So, I disappeared. We took a last minute long weekend trip to New Orleans to celebrate my husbands birthday - and had such a wonderful time, as always one does in New Orleans. I always have the best of blogging intentions when I go on vacation, but I faltered as I often do when I get to go somewhere! New Orleans is my favorite city, it is so beautiful and so historical and has such a different vibe than anywhere I have ever been.
It was fascinating hearing the hurricane stories - everyone called it “The Storm” and are still talking about it like it was yesterday. We are about to hit the 2 year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina in August, and I was really somewhat shocked to see the neighborhoods still with the X’s and body counts painted on them and the gutted homes that looked like they weren’t anywhere near rebuilding. And the number of camper cities. My heart is with all of those people, everyone there has a story - they always have, but now so many of the stories are similar. I wish I knew what I could do to help - I hope my patronage of the city helped in some way. The Essence Music Festival was going on this past weekend, after being held in Houston the year before because of the storm damage. While we didn’t attend any of the festival shows, the bands were jamming on and around Bourbon Street and we got plenty of awesome music there. The people were absolutely out in full force - an amazing crowd of people. I definitely got the feeling that this was a banner weekend for New Orleans, and that the people were so happy to have some of the liveliness (not to mention livelihood) back to their city. We were so happy to be a part of it.
Funny, but CNN’s comment system doesn’t seem to be working today.
CNN,
This is a horrible disaster, and you are making it much, much worse. I am deeply offended by the way that your anchors are egging on the blame of the government. The government did, and are doing, their job — they ordered NOLA to evacuate, and they are trying to help those who cannot help themselves. They warned them that this was the big one, and to get out now. The government is now trying with every resource they have to do the right thing, amongst crazy people shooting at them, raping and pillaging and desperation.
Are we so resistant to authority that we just ignore them when they tell us what to do? This is one important fact that I have learned in my 37 years of life. You cannot help people who won’t help themselves. Those people who were too stubborn to leave are the same ones that have sucked on the government tit their whole lives. I guess they were waiting for the big government to come and tell them individually that they needed to leave, as the government has become their mothers.
The government is slow as we have made them that way, by forcing them to have all of the checks and balances to keep themselves from liability. The government is responsible for those people who can’t help themselves, not those who choose not to help themselves. This means that the government should be helping the hospital patients, and yes, even the people in prison first—those people who were not capable of getting out of NOLA on their own. They must come before the people who were too stubborn to leave. With the exception of those in the hospitals, those in jail and the infirm with no family to help them, all of the people in NOLA could have left. If the planes could not take the tourists, the tourists could have gone north a little bit. They did not have to stay in NOLA. Anyone with a car could have left. Even if you did not have a car, you could bike or walk your way out of NOLA. I have seen MANY people who were more than capable of leaving NOLA—young, strong people–but did not, on their own free will. There should not have been one vehicle left in NOLA. Everyone knew this was going to happen one day, this was not a shock.
What is shocking is the way your news station is taking these unfortunate people, who are in the most desperate situation of their lives, and just milking their stories for the world to see. Yes, the stories are the most dramatic ones and the ones for which you get noticed. You are CNN for God’s sake, people notice you. You do not have to stir up controversy to get noticed and watched. You are taking these desperate people’s words and promoting hatred and rebellion toward our government when I think that it should be your duty to support our government in a disaster like this and help them in any way possible. What kind of interview was that with FEMA this morning? I will tell you, it was sickening. Soledad gives FEMA two options, either they are thrilled with the way things are going or they think they have messed up the whole thing. That is sick. FEMA is doing everything they possibly can to help, and you know it. You are just trying to stir up trouble, and that is sickening to me during this horrendous crisis that our country is going through. I can’t really believe that anyone in the government continues to allow you to interview them, and I surely don’t know why they do.
You yourselves are driving past probably thousands of people who need help to get to the heart of the story that will be the most scandalous and make our country look the worst, and get you the most viewers. I am sure FEMA, and the military, and the rest of the relief workers are stopping at the first people that need help, and slowly working their way in to where YOU are. Are you driving people out with your reporters and camera men? Are you bringing water in to these dying masses? You are a very wealthy company, where are the busses you have hired to help get these refugees out of NOLA? How much money have you donated to the relief efforts? Do you really believe that the government is not doing everything they possibly can to help these people?
Please, for the sake of the welfare of our country, reel in your mad dogs. We want to see stories of what people ARE doing to help, not stories of what the government is NOT doing. This is the most pitiful situation I have ever seen, and I feel deep, deep empathy for those people, even the ones that could have left but didn’t. Believe me, if I did not have small children, I would be there trying to help these people. As it is, I can send money, and house a family when my city runs out of shelter room, and that is about all. I ache to be able to do more to help. Are you aching to help these people? This is a time to come together to help, not a time to drive people apart. Do your part to help, and not be part of the problem. This is your responsibility as citizens of the great United States.
Christina Jones
This is the most horrible thing I have ever seen, it really is. I am sure there have been worse situations in the world, but I am so close to this one–it is horrifying. All of those people.
Why didn’t they leave? Why didn’t they leave when they were told to evacuate before the hurricane hit? We saw it go through Florida. We saw it was big. Surely the people of NOLA were watching as it came to them. Why was there one vehicle left in that city? Are we so disrespective of authority these days that we ignore them when they say it is mandatory to get out? Mandatory Evacuation, the Governor said. That means GO.
If you are a tourist, you go. If the plane can’t take you, you drive north, stop at a rest stop or on the side of the road. You leave. You do not go back. If you have a car, you drive north. If you don’t have any friends north, you go anyway. You get food and water and blankets, and you go to the same rest stop as the tourists. If you don’t have a car, you use your feet or your bike and you go. You have time to get out of NOLA before this thing hits. Anywhere is better than being in NOLA when “the big one” hits it. This is not a surprise that this happened to beautiful NOLA. Everyone knew it was going to happen eventually.
Unfortunately, there is no one to blame but those who are stranded. You cannot in good faith blame the government. They are trying to help the people that were too stubborn to leave. I said it. Too stubborn. If they had wanted to go, they could have gone, with very few exceptions. Those in the hospital, those in jail, the infirm- living alone without anyone thinking about them. I imagine some of them had the attitude that they wanted to go down with the ship. Unfortunately, they made that decision, and go down they have.
The government is working as hard as the poor old government can, with all of their checks and balances it takes them longer to take a potty break than it does anyone else. Those who rely on the government for their basic needs better not have too many basic needs, and woe be it to the ones that do. That is as good a reason as any to rely on yourself and on your community for your basic living. You and they are built much better to take good care of you. The government cannot help that. People have made them this way, and have made them this way over the last 40 years. The government gets bigger every day, with more responsibility for the welfare of its people, and more liability for it as well. Here comes the checks and balances. They are necessary, we have made them so.
Maybe NOLA should have had a better hurricane evacuation plan. Communities running busses through them, picking up anyone who would get on them. Maybe that would have caused some of these people to leave who didn’t leave. This is excrutiatingly painful to watch. I love my country, and I believe that they are doing everything within their power to help. But it is always hard to help those who won’t help themselves. The government is designed to help those who CAN’T help themselves and they are being overrun and downtrodden by those who COULD HAVE helped themselves, but didn’t. Very, very sad.
I wonder how I could find out about the shelters in Houston. I could house a few people and feed them.
I am so grateful that we went to New Orleans a couple of years ago.
If you haven’t seen it yet, New Orleans WWLTV.com is a great source of information–it is a blog, updated every few minutes as news comes in. Natural disasters are unbelievably moving and frightening. I wish I was able to help those people in some way beyond just sending money. I wish I lived closer and could provide shelter and food and water to those who need it. I want to do that when the disaster is halfway across the globe, and I really wish I could do it here.
New Orleans is such a beautiful city, I am so sad to see it like it is today. I desperately pray that the surrounding communities in Mississippi and Louisiana are filled with giving people, who have a sense of community. And I also pray that this disaster, and others like it, will give those people a reminder of what a sense of community is all about, so they can have it all of the time.
Please, if you are nearby, take in someone who needs shelter and food. If you are not nearby, donate to the Red Cross if you are able, as it is the safest and most honest and helpful charity (worldwide) that is available, and you can be assured that if you mark your donation as Hurricane 2005 fund, that is exactly where it will go.
Recent Comments