OT: New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina

[montyollie]

This totally has nothing to do with nothing, but I finally clued in that if you want something read on MR.com you post it here with an OT for good measure. HAHA

But seriously...

Tomorrow I'm leaving for an 11 day road trip to New Orleans (with a side trip to Texas to see Jimi Jamison in concert) to do some Katrina relief work with a volunteer organization called Common Ground. I went in December and it BLEW my mind and changed my life. I know a lot of you guys are American and I'm telling you from the bottom of my heart that it's so much worse than you think. The only newscaster to give this disaster ANY coverage at all was Anderson Cooper and that was only in the month or two following the hurricane in 2005. The city is a disaster zone and will be for years if not decades. People really don't really realize how bad it is down there because the French Quarter is back up and running and tourism marches on.

Yesterday, Google announced that maps.google.com would replace the outdated Pre-Katrina maps of New Orleans with more current maps showing the damage. They were being accused of "airbrushing history" by not showing the current state of affairs. And again, I can tell you from first hand experience, the damage is so much worse than you think. The media simply does not report it. The average American has no idea and I hope these new maps will go a long way to showing people what it really looks like.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q ... 8&t=h&om=1

That's the Lower Ninth ward, the area that suffered some of the worst damage. The levee to the left of that area was the one that broke and the barge floated in and destroyed many of the homes. I drove through this area and actually saw one house that was on top of another, 16 months after the hurricane.

Zoom in and out and take a look. The blue tarps on the roofs of the homes in the surrounding area are homes under construction. They have been gutted and are being rebuilt. If you squint, you can see small white rectangles everywhere. Those are FEMA trailers. The homeowners live in these trailers on their front lawns while the house is being rebuilt. Keep in mind, this is 18 months later.

I kept a video diary when I was there in December and it's at http://vlov.blogspot.com/ and it's in reverse chronological order so blow by the crap where I'm just on vacation and coming home. That shit is boring if you don't know me. Hell, it's boring if you do know me. HAHA!

Probably the most poignant video we made down there was this one:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=dSlZGWUVjFY

It's simply my friend Jaymie holding the video camera on her lap in the back of a pickup truck on her way back from house-gutting in the Lower Ninth Ward to the volunteer centre in the Upper Ninth. Halfway into the vid, she crosses the bridge and you can see the Industrial Canal and the levee that burst. The song we added to it was Gary Jules' version of "Mad World" (originally done by Tears for Fears) as every morning the hippies at the volunteer centre would wake us up at six am by wandering the hallways of the abandoned school where we were staying, playing a song on the acoustic guitar or the banjo. That morning, we woke up to Mad World, and it was amazing.

Anyhow, I thought some of you guys might like to see these maps and the footage. I'll probably be updating that blog or the blog in my sig line in the coming days with new videos if I can get internet, otherwise you won't see me for a week or two.

Jo

[LucyFurr]

I was an insurance adjuster that worked in New Orleans and the coast line of Mississippi. I was there for 6 months and let me tell you....it was the filthiest, most dangerous job I've ever been on in the 5 years of me doing this. I'm a woman (obvious by my name) and I carried a gun with me. I had a flat tire on night 2 hours before night fall and the ONE gas station open there was kind enough to get me out of there before I got caught at night. No hotels, little food and a bunch of angry black people that hated me for not immediatey handing over a check to them.

I've got stories upon stories. I've seen floaters (dead bodies), animals left to starve, kids wearing rags and eating what they could because their parents were too stubborn to leave their homes. Unbelievable stuff I've seen in my career as an adjuster. Hell, I've even gotten shot at on the roof of a house in MS because I was a white woman in a black neighborhood. I'm telling you, I've seen some shit.

[X factor]

Gald to see you're not bringing race into the equation...

[DerriD]

Gald to see you're not bringing race into the equation...

It didn't seem to stop practically everyone else during the Hurricane's aftermath. Why act so surprised?

[sindee67]

I live in Mobile, I was not here when Katrina happened.
I am NOT going to discuss this topic, it is very hard to do so, without getting angry.
Just one thing.
When you pay insurance premiums for 10, 20, 30 years, and you have just been hit by something only God Himself can explain.
Then, you're standing in what used to be your living room with a brand new OPENED AIR roof, with an insurance person, and this person
is telling you, they are not going to pay, because it's FLOOD DAMAGE, and they don't cover FLOOD DAMAGE, expect a lot more than getting shot at.

LET ME SAY THIS, THANK YOU, ALL FOR THE EFFORTS AND TIME THAT YOU GIVEN TO THEM DOWN HERE..
YOU ARE TRUE ANGELS

[SteveForever]

I was an insurance adjuster that worked in New Orleans and the coast line of Mississippi. I was there for 6 months and let me tell you....it was the filthiest, most dangerous job I've ever been on in the 5 years of me doing this. I'm a woman (obvious by my name) and I carried a gun with me. I had a flat tire on night 2 hours before night fall and the ONE gas station open there was kind enough to get me out of there before I got caught at night. No hotels, little food and a bunch of angry black people that hated me for not immediatey handing over a check to them.

I've got stories upon stories. I've seen floaters (dead bodies), animals left to starve, kids wearing rags and eating what they could because their parents were too stubborn to leave their homes. Unbelievable stuff I've seen in my career as an adjuster. Hell, I've even gotten shot at on the roof of a house in MS because I was a white woman in a black neighborhood. I'm telling you, I've seen some shit.

Although you stated you were a professional acting in a job, I think you are a hero for doing such hard and disturbing work. You could have walked away and said= no way this is too hard. I believe you served your country and are an admirable person.

[Behshad]

I was an insurance adjuster that worked in New Orleans and the coast line of Mississippi. I was there for 6 months and let me tell you....it was the filthiest, most dangerous job I've ever been on in the 5 years of me doing this. I'm a woman (obvious by my name) and I carried a gun with me. I had a flat tire on night 2 hours before night fall and the ONE gas station open there was kind enough to get me out of there before I got caught at night. No hotels, little food and a bunch of angry black people that hated me for not immediatey handing over a check to them.

I've got stories upon stories. I've seen floaters (dead bodies), animals left to starve, kids wearing rags and eating what they could because their parents were too stubborn to leave their homes. Unbelievable stuff I've seen in my career as an adjuster. Hell, I've even gotten shot at on the roof of a house in MS because I was a white woman in a black neighborhood. I'm telling you, I've seen some shit.

Although you stated you were a professional acting in a job, I think you are a hero for doing such hard and disturbing work. You could have walked away and said= no way this is too hard. I believe you served your country and are an admirable person.

Yeah, what she said

[LucyFurr]

I live in Mobile, I was not here when Katrina happened.
I am NOT going to discuss this topic, it is very hard to do so, without getting angry.
Just one thing.
When you pay insurance premiums for 10, 20, 30 years, and you have just been hit by something only God Himself can explain.
Then, you're standing in what used to be your living room with a brand new OPENED AIR roof, with an insurance person, and this person
is telling you, they are not going to pay, because it's FLOOD DAMAGE, and they don't cover FLOOD DAMAGE, expect a lot more than getting shot at.

LET ME SAY THIS, THANK YOU, ALL FOR THE EFFORTS AND TIME THAT YOU GIVEN TO THEM DOWN HERE..
YOU ARE TRUE ANGELS

What you fail to realize is we work for the companies that dictate to us what we can and cant pay for. If your policy says flood damage isnt covered, then we look like the assholes. There were alot of lawsuits concerning this topic. There were those arguing that the wind caused the damage, others said the high water caused the damage. We could only go in the direction in which we were employed to go according to the policy you carried. Heres food for thought: If you bite the hand that is sympathetic to you and is trying to feed you, you will end up eating dirt. We are away from our families, living in hotel rooms, eating top ramen, looking for an internet signal to get your claims to the carrier to get paid. We're not the bad guy. Your insurance agent is for not explaining your policy to you. AND for the record, if i had white people come up to me and threaten my life, I'd say so. Those people I encountered (and there were numerous ones) threatened to kill me, to follow me home and harm my family, would try to intimidate me into giving them more than they deserved. And they were all black. I have black friends. Its not intended to be a racial statement, but every race has bad seed.

[X factor]

I live in Mobile, I was not here when Katrina happened.
I am NOT going to discuss this topic, it is very hard to do so, without getting angry.
Just one thing.
When you pay insurance premiums for 10, 20, 30 years, and you have just been hit by something only God Himself can explain.
Then, you're standing in what used to be your living room with a brand new OPENED AIR roof, with an insurance person, and this person
is telling you, they are not going to pay, because it's FLOOD DAMAGE, and they don't cover FLOOD DAMAGE, expect a lot more than getting shot at.

LET ME SAY THIS, THANK YOU, ALL FOR THE EFFORTS AND TIME THAT YOU GIVEN TO THEM DOWN HERE..
YOU ARE TRUE ANGELS

What you fail to realize is we work for the companies that dictate to us what we can and cant pay for. If your policy says flood damage isnt covered, then we look like the assholes. There were alot of lawsuits concerning this topic. There were those arguing that the wind caused the damage, others said the high water caused the damage. We could only go in the direction in which we were employed to go according to the policy you carried. Heres food for thought: If you bite the hand that is sympathetic to you and is trying to feed you, you will end up eating dirt. We are away from our families, living in hotel rooms, eating top ramen, looking for an internet signal to get your claims to the carrier to get paid. We're not the bad guy. Your insurance agent is for not explaining your policy to you. AND for the record, if i had white people come up to me and threaten my life, I'd say so. Those people I encountered (and there were numerous ones) threatened to kill me, to follow me home and harm my family, would try to intimidate me into giving them more than they deserved. And they were all black. I have black friends. Its not intended to be a racial statement, but every race has bad seed.

First off, I am not trying to be insensitive to your plight. I understand what it's like to work in rough neighborhoods (I used to be a collection agent for a rental company! I got a gun pulled on me more than once...While I know this doesn't begin to reach the tempest you were embroiled in, at least allow that I can sympathize) . It's probably unfair of me to label anyone a racist, particularly in that high pressure circumstance. But my feeling is that when you live in an area like Mississippi, where the color of your skin has ALWAYS been an issue, and where just a mere 45 years ago it kept you from even VOTING, try and understand that African American folks in that region are already fairly touchy to begin with. Now add in THIS disaster, and the fact that the government seems to be ignoring your plight, and you can perhaps understand why some folks got a bit agitated. DON'T GET ME WRONG- I'm in NO WAY condoning violence, looting or any of that other shit that went on during this horrible time. I think that's the lowest common denominator at work, and anyone who pulled a gun, or shot at, you or anyone else, should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, disaster or no disaster! Also, please allow that I am also a bit sensitive to this, as the Biloxi/South Mississippi area was my home for almost ten years, and I care deeply about the folks in that neck of the woods.

You do indeed have a tough gig, and I don't envy you having to deal with it. I will, however, till my dying day hold the opinion that the insurance companies hosed those poor bastards! Calling all the Katrina damage "flood related" is at BEST a mistake, at worst an outright fabrication. The hurricane force winds , which incidentally in a hurricane come BEFORE any storm surge, are what obviusly caused the lion's share of the devistation, and the insurance companies were plain wrong to try and deny those folks claims.

But I apologize if I offended you. That was unfair of me.I know you have a tough job. I can only hope and pray that things get better in that region. It's a shame that there is STILL so much devistation there to be dealt with. I still hold the opinion that if this calamity had happened on the East Coast instead of the deep south, it would have been handled ALOT differently.