Originally Posted By Elderp <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10437882/" target="_blank">http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10 437882/</a> I know if I lost my house I would be devestated but I also know that if I lost my house I would be moving on really quickly. When I got back from Argentina I had no home and no job. I was totally broke and it took me 1 month to secure a job and 2 months to secure housing. I must say that although I didn't accept any govt. aid I got help from my church ( I stayed with church members for two month) but in exchange I did stuff for the church and the family I stayed with. The question in my mind is how long do you need to grant aid. Some people on this list I am sure are disabled and/or elderly but that means they can recieve aid from other sources. Anyhow I am curious to see what the opinion is.
Originally Posted By Shooba I was shocked to hear that people were being put up in hotel rooms for months and months. That must be quite expensive. Where I live, if a family has a disaster (house fire for example) social services will put them up in a hotel for two nights, after which they are either on their own or can apply for welfare if they have no other resources. Is the normal welfare system not enough to help these people with housing until they're back on their feet?
Originally Posted By Elderp A few nights to me sounds a bit low especially since most had to leave the state and aid was slow. I do know, because I have helped other people, you can get emergency welfare in two months and permanent after that.
Originally Posted By Shooba In this case, a few nights would be inappropriate for sure. I just don't understand why a hotel is being used as an apparent long-term solution.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss <<I just don't understand why a hotel is being used as an apparent long-term solution.>> There are plenty of hotels/motels with rooms that go unoccupied every night, and I am sure the operators of those establishments are happy to help the displaced, and happy to make money from funds they receive via the government.
Originally Posted By ElKay People here seem to forget that Floridians who were displaced by those four hurricanes were alloted FEMA mobile homes and to this day there are 1,000s of mostly WHITE folks housed by the gov't. Another considerdation is the magitude of the catastrophy. If one person who's broke can get a in a month it doesn't necessary hold true if 200,000+ people are looking for jobs in the same area. Keep in mind that the leevees were a Federal project designed to maintain the port of New Orleans and the workforce that manned that port facility. Without the port, all of the Mississippi river valley could not export or recieve goods that they needed, so New Orleans was and still is a vital part of the US economy. Likewise IF the Corps of Engineers is found to have not supervised an sound construction project, the Feds are viserally libel for a good portion of the damages suffered by those taxpayers on New Orleans. Congress is also partly to blame because they didn't fund projects that the Corps recommended for years and years. If the Corps, FEMA, Congress or any President felt that New Orleans was too risky they only had to tell the insurance industry and they would stop writting policies of all kinds and nobody could buy or sell property there and the city would pretty much cease to function and people would move in quick order. Don't forget that during Clinton's Admin. after the Mississippi flooded from St. Louis down to Arkansas, in the aftermath, his Admin. decided to offer a buyout of the most flood prone towns in order for those property owners to relocate to adjacent locations out of the flood plain. In some cases if owners refused, then the Feds would not write flood insurance, making those properties worthless--a classic carrot and stick approach. That was an excellent model that could have potentially mittigated the payouts along the Gulf Coast.
Originally Posted By Beaumandy Are the people living in these free hotel rooms trying to get a job? Wait, most of them didn't have a job BEFORE the hurricane so this is more of the same. We saw this coming also. Nothing new here.
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom We are paying for 41,000 hotel rooms in 47 states and the Distric of Columbia on a daily basis. Enough of the parasites with lawyers.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper Very funny Tom. As I said elsewhere, here in South Florida the authorities are starting to prepare us for next season with a new warning that we should be ready to be on our own for at least 5 days after a storm. Beyond that I have arrangements with friends and family to the north.
Originally Posted By Beaumandy A relief worker in Utah has posted the following message on the Internet Utah's Evacuees. Another perspective from a relief worker in Utah. Let me tell you a few things about the wonderful group of evacuees we received here in Utah. The first plane arrived with 152 passengers. Of the 152, 10 were children. 3 of these children had been separated or abandoned by their parents. As these passengers attempted to board the plane, the National Guard removed from their person; 43 handguns (it is Illegal to own a handgun In New Orleans ), 20 knives, one man had 100,000 dollars in cash, 20 pounds of Marijuana, 10 pounds of Crack, 15 pounds of Methamphetamines, 10 pounds of various other controlled substances including Heroin. Upon their arrival here in SLC, two people immediately deplaned and lit up a joint. During the course of medical evaluations, it was discovered that parents were using their kids to carry loads of looted jewelry (price tag still on), and other items. One third of the people who got off the plane were angry that they didn't get to go to Houston, San Antonio or Las Vegas. Over the course of the next 36 hours we received an additional 430 evacuees. Most of these, like their predecessors had to be relieved of illegal items. Additionally, most of them, were the owners of exceptionally prolific criminal records, just like those in the first flight. By the second night in the shelter, there was one attempted rape of a relief worker, sales of drugs on going and a gang had begun to rebuild. When the people arrived at the shelter, they were given the opportunity to dig through piles of donated clothes from local church groups. Many complained that they were second hand clothes. The state set up a reception center with relocation assistance, Medicaid and workforce services among many assistance groups. This past Saturday, workforce services held a job fair. 85 of the 582 evacuees attended. 44 were hired on the spot. 24 were asked back for a second interview. Guess the others had no desire to work. Yesterday we began relocating evacuees to be with family or friends who had agreed to take them in as well as three to the county jail. Now in the health arena; 4 with Aids, 15% of those 582 had some form of STD, one case of TB, 2 Heroin withdrawals, 15 mental health admissions, one brain tumor and 15 nursing home patients. Like everyone in this nation, I watched as the news media blasted FEMA and President Bush for the "poor response". While everyone on TV saw nothing but people being let down by government, I saw people letting down people. Who would have ever thought that we would reach a point in time that US citizens would lie around in piles of trash complaining that no one had come to pick them up out of it. What ever happened to people pulling together to make their circumstance better? Why couldn't they get up and move on their own or at least just clean up the area where they had to wait for evacuation? Why did they feel the need to take a crap in the aisle of the super dome? FEMA did not fail them. FEMA is not a response agency. State and local government is responsible for the first 72 hours. But more important, we all have a responsibility to help ourselves and neighbors. Poverty is not an excuse to behave like animals. The rest of the Gulf Coast did not have problems like this! Difficult situations are not an excuse to loot your neighbor 24 hours before the storm even hits. I have always said New Orleans was a toilet! Now everyone has proof that not only was it a toilet, but a toilet long overdue for a flush. (Unfortunately it got flushed on the rest of the country) Matthew Anderson Salt Lake City , Utah
Originally Posted By TomSawyer Beau, did you know that the cut and paste in #12 has been proven to be false? Snopes is your friend. <a href="http://www.snopes.com/katrina/personal/utah.asp" target="_blank">http://www.snopes.com/katrina/ personal/utah.asp</a> "This account first arrived in our inbox in mid-September 2005. Variously titled "Another perspective," "The New Orleans Evacuees In Utah," "The rest of the story," "Unnatural Disaster," "From a relief worker in Utah," "A Utah Relief Worker's Perspective," "Utah Relief Efforts," and "Post Katrina facts from Salt Lake City," the item has been sped from inbox to inbox. At this time, its author is unknown to us, although some of the forwards did bear the attribution "Matthew Anderson, Salt Lake City, Utah." As gripping as the revelatory tale is, there doesn't appear to be much (if anything) to it. The first group of Katrina evacuees arrived in Utah on 3 September 2005. They and later arrivals were housed for the interim at Camp Williams, the training facility for the Utah National Guard. Background checks were conducted on each adult refugee and, according to Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr., "None of the guests at Camp Williams have criminal records that would justify booking them into jail." On 27 September, this evacuation center was shut down, each of the evacuees having by then been successfully placed in either temporary or permanent housing. Only 42 of the 582 evacuees brought to Utah had criminal records, including eight for murder. Yet stories about drug sales, gangs re-forming, and an attempted rape are unsupported by the Utah news media, Though we looked and looked, we couldn't find reportage of any such incidents. Derek Jensen, a Utah Department of Public Safety spokesman, said of the rumors, "They are just not true. The evacuees have been cooperative and behaved themselves pretty well while they were here." He told the Deseret Morning News the evacuees comported themselves so well that police issued no criminal citations during their stay of more than three weeks. The Governor of Utah affirmed the lack of crime among evacuees in a statement dated 8 September 2005: "Guests on the base have displayed exemplary behavior and been cooperative with volunteers and law enforcement. No major crimes or incidents have been reported at Camp Williams since the arrival of our guests." (more at the link)
Originally Posted By Beaumandy You might be right Tom, but the fact is, these people FEMA is giving free rooms to need to help themselves by getting a job. Until they are forced to fend for themsleves they will spounge off the system.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper Listen, New Orleans was a hell hole before Hurricane Katrina hit. As is the case with the tourist area in our National Capital, once you get off of Duval street things aren't pretty. While there should be temporary help, why is there an expectation that everything is going to be a-ok after the fact?
Originally Posted By TomSawyer I may be right? Beau, the entirety of post #12 is a lie. Did you know there are over 80,000 applications for assistance that FEMA hasn't even had a chance to look at yet? Why don't we make sure that those applications are reviewed before we start throwing people out on the street?
Originally Posted By RoadTrip It is difficult to understand the "throw them out on the street" mentality of people on these boards who CLAIM to be Christians. You cannot compare a disaster with the scope of Katrina to someone's house burning down. It would be horrible to have your house burn down. But you would probably not be out of a job because your house burned. You probably wouldn't have a difficult time finding alternate housing because your entire neighborhood was not destroyed -- just your house. You would not be competing for jobs, housing, etc. with thousands of others who had the same thing happen to them. There is no comparison. It truly breaks my heart to see so many "wonderful Christians" wanting to throw people out on the street just because they happened to live in the wrong place at the wrong time. How long should the hurricane victims get housing? Until their neighborhoods are rebuilt... that's how long. Mean people suck.
Originally Posted By TomSawyer Whatever they do to the victims, they are doing to Christ. They'll learn that in due time.
Originally Posted By tiggertoo They are only "Chirstian" in name RoadTrip. True Christian principles have no meaning to them.
Originally Posted By smeeeko Thank you TS for posting the Snopes link. Unfortunately this fake article is just indicative of attitudes that I have found rampant among people who just don't seem to get it.. and they back their attitude up with fear and false information. Even people I thought were my friends come up with some really ignorant and narrow minded comments that I find really hurtful and shocking. I truely wouldn't want any of this horror to happen to them, but if they had the least little inkling of what it was like for folks actually going through it.. perhaps they wouldn't be so quick to judge and just make blanket statements about the people still living through post Katrina. As a former New Orleanean I am quite familiar with the sort of crime that goes on in the city. While I can't say I felt very safe living there, I would rather be there than say living in Salt Lake City or many of the other random places folks got dropped off.. While the people of SLC and other communitites were very kind in helping out with the evacuees, most folks would prefer to get back home to their life there. Why get a job someplace where you don't want to live? Many of the folks evacuated don't want to give up on their homes and their towns. Walk a mile in someone elses shoes perhaps? Why would you want to throw your former life away if you actually believed your town was on the road to recovery and that they needed you (and yes are begging you) to come home and help? Most folks who live in New Orleans and the surrounding areas are law abiding people who have families that go back for centuries. I can only imagine the culture shock these folks had when plucked from the overpass on Vets highway not knowing where they were to go or where the rest of their family were. No one seemed to care they were creating a logistical nightmare for so many families.. parents, grandparents, children seperated and lost.. So many people 'stranded' in a city foreign to them and their way of life, with no money or way to get back home. No way to find where their family had been placed. HUNDREDS of little kids separated fromt their families. I don't blame anyone who wanted to be in Houston. Houston is where many people found out that a majority of folks were being evacuated. Many of these people were able to find loved ones there and make a quicker search there for missing relatives. Many of the more successful reunion and job searching was done through Houston area cities. Dropping a child or a lone parent in SLC or any other place far from what they know in the middle of what would be considered the middle of nowhere is the equivalant of dropping them on the moon. I certainly wouldn't wish that for myself or my friends and family. Having lived in the Crescent City for about 8 years I've seen the best and worst of these folks.. and let me say that like any other place, there will always be opportunists and the criminal element. The fact that New Orleans has been corrupt for so many years doesn't help the matter... But honestly, if I ever needed any help or emotional support, I know I could get it from my New Orleans friends with no questions asked. NOLa is one of the most welcoming places, and it can be said about most the gulf states.. I'm really tired of people crapping all over the Gulf area. Up north when we had blizzards we'd be snowed in but you know what we never starved because we could shovel our way out or burn fires in the fireplace to keep warm.. in New Orleans the water just kept coming and coming with nowhere for it to go but over peoples heads. I think that people respond to shock in an individual manner.. For so many years we were told to have about 3days of water and food if we couldn't get out. It wouldn't have made a difference.. It happened the same in Florida.. and many folks on the Florida coast are still waiting. Waiting for the same things that folks in New Orleans are waiting for.. someone to make their roads passable and for them to have cleanup in the area, something better than a tarp on their roof,and to be able to come home! Trust me they don't want to be a burdon on you or anyone else anymore than that is necessary to get away from a community that doesn't want them there. Most New Orleanians would rather go home and fix their house, to get their job or any job back. They don't want to settle in someone elses hometown. They want beans and rice and fish on fridays, and Mardi Gras, and places to make groceries like they used to, and for someone to just understand where they are coming from. You don't have to actually say anything just listen and be kind. Having someone listen to your troubles is worth a lot more than money. Be blind about what goes on in our own country if you like. Just don't complain about it if you aren't willing to help people. We're all Americans, and unfortunately we can't all live in Disneyland. Honestly as someone who is very much near Disneyland, I'd pick the real world over Fantasyland and fireworks any day.
