I wish I had the time to write more. Someone offered cold beer a minute ago and I have to get up early.I have some good photos too, but our photo editor was interested in them and he gets priority over this site.Monday is my birthday. I have saved 1/4 of a bottle of Jameson 12 yr old for it. I plan on taking the day off. It'll be my first day of not showing up to work in about two weeks.I will say this before parting, I spent the day in the town where the eye passed directly over, Pass Christian, and it made me cry for the second time since this began.I have been up and down Harrison County now, and this was by far the worst I have seen.Standing on the beach, I met an active duty army guy stationed at Fort Bragg. He said, "I've been to Iraq and Afghanistan and I have never destruction like this."
posted by Josh Norman at 7:26 PM
22 Comments:
Hi Josh,
Much love to you and Mike, it's been absolutely heart-wrenching to read about your experience. Erik and I will drink to your health on Monday--bon anniversaire!
Stay safe--
Mara
My heart is saddened with the news of sufferings of the people.....I pray for them and hope that the crisis will be over soon.....
Josh,
I am from Poplarville - transplanted to Dallas 11 years ago. The Mississippi Gulf Coast is the back yard of my youth. My brother LIVES in Long Beach and actually has a house still standing and inhabitable.
YOU are my hero! You have proven, beyond a doubt, the value of journalism and humanity.
I PROMISE I will buy you a birthday drink when this is over and I next visit home.
Be well. Tell Mississippi that the WORLD is watching and that they are NOT alone in this.
Tracey Smith Cole
Poplarville MS - Via Dallas, TX
You guys have shown incredible courage and strength throughout this nightmare. Thank you for all you did and for sharing photos and stories about what was happening.
I'm so glad you made it to your birthday. Enjoy your drink(s) on Monday :) Heaven knows, you deserve to rest and celebrate!
Have you all seen this site?
http://www.scipionus.com/
Thought it might be worth passing along to those who may be looking for information...
HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY WISHES!
I know you are being inundated with requests for information. Something that would help untold folks is information on schools and thier conditions.
My sister-in-law teaches 2nd grade in Pass Christian. We wonder if the school even exists any longer. Please - is there anyway you can let us know about Gulf Coast schools?
Thank you so much. You are urban heros!
tcole
Josh,
Wish u happy everyday &
HAPPY BIRTHDAY today....
Josh and Mike-
Thank you for your elegant writing and restrained descriptions. Television news is full of stories which tend to focus on the same bits of information-over and over.
I wrote earlier- we're at the other end of the country in Oregon- and it's hard to feel like we're really helping.
My wife's cousin was missing in Gretna, but called his mother two nights ago. Gretna's apparently surrounded by water and there is looting there. He was holding on, but eager for relief teams to find a place to land. Strangely, NPR today had radio interviews with people all over. One was with a man from the French Quarter who said, although they didn't have power or phone or running water, things were pretty decent, food was available, and they were already cleaning up. Incredible!
Good luck. Our prayers are with you.
david
davidrites.blogspot.com
Josh and Mike-
Thank you for your elegant writing and restrained descriptions. Television news is full of stories which tend to focus on the same bits of information-over and over.
I wrote earlier- we're at the other end of the country in Oregon- and it's hard to feel like we're really helping.
My wife's cousin was missing in Gretna, but called his mother two nights ago. Gretna's apparently surrounded by water and there is looting there. He was holding on, but eager for relief teams to find a place to land. Strangely, NPR today had radio interviews with people all over. One was with a man from the French Quarter who said, although they didn't have power or phone or running water, things were pretty decent, food was available, and they were already cleaning up. Incredible!
Good luck. Our prayers are with you.
david
davidrites.blogspot.com
Passing this on and hoping you can help:-
URGENT ASSISTANCE NEEDED.
First of all, many thanks to the kind and courageous folks currently
staffing Outpost Crystal. Their compassion and honesty are
unparalleled.
I am writing this to describe a horrific situation in NOLA that few are
aware of, and those who are aware are doing little or nothing. As many
of you have likely observed, the national media outlets are suggesting
that hurricane relief is finally leading to vast improvements with each
hour that passes. Food and water are being delivered, power restored,
levees repaired, water drainage plans developed, and those still living
successfully evacuated. Many are reporting that the final areas are
being checked for survivors, as well as those who have passed at the
hands of Katrina (and more often, neglect). Unfortunately, this is not
the case. As demonstrated on nola.com's blog section, many individuals
know the exact locations and WORKING telephone numbers of family
members, most of whom are elderly, sickly, starving, and in serious
need of medical attention. When able to get through on emergency
telephone numbers, a feat not to be taken lightly, they are dismissed
or told that dispatch would be sent immediately, yet no one has come,
even though calls have been placed for days. Many do not require full
evacuation, but basic medical attention and/or supplies. Many are
completely immobile, and unable to access the limited relief sites or
food drops. I spoke to one such individual, Ms. Lee Livermore, who was
still trapped in her home earlier this evening (around 6:00pm EST).
Her nephew, living in Michigan, explained to me that she is diabetic,
has difficulty moving, and he has been in contact with the coast guard,
emergency services, and even the governor's office, yet nothing is
being done. Stranded on a 3rd floor apartment, with little food, no
sweets, and low blood sugar, her outlook is not promising. This is
just one case out of hundreds, probably thousands. Incredibly, much of
this information is available through nola.com, a resource many of the
media are utilizing, yet remains unreported. The television broadcasts
refer to none of this, simply stressing the importance of financial
contributions, encouraging National Guard membership for potential
volunteers, and emphasizing the positive direction the situation is
headed.
For more information on these people who are stranded and requiring
immediate assistance, please visit
http://www.nola.com/weblogs/nola/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_nolaview/archives
/2005_09.html
Note: specific contact information and locations ARE provided
Some of these people, primarily those in high profile areas, such as
universities and hospitals, have since been rescued. Others, however,
are being ignored, even though their situation and status is easily
discernable and their telephone contacts are reliable and consistent.
Addresses are always provided, as is contact information for family and
friends. After speaking with stranded individuals and their family
members, the severity of the situation is obvious, yet rescue workers
are overwhelmed or dismissive, often a combination of the two, with
each call placed. We are being bombarded with images of the care and
rescue of healthy, able-bodied people, yet so many of those who need
our attention most are completely helpless.
After having little success using the emergency numbers provided by a
variety of organizations and websites, I called CNN to explain the
distress that these individuals are in. I was told that they have a
department compiling information of those who need assistance, and that
the office would be open on TUESDAY, after the Labor Day holiday, so
the best course of action is to leave a voicemail. Understandably
outraged, I called MSNBC, where the woman I spoke with was also
shocked. She told me they have a voicemail box that was checked every
15 minutes, and my information could be left there. It was, not
surprisingly, full, and I was disconnected, as has occurred on every
subsequent call.
I encourage anyone in a position to help to do everything they can to
assure that those whose locations are known, especially those requiring
medical attention, be assisted IMMEDIATELY, with other search and
rescue operations taking a lesser priority. Just because these people
are less visible and indoors, some perhaps in dry areas, should not
exempt them from the care and attention being relegated to others.
I also ask that those who are able complain about the policies of the
major media networks, both in collecting information on those in need,
as well as the reporting of improvements, when many are STILL ALIVE,
but will starve and die of their conditions in the very near future.
I understand that the extremely limited resources need to be conserved
and delivered where most needed. As it is easy to ascertain the
condition and whereabouts of many of these people, through a mere phone
call, something that rescue agencies and certainly the media have
access to, it seems beyond remiss that their perilous situations be
ignored.
If anyone has additional questions, information, or advice, please do
not hesitate to contact me.
Brittany Turner
631-258-4604
brittaful@aol.com
Saugerties, NY
Emergency numbers are available to any who need them by visiting
http://www.wwltv.com/
Best of luck to all of you still in the area, doing your best to report
accurate and timely information.
This disaster has really made me think about the vulnerability of my own country which is an island nation surrounded by the sea. Hope things can get back to normal soon in New Orleans. Nice blog by the way!
A few of my neighbors are going crazy, trying to find out about their neices and nephews down there.
Good luck to everyone down there.
Greetings and good wishes from Australia. You are doing great work!
Happy early Birthday!!
Any news on the doplhins being kept in the hotel pool?
Still glued to the set. Even my poor old momma said "What was that movie I took you to see...Mad Max? That's just what this looks like"
Happy b'day, man!
http://exgfproject.blogspot.com/
Words can't express the sorrow we feel in the NYC area, we feel your pain, (as well as the anger in our governments response). The world is watching! I don't have much to give but my web skills (can I do more web wise?). If anyone wants to use my sites guestbook: fit2btiedyed.net/1guestbook.html to find and leave messages for Katrina survivors please feel free. I would like to help family members that have been separated get together; a place to leave a number or some kind of word that your OK. I just renewed it and the messages can remain for the year. Help should be arriving from our area. I hear we have a convoy of 100 NYC buses, police and rescue workers are on the way. New Yorkers will never forget the out-pouring of kindness after 911. STAY STRONG!
Your all in my prayers. Judy
Hi, first of all I admire your courage. I'm saddened for everyone that has been through this tragedy. I wanted to say this, I'm a white female, I'm not racist, and I'm kinda hurt by all the accusations of racism. Here's why : we wouldn't be helping them in anyway if that was the case! My little town alone, of about 2,000 people, donated everything they could, and sent a big truck load of things, surrounding towns are doing the same. We're giving money, food, clothes, everything that we think the victims can use. We're not a rich community either. This is an example that not all white people are rich. One reporter stated on CNN, that most whites don't have to live from paycheck to paycheck, well YES, we do! I'm a mother of 3 & I'm pregnant with my 4th, so I feel for everyone, and my heart breaks to see the suffering! There are other small towns of victims of this storm still neglected, so I highly doubt it's because of class or race. Kayne West, went so freely as to say our president is racist! I think before you start trouble like that, you should think about what kind of affect it's going to have on everyone! Our president may not be the best, but I know he's not racist. This mission failed for some other reasons, that are unknown at this time. Claiming racism only starts more fighting! Is this really what we want during a time like this? I understand that people are hurting, scared, and things I can't even imagine. But, please, I'm begging for people to know that this isn't a racist country. I know there are some, but the majority of us, love people no matter the skin color. There are a lot of us, that wished we could go down there ourselves and rescue everyone, but we have no means to do so, at the sametime we're doing what we can. I'm just one person whose deeply saddened by all this devastation, and that means my heart goes out to everyone & all my prayers are with you! May God Bless & thank you for having this blog. I wish you a happy birthday! May God be with all of you!
There are thousands of offers of help with location/housing/support coming in from the private sector and word is not getting out to refugees. Texas is full per news this am. How can word of this be taken to people affected?
Josh:
Thanks so much to you and Mike for your hard work giving us a unsensationalized first hand account of this terrible disaster. I hope you both get to rest soon and that you'll find some peace. Thinking of you and all those affected by this storm.
And Happy Birthday--if you're everr in Connecticut, drinks are on me!
Loving Thoughts-
Susan
I have been following your blog for a couple of days now. My heart breaks for all the people involved in this horrible crisis. I can only pray for some peace of mind and stablity for everyone. Happy Birthday to you on Monday
Take care
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