Now that some are rescued...continued chaos

[LadyShea]

I responded to lunachick in another thread regarding calling agencies that are supposed to be helping in the relief effort.

luna, the Red Cross has no idea what the hell they are doing, are overwhelmed, or their normal organization has broken down because they've been forced to work with "faith based" relief by FEMA. When we called them they had no idea where to send us or what we could do. They had a list of nearby shelters that was completely incorrect and sent us running off to an empty, locked church. Finally they said "We don't know. Send money". We found the shelter on our own. I thought I would find order....I found chaos.

I was handed a baby and she was siezing in my arms...nobody at the shelter knew who the mother was, and hadn't seen this baby before. There was no ID on children, they were running wild and the parents nowhere to be found. Not one item at that shelter was bought with the millions they have collected...every stitch of clothing, bar of soap, and morsel of food was donated by locals like me and sorted/distributed through Catholic Charities. I had to give them a fax machine because they didn't have one. My dad was calling Office Depot to try to get a copier for health questionaires and was told "We donated a million dollars to Red Cross already"...the shelter didn't have copiers or phones or laptops or any other basic equipment. Registration forms, to enter the information on the databases for the Red Cross, were being filled out on cards, and ended up in piles in several different places.

When I asked any question about where I could be the most help I was met with "I don't know". Two nurses had driven down from Tuscaloosa and first went to Mobile, only to be put to work on regular hospital rounds. They also found the shelter on their own, and were sitting around with no direction. Someone came up with the idea of taking health questions on everyone in the shelter- 3 days later and only after the baby started siezing- but there was no copier as I mentioned. The Red Cross people were using ripped out pages of spiral notebooks to write down important information like people looking for families, bra sizes needed for the women, etc. The woman buying bras is using her own money....the Red Cross didn't offer any.

Churches and other orgs brought dinners, and sent pizza, and chicken dinners came from somewhere. There was so much food and nowhere to store it, so much of it ended up in the garbage.

People were sleeping on donated used matteresses and getting lice....they should be on sanitary cots. Where are the cots? What is the money being spent on?

[Petra]

I'm totally at a loss, Brandi. I don't know. I'm utterly stunned.

[fragment]

Sounds terrible, like there is just nothing in place to handle disasters of this scale, and that those organisations with resources aren't managing to make effective on-the-spot decisions. In such circumstances, it is heartening that people are taking the own initiative to help in any way they can, as you and your community are doing.

Is there any way those of us further afield can help? If Red Cross, etc donations aren't getting where they're needed, are you able to act as a conduit for assistance somehow? Could we pledge to reimburse you for money spent on supplies?

[Petra]

From the Department of Homeland Security Website:
http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/theme_home2.jsp

In the event of a terrorist attack, natural disaster or other large-scale emergency, the Department of Homeland Security will assume primary responsibility on March 1st for ensuring that emergency response professionals are prepared for any situation. This will entail providing a coordinated, comprehensive federal response to any large-scale crisis and mounting a swift and effective recovery effort. The new Department will also prioritize the important issue of citizen preparedness. Educating America's families on how best to prepare their homes for a disaster and tips for citizens on how to respond in a crisis will be given special attention at DHS.



Why aren't they doing their job? It's been a week!

[LadyShea]

Fragment, people from my company are sending me their donations...I didn't ask, they just did it. I don't know what we can do, but the area is short on gas to get us anywhere. Also, I feel there is some kind of "jurisdictional" bureaucratic issues going on, and we might not be allowed to help independently.

The shelter has at least 10 National Guard troops at it, with large guns. I am not comfortable accepting money until I know exactly how and if we can put it to the best use.

[fragment]

Fair enough, I knew it was a big thing to ask. It just seems like the existing relief organisations aren't managing to get things done, even though they have the resources. I guess I'll just hope someone manages to figure out how to get help where it's needed.

It's pretty sick that bureaucratic issues are holding things up. Aren't there people in those institutions capable of pushing all that bullshit aside and actually doing what they're supposed to be there for?

[LadyShea]

Originally Posted by fragment

Fair enough, I knew it was a big thing to ask. It just seems like the existing relief organisations aren't managing to get things done, even though they have the resources. I guess I'll just hope someone manages to figure out how to get help where it's needed.

My first inclination was to say "yes, I will put it to use". But right this second, I just don't know how. My husband is the best organizational manager I have ever met, I am talking to him now.

It's pretty sick that bureaucratic issues are holding things up. Aren't there people in those institutions capable of pushing all that bullshit aside and actually doing what they're supposed to be there for?

It's disgusting

[LadyShea]

Network for Good has a link that says "Find Shelters", click on it. You are asked to enter a zip code to see a local chapter. No list of shelters exists. What if you are looking for a loved one? What if, like us, you are looking for where to volunteer?

[freemonkey]

Originally Posted by lunachick

From the Department of Homeland Security Website:
http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/theme_home2.jsp

In the event of a terrorist attack, natural disaster or other large-scale emergency, the Department of Homeland Security will assume primary responsibility on March 1st for ensuring that emergency response professionals are prepared for any situation. This will entail providing a coordinated, comprehensive federal response to any large-scale crisis and mounting a swift and effective recovery effort. The new Department will also prioritize the important issue of citizen preparedness. Educating America's families on how best to prepare their homes for a disaster and tips for citizens on how to respond in a crisis will be given special attention at DHS.



Why aren't they doing their job? It's been a week!

What. The. Fuck.

Brandi, thanks for letting us know what's going on. I can only imagine how frustrated you must be. I hope others who are experiencing what you are are speaking out as well.

People need to know what a clusterfuck our gub'mint has caused with their stupid, stupid decisions.

[Leesifer]

Originally Posted by freemonkey

What. The. Fuck.

Brandi, thanks for letting us know what's going on. I can only imagine how frustrated you must be. I hope others who are experiencing what you are are speaking out as well.

People need to know what a clusterfuck our gub'mint has caused with their stupid, stupid decisions.

[LadyShea]

I need to emphasize that I have no way of knowing if this shelter is the exception or the rule. I don't know what conditions are like in Texas or Georgia or any of the other states and cities where evacuees are being taken. I would love to find out this is isolated, and that other shelters are running smoothly.

[viscousmemories]

According to the local news, things are going very well here in Texas. Between the Houston Astrodome, Reunion Arena and the convention center in Dallas (and over 90 other shelters) Texas is currently home to nearly a quarter million evacuees. The TV shows a huge coordinated effort from security to medical screenings, arranged meals, job and housing assistance, registering kids in schools, collecting donated food and clothing, etc.

The local news makes it very clear on a regular basis where the preferred locations are for donations on a given day. They said not to just show up at an evacuee site if you want to volunteer (though I saw dozens of people in line at reunion arena in front of a window that had a "Volunteers" sign above it).

I did as told and filled out a volunteer form at volunteernorthtexas.org, and received an automated email response saying they're still compiling info from all the area agencies about where help is needed most, and they'll be in touch. I don't think they're having a shortage of volunteers at this point, but they probably will in the months to come as people start to forget...

[LadyShea]

Thanks VM, I am glad it is going better in Texas. I hoep that is the case elsewhere too.

[wildernesse]

Red Cross shelters are often run by volunteers--they should all have little folders with instructions about what to do although without some supplies and leadership it won't be much help. I've had disaster training and shelter admin through the local Red Cross--it lasted one day, and while I am sure that some of the older people in my training session would have enough life (and military) experience to make that worthwhile, I am not sure that people my age or people who aren't used to being in charge of things would. Since you are closer to all of the damage, it may be that people got there before the shelter was fully set up--people at the Astrodome have had some time to get things settled. Once you're unprepared, it would be a lot harder to put that genie back in the bottle.

[livius drusus]

Here's something anyone with a computer can do from anywhere in the world to help the survivors. It's a wiki project consolidating all the various people finding databases out there so that folks can more easily locate their missing loved ones.

All you need to do is register and then copy and paste data.

[LadyShea]

Thanks livius, much appreciated.

[livius drusus]

Sure, Shea. I think it's a very useful grass roots project, and one that doesn't run headfirst into literal and metaphoric roadblocks as so many others do. They're also working on the tech side of things to automate data exchange between different databases, so any techie pros might be able to give a hand on that end.

[Petra]

Thanks, liv. I'll sign up and get Steve to send me names of people that he's missing, should he get time.

[livius drusus]

Good idea, luna. When shelters are being run by all kinds of different organizations local and national, a master list becomes virtually impossible. I think this could be a big help.

[wei yau]

Originally Posted by livius drusus

Sure, Shea. I think it's a very useful grass roots project, and one that doesn't run headfirst into literal and metaphoric roadblocks as so many others do. They're also working on the tech side of things to automate data exchange between different databases, so any techie pros might be able to give a hand on that end.

Thank you so much for this heads-up. The company I work for is heavily involved in data conversion. This kind of thing is our "bread and butter". Given the resources we have at our disposal, we can make a tremendous effort for this project.

I've alerted our higher-ups to this project and have been tasked with organizing our efforts.

[livius drusus]

So cool, eldar. So hugely cool.

[LadyShea]

Very cool eldar, that would be a concrete and useful way to help. Thanks again livius for finding it.

[Petra]

Originally Posted by eldar

Thank you so much for this heads-up. The company I work for is heavily involved in data conversion. This kind of thing is our "bread and butter". Given the resources we have at our disposal, we can make a tremendous effort for this project.

I've alerted our higher-ups to this project and have been tasked with organizing our efforts.

[livius drusus]

Here's a story about little children separated from their parents during the storm/rescue which underscores how challenging and essential missing persons work is in the wake of Katrina.

[Dingfod]

If you are so inclined and have housing you can offer to displaced hurricane victims:
http://www.hurricanehousing.org/