teams of ordinary citizens who volunteer to be trained in disaster response and are willing to be the first responders to their communities in extreme times of need. So, if you're interested in learning first aid, search and rescue, and other life-saving skills at no cost, valuable skills that could help save lives and ease suffering after a disaster, in your local community, or in others, like the current situation in the Gulf Coast, you can find more information here:
http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/CERT/
And find a local CERT program by state:
http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/CERT/dir.asp

If it ain't too much trouble, let's return this thread to its original intent, which is to identify Katrina problems and ways we can help alleviate those problems for folks.
This will be a long-haul recovery effort; emerging needs will surface from time to time for a long time to come... let's stay focused and share those situations with other Scubaboard members so they'll have the opportunity to help when and where they can.
Thanks,
Rick

 

[furryriverrat]

"QUOTE=Bill51]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 National Hurricane Center "

Is anyone bothered by the fact that this post is an urban legend not based on facts or truth? www.snopes.com. Is it not discouraging to folks wanting to believe that the president did not screw up massively by trusting Mike Brown that the best evidence we have of presidential competence is an urban legend.

 

[dlndavid]

Hey frr, welcome to SB.

 

[clive francis]

More empty facts. Look at some of the links people have posted. It is you my friend that is in denial of the facts. These are not freak storms, just mother nature making a few changes. N.O should have never been built where it was. I hope it won't be rebuilt, But other places have never been hit like this before in recorded history. :11: "there are places besides New Orleans that flooded?"
So far you have posted assumptions like:
All americans drive gas hog V8s
This has caused storms world wide
This has never happened before
It's all our fault

Again, look at some of the links.
Name one place that has been flooded that hasen't been before :06:

2% of the worlds population and 25% of the worlds greenhouse gases.

i never said it was your fault as per previous posts, take a trip to the opticians, i said you could help yourselves and the rest of the world.

tell me do you deny that car exhaust gases are harmeful to the environment?

 

[Wildcard]

Again if you want to post facts, then back them up with creditable links.
Exhaust gases can't possable be "good" but is that the reason the world is warming, again?

 

[MrTsunami]

Be careful donating money to even the big guys. My wife and I worked for four months following the tsunami, and not all NGOs are created equally. I saw flat out lies on some NGO’s website about projects they took responsibility for and yet had nothing to do with them. You can find out more at my website http://aok3.com/. The two groups that impressed me the most were Rescue Task Force http://www.rescuetaskforce.org/ and Habitat For Humanity http://www.habitat.org/.

 

[clive francis]

Again if you want to post facts, then back them up with creditable links.
Exhaust gases can't possable be "good" but is that the reason the world is warming, again?

there was a program on the TV last week, inside Katrina, it was all about the mechanics of the storm and why it was so bad.

there were two guys weather/climate experts on there that said the frequency and strength of the storms was increasing - funny thats what i said but you seem to be disagreeing with.

the greenhouse effect is heating the seas, tropical storms feed off warm water.

yes the weather is cyclical, but we are not helping by adding elements that help to increase the cyclical effects.

you keep asking me to post links to stats and stuff to prove it, you post links to disprove as there is more evidence on the web to prove what i have said than to support you!

like i said it must be lovely living in your own little world in denial.

i had read that several cities were giving bush the finger and singing up to the kyoto agreement independantly.

with so much data around how can you deny car exhaust gases are harmful to the environment and humans, stick you mouth over the pipe for a couple of minutes then tell me its safe!

 

[dlndavid]

Easy there sluggo

 

[BIGSAGE136]

Charles Dickens. We've all robbed mom for the sake of hi tech. Its all in the #'s.

 

[Bill51]

"QUOTE=Bill51]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 National Hurricane Center "

Is anyone bothered by the fact that this post is an urban legend not based on facts or truth? www.snopes.com. Is it not discouraging to folks wanting to believe that the president did not screw up massively by trusting Mike Brown that the best evidence we have of presidential competence is an urban legend.

Actually, I’ve been spending the better part of 2 weeks with this article and in a nasty battle with Snopes.com sending them page after page of rebuttals with multiple links to government documents, major media sources, personal interview sources, and everything I could to disprove them. They have made one revision to their claim of the story being false after I produced copies of actual documents with Governor Blanco’s signature proving she did not submit her request to the White House when she claims – or she and her people managed to date it wrong, she signed it with the wrong date, and the Governor’s FAX machine had the wrong date set in it.

I admitted that the Governor did in fact declare an emergency on the Friday before the storm after the Washington Post retracted their story, which I had used as a reference. Unfortunately the only place she posted her declaration was on the state website without a public declaration which is why every major newspaper wrongly reported it also. Contrary to Snopes claim, that was a very minor part of my original story and the major part is that Blanco did not request or authorize federal manpower or troops until Wednesday after the storm and she finally accidentally admitted it on CNN this week – thinking her microphone was off. A state declaration of emergency has no legal binding or bearing outside of the state, and cannot be used by a federal organization as a request or authorization for action. I have been in contact this week with the White House Press Secretaries office and even the information from them is not good enough for Snopes. I have lost all faith in them as a good check for urban legends now.

As for whether Mayfield made his calls on Friday or Saturday, there is still much debate. In the article Snopes cites Mayfield himself admits the weekend was a blur and he didn’t even know what day it was, and my source that I’m not divulging since he figures he’ll be called before an investigation before long sticks by his guns that it was Friday. It really doesn’t mater when we do know for a fact the President called Blanco Friday night, faxed her all the paperwork needed to activate federal manpower and she told him she’d need at least 24 hours to review it before she could sign it – but that 24 hours turned into 5 days and she admitted to her press secretary she should have signed it earlier.

All I want to do is get back to a normal life where I can think about scuba diving, stop canceling trips, and settle my wife down from the hundreds of emails and phone calls I’ve received as a result of this. I’m proud to get the word out, even if a few minor details have changed along the way, but I’m tired of getting phone calls or emails questioning what species my ancestry is, telling me where I’m going to spend the afterlife, and more than a few unmentionables. I have gotten a kick out of the fact a major liberal website has claimed I don’t exist, I don’t live in Florida, and I’m a nom de plume for Karl Rove.

If you’re interested you can read the entire history of this battle at http://www.rightnation.us/forums/index.php?showtopic=87399&hl=

Who would have ever thought that a 10 minute post on scubaboard.com could have turned my life around the way this one has. You’ll know I’m through this when I have time to get back to chatting about something important in life – like diving instead of having to defend my honor and integrity 18 hours a day.