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HURRICANE? WHAT HURRICANE? Remembering Slidell -- Photos

by BarbaraS rcs1
Sat Oct 01, 2005 at 01:12:57 AM EST

Remember the hurricane? The one called Katrina? Then three weeks later Rita?
Should you have already forgotten, below are a few of the photos that I took while in Slidell. It is abit of a 'tease', to keep ALL of your minds on the fact that our country is only 5 weeks AFTER a CATASTROPHIC disaster that has taken thousands of lives (despite what 'they' are reporting) and made refugees of tens of thousands of AMERICANS.

I'm currently processing 10 rolls of 35mm with the help of a couple of folks who will put them where they can be linked to for your viewing 'pleasure'.

You know, when I picked up these pictures I started looking at them right there in "WallyWorld" and immediately I could again smell the horrid stench of sewage, decay, mold, death and chemicals...and remember the miles and miles of total destruction, the lifelessness in the eyes of those that lived through it and my tears began again...


commentary :: :: :: buzz-it!
When I returned home, I went to DailyKos and saw all the diaries on recommend and those in my top twenty and NOTHING on the hurricanes or the suffering of the tens of thousands who lived through them and now live in sub-standard conditions...and those damn pesty tears began again...I wanted to scream to no one in particular and to everyone in America..."WE HAVE PEOPLE IN OUR COUNTRY THAT NEED ATTENTION AND HELP...DON'T FORGET THEM"....

I realize there is other news and that much of it is important...but please, ONE DIARY daily on point with the hurricane...PLEASE. I will write it if you want, but PLEASE DON'T FORGET THESE PEOPLE...

Funny, I thought once I got back to California and back into my safe routine that I'd put the trip aside, actually I thought I'd just 'forget' and let 'those people' deal with their own issues.

You know why I wanted to do this? Because when I close my eyes at night I see the images, the death, the destruction, the failure of America to take care of her own...I smell the stench that was all around me for the entire time I was there, the filth of the situations and locations. I see the children, who have nothing, many without their parents...their eyes, they look up to you with hope and a longing and all you can do is hug them and tell them you will help and tell them they WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN.

Yet, the stories of the victims of this castastrophy have already gone to back pages of the newspapers. Our refugees, survivors, evacuees and victims are already BEING FORGOTTEN.

Since my return I continue to talk daily to those I met in Bogalusa and Slidell. I am working with the principal of Slidell High to do what WE can...I'd like to think the "we" will encompass people from all over the country/world. Mr. Percy told me 39 of his teachers are HOMELESS and school opens on Monday...but that will be a later diary.

I beg all of you to keep the hurricane victims in the FOREFRONT of the media...like I was told repeatedly by the folks in Louisiana...'if it weren't for the individuals, the grassroots organizations and the SMALL churches...we would have nothing at all'.

We can't let fellow Americans down, not now, not ever...

Damn, here come those damn pesky tears again...I'm sure it's a 'girl thing'...

In Peace,
Barbara & Tirawa
http://scblues.blogspot.com

Display:
HURRICANE? WHAT HURRICANE? Remembering Slidell -- Photos | 21 comments (21 topical, 0 hidden)
thank you (5.00 / 1) (#3)
i read your impassioned Kos diaries on the devastation, both human and property. it's so important to keep this story in public view.... and i do mean view. 24/7 news cycles have helped create a disasterously short national attention span.

these photos are very powerful.

as someone who works with images all day, every day, i deeply believe in the power of the image to reach people in more visceral ways than words alone can. but combined with your sharp, descriptive words it packs a real 1-2 punch.

thanks for posting this here!  

by kiw on Sat Oct 01, 2005 at 01:15:59 PM EST

Death Toll (5.00 / 1) (#9)
and Anderson Cooper...

I looked at the PILES of storm surge damage and remember the SMELL and realize there must be bodies in some of those piles....

In the parrishes around NO, they have JUST begun to go house to house...of COURSE they will keep the death toll quiet.

As to Anderson Cooper...I personally think he and I should get together and go to some of these areas...now that would be a team...plus, I'll admit, about 10 years ago I would watch him on I think it was ABC at like 4 a.m. and thought he was great then...

So anyone who knows him....

by BarbaraS on Sat Oct 01, 2005 at 10:09:42 PM EST

Update... (5.00 / 1) (#10)
I just rec'd an email from Bill Percy of Slidell High...he met Doug Price who went down with a truck of supplies to Olga's neighborhood and also to Slidell High with supplies and Bill said he was amazed at the generousity and caring of Doug!!!!

He's thrilled we are going to help their school!

How too awesome is this!

by BarbaraS on Sat Oct 01, 2005 at 10:12:00 PM EST

I just got back from Slidell. (5.00 / 2) (#17)
I ran a load of school and cleaning supplies down from Birmingham.  I'll crosspost an article here and at dkos about the trip tomorrow evening.

by OtherDoug on Sun Oct 02, 2005 at 11:53:25 PM EST
Thanks, and welcome. (none / 0) (#18)
Look forward to seeing your post and thank you for all that you are doing.

Whereabouts from Birmingham?


by Cho on Sun Oct 02, 2005 at 11:56:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Wouldn't it be nice to have some........... (5.00 / 1) (#20)
type of internship offer from either business or colleges for students to help rebuild neighborhoods for some type of credit.  I know we have Habitate for Humanity...the AmericaCorps(VISTA) and Peace Corps....... It would also be a reality check much needed and appreciated by the generations involved!

I grew up in Cleveland, OH where the parkway system..emerald necklace was built by WPA...it is a thing of beauty to behold to this day....... Anything is possible......

by avahome on Tue Oct 04, 2005 at 12:18:50 PM EST

Thanks, Barbara.... (none / 0) (#1)

no, the tears aren't a "girl thing."

Well done, ePM.


by NYBri on Sat Oct 01, 2005 at 02:19:34 AM EST

You mean that... (5.00 / 1) (#2)
men cry too?  Actually I saw ALOT of that down in the gulf...

Looking at these photos...well, it's 1:13 a.m. and I'm still awake...that seldom happens.

by BarbaraS on Sat Oct 01, 2005 at 04:13:49 AM EST
[ Parent ]

I wonder about the death toll : (none / 0) (#4)
Given the privatized way the cleanup was handled, with reporters banned from many areas patrolled by Blackwater security forces ( as well as, reportedly, out of uniform weapon toting soldiers - not civilians or looters - under authority that seemed unclear to observers ) :

There was clear motive, on the part of the Bush Adm., to downplay the death toll. To what extent did that happen ?

Well, there are some interesting firsthand accounts now on the net of bodies being "disappeared" after Hurricane Andrew, in '92. So, there's possible precedent. The pictures of the devastation Andrew left showed entire areas levelled, left in smoking ruins as far as the eye could see....and the official death toll was 20 or so. Eyewitnesses claimed that thousands perished and one survivor said "well, I guess all the people who died died on my street". Reports claimed the burial of corpses in trenches dug into the reefs. That was certainly done after the '38 hurricane.

It seems to me that a true toll could - at least in part - be recontructed via the net.  

Craig Newmark and one other luminary were working on a website to reunite family members. I wonder if Craig would consider something with a bit more of a political edge - a death toll Wiki ?

by Bruce Wilson on Sat Oct 01, 2005 at 01:51:03 PM EST

I would like to know more about the deaths (none / 0) (#6)
I remember reading that some 10 or 20,000 body bags in the SCMM (I cannot recall which) had been ordered.

The statement "that has taken thousands of lives (despite what 'they' are reporting) and made refugees of tens of thousands of AMERICANS." really does need some justification.

by Welshman on Sat Oct 01, 2005 at 07:15:16 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Very Close (none / 0) (#8)
The AP reported the following about the body bags:


 The near-conclusion of the voluntary evacuation came as receding floodwaters revealed still more rotting corpses. Nagin has said the death toll in New Orleans alone could reach 10,000, and state officials were ordering 25,000 body bags.

Source:  By DON BABWIN / Associated Press, September 9, 2005




by standingup on Sat Oct 01, 2005 at 08:11:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Here's a way to count the dead : (none / 0) (#12)
A net based public record of personal testimony.

That's a big project -  but worth consideration.

by Bruce Wilson on Sun Oct 02, 2005 at 01:03:51 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Come on ePluribus - this is a worthwhile project (none / 0) (#13)
I really do think work needs to be done in this area.

Thanks Bruce for clarifying my poor recall of the body bag report.

Barbara's comment on deaths and Nagin's request are thousands adrift from the official figures. What gives?

Our credibility is at risk here if we can't get better information. At the same time, if the official figures are gross underestimates then something very wrong is being perpetuated on the American people.

Without evidence, none of us has a valid opinion.

by Welshman on Sun Oct 02, 2005 at 07:47:20 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Gruesome thought... (none / 0) (#16)
Go down and travel with those now doing the door/to/door search for bodies...also when and if they knock down those piles from the storm search, there will be bodies/parts in there...I know the stench warranted that.

by BarbaraS on Sun Oct 02, 2005 at 10:21:59 AM EST
[ Parent ]
this is no really that hard of a project to begin. (none / 0) (#21)
there is great power in simply announcing a thing.

the hard work is in the data verification.

The technology exists to bust the Bush Adm. on this one ( at te most minimal, a wiki. or a Scoop site ) and I'm fairly confident they've disappeared at least a few thousand inconvenient thousand corpses.

I may be wrong. I bet I'm not.  

This might not be a labour of love - of justice perhaps.

by Bruce Wilson on Thu Oct 06, 2005 at 09:34:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I should have added (none / 0) (#7)
My thanks for this diary and the reminder.

by Welshman on Sat Oct 01, 2005 at 07:16:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]
The good news is (none / 0) (#5)
that Anderson Cooper on CNN appears to have been moved as Barbara has been moved.  Yesterday's show was ALL highlights of the squalor... The trouble... The absence of response... All the warts.  For an hour.

He's not forgetting.

RenaRF: All you can possibly want and them some at my blog


by RenaRF on Sat Oct 01, 2005 at 01:51:17 PM EST

I'm throwing this out.... (none / 0) (#11)
...is there a way ePM can focus on a neighborhood and help them out?

That may sound stupid, but what can we do specifically?

Well done, ePM.


by NYBri on Sat Oct 01, 2005 at 11:38:09 PM EST

Assistance (5.00 / 1) (#14)
Just checked the FEMA site and they now list 36 states providing assistance to evacuees:

http://www.fema.gov/news/disasters.fema#em

Includes most of the Northeast, all Midwest, and Left Coast.  Red Cross national directory includes NY:

http://www.redcross.org/where/chapts.asp#NY

I'd suggest starting from both directions at once:  establish contacts on the ground in a specific area (need), and contacts @ national level (delivery) to help people connect to services.  

Read early on about the difficulty of simply processing information to get people the cash and services. Too many don't even understand the (unnecessarily complex) process.  For instance, here's the US Dept of Ed's Katrina site:

http://hurricanehelpforschools.gov/index.html

And the list of specific schools by State:

http://hurricanehelpforschools.gov/schools/index.html

And the housing and shelter resources from HUD:

http://www.fema.gov/press/2005/katrinahousing.shtm

And the volunteer matching project from USA Freedom Corps:

http://www.freedomcorp.gov/

Apologies for the overload, but I think it's important to realize that even sitting in your chair at home an organizational response is possible down to an individual level.  The hard part obviously is the landing/sorting, and that deserves another commentary.

[A friend of my son's was scheduled to go to LA w/the Red Cross and was told the need had been met.  Called a friend in the zone and was told they had no help at all.  That was three weeks ago, and no word back on status from the local volunteer center.]

by rba on Sun Oct 02, 2005 at 09:48:16 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Red Cross (5.00 / 1) (#15)
Has been saying the 'need is met' since day one of Katrina.

I was told by them that they needed NO doctors and yet when I got on the ground (as in individual and traveling w/doctor)...we could have used 100 of Dr. Ken...there is a HUGE need for medical doctors/workers.

The Red Cross tries to control them like they do everything else.  See, the RC gets paid back by the government for the 'relief' efforts apparently, so they want to have alot of numbers (i.e., shelter residents, volunteers, medical volunteers) as they will get credit apparently from the government for all they process...

Plus do NOT forget, that the Red Cross "shelters and feeds" immediately after the crisis...they were already closing shelters 3 weeks after Katrina.

Guess another thing people don't still 'get' is that probably 70-80% of the people in the area do NOT have landline PHONE SERVICE and well over 60% (these are guesses and low probably at that) don't own CELL PHONES.  So they cannot CALL the supposed "800" HELP LINES ANYWHERE...and what is all this online help shit?  With many areas still having NO POWER, a huge part of the population living below $15k a year...they don't know what a computer is...

I'm helping people literally VIA MAIL because that is the ONLY thing I can do...wow what a concept.

by BarbaraS on Sun Oct 02, 2005 at 10:19:45 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Thanks for this commentary... (none / 0) (#19)
...and all you've done down there.  As a former resident of, and recent visitor to Slidell, your pieces have meant a lot to me.

by BarbinMD on Mon Oct 03, 2005 at 12:53:34 PM EST
HURRICANE? WHAT HURRICANE? Remembering Slidell -- Photos | 21 comments (21 topical, 0 hidden)

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