One of the news channels is running areal views and it's terrible. A casino barge on top of a hotel. What once was a neighborhood reduced to piles of splintered wood. Mud and water everywhere. One neighborhood obviously hit by both flooding and a tornado is now just shredded bits in splintered nearly leafless trees. I can't help thinking if Gulfport and Biloxi look like this what about smaller towns? People being air lifted off of roofs as fast as they can be picked up. Many injured being sent to Batton Rouge because it's the closest available hospital. New Orleans is flooding fast now because levies broke and the failing pumps can't keep up. The hospital has 6 feet of water outside.
I just heard on TV no air flight other than rescue and no auto travel other than rescue and relief agencies are allowed into the areas. I think I heard a helicopter flying southward just go over my house. I hope it is going to help. I wish I could. Debra in VA See my quilts at
I've been watching CNN this afternoon and it is just awful - the flooding of NO and all the destruction. As our newspaper said this morning - "This is our Tsunami."
I'm hopeful that all the people in countries the United State has always helped will now send their donations here to the Red Cross etc.
It is awful, just absolutely, overwhelmingly devastating. I wish I could sew faster, there will be tons of families left with nothing, not even a blanket. It just breaks my heart to think of all the people who have lost not only their homes, but everything they own and many who have even lost family members.
We've seen some footage down here - probably not as much as I'd like. I feel so sad for the people affected and if I feel this way how must they be feeling? But knowing the human spirit, they will go on and rebuild stronger than ever. My thoughts and good wishes are with all. Do we know how Polly is???
I have friends in Kentwood LA who I havent heard from since the storm. I'm assuming that they have no power and thats why they havent been able to contact me.I do hope and pray that they are safe and well
I've been off newsgroups while I attended to other matters and bopped in again briefly because I wanted news of people fleeing the hurricane.
I hope your local newspaper makes some sort of apology for the gross insensitivity of comparing hurricane Katrina hitting the United States to the tsunami that hit Asia. If I knew which one it was, I'd write to them myself. Estimated deaths from Katrina: up to 80 and possibly climbing to as much as 100. Estimated deaths from the tsunami: in the hundreds of thousands. You could site similar figures for the numbers of people inconvenienced and homeless. Here in the United States, people are inconvenienced while their homes are rebuilt, generally within a year or two. In the mean time, they live somewhere else that's clean and dry. That's nothing like what went on and is still going on in the Asian tsunami where people are still living in refugee camps. We lose valued photographs. They lost whole families.
I don't like to compare tragedy because each individual's pain and trauma is still their own pain and trauma, but when you (not you personally, the general you) bring up the tsunami, it's time for the victims of hurricane Katrina to get on their knees and start counting their blessings. There's no comparison.
We vacationed in Biloxi and Gulfport a few years ago. It's heart breaking to think that all those lovely old homes are in ruins now and that's the way it sounds. Anyone heard if Jefferson Davis's home survived?
I just heard one of the mayors in the area say "This is our tsunami." I wasn't really listening that close (cleaning up the kitchen after grinding up all the goodies for relish), until I heard the man say that.
So, make sure you have your facts straight before you start blaming the media. I know they say lots they shouldn't, but this time it wasn't the media.
D>> I've been watching CNN this afternoon and it is just awful - the flooding
Julia, I disagree. Death is death, and the death toll *will* rise. There will be thousands of families who have lost loved ones, who have lost their homes. I just heard a man speak about his wife being torn from his arms and lost in the floods. Her last words were "take care of the children". I don't see their pain as any less significant than the unfortunate people of Asia.
Do we know which mayor or who said it? I quick google search didn't tell me. I can understand someone seeing that sort of devestation saying something inappropriate or exaggerated on the spur of the moment. Grief and pressure could do that to anyone. So if a politician said it as a way of expressing awe and grief, I can't fault him or her too much. I do think the media that made much of the quote made a bad judgment call for the reasons I stated earlier. While grief is grief, one hundred is not half a million.
Sheila, I agree. We were just ready to leave when I posted my previous message. When you watch your whole town destroyed, it would seem like your own personal tsunami.
As I stated before, I wasn't really paying real close attention until I heard his comment. Seems like they said it was the mayor of Gulfport, but I wouldn't swear to it.
No, it isn't half a million. But, there are going to be many thousands who have lost their homes, their jobs, their neighborhoods, everything.
D>> I just heard one of the mayors in the area say "This is our tsunami." I
- While not as devastating as the Asia Tsunami, the impact of this hurricane will take a toll on this country never experienced before. There seems to be a misconception that when tragedy strikes here that the Gov.. swoops in and sets every thing right or because it occurs in the U.S. vs. some third world country that the impact is less harmful, long lasting or, in some cases, deadly. I can tell you from having gone through several traumatic experiences that is not the case. I know several families that experienced Hugo and/or Andrew that have never recovered. They lost their homes and sources of income. Many did not have home insurance. Many are still in what you call refugee camps (mobile home camps waiting for rehousing) .Some spent years living with various family members until they could find housing and work and reunite their families.
- To say that people here are only inconvenienced while their homes are being rebuilt is not exactly accurate. Most of the people who went through Andrew had no insurance. Many of those were service workers who supported the tourist industry. Decent people trying to support families on minimum wage salaries and raise their children to be decent adults and were generally the first to help or contribute during similar tragedies. They knew the difference one day's salary or meal could make in the life of a family. Many of them also lost family members, if not initially because of the hurricane, later because of the exposure to the environment, lack of immediate health care, or lack of money for medicine. After Andrew, for almost a week I lived and slept in a building that was exposed to the elements, no food or water and no medicine. I'm lucky, I lived. However, I also suffered permanent and progressive lung damage.
-I guess my point is that we can expect most of the people affected by this tragedy are not homeowners, or holders of insurance policies, folks with liquid assets who are waiting for the waters to recede or electricity to be restored so they can rebuilt their lives. They are the people who are housed at the dome in New Orleans, trying to avoid the water from the leaking roof and trying not to think about where they will house and support their family after they are told to leave since both their homes and jobs have been destroyed. Don't think they will have the cushion of the U.S. Gov.. to relocate and help support them. In both the cause of Andrew and Hugo there were people on the streets who were not helped for months, if are all.
- So please, be generous when asked to help. Don't get caught up on the petty comparisons between one tragedy and another. They are all bad. Instead, use your energy and time to tell us what you are doing to help or what we as a group might do. I think in a very short time many of us will get on our knees and count our blessing that we did not suffer a Katrina. Love you all. Keep safe.
Thanks, Niasha, for your message. What you said needed to be said, and who is better to say it than someone like you who has lived through a tragedy like this and knows what it's like.
hej there... it's Kellie from Charleston displaced to Houston... was thinkin about you the other day wonderin where you wandered off to! How is charleston? i miss it. Been to People Places and Quilts lately? is it still there? We might get "home" for a visit in January. I am really hoping we can.
btw, i agree with you on hurricanes. i was away from friends and loved ones for Andrew and Hugo... in Chas for Andrew and in Miami for Hugo. Came home asap for the Hugo cleanup. twas awful awful.... And my SIL and BIL and FIL all live in the Florida panhandle and got wholloped last year by the September storm.
Thanks for the eye opening post. While the loss of life will not be as great as the tsunami, the amount of suffering will probably be as great. Your post illustrates that point very well. Thanks.
Hi, Ms. Kellie. You know there will always be a place for you in Charleston. PP&T have two locations (downtown and summerville) and are still going strong. Unfortunately I haven't been able to quilt for over two years but try to keep up by reading the newsgroup. I can still have sex but given my overflowing stash I haven't bought anything since last year. Let me know if you manage to come during next year.
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