Right now as New Orleans looks terminal and people leave a beloved city that's become uninhabitable, it's very hard to imagine a future, even a reason to hope that New New Orleans can rise again.
In this darkest of hours when search and rescue is the priority mission, as people climb one by one out of the water to walk onto an abandoned highway where there's no water, food or shelter, it's hard to think beyond the short term.
The best we can do right is support those charities that are the first responders. That's why I urge you to donate to the American Red Cross.
One evacuee thanks the Red Cross and the Arkadelphia Chamber of Commerce in Arkansas.
these organizations got together and arranged a shelter for evacuees and also arranged a luncheon for us, offered us food, clothing, toiletries, blankets, and lots of kind words. They really thought of everything. Many of us are travelling light, having thought we'd be back in New Orleans after a few days. Others, like me, were given little notice of evacuation and packed quickly and haphazardly. For me the extra clothes were not just welcome, they were an absolute necessity
We find ourselves getting more and more addled. We aren't thinking clearly. We are forgetful, and we find it difficult to make the simplest decisions, or complete the simplest tasks. We've discussed it, and we are aware that the shock is catching up with us. We're being inundated with the most horrific images...It so much, so much to take in at once. The rescues, the suffering, the deaths, the grief for our neighbors and the fears for our homes, and the water. So much water.
For Ruvella Casmere, an evacuee from New Orleans said her dealings with the American Red Cross has renewed her faith in people.
I just never knew people were so sweet, so loving," says Casmere.
"Because every time you see on the news it's bad, it's bad, it's bad. And then you get to thinking, well, there's just no good. No it's not. No, they got people in this world got a heart as big as Texas.
These angels, as Casmere calls them, are a sign of hope -- a signal they can bounce back. "I never seen such love, such help, never. I'm 62 years old and I'm full. I just don't know how to say thank you. I really don't. And we most probably don't have anything at home. But as long as I live, I will never forget you all."
Brendan Loy, prompted by Mike Barnes are among the first to look at the Big Picture
Josh Britton reports on a Operation Share Your Home, a new non-profit dedicated to finding temporary housing for those displaced by Katrina.
We need lots of this types of imaginative solutions from businesses and charities.
A pathologist holed up in the Ritz Carlton reports on a makeshift medical clinic set up by physicians in town for a convention on HIV and how they scooped up all the drugs in a nearby Walgreen's under police escort who held back looters. From a small victory who's reporting on the good news and small victories in New Orleans.
Did a hospital collapse in Slidell killing every one in it? One commenter at Electric Mist said yes as reported by those in search and rescue.
Is there such a thing as "orderly looting?" What should the national guard and the NO police do as looters arm themselves with stolen weapons? Joe B. at metro blogging new orleans wants looters shot on sight now the city is under martial law and raises a host of comments.
Virginia Postrel reports that other Texas cities besides Houston are turning their stadiums into refugee camps for refugees. Their schools too.
Technorati Tags: flood aid, Hurricane Katrina
Posted by Jill Fallon at September 1, 2005 2:19 PM | Permalink