So,

I've been trying to contact people I know down in MS/LA to try and figure out what we can do from here to help (No, not what national campaigns are suggesting, but real people, from the area). Anyone got any updates on that? What more does the armory need? I also have begun to consider going to MS in november for a while and try to help out more directly. Any other ideas?

The following email is from a friend of Julie's currently living in Australia. Thought you guys might find it interesting.

***********

I'm having a tough time being on the other side of the world. The media here
(and people I know, even) are really excited to get some new reason to point out the States'
faults. As if we should have been able to control the weather-- or the Mississippi. As if
we have ever denied having poor people at all. Everything has been oversimplified. I feel
like I have engaged with issues of race and poverty for a long time and now I am turned into
the bad guy simply because I am white. The good guys, apparently, and according to
themselves, are the Australian media, who have been rescuing stranded Oz citizens.

"AMERICANS were yesterday waking up to the painful truth that hurricane Katrina had dramatically exposed the racial and economic fault lines that exist between blacks and whites in the world's richest and most powerful nation."

"It wasn't until Channel Nine reporter Robert Penfold arrived yesterday and
helped them get to a staging area and on a bus that they felt safe."

And best of all, the opinion page:

"That any American city could descend so quickly into anarchy will surely have
stunned many. That it exposed a social underclass so desperate just to survive that
looting became necessary must surely shame them."

My ex was doing his family medicine residency in New Orleans when the hurricane hit. Here's what he had to say about it.


Sent : August 31, 2005 8:29:46 PM
Subject : XXXX vs. the Hurricane

Sorry about the MASS email...just wanted to let everyone know that I am okay. I evacuated sunday to my parents house in Baton Rouge. We now have power and all the comforts of home. My cell phone refuses to work except for the occasional text message. So if you are trying to reach me either call XXXXXXX (my parents house, no call waiting) or you can email me at this address or my cox account XXXXXXX@cox.net (I can check both here). I don't have access to my outlook address book so I hope I have everyone's email address correct and I got in touch with everyone. If I missed someone, please pass on the info.

I have been passing the time in BR since then. For all the work folks on the list... I went to LSU today where they are moving all the medical evacuees to the Assembly Center. I went from 8 AM to 2 PM and worked non-stop. More Doctors were around in the afternoon then in the morning. But they have lots of nurses, and techs, and MDs, and volunteers, but the more MD's the better as more and more patients keep pouring in. I am planning on going back tomorrow morning. They need staff around the clock so depending on how tried I am (very now) I may go back this evening.

So everyone file this email away or that phone number XXXXXXX. It maybe a long month and I would like to hear any info anyone else has.

Sent : September 2, 2005 11:14:02 PM
Subject : Going to New Orleans

I got the call today. EJGH is up and running and needs help. The plan is to work in week long shifts. I am leaving tomorrow morning and bringing food, water, and enough clothes for a week. They say that EJGH has power and water and 2 square meals a day. I have also been assured that the area is very safe and secure. Needless to say, I would rather not be going, but that is the life I live. I will basically be out of touch for the week as my cell phone has stopped working. Anyone who wants to leave a message can still call my parents at XXXXXXX and I maybe able to get it. I have been getting occasional text messages also. I don't know if I will have access to email there or not. So wish me luck I'll let everyone know when I get back to BR.

Sent : September 5, 2005 6:54:46 PM
Subject : Life in the Big Easy

Well, more like next door. I am working on Day 3 of Hurricane Relief duty and the hospital is doing great. We have full power (A/C), running water, working phones (including long distance) and the internet became fully accessable throughout the hospital on yesterday. I am staying in the Geri-psych unit where there is a fridge and microwave. The hospital is providing Breakfast and dinner to all everyday. I seem to be able to my scheduled cardiology rotation and my not lose any time in my residency. Plus we will be getting paid!

Yesterday I went to my apartment for the first time. For those who don't know and care to know...I live on W. Esplande on the Lake side of the canal at LaPlace St. Which means accross from East Jeff Hospital. My door was swollen so we had to knock it in and broke the jam in the process (but it still closes and locks). It looks like I had about 10 inches of water on the first floor. There is a thick layer of slimy mud across the whole floor which needs to be cleaned up. All the walls on the ground floor have about 10 inches of water damage and will need to be replaced, but I haven't talked to the land lord yet. I moved a lot upstairs before the storm and all of that is okay. I did get a rock through my upstairs bedroom window, but appears that no water came through. My couch and chair, the frames were left downstairs, have some water damage and may or maynot be salvagable. The entertainment center and bookshelf are worthless. Washer and Dryer were downstairs, don't know how they have been affected.

I went to the Levee break at the 17th street canal and it is a whole different world. Orleans parish is in much worse shape. Jefferson Parish on the whole has down trees and power lines but nothing else. Power has started coming on in various areas and one resident in out program has a house near oschner which was untouched by wind/water and has water and power right now. XXXX, I went by your parents house which seems untouched on the outside...most probably got about 10 inches of water also.

Sorry about the long email... I hope this answers some peoples questions. I do have email access now so please send me things to read so I can keep up with the outside world, since I now actually live in the hospital.