Just happened to see the mayor of Baltimore on TV. When asked about his city's emergency preparedness, the first thing he said was that his city would have to re-asses any expected Fed. relief for at least for the first 4-5 days.
Basically what he indicated was that cities would have to provide for such relief themselves and NOT depend on the Feds to come thru for a week. In this situation, the Feds have clearly dropped the ball - for all their big talk. Listening to talking heads, one clearly gets the idea that FEMA would need to be independent again and not under the control of DHS. Cities are now also talking about inter-dependancy of neighboring states in such emergencies: ie they would immediately dispatch food, aid, police etc to sister cities - without waiting for the Feds. The fact that the President, the head of FEMA were caught unawares that the levies would give way is a darn shame. They have had report after report about the levies in a Cat 4 or 5. Over the weekend, we did our bit at volunteering at a nearby Tabernacle Church. I think the church probably hosted around 300-500 evacuees. One of the things I sensed was that a number of the hosts were 'volunteering' with clenched teeth. There was lots of food, a welcome commitee, clothing, etc, and many people working hard. But underneath that veneer one could sense some were not doing this from their hearts. It was like : 'this one for the Prsident'. Just my thoughts, maybe I read them wrong. --Ram On 9/6/05, Chan Mahanta <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I will wait till all the skeletons are out of the closets :-), before making > the judgement. > > But one thing is for sure: All that talk of Homeland Security, all that > money spent, all that big talk of CAN DO, vanished for four days after > Katrina struck. > > Even if all of the local and state govts. were doing nothing at all, where > were the Feds? What is coming out is that they were not sure whose > responsibility it was to help all those thousands of people slowly dying, > while the tax-cutting, govt.-slashing Neros fiddled and the President went > about comparing Iraq to WWII at San Diego. > > One hardly needs more to see how the powers that be viewed a national > disaster many times greater than 9/11. > > > > > At 12:33 PM -0700 9/6/05, Dilip/Dil Deka wrote: > "....Bush Admin's responsibilities and accountability has been wiped clean > off the slate :-)." ---- When do you think federal government should take > over? When the local and state governments can't handle it and request > federal help? Or in anticipation of non-performance of the local government, > from day 1? > > Was federal govt. late by a day or by a week? > > It is a little tricky. Isn't it? Isn't it the state governor who controls > the national guard of the state? Did governor Blanco forget that? We need to > put the blame where it should really fall. > > Chan Mahanta <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > At 11:21 AM -0700 9/6/05, Dilip/Dil Deka wrote: > > It is unfortunate that we have Michael Moores in our country who can only > take pot shots and blame others, > > > AAAh, the power of language! > > With one well aimed word, pot-shot, Bush Admin's responsibilities and > accountability has been wiped clean off the slate :-). > > > > > and we are fortunate that we have people like Ashok Shelat who is > volunteering and Mayor Wallace of Sugar land who has designated his staff to > coordinate the rehabilitation of evacuees. > > > Funny thing is that it is not a zero sum game, where inaction and failure of > the responsible balances out the hard-work and volunteer efforts of others, > particularly after the fact, after the horses have left the barn. > > > > > > > > > > > > > The Louisianans do not need Michael Moores at this time but they do need > Shelats and Wallaces. Read below. > ========================================================================================================================== > -----Original Message----- > From: Shelat, Ashok > FYI: I am now a Volunteer Coordinator for the Ft Bend Hurricane Resource > Center that is located at 10405 Corporate Drive, the Old Sugar Land City > Hall. I have a meeting tomorrow at 11:00 with Mayor David Wallace, and > others to get this up and running asap. I need help. I have an immediate > need for at least 10 people who can be at the old City Hall tomorrow, > Tuesday Sept. 6, at 12:00 noon. Those volunteers will be trained in how to > do intake assessments . The training should last about one hour and if you > can stay longer to help that would be appreciated. If you can do this, > please contact me immediately via e-mail or phone. Read the letter that > follows from Mayor Wallace so you can see what this resource center is all > about.. > > Please forward this to all you can. > Thank you, > Hillary Goldstein > 281 240 6684 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > ======================================================================================================================== > My Dear Friends: > Thank you for your continued efforts in bringing relief to evacuees of > Hurricane Katrina. The response from the community has been absolutely > overwhelming. It is because of your sustained efforts that we are able to > continue to provide help to those that are in need. > Although this is an ever changing situation, it appears that the current > need for shelters in our community has been addressed for the time being. > The community's generous donations of non- perishable items and clothing has > also helped feed and clothe those staying in the shelters. In order to > sustain long term needs, we will continue to maintain and operate a drop off > site for donations. > > In working with various community organizations and meeting with regional > agencies over the weekend, we have identified that the next level of care > our community can support is to establish a Fort Bend Hurricane Resource > Center. It is our desire to transform the current level of triage, shelter > and food service into the next level of service so that their lives can get > back to a sense of normalcy. > The Fort Bend Hurricane Resource Center will be located at the City of Sugar > Land's former City Hall, 10405 Corporate Drive. This center will be a > community wide outreach center network for evacuees, and there are several > agencies and services that will be provided at this location. The hours of > operation will be Sunday - Friday 1 p.m. until 8 p.m., and Saturday 10 a.m.- > 8 p.m. > In short, we have created a "one stop shop" capability to provide a > important basic services to our new found citizens of Fort Bend County. The > list of services is as follows: > 1. Medical Services - Over the last week Methodist Sugar Land Hospital has > seen a number of evacuees in their emergency room. Many of the patients > conditions were not of an emergency nature, but needs did include > medications for diabetes, hypertension, etc. In order to alleviate the > number of non-emergency walk in patients, Methodist Hospital has set up a > day clinic to administer medications, tetanus shots, dental, and counseling > and assist those with minor medical needs. A number of doctors and nurses > are volunteering their time to assist the patients and there is no charge > for this service. Karen Chitty-Boe is leading this endeavor for our > community. > > 2. Education - As you are aware, many of the the area schools have agreed to > accept school age children from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Nancy > Porter with FBISD will be contacting various schools in the community about > this facilitating endeavor and will have information and related forms > immediately available to those visiting the Resource Center. > 3. Employment - Bob Dunham currently operates an employment resource center > that assists employment needs of both the empoyee and employer. Bob will > spearhead a group of volunteers to research and establish employment > opportunities in the community. > 4. Donations - Don Waybright, Pastor of Missions/Membership Care at Sugar > Creek Baptist Church will continue his role in supporting the community > food, cash, and clothing drive. Don and the members of Sugar Creek Baptist > Church have helped tremendously in this endeavor and will continue to serve > in this role at the Resource Center. > 5. Transportation - In addition to donations, Don will lead a group that > will assist in identifying and providing transportation services for the > evacuees. Don will coordinate with Fort Bend County which has offered > transportation services. > 6. Information/ Senior Care/ Day Care - We have received numerous requests > from local businesses, service providers, day care facilities, etc. to offer > services on a discounted or free of charge basis. Karyn Dean has agreed to > assist in coordinating these efforts. Karyn works daily with senior groups > and will help identify these special needs. > 7. Internet/Telecommunications/Work Stations - It has > become apparent that many evacuees are still searching for friends, family > and loved ones. The internet and phone service is a vital tool to accomplish > this task. Ed Boe will assist all the organizations housed in the Resource > Center with their electronic needs. Gateway computers has graciously donated > 30 computers and our city employees are working to bring in phone lines and > data lines. Further, in connection with employment opportunities, the > computers will be used for resume creation and job search capabilities. > 9. Financial Vouchers/Food Stamps/ Medicare - We are trying to create an > environment where the evacuees can come to one location to speak with State > or Federal FEMA/Health and Human Services, etc. representatives. These > agencies are currently being coordinated such that these services can be > offered at the Resource Center. > 10. Permanent Housing - In connection with creating a sense of normalcy and > maintaining dignity, one of the first requirements will be to secure long > term housing. We are coordinating with representatives of HUD to ensure that > the evacuees can secure housing vouchers or other information/direction at > the Resource Center on how to best secure such housing. > > Finally, let me say that this difficult situation has brought out the best > in our citizens. The outpouring of support, compassion, and love has been > overwhelming. It has been a level of volunteerism and community support like > I have never seen. > As you can imagine, we will have volunteer needs for all of these service > areas. If there is a service need that you or any member of your > congregation/membership wishes to support, please contact the respective > name outline herein. > Thank you for your commitment and support to our fellow man. > David > ============================================================================== > NOTICE - This communication may contain confidential and privileged > information that is for the sole use of the intended recipient. Any viewing, > copying or distribution of, or reliance on this message by unintended > recipients is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in > error, please notify us immediately by replying to the message and deleting > it from your computer. > > ============================================================================== > > > _______________________________________________ > assam mailing list > [email protected] > http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org > > > _______________________________________________ > assam mailing list > [email protected] > http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org > > > _______________________________________________ assam mailing list [email protected] http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
