The Cavalry is coming!

[alkagift]

My SIL in north Florida told me yesterday that she pulled off I-75 to let pass what she thought was a police car. She stayed on the side of the road for 10 minutes while ambulances, fire trucks, police cars, and just ordinary people with trucks and boats loaded with food and water rushed past going 80 miles an hour to get to Mississippi and Louisiana. She said she just sat there and cried.

So, to the poor woman from New Orleans I saw on the news yesterday who was in tears and wanted to know, "where's the cavalry?" It's coming, dear heart, it's coming.

There, but for the grace of God, go we. Prayers to all of you and all of them!

Allison
Mommy to Matthew, who is TWO!

[jd11365]

Allison, you have me all choked up.

[calebsmama03]

That is such fabulous news. I can't even begin to imagine the devestation there :( My uncle lives about an hour north of Gulfport and we finally heard that they are OK. Lost part of their roof, no electricity or water. Since he's rural they say it could be over a month before he gets electricity back. I can't imagine - and they were hit lightly!! My mom and aunt in IL are probably going to buy a generator, water and tons of non-perishable food and road trip it down there. I so wish I was in a position to help :(

God Bless to the "cavalry" and to all those affected, you are in my prayers!
Lynne
Mommy to C 3/03
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_emerald_18m.gif[/img][/url]
And Miss Purple, 5/05

[DebbieJ]

>Allison, you have me all choked up.

Me too. I'm thinking especially of those moms who have run out of formula and clean water to feed their babies. Come fast, cavalry!

~ deb
DS born at home 12/03
Breastfed for 20 months and 6 days

http://www.bfar.org/members/fora/style_avatars/Ribbons/18months-bfar.jpg

[amp]

My eyes have tears in them reading your post, Allison!

[bostonsmama]

Me, five. Tight throat and teary eyes....what a beautiful sight heroism is.

Isn't it funny? The number one thing besides food/water and clothing that's being requested at shelters now is bibles. Hmmm.

Larissa
who is still trying to give birth so she can have more to say

[mudder17]

Wow, your post just made me cry--it must be AF or something!

I'm praying for all the victims and the relief workers!

Eileen

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/candle.gif for Leah

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_emerald_18m.gif , 18 months & counting


http://tickers.baby-gaga.com/t/catcatcvi20040222_4_Kaya+is.png

[Puddy73]

Aww, thanks for your post! Just when you think the world is a crappy place, you hear about selfless acts like this. Go, cavalry, Go!

Jennifer
Mommy to Annabelle 9/03 & a little pumpkin due 10/05

"If a dog will not come to you after having looked you in the face, you should go home and examine your conscience." - Woodrow Wilson

[lmintzer]

The whole situation is so, so sad. I'm glad to hear that help is on the way.

My next-door neighbor telecommutes to Tulane. She is out of work for at least a month and is worried about colleagues and friends.

DH's friend from fellowship, his wife, and 8 year-old daughter live in New Orleans. We have no idea how/where they are. He isn't the cell-phone/e-mail-using type.

We're sending good thoughts and good wishes to all down there, all who are stuck in the city, and all who have left but may have lost a lot.

[starrynight]

Prayers to all the workers and aid going that way, it's a bit crazy down there right now and safety vibes to them on the roads.

[aliceinwonderland]

Forgive my ignorance, but I am truly baffled by this...Why could they not send logistic teams from the US army to set up refugee tents, camps, etc? I know nothing about the army and how it works, except that they have participated in MANY relief-type efforts, setting up refugee camps, etc. all over the world! Why could we not do it here?? Surely they have logistics type teams all too familiar with natural or men-made disaster??

I was asking my Dh this the other day and he did not know either...

[redhookmom]

Thanks for posting that story!
All I have heard on the news is terrible stories. I knew there were good people on their way to help.

[starrynight]

>Forgive my ignorance, but I am truly baffled by this...Why
>could they not send logistic teams from the US army to set up
>refugee tents, camps, etc? I know nothing about the army and
>how it works, except that they have participated in MANY
>relief-type efforts, setting up refugee camps, etc. all over
>the world! Why could we not do it here?? Surely they have
>logistics type teams all too familiar with natural or
>men-made disaster??
>
>I was asking my Dh this the other day and he did not know
>either...


Ok I will try and be brief but y'all know I have problems with this!!! LOL

Basically we are strapped right now, a very large portion of the military (and their tents, supplies etc.) are in Iraq, active duty soldiers are rarely released for disaster type help but during war time even less. Dh and his unit wants to go but they can't, they have to go to iraq very soon. With the war, we have lost a lot of supplies, lost a lot of troops and we are down on new enlistments. Plus as much power as everyone *thinks* the military has, well they only have as much power as the President, in this case Bush, will give them. They can't just hop in a hummer and set up tents, they need to be given the go ahead first. Some helicopters tried to rescue people from the superdome and they were shot at so that stopped things for a bit.

National Guard troops which are meant for this sort of thing not during war time are stretched thin. The ones that aren't in Iraq they are drumming up as fast as they can but it takes a bit of time to call everyone in, track them down, and then just get them there with the roads out, chaos going on etc.

They have gotten them down there with MREs (meals ready to eat) and medical supplies and are sending in more but it takes a bit of time. Also there is no where safe down there to set up camps, with water everywhere etc. So first they have to find dry and safe land and then if given the go ahead get the supplies there and then find a safe way to get the people to the camp.

[bostonsmama]

The National Guard has seventeen THOUSAND soldiers down there, the Army reserve personnel have been down there with boats, trucks and humvees by the hundreds since Sunday afternoon. Take a look at the news and you'll see them all there. The Navy just sent 3 ships (an aircraft carrier and battle cruiser which is slotted to become a 400-bed hospital) down to the Gulf, separating thousands of families in my city and military community. My own husband may be gone as we speak...we'll see...he works in a secret clearance command, so they don't publicize the stuff they do...but I know half are gone already. Also, the Red Cross costs money just as the military does, so it doesn't really matter who sets up what camp, it all comes with federal and private monies.

They're trying to do as much as possible, but with all the rioting & violence, it's hard to move in and keep order while people are shooting rescue workers and toppling meal trucks.

Larissa
who is still trying to give birth so she can have more to say

[aliceinwonderland]

that makes perfect sense, thanks.

[kristine_elen]

Thanks for posting; it reminded me to go on redcross.org and make a donation.

[brigmaman]

Me too. The more I see, the worse it seems to get. Isn't it supposed to get better day by day?

[asha]

>
>Basically we are strapped right now, a very large portion of
>the military (and their tents, supplies etc.) are in Iraq,
>active duty soldiers are rarely released for disaster type
>help but during war time even less. Dh and his unit wants to
>go but they can't, they have to go to iraq very soon. With the
>war, we have lost a lot of supplies, lost a lot of troops and
>we are down on new enlistments. Plus as much power as everyone
>*thinks* the military has, well they only have as much power
>as the President, in this case Bush, will give them. .....
....
...
....
....


Disasters like this happen all over the world in different magnitudes, every now and then. Even though it is very sad that is the fact. EVerytime something like this happens, I have heard different nations sending relief packages and troops to help out.

Yes the US army is busy in Iraq and the US does not have too many partners in this war in Iraq, so most of the forces are busy there.
Still, I think this is when the rest of the world will have to forget the differences they have with the US and send their troops to help out here. May be I am ignorant and dont understand the logistics here, but I dont see any announcements from other countries so far. (Or did I miss them?).
I know how much the tsunami affected people appreciated the help that poured in from all over the world. I know that these people in the gulf coast need help equally.

FOr the record, I am not an american, and dont agree with most of the recent foreign policies. In times like that, I dont even think it matters anyways. Irrespective of all that, this country has given me a lot to be thankful for. My heart just goes out to all those people that are stuck there. I wish I could do something to save at least one life there, or save one mom from wondering about her child's safety there.
I know we can all donate money/ food/ supplies etc, but I feel we should do more, but dont know how. I have signed up to donate blood now in my local redcross. I know they will be needing that. In recent times, there has been a real scarcity of blood all over america.

If any one has ideas on how we can all help out, lets share it. I think we need to think out of the box and come up with ways to help out now.

[chlobo]

There is a special place for those causing the violence and preventing those in need from receiving help. It's just deplorable.

What I don't understand is why they aren't able to get batteries & generators to the hospitals that need them. I just heard that at one hospital if they don't get more batteries then those on life support will die. While they might not be able to drive there, why can't a helicopter fly in and drop stuff on the roof? There are a lot of helicopters there already.

[wendmatt]

Me too!

[bostonsmama]

I think the generators thing is multi-faceted. First of all, there's no gas to run the generators. Until they can fix the roadways which were wiped out by flooding, they won't get any in there. Second, there's water everywhere still, so there's nowhere to put the generators on the ground outside....they can't go inside b/c the carbon monoxide generated by the combustion engines is toxic...and always kills a few people who use them indoors or in garages. Third, there's a strong likelihood they'd be stollen anyways. Back when DH and I dealt with the devastation of Hurricane Isabelle, we were without power for 2 weeks. Hundreds of generators were being stolen during the night (shamelessly).

I honestly think these hospitals are better off med-evac'ing all these high-needs patients, because generators only buy you time. At one hospital, a helo landed every 20 minutes, inbound bringing valuable medical supplies and food, outbound taking critical and machine-dependent patients with their nurses.

I think by tomorrow we'll start to see much better responses to the needs. It just takes time....we've got a lot of resources that have been plowing roadways to get there and flying all night (taking double shifts) to rescue people. The rioters in NO can't see all that b/c they don't have news and radio like we do...they can only see past their noses...and the view ain't pretty. I think they'll start to feel awfully sheepish when they realize how much has been done in the little amount of time. Thousands are to safety...it just takes time.
Larissa
who is still trying to give birth so she can have more to say

[starrynight]

Russia has offered aid and Bush *refused* it. I heard something about Canada also, it's on CNN. I think other countries are trying to put aside their differences. Why he isn't taking the aid is beyond me!!! I don't really think he cares what is going on anymore if he is refusing the aid that is obviously needed. I explained the lag in the military getting there. But there has to be other aid, there has to be something. If Bush could jump quickly to get aid to the tsunami victims, why is it taking so long now down there. FEMA was cut 44 million dollars last year to fund the war instead, lovely.

[HannaAddict]

Our poor National Guard. They have been pulling a ton of the load in Iraq and now this. Hope they get some relief too.

Kimberly
DS 3/18/04

[psophia17]

How do we go about impeaching Bush because he's a stupid, dumb, assinine, incompetant, repugnant, repellant, smug, obnoxious, spoiled rotton f***khead who cannot recognize this situation for what it is, and who assisted in making it as bad as it is by having the budget that he has?

I do my very best to not get political, but Katrina has put what's wrong with America today into high relief. No, it's not all this administration's fault, but like the PPs have said, it's not like this was something so far off the radar that no one could've imagined it happening.

[starrynight]

>How do we go about impeaching Bush because he's a stupid,
>dumb, assinine, incompetant, repugnant, repellant, smug,
>obnoxious, spoiled rotton f***khead who cannot recognize this
>situation for what it is, and who assisted in making it as bad
>as it is by having the budget that he has?
>
>I do my very best to not get political, but Katrina has put
>what's wrong with America today into high relief. No, it's
>not all this administration's fault, but like the PPs have
>said, it's not like this was something so far off the radar
>that no one could've imagined it happening.
>
>


I think I love you. ;)

I don't know but I really hope it happens.

[Calmegja2]

**scoot over**

She's mine. ;-)

[starrynight]

LOL Can we share?

[Calmegja2]

Oh, absolutely. ;-)

[psophia17]

You guys are too much - thanks for the smiles this morning. Let's see if we can pass some more out :)