From scout_prime:
The Tulane medical students at Hope in Grace inform me that $3070 in donations have been raised since yesterday. It is wonderful and everyone is extremely grateful for the donations. Thanks to the very many bloggers who have posted on the Joseph family.As you can see more needs to be done to reach the goal. So keep spreading the word.
Explanation here.
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(I’m going to leave this at the top for a couple of days. New posts below. Hmmm, the setting that leaves posts at the top doesn't seem to be working.)
scout_prime sends the following:
Two weeks ago I posted about the Joseph family who lost their Lower 9th Ward home for the second time. Kellie Joseph and her 6 children lost their home to Katrina. The rebuilding of their home was nearly complete when it was tragically destroyed by a fire after someone abandoned a stolen car in their backyard and lit it aflame to destroy evidence. The flames engulfed the home.A group of Tulane medical students who heard of this devastating news decided to help the family rebuild again and started a website called Hope in Grace for what is called Project: Bring Miracle. Recently the students contacted me. The online donation effort has reached a standstill after some initial local media attention. It is their hope to reach a wider audience through the Internet.
Here is where we can help. We as individuals and bloggers can not rebuild the great city of New Orleans but perhaps we can help to rebuild the home of one family that has now fallen through the cracks. The family had invested their Road Home grant of $138,000 to rebuild their home. That is now lost. Unfortunately the maximum they can receive from their insurance to rebuild their home a second time is $12,000. At this point, after donations and insurance, $132,000 is needed to rebuild the Joseph's family home. Donations can be made online to a rebuilding fund specifically restricted for use only in reconstruction.
From Hope in Grace:
On a fresh late-summer's afternoon of the 22nd of September, 2007, Miracle Lewis came down to New Orleans to see her newly restored room. Miracle's family was rebuilding the home after the house had been filled with ten feet of water and damaged by a massive tree. After being forced out by the storm to Port Allen, LA, and on to Houston, TX, her family had made it a little closer to their goal of returning to their roots by finding temporary-stay housing in Baton Rouge. The gleeful approval in Miracle's eyes after seeing her room on this day, however, was truly a milestone on the soon-to-be-realized path of bringing the family back home.Early the next morning, however, a cruel turn of events quickly devastated their dreams. Some time during those early morning hours someone had parked a stolen vehicle their backyard, removed the tires, and set the car on fire to presumably destroy any evidence linking the perpetrator to the vehicle. The resulting inferno engulfed the the home, and burned it entirely to the ground. A firefighter was quoted as saying that "the flames were seen from a mile away, that's how intense it was." Hours before, the house was 80 percent complete, and the electricity was scheduled to be turned on the coming Monday. All that remained now was ash.
Miracle, her mother Kellie, and six brothers and sisters have all called the historic Holy Cross neighborhood in New Orleans home for nearly ten years. Her mother had worked their way out of the St. Bernard Housing Project that the family had moved into following the loss of her husband in a motor cycle accident, to become a homeowner in this neighborhood. Determined to give her children the best possible options, she kept them out of trouble, in school and church-related activities, and close to home. After the storm, her children were having a hard time integrating into their new schools, and Kellie quickly realized the need to return her family to the place that defined their being, to New Orleans. This unsettling tragedy severely jeopardized this noble hope.
All is not lost, however. A concerned group of family, friends, and public officials are determined not to let this family's self-evident courage and determination to return to their home base to be irreparably devastated, and plea for you to help them realize their dream of bringing Miracle home.
As individuals we can’t rebuild all of New Orleans but an assist here and there will speed the recovery. If you haven’t, a great place to start would be to help this family. A rebuilding fund has been established by State Representative Charmaine Marchand at Capital One that is specifically restricted for use only in reconstruction.
Please consider helping the Joseph family by clicking this link. Every little bit helps.
And if you wish you can leave a message for the family here.
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Two years ago today:
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Haven't they suffered enough?
President Bush is marking Hurricane Katrina's devastating blow two years ago by celebrating those he says have "dedicated their lives to the renewal of New Orleans" even as he and others are criticized for not doing more to get the city and Gulf Coast back to their former selves.Bush and his wife, Laura, are to spend Wednesday's anniversary remembering the storm in New Orleans and Bay St. Louis, Miss.
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The massive federally funded program for rebuilding Louisiana homes is short nearly $3 billion, administrators told a state legislative panel here today, leaving uncertain for now how the owners of roughly 100,000 flood-wrecked houses here will be compensated.[...]
More than 20 months after the Katrina catastrophe, tens of thousands of houses remain vacant, in part because of administrative delays in the aid program, the largest single source of direct federal help for homeowners. To date, only 16,000 of 130,000 applicants have received money.
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State officials said they had already turned to Washington leaders for more help, but whether that will be forthcoming is unclear.
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NYT editorial:
President Bush has reneged on his promises to Katrina’s victims. Shamefully, the president has chosen the interests of bureaucracy over those of American towns on the brink of failure.Over a year and a half later, there are 64,000 people still sleeping in trailers in Louisiana and far too many communities without schools, hospitals and other basics. These are unacceptable failures. At least part of the problem is a law that requires states to contribute 10 percent of the cost of most federally financed reconstruction projects. Mr. Bush waived that requirement after the Sept. 11 attacks (as his father did after Hurricanes Andrew and Iniki) but he refuses to do so for the Gulf Coast.
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In a lofty speech soon after Katrina, Mr. Bush vowed that “we will do what it takes” to rebuild the damaged communities. He did not say, “Unless easily waived regulatory restrictions prohibit us.”
By now we all know the value of George's promises.
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What stunned me the most was the sheer scale of the devastation. As I mentioned earlier, parts of the city look like Hiroshima or Nagasaki in late 1945. And this is eighteen months after the storm. Even relatively well-off areas like St. Bernard Parish with it's solidly middle-class, even somewhat upper middle-class homes are only fitfully rebuilding. Parks and squares have become huge "FEMA Camps" with white trailers packed cheek-to-jowl. There's even a special FEMA Camp for police officers who have lost their homes. On Sunday I saw a house still bearing spray-paint that reads, "2 dogs, 1 dead." Eighteen months later.
With more than 1500 and a greatly reduced population and the sheer scale of the devastation the city struggles to rebuild itself but needs a concerted Federal effort. Nothing, nothing, can be expected from the current regime (save, of course, sweet contracts for Halliburton and Blackwater). The same people who gave us "Heck of a job, Brownie" can't, or more accurately, won't lift a finger. That dispersing the "undesirables" (from their perspective) to other parts of the country also has the advantage (from their perspective) of reducing the chances of Democrats being elected. Just this morning the Times-Picayune featured an editorial on a bill in the Senate that would offer relief - relief, not forgiveness - to those who took federal rebuilding loans. But the bill has been stopped in its tracks by an anonymous hold. Who wants to bet which party the coward belongs to? That this sort of political gamesmanship is going on is a national shame. Eighteen months later.
Clearly, though, the recovery will go on despite the hostility of the government and the apathy - really, short attention spans - of the American public. But with another hurricane season approaching it's not surprising that nerves are a little on edge. Still, I encountered good cheer and a large amount black humor. That's the sane reaction to an insane situation. So the citizens of New Orleans continue their efforts to make their home and their homes whole again despite what in many ways is isolation. Eighteen months later.
Finally, I'd like to extend my thanks to lb0313 and dangerblond for allowing us into their homes and throwing really great bashes. I encourage everyone to head over to First Draft and visit some of the NOLA blogs scout has listed so you can begin to get an idea about the people involved. You may not be able to put a face, or even a real name, to their stories, but those are the real stories, unfitered.
Let us hope that another disaster of this magnitude never happens again but if it does let us make sure that the shame of inaction doesn't haunt us even for a short time let alone eighteen months later.
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Beautiful Jackson Square, March 30, 2007.
Jackson Square spoiled, 15 September, 2005.
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(Live from Philadelphia. As always, click on image to enlarge.)
Lower 9th. Ward - Movie filming site? WTF?
Lower 9th. Ward - Bathroom.
FEMA Camp, St. Bernard Parish.
Lines marking the level at which the flood waters settled along Canal Blvd.
Sanity-saving black humor.
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It's late and I'm extremely tired so the promised pics will have to wait. As tomorrow is a freakishly long travel day it'll probably be Tuesday before I get them up.
Just sayin'.
Don't even ask about the tower of fried shit.
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(As always, click on image to enlarge.)
Along the breached 17th. St. canal.
The lower 9th Ward. The only way to describe the scene is is that it looks like the aftermath of a nuclear bombing.
Lower 9th. Ward - A boat among the ruins.
Lower 9th. Ward - A car where it shouldn't be.
I'll post some more pics later and I hope to offer a few thoughts tomorrow night or Tuesday.
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ADDED: Athenae on the Marshall Plan and the demise of the "can do" spirit.
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The innards of the house on the outside.
More debris. In the background, a FEMA trailer. Even though many of the houses look surprisingly good from the outside the insides are still a nightmare. Hence, people are living in the FEMA trailers while they get their houses in shape.
Protective gear.
A Micky Mouse Christmas ornament.
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ADDED: Athenae has more pics and narrative as does Sinfonian.
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Stirring the pot.
Steamy.
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Mississippi's largest homeowner insurer said Wednesday it has had enough of the "untenable" legal and political climate and is suspending writing new homeowners and commercial policies in a state still struggling to recover from Hurricane Katrina.A spokesman for State Farm Insurance Cos. said the decision was due in part to the wave of litigation the company has encountered since the Aug. 29, 2005, storm. Mississippi is the latest state along the hurricane-vulnerable Gulf Coast to at least temporarily lose an insurer.
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State Farm and other insurers say their homeowner policies cover damage from wind but not from water _ and exclude damage that could have been caused by a combination of both, even if hurricane-force winds preceded a storm's rising water. Hundreds of policyholders have challenged that claim, saying they are entitled to damages from storm surge.
Being in the insurance business is terrific unless you actually have to pay claims.
Vicar: It's about this letter you sent me regarding my insurance claim.Devious: Oh, yeah, yeah - well, you see, it's just that we're not...as yet...totally satisfied with the grounds of your claim.
Vicar: But it says something about filling my mouth in with cement.
Devious: Oh well, that's just insurance jargon, you know.
Vicar: But my car was hit by a lorry while standing in the garage and you refuse to pay my claim.
Devious: (rising and crossing to a filing cabinet) Oh well, reverend Morrison...in your policy...in your policy...(he open the drawer of the filing cabinet and takes out a shabby old sports jacket; he feels in the pocket and pulls out a crumbled dog-eared piece of paper then puts the coat back and shuts the filing cabinet)...here we are. It states quite clearly that no claim you make will be paid.
Vicar: Oh dear.
Devious: You see, you unfortunately plumped for our 'Neverpay' policy, which, you know, if you never claim is very worthwhile...but you had to claim, and, well, there it is.
Vicar: Oh dear, oh dear.
Devious: Still, never mind - could be worse. How's the nude lady?
Vicar: Oh, she's fine. (he begins to sob)
Devious: Look...Rev...I hate to see a man cry, so shove off out the office, there's a good chap.
The vicar goes out sobbing. Cut to outside. Vicar collects a nude lady sitting in a supermarket shopping trolley...and wheels her disconsolately away. Cut back to inside of office. Close-up of Devious. He gets out some files and starts writing. Suddenly a bishop's crook slams down on the desk in front of Devious. He looks up - his eyes register terror. Cut to reverse angle shot from below. The bishop in full mitre and robes.
Bishop: OK, Devious...Don't move!
Devious: The bishop!
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Never afraid to break a promise or stab people in the back, Holy Joe does it again:
Sen. Joe Lieberman, the only Democrat to endorse President Bush’s new plan for Iraq, has quietly backed away from his pre-election demands that the White House turn over potentially embarrassing documents relating to its handling of the Hurricane Katrina disaster in New Orleans.
Note to Isikoff and Hosenball: Joe isn't a Democrat.
Last year, when he was running for re-election in Connecticut, Lieberman was a vocal critic of the administration’s handling of Katrina. He was especially dismayed by its failure to turn over key records that could have shed light on internal White House deliberations about the hurricane, including those involving President Bush.[...]
Phillips said that Lieberman may still follow up on some matters related to Katrina contracting. But in listing the Connecticut senator’s top priorities for the panel, she cited other areas, such as reform of homeland-security agencies and legislation promoting tighter security at U.S. seaports. Asked whether Lieberman’s new stand might feed complaints that he has become too close to the White House, Phillips responded: “The senator is an independent Democrat and answers only to the people who elected him to office and to his own conscience.”
What conscience?
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