the pelting of this pitiless storm
Poor naked wretches, wheresoe’er you are,
That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm,
How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides,
Your looped and windowed raggedness, defend you
From seasons such as these?
--Shakespeare, King Lear, Act III, Scene 4.
I've not said anything about Hurricane Katrina here yet, because I've been having a lot of trouble finding the words. I think most of y'all know that I lived there for four years during college, and it is one of my favorite places on earth... and likely always will be. I was last there in November of last year for vacation, because I had missed it so. My cousin lived and worked there for several years after, I have friends who are from there or connected in one way or another, and... yeah.
But there are other people who have come up with a number of words, and some very valuable links, and so I'm going to borrow from them and share some of those here:
* elke_tanzer has collected a variety of informational resources into a very few places, and is keeping things updated. Go there for good advice on how to help.
* wicked_wish has some insight on the topic of looting and how it's more complex than people may think.
* insomnia is still updating a post with news from different LJ users in New Orleans and the nearby area. Other posts after address the topic as well, but that one's the story post.
* twistedchick, unsurprisingly, has a number of insightful posts, including this one and this one that are definitely worth noting.
* Two things I'm going to note, taken from the links above but which are worth more attention, perhaps: red tape and lack of coordination apparently led to the levee situation worsening, and Army Corps of Engineers budget cuts prevented preparation that might have helped prevent part of the disaster and improved the official response otherwise. We'll never know, I guess, but still....
Finally. Guess who has a group presentation project on FEMA and disaster response due for class on Sept. 19th?
...Yeah.
That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm,
How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides,
Your looped and windowed raggedness, defend you
From seasons such as these?
--Shakespeare, King Lear, Act III, Scene 4.
I've not said anything about Hurricane Katrina here yet, because I've been having a lot of trouble finding the words. I think most of y'all know that I lived there for four years during college, and it is one of my favorite places on earth... and likely always will be. I was last there in November of last year for vacation, because I had missed it so. My cousin lived and worked there for several years after, I have friends who are from there or connected in one way or another, and... yeah.
But there are other people who have come up with a number of words, and some very valuable links, and so I'm going to borrow from them and share some of those here:
* elke_tanzer has collected a variety of informational resources into a very few places, and is keeping things updated. Go there for good advice on how to help.
* wicked_wish has some insight on the topic of looting and how it's more complex than people may think.
* insomnia is still updating a post with news from different LJ users in New Orleans and the nearby area. Other posts after address the topic as well, but that one's the story post.
* twistedchick, unsurprisingly, has a number of insightful posts, including this one and this one that are definitely worth noting.
* Two things I'm going to note, taken from the links above but which are worth more attention, perhaps: red tape and lack of coordination apparently led to the levee situation worsening, and Army Corps of Engineers budget cuts prevented preparation that might have helped prevent part of the disaster and improved the official response otherwise. We'll never know, I guess, but still....
Finally. Guess who has a group presentation project on FEMA and disaster response due for class on Sept. 19th?
...Yeah.