DU Katrina vigil ... this time last year

[shireen]

I remember exactly what I was doing this time last year. I spent the entire evening to early in the morning on DU, exchanging and reading messages with others who were watching the hurricane. We were worried about fellow-DU'ers on the Gulf Coast. They posted messages, lettting us know how they were doing. We responded with good thoughts, prayers, and words of reassurance. As the storm got closer, we started hearing less and less from the Gulf Coasters as power failures broke off the lines of communication.

Here, at DU, on August 28th, 2005, we saw the power of that storm and we were terrified. We're just every day people from all walks of life. But WE KNEW something very bad was about to happen! Despite everything I've read and heard about the Katrina response, I still don't understand how our government could not have seen what we saw coming ...

:grouphug:

[uppityperson]

1. Indeed. Thank you everyone for caring and worrying.

I remember talking with Mr.UP the morning after and having much better info from DUers than he had from MSM. I remember being online as the days went on, trying to find people, trying to figure out how to get water and food to people. :grouphug: Thanks DUers.

[Warren Stupidity]

2. And within 24 hours I was embroiled in endless

flamefests with DU'ers who were convinced that Bad Looters were everywhere and needed to be SHOT ON SIGHT. And I continue to wonder, when will we ever learn to understand that we are being bullshitted while we are being bullshitted instead of weeks later after the damage has been done?

[Hekate]

3. I realized then that our federal government's humanity was broken

I don't know how else to put it. The message to the American people -- loud and clear -- was "You are on your own now."

The maladministration of George W. Bush did this to us.

My heart bled for the people of New Orleans, and I donated a couple of hundred bucks to the VFP members who went from Camp Casey to Covington, LA to bring a medic, supplies, and satellite communications to the refugees there.

The reaction from BushCo was a big yawn, and although so many of the victims there were black, I believe the real cause of their abandonment was not their color but simply that BushCo doesn't give a fart in the wind for the fate of anyone unless it provides a photo-op.

That's all of us in the next natural disaster, and it scares me.

:grouphug: to all our Gulf Coast DUers.

Hekate

[Penndems]

10. EXACTLY - Message from the Bush Administration:

"Fend for yourselves, Suckers." :mad: x(

[LA lady]

4. I remember it well

I was off DU for several weeks, helping family with home repairs and taking care of the ones staying with us. We couldn't believe Nagin waited so long to order a mandatory evac. but we had been through it before and everyone got out safely, thank God. Even our dogs!

I have 7 groups of family members from in and around NO and all of them are back in their homes except one who worked in the film industry and transferred to Shreveport with his job.

We are very thankful.

[dipsydoodle]

5. At least the Cubans seems to know what to do

Cuban authorities estimate in 1.7 millons of people could be evacuated.

http://www.plenglish.com/Default.asp

edit - link didn't work now corrected.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

6. Meanwhile, I was posting stupid things

like asking how come it was so windy on Lake Ponchatrain.

Who knew?

[HeeBGBz]

7. This time last year

I was hunkered down and settling in for the great unknown. I went to bed early to get some sleep, because I knew the storm would wake me up before very long. Before my nap, I helped crate and round up about 15 cats. (no, not mine, they belonged to the place where I was riding it out) Actually most were corraled already, I had to look for stragglers.

It was the longest 24 hours of my life. We were lucky.

Thanks for watching out for us Gulf Coasters who lost our cable and internet privileges early on. We lost our electricity at 3 am and were glued to a battery operated teevee for the duration. Kudos to WLOX for riding it out with us.

[Penndems]

12. The New Orleans Times Pickayune certainly earned their Pulitizers

Not once did they let up with their coverage. It was a godsend to those of us outside of The Crescent City.

[niyad]

8. I spent most of my time on DU--but checked the weather channel about every

hour-- I couldn't understand why the gov't officials weren't commandeering every wheeled vehicle from the auto lots to the fleets of whatever, to get people to safety. and I watched in horror as the lines of people inched their way into the superdome. it was beyond my comprehension that more-- EVERYTHING--wasn't being done to get people out and away--like making all but one lane outgoing????

I told a friend just before I tried to get a couple of hours of sleep--that, impossible as it seemed, it was entirely possible that NOLA simply wouldn't be there in the morning. YOu are all right--WE knew--anybody who was watching cnn or the weather channel, and saw that monster in the gulf--KNEW. under what charge of treason do we prosecute those responsible for letting our people down like that?

[Penndems]

9. I was here too, Shireen

We were posting information from NOAA, NWS, Weather Underground, Accuweather and The Weather Channel. I'll never forget it.

For everyone who followed that hurricane from the time it was a puff of dust, air and water off of the Ivory Coast of Africa until it made landfall between Louisiana and Mississippi, we knew that Katrina was going to be a monster.

You know what really makes me come unglued? How the Bush Administration had the unmitigated gall to try to blame Dr. Max Mayfield at the National Weather Service for actually forecasting the path of that storm correctly. The man's been at the NWS for thirty-five years, and the Bushies tried to scapegoat him. Just absolutely unbelievable.

Hey, Mods: Is there anyway to sift through the DU archives and pull out the threads discussing Katrina from oh, about August 23rd through mid-September, and then put them in a separate "Remembering Katrina" thread?

[tinfoil tiaras]

11. This time last year, my power was out and we were worring sick

about my cousins who were driving from someplace up in Alabama (they'd already evacuated their home in Ocean Springs) to Jackson. I was really hot and had nothing to do, but that's a small price to pay, considering what other people had to go through.

[tnlefty]

13. I remember that a now banned poster, benburch, predicted what was

about to happen in NOLA and he was flamed for his all too accurate prediction. While I'll admit that I sometimes disagreed with this poster, and I didn't have a thorough knowledge of NOLA - just drove over I-10 a few times and I still have a hoodie that I bought on Bourbon St. - I could fathom that what he predicted could happen!

I remember during the aftermath of Katrina there were many flamefests about whether it was neglect because of race or class and I'll still say to this day that it was a combination of the two, but race was the biggest factor. The poverty that most politicians don't want to acknowlegde and that most of our society is willing to disregard was on display for all to see. I'm still amazed by the batshit crazy right wingers who suggest that those who lost everything brought it upon themselves somehow, or that those who want to return to their homes can't do so because those folks are lazy, etc. Gettin screwed over by insurance companies, etc. certainly doesn't help!

I most of all remember being nervous, angry, in tears, raging at the neglect given to my fellow citizens of this country.

[XOKCowboy]

14. I was right here...

all night long checking the links to the webcams around NOLA and the webcasts from the local TV station that was still broadcasting. We knew it was coming days ahead of time. We knew Bush'd fuck it up. Knowing that, the images we see now are even more poignant and heart wrenching.

Let's hope that this reminds Americans what a miserable job the Republicans have done in the last 4-8 years.