The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina

I know someone in the medical supply industry in Alabama who says their company received an order for 100,000 body bags last week.

Guardian Industries Corp., world wide .. and it's subsideraries are matching dollar for dollar each employee contribution now until September 27... I am proud to work for such a company. Checks are sent to the National Red Cross marked "Katrina Relief"

Casshew said:

I know someone in the medical supply industry in Alabama who says their company received an order for 100,000 body bags last week.

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No way!

poco said:

No way!

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Yes way - I even posted it the night she told me - August 29th when the storm was hitting

Casshew said:

Yes way - I even posted it the night she told me - August 29th when the storm was hitting

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I can verify that. I was aghast but with the understanding that this was absolutely correct.

But I was thinking she meant forAlabama... but maybe it was for the tri-state area LA,AL,MS - 100,000 people - can you imagine? hopefully that number is way exaggerated.

Jeana (DP) said:

That's what I thought at first too, but its not true. The workers died in there too. Here's an article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/07/national/nationalspecial/07chalmette.html

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Thanks for the link Jeana. As it stated:

Acadian, by far the largest ambulance provider in the state, used helicopters to evacuate many of the parish's neediest medical cases after the storm hit. But Mr. Kuiper said he never heard from St. Rita's.
"They didn't think this would ever happen," Mr. Melerine said. "They just didn't evacuate."

Exxon immediately donated $2M and fuel for the relief efforts. I think that Emerson donated $400,000 to both the Salvation Army and the Red Cross. And, didn't Kuwait donate $500 million of gas/fuel?

bumping for the pets......

I also saw on MSNBC tonight that you can go to petfinder.org and there is info about pets left behind. I guess some people can't take them with them, but I can't even think about leaving my dog behind.

Has anyone gotten a call to foster???? I signed up for a dog and guinea pig/rabbit, but haven't heard anything. I would love to take in one of these pets.....for as long as we had to.....

According to my local weekly paper, there are 100 evacuees headed from Jonesboro, AR to Mo-Ark Christian Camp in Naylor, MO. They will have to pass through my town to get to Naylor. I live in a very small town of 3,500--1 hour from Jonesboro, AR and 20 minutes from Naylor, MO. Christian Camp is located waaaaaay out in the boondocks on a long gravel road. I know most of the people will still be content with a bed to sleep in and a roof over their heads, but I'm telling you, this is a very secluded area. I don't know how long they'll be there, but some of them (probably having lived in much bigger towns or cities) may not like it for long since the nearest BIG town is Poplar Bluff, MO-population less than 17,000.

It might sound stupid for me to say this, but there's just nobody for them to interact with...no civilization. I know my cell phone loses its signal down that road. I just feel sorry for them to have to be further out in the boonies. At least we have a community center here in Corning, which would give the displaced kids something to do after school. Oh yeah, and we have an old time Wal Mart (no supercenter allowed in this town).

They have relocated 5000 evacuee's to a church camp in Oklahoma out in the middle of now where as well. Miles from anytown. No Cell Phone service. It is strange to hear of evacuation camps where people are held behind fences by armed National Guardsman. I have to wonder where the children in those camps are going to school?

I signed up through my local humane society and received two follow up emails but no calls yet.

I did receive this update on how the rescue is coming along
____________________________________________________________

Dear Prayers for Maura:
It’s been nine long, hot and steamy days since the Humane Society of Missouri rescue team left the St. Louis area for the hurricane-affected areas of the Gulf States. During this time:

• Carmen and Brett rescued dozens of animals from a dark, dank, washed-out animal shelter where the surviving animals swam in their cages in 5-foot deep water until the flood subsided.
• Linda has given emergency medical aid to many lost pets including a Pekinese suffering from severe heatstroke.
• Brian helped get 300 gallons of water to very thirsty wild animals in a roadside zoo.
• Kyle and Tim chain-sawed away trees and moved mountains of debris to rescue dozens of miniature pinschers from a demolished breeding facility.
• John has spent many hours on the road transporting hundreds of animals from evacuation zones to safe animal shelters in our large mobile animal rescue vehicle.

And we haven’t even begun to scratch the surface. Our toughest days are ahead of us as we are allowed to move closer to the more devastated towns where pets are running loose or are stranded in flooded buildings, gasoline becomes even more difficult to find, and electricity and clean water are non-existent. (Stay informed by reading our rescue diary.)

I know you’ve been hearing about some national animal welfare agencies in the news. We’re glad the plight of animals affected by this disaster is receiving national attention.

We want you to know we’re right in there, too -- cutting away trees, moving debris, tramping through the muck and mud, facing some pretty grim scenes. It’s so gratifying when we see a wagging tail and hear a soft “meow.” We’re working hard to save every animal we can. You pet-lovers back in Missouri would be proud of us!

Please know that we don’t get any funding from those big national agencies. We’re here because of the money you send specifically to the Humane Society of Missouri. We know we have a lot of support back home and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Your good wishes, prayers and contributions are what keep our rescue efforts going during this extremely difficult time.



Sincerely,



Debbie Hill
Director of Rescues and Investigations

Here in my town some are staying way outside of town on the old air force base which is now a college campus. A friend had to go out there and said police are everywhere, checking id's of people entering, and the place is no where near a store or anything. I hate the local papers and news so I don't know if buses are running out there now for them or how they are getting around. I know there was some complaining about the Catholic church taking some in a small town close to here and it is supposedly not up to standards for the people.

Thanks PrayersforMaura......we hope to hear something soon!!!!! I love animals, and would take in a dog and guinea pig/rabbit.....gerbil whatever that means so much to someone, esp. a child (I love cats, but my cat would freak!). I just hope the fact that we have many pets doesn't disqualify us.

While we've done everything we can for the people, aside from letting them live here (no room....and children.....) I hope we'll hear something soon regarding a pet. As I watch all these animals on TV I think "we'll take one or two!!!!!" I would take in people if I didn't have children........and am willing to buy them whatever they need. I think many feel this way.....

Excellent first hand view of medical relief work...

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4836926

A Doctor's Message from Katrina's Front Lines


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It is almost like they are detainee's rather then American Citizens.

Intuit (TurboTax and Quicken) is matching employee donations 2 to 1. Including anything their employees sell in fundraisers.

Hello,

Just came across this article at WND:

Tales of horror
from New Orleans

Evacuees in Texas relate similar stories of violence, filth, rats, gators

The harrowing, heartbreaking stories of Katrina evacuees are innumerable, with many containing similar accounts of life-changing horror – first, waiting for eventual rescue from their homes submerged by the killer floodwaters, and then surviving the filth and crime of spending dark nights with thousands of other refugees on the streets of New Orleans.

Dr. Edward Lias interviewed six evacuated families at the Fredonia Hill Baptist Church in Nacogdoches, Texas, last weekend. The church is hosting between 200 and 300 people from New Orleans, many of whom make up incomplete families still searching for lost loved ones...........


much more at the link...
tis disturbing though(as much of the news is, naturally )--

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=46234

with love,

Ariel