An evacuee's-eye view of the Katrina disaster

I was planning a post -- several, actually, at least one round-up of news relating to Katrina too important for anyone to miss, and at least one round-up of links to things people can do to help no matter how limited they think their ability to help might be -- but I just saw a link lcsbanana posted that needs its own post, no waiting.

It's a first-hand account of what evacuating from New Orleans was really like, from someone who lived through it -- from the rising water to the arrival of National Guard units under FEMA orders to what happens to evacuees after their evacuation.

Highlights -- though somehow that seems the wrong word:

The heroic work of those unsung in the media because they were too busy helping where they were needed to stop for photo ops, "the working class of New Orleans"... The maintenance workers who used a forklift to carry the sick and disabled. The engineers who rigged, nurtured and kept the generators running. The electricians who improvised thick extension cords stretching over blocks to share the little electricity we had in order to free cars stuck on rooftop parking lots. Nurses who took over for mechanical ventilators and spent many hours on end manually forcing air into the lungs of unconscious patients to keep them alive. Doormen who rescued folks stuck in elevators. Refinery workers who broke into boat yards, 'stealing' boats to rescue their neighbors clinging to their roofs in flood waters. Mechanics who helped hotwire any car that could be found to ferry people out of the city. And the food service workers who scoured the commercial kitchens, improvising communal meals for hundreds of those stranded.

Day by day progress -- from frying pan into fire into flood into famine... By Day Four, our hotels had run out of fuel and water. Sanitation was dangerously bad. As the desperation and despair increased, street crime as well as water levels began to rise. The hotels turned us out and locked their doors, telling us that “officials” had told us to report to the convention center to wait for more buses.

Evacuees turned back at New Orleans border, as reported by FOXNews's Shepard Smith... All day long, we saw other families, individuals and groups make the same trip up the incline in an attempt to cross the bridge, only to be turned away--some chased away with gunfire, others simply told no, others verbally berated and humiliated. Thousands of New Orleaners were prevented and prohibited from self-evacuating the city on foot.

The part of that story which didn't make the news... From a woman with a battery-powered radio, we learned that the media was talking about us. Up in full view on the freeway, every relief and news organizations saw us on their way into the city. Officials were being asked what they were going to do about all those families living up on the freeway. The officials responded that they were going to take care of us. Some of us got a sinking feeling. 'Taking care of us' had an ominous tone to it. Unfortunately, our sinking feeling (along with the sinking city) was accurate. Just as dusk set in, a sheriff showed up, jumped out of his patrol vehicle, aimed his gun at our faces and screamed, 'Get off the fucking freeway.' A helicopter arrived and used the wind from its blades to blow away our flimsy structures. As we retreated, the sheriff loaded up his truck with our food and water.

The direct effect of George W.'s grandstanding... W[e arrived] at the airport on the day a massive airlift had begun. The airport had become another Superdome. We eight were caught in a press of humanity as flights were delayed for several hours while George Bush landed briefly at the airport for a photo op.

Conditions after being evacuated to Texas... Most of us had not eaten all day because our C-rations had been confiscated at the airport--because the rations set off the metal detectors. Yet no food had been provided to the men, women, children, elderly and disabled, as we sat for hours waiting to be 'medically screened' to make sure we weren’t carrying any communicable diseases.

(yes, all those links go to the same article. Really, I can't repeat the link enough.)

In addition to all this, the account answers, perhaps, the question of where FEMA's National Guard *got* those buses they used to evacuate the Convention Center and the Superdome -- we already knew that the troops themselves arrived in military vehicles, not the buses which were infamously used to take 'clean' and 'dry' Hyatt hotel guests out of New Orleans ahead of the families (many including children and elderly or disabled members) who had been waiting for days *without* food or water at the Superdome.

It wasn't entirely clear who the "police commander" referred to was, but given the tone (and content) of most other reports coming from people on the ground, it's entirely possible that he himself had been lied to. I have to believe that *some* of the people in authority (to whatever degree and of whatever sort) in the areas devastated by Katrina are and have been good people doing the best they could in an impossible situation. I have to, to keep my sanity. And there have been other examples of simple miscommunication in the chaos of Katrina's aftermath, such as when it was postulated that a busload of evacuees were turned away from Baton Rouge due to fears that evacuees would begin committing crimes there, but it turned out that the bus was sent further on simply because all available shelters in Baton Rouge were already full at the time.

(Some might question the validity of this report, based on the slant of the site where it appears -- yes, it's the newspaper of the International Socialist Party. The gaping hole in such an argument, however, is that we already know what kinds of things have been going on from reports in the mainstream media; there's no need to make up a story that's 'merely' just as bad as substantiated facts, if the aim is to make the people coordinating utterly failing to coordinate relief efforts look bad.)

(Further note: Thanks to tzikeh for the icon, which she encourages all to take and spread widely across LJ-land.)

I need a Roman Holiday: Rome (the TV series)

Sometime in the last few days, I caught a glimpse of something over Te's shoulder -- we're still sharing time on her computer, though I should be home by the end of the week -- someone on LJ was saying how they felt badly for spending time on anything fannish, in the midst of the Katrina disaster and the ensuing Katrina debacle.

Te and I -- despite the fact that we have been tag-teaming to get the word out to people on LJ, people in our offline lives, and assorted elected officials for the past few days -- both immediately agreed that no, *NO*, now more than ever, we all *need* to take time out in between whatever constructive work we're doing. Whatever gives us fannish joy under ordinary circumstances is all the more important now, because it's so easy to feel levels of frustration and despair that cripple our ability to keep going, when the situation is as dire as it is.

And that's my message to you all: Whatever you enjoy, don't abandon it. Go back and read a favourite story, or discover a new one, or gaze at some fanart, or all three. If you feel moved to create something new, so much the better. But in any case feel no shame. (And I'm totally not just saying that because today is my birthday and I plan to take some time to enjoy it.) Don't let yourself get burned out.

In my case, the main fannish thing I've done lately (aside from the habitual daily conversations Te and I have about our favourite DC comics characters) was watching the pilot episode of HBO's new series Rome over the weekend, as well as specials on the making of the series and the roles of slaves and women in Roman society in Caesar's time, and the premiere of the second episode Sunday night.

Others around LJ, including Te, have pointed out the stunning attention paid to historical details (the set-painting, the costumes-design, the way the extras who play ordinary soldiers are trained, not to mention the centrality of the Forum to Roman life even when the Senate was not in session), the fabulous acting and writing and direction, the pretty people to get one's fannish self attached to, and, assuredly not least, the rife opportunities for slash that abounded even after only one episode. This is not going to be like other productions about Rome which have historically (heh) pussy-footed around issues of sexuality.

But what sells me most on this show, honestly? It shares my sense of humour. Two examples, both from the second episode but only spoilery in the vaguest way: ( still, I cut for the purists )

A show that validates my own sense of humour that spectacularly? Is going to keep me coming back.

(And if somebody were to write me Pullo/Vorenus, I would be a very happy Jack indeed. ...Did I mention it's my birthday?)

A couple more Katrina links

It's often said that Wikipedia and Google are the two most important tools for internet users -- and anyone who uses them can tell you it's true. So, in addition to the invaluable resource Google News searches have been as I sought to verify facts and find concise reports of various news items, I shouldn't have been surprised to find that there's already a Wiki article on the 'Effect of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans', replete with all the sorts of hyperlinks one expects from Wikipedia articles. Peruse this at length, share the link, and contribute information as appropriate.

The other link I have to share relates to something we don't usually think of as an Internet resource, but which I was looking forward almost desperately last night (before zonking out too soon for the initial broadcast): the first episode of The Daily Show since before Katrina struck Louisiana. This morning, Te hunted up a streaming video clip of the opening of last night's monologue. (Be warned, watching just the one clip made even Te's souped-up and normally streaming-happy computer system crash.) We were both laughing out loud, and I mean *loud*, at more than one point. It was just what we needed.

We'll be watching the rebroadcast of the full episode tonight at 8pm ET, and we encourage everyone else to do the same if you haven't seen the episode already. Since not everyone will get the chance -- no cable, no television service that shows Comedy Central programming, busy doing other things at the time, etc. -- and since the video clips at the official site can't be saved to disk on top of being likely to crash computers, I'm going to ask outright for anybody with a transcript (or means to provide one) point me in the right direction.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart airs (regularly) Monday-Thusday at 11pm ET, with rebroadcasts of the most recent episode at 1am, 10am, and 8pm the following day.

Mediachannel.org has a different clip up which can be downloaded (and which we saved a copy of, so that if that disappears we can use YouSendIt or another site to redistribute it). This is Ed Helms's coverage of the Katrina story, specifically on the Bush government's focus on spin. Like the monologue, though, it provides a much-needed laugh without shying from the importance of the issues.