Patricia in Exile:
My sons just left to go back to Baton Rouge, one to return to LSU and the semblance of a normal life, and the other to find a job while staying with a friend. I feel as though the last of my family is gone away from me now. I have been unable to contact anyone else who was in New Orleans, including my brother who was a patient at Waldon Healthcare in Kenner, Louisiana.
I know that I am in comfortable surroundings, and have friends here. I know that I am not among the misery and horror of my hometown, and that I have food to eat, water to drink, a safe haven here in Houston. Yet I am inconsolable at these losses. I don't know who or what to pray for first, and so I just pray for whatever graces we all need at this time.
God bless our friends, our families, our city, our state, and all our people along the Gulf Coast. Bless those who chose to stay and help, and those who chose to go and help. Amen.
Chris O'Connor is the Vice President of Clinical Operations at the Ochsner Clinic in New Orleans. He just e-mailed me that he is keeping a diary. You can read his experiences.
Some good news the National Guard has finally brought water and some food to those stuck in the Convention Center. Also, Tulane Hospital has finally been evacuated to the Louis Armstrong Airport along with their doctors and nurses. Some of the patients actually survived the ordeal. God bless the dedicated medical personnel of our great town.
Charlyn: Buses and Gas:
I can't believe it's Friday and there are still people in the city, suffering. This morning I watched State Representative Karen Carter's desperate plea: If you want to help...get a bus. We have comandeered other things, we need to comandeer Greyhound. You want to help? Send buses and gas, buses and gas. I don't need $10 million right now - send buses and gas!
U.S. Senator David Vitter raised questions many of us have been asking as well: I think FEMA has been completely dysfunctional and is completely overwhelmed, and I don't know why. This situation was utterly predictable. It seems like there was no coherent plan, which I don't understand because this precise scenario has been predicted for 20 years. WWL-TV also reports: St. Bernard Parish officials say that FEMA has not called them yet...five days after the storm. Even President Bush said "the results are not acceptable" and observed, "It's as if the entire Gulf Coast were obliterated by the worst kind of weapon you can imagine."
It's hard to believe that there was no plan in place to get these people out of the city. I hear reports of one thousand Charity Hospital workers, families and patients stuck with no supplies for days. They've had to make choices about who gets medicine, who gets food. They've had to give each other IVs of nutrition to stay alive. It's deplorable.
I've been watching some disturbing video on WWL-TV also: ...thousands still wait to be picked up from I-10 and Causeway. Buses arrived a few hours ago, but the refugees say that it's the first sighting of buses in 12 hours. Some of the refugees have been waiting four days. State Police say five people died Thursday while waiting. Four hundred students are still trapped at Xavier University, with one dead. There are a number of similar stories.
Despite all this, it's been a better day here. We've heard from far-flung relatives who evacuated to Mississippi who have been in a hotel and are running out of money. They are going to drive here to join us, and as long as we have floor space, we won't turn anyone away. My parents moved into a hotel nearby to make some space, and we all got a good night's sleep last night.
We're starting to see some progress, as evacuees are moved to the Astrodome, the Reliant Center, and other stadiums in Texas. Supplies are starting to trickle in. There is progress fixing the levee breach at the 17th Street Canal. A pet shelter has been set up in Baton Rouge, and I hear a hospital is being set up there too. An attempt at mail delivery has been started, although many people are having to list their address as "The Astrodome, Houston, Texas."
And we heard Fats Domino is OK. That made my dad pretty happy. He lived in the 9th Ward, where water was up to rooftops.
My aunt, Susie, was a nurse before she stayed home to raise her three sons. She is taking a refresher course right now with the Red Cross so she can volunteer to help evacuees at the Astrodome.
Read the rest of the story.