I am having flashbacks to Katrina. 16 years to the day........

[7wo7rees]

I was in Crawford, Tx.
All the Vets for Peace packed up and left for rescue. Many others left as well, to go help. They were there before the Red Cross.
I'm trying hard to stay calm, I just feel a dark storm coming.
Ms 7wo7rees

[Skittles]

1. I worked all night in a room with twelve TVs

I will never forget thinking to myself, "Duyba thinks he can bring peace to Iraq but he can't get a little girl off a bridge in New Orleans"

[7wo7rees]

2. I feel calmer now with Biden and his administration, but it is still going to be bad

I'm very worried.

[Moebym]

3. With a competent president

And a seemingly competent FEMA director now at the helm, I am reasonably confident we'll be able to get aid where it's needed when it's needed and keep casualties to a minimum.

[7wo7rees]

4. + 1000, I'm hoping so. But the entire healthcare system is already

stressed to breaking point.

[RockRaven]

5. An unfortunate reality about FEMA is that they're better at providing money than physical goods

or elbow grease directly. FEMA can massively support local governments, yes, but the execution at the human/street/neighborhood level is often dependent on the locals taking the ball provided and running with it. If the local officials are determined to be irresponsible and idiotic there is very little FEMA can do to prevent it in the short term. We cannot assume that better federal leadership will yield better outcomes.

[this is in no way a defense of prior FEMA failures, including Katrina]

[Moebym]

8. Oh, I see...good to know

I hadn't known that about FEMA. Admittedly, I'm not too knowledgeable about disaster response.

I guess we can only hope for the best.

[Hortensis]

15. Yes, FEMA was meant to be mostly a central coordinator,

with some resources of its own to rush out while others muster, including money to disperse to other institutions, but not large in manpower.

Also, critically, the Repubs didn't just cut funding but sacked many government institutions, intentionally so that they couldn't function well. It'll more than this past few months to build back what they destroyed, especially since they're still able to limit congressional action.

And at 7wo7rees says, the health system's already on the ropes.

[Hekate]

6. That was gawdawful, and I was far away in SoCal. You touch on so much that was going on!

I’m sorry you are having flashbacks— you were so much closer than I was, and your post just caused all kinds of memories to come pouring out for me. I hope you can rest tonight, and that you are safe and sound where you are.

Crawford, TX. At least one DUer went there. Vets for Peace — some of the men from my local chapter in Santa Barbara went to Crawford; I got to meet Cindy later on when she came to visit her son’s cross on the beach at Arlington West.

But before that, we watched the disaster unfold in front of our eyes with the weather maps showing that monster fill the entire Gulf. Members of DU posted their experiences live, before, during, and after. It was stunning to experience it through their eyes.

And then to discover that FEMA, which Bill Clinton had carefully built up and professionalized, had had a moron frat brother put in charge of it. That Dubya couldn’t be bothered. That the only competent representative of the US Government who showed up was General Honore, who when asked, said he didn’t have to wait for instructions because he knew what his job was.

Thank God for CNN, who flew in with cameras and reported the scenes of horror, and finally one of their female reporters just looked into the cameras and demanded to know what the hell and why the hell, and where the hell was the US government? Speaking of news media doing an outstanding job, the editor of the N.O. newspaper (The Picayune?) went online and kept going.

Someone known to some of our local VFP members had a bus he was going to drive across the nation as a protest against the Iraq war, and meet up with the giant protest march being planned in DC, but by the time he got to Santa Barbara he and his crew had decided to go start a soup kitchen outside New Orleans as part of the recovery effort. We all chipped in funds.

DU held a fundraiser. Someone contributed a series of gorgeous handmade masks with a New Orleans theme for auction, but I had already donated to the guys on the bus. I just remember the outpouring of talent and love.

To all those in danger tonight and in the coming days, we hold you in our hearts. May all be well, may all be safe.

[carpetbagger]

7. I was there as well

Very surreal driving back to San Antonio after being isolated from media for two days (in spite of all the reporters around)

[Roy Rolling]

10. It's Ominous

There’s a palpable sense of dread here in New Orleans. Most of us aren’t ready for another direct hit, even 16 years later. It was anarchy—local authorities were scattered and overwhelmed. After escaping the city three days later, I discovered it was a 24/7 news story everywhere. We were just trying to survive and account for the missing and dead.

[femmedem]

11. Are you evacuating today?

I hope so. I'm sure a lot of us will be looking for an update from you on Monday or Tuesday that you're somewhere safe.

I can well imagine the dread, whether you evacuate or stay.

My sister went to New Orleans after Katrina with VFP. She talked about handing out food at a food pantry and running out of food, and people who had walked several miles thanking her anyway when all she had left was onions.

[SergeStorms]

12. My daughter was scheduled to leave.....

for New Orleans on that Sunday morning. She was starting her senior year at Tulane University.

I forbade her from getting on the airplane. Of course a fight ensued. She'd evacuated several times in the previous 3 years, and of course this was going to be "just another false alarm".

Long story made short, we watched the carnage unfold for days, weeks, and months afterward.

We were extremely fortunate she had a warm, dry, safe home to live in while the cleanup took place. So many in New Orleans and other Gulf Coast cities and towns had everything they owned washed away.

I remember. As a Dad, I became quite the hurricane "expert" during her four years in New Orleans. I'll always have a warm place in my heart for everyone who lost so much to hurricane Katrina.

[malaise]

13. i watched news out of Miami this morning - everal persons are on their

way to assist Louisiana. Sadly looks like it will come in west of NOLA but iy lookd likr Ida's northern quadrant will do severe damage to NOLA.

There is an unbelievable amount of rain coming with this system.

Stay safe folks

[ananda]

14. I was in Houston teaching. We got students..

evacuated from Katrina.