Still A Tragedy Here Folks

If you haven't been thinking about the folks so badly hurt from Katrina during this season you would do well to do so. There are thousands of people that have been left with nothing and are facing a very bleak holiday. There are attempts to keep this story in the main stream but I get the feeling that there are some adminsitration officials that would just as soon we forget or ignore the disastrous job they did and are continuing to do in response.

The blog world needs to keep this tragedy alive and in front of as many people as possible, as it is evident that we can't leave this to the main stream folks.

It's so bad that the residents of one New Orleans neighborhood have taken out an ad in Roll Call begging the Congress to pay attention to them. The add is borne of desperation says residents.
It reminds lawmakers that there is still a tragedy underway.

"Since the breakdown of the New Orleans flood protection system on August 29, 2005, we have lived like refugees in our own country," the advertisement says. "The residents of Lakeview and countless other displaced New Orleans communities are sending you this holiday wish in one voice - 'We want to go home.' "

On another front the courts are starting to respond to the disaster.

Calling the Federal Emergency Management Agency "numbingly insensitive" and "unduly callous," a federal judge ruled yesterday that the agency must pay the hotel bills of hurricane evacuees until Feb. 7, handing a reprieve to thousands who faced a Thursday deadline to check out or begin picking up the tab themselves.

The ruling, by Judge Stanwood R. Duval Jr. of the Eastern District of Louisiana, covers 42,000 evacuee families still living in 4,000 hotels in 47 states and the District of Columbia. FEMA had previously said it would stop paying for their rooms on Dec. 15 or Jan. 7, depending on their proximity to the disaster zone.

Barack Obama's accusations of Social Darwinism look pretty accurate. Eh!

It has been suggested that maybe the rest of us might consider redirecting some of our Christmas giving toward some of the relief organizations listed below. Maybe Aunt Lucy really doesn't need that George Foreman grill as much as someone devasted by Katrina needs a little help?

These links were brazenly stolen directly from the New York Times.

Relief Organizations:

Red Cross: 1-800-HELP-NOW or www.redcross.org

Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund: bushclintonkatrinafund.org

AmeriCares:americares.org

Mississippi Hurricane Recovery Fund: mississippirecovery.com

RoommateClick.com
Site offering a service for the New Orleans homeless, free of charge.

Black America Web Relief Fund: blackamericaweb.comSupport to families who are assisting those displaced by the hurricane.

Baton Rouge Area Foundation(BRAF): 877.387.6126 or braf.org

PART-15.ORG Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts: part-15.org
Effort to reestablish communications services in the region. Donate expertise or money

Save the Children: savethechildren.org

United Way: unitedway.org or 1-800-272-4630

Episcopal Relief & Development: 1-800-334-7626 or www.er-d.org or P.O. Box 12043, Newark, N.J.,07101

United Methodist Committee on Relief: 1-800-554-8583 or gbgm-umc.org/umcor/emergency/hurricanes/2005

Salvation Army: 1-800-SAL-ARMY or www.salvationarmyusa.org

Catholic Charities: 1-800-919-9338 or www.catholiccharitiesusa.org

FEMA Charity tips: www.fema.gov/rrr/help2.shtm

National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster: www.nvoad.org

Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: www.la-spca.org

Emergency Animal Rescue Service: uan.org/ears/

More Pet Resources: petfinder.com

Operation Blessing: 1-800-436-6348 or www.ob.org

America's Second Harvest: 1-800-344-8070 or www.secondharvest.org

Adventist Community Services: 1-800-381-7171 or www.adventist.communityservices.org

Christian Disaster Response: 1-941-956-5183 or 1-941-551-9554 or www.cdresponse.org/cdrhome.html

Christian Reformed World Relief Committee: 1-800-848-5818 or www.crwrc.org

Church World Service: 1-800-297-1516 or www.churchworldservice.org

Convoy of Hope: 1-417-823-8998 or www.convoyofhope.org

Lutheran Disaster Response: 1-800-638-3522 or www.elca.org/disaster

Mennonite Disaster Service: 1-717-859-2210 or www.mds.mennonite.net

Nazarene Disaster Response: 1-888-256-5886 or www.nazarenedisasterresponse.org

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance: 1-800-872-3283 or www.pcusa.org/pda

United Jewish Communities: www.ujc.org or 877-277-2477

Southern Baptist Convention - Disaster Relief: 1-800-462-8657, ext. 6440 or www.namb.net

Information on Missing People:

Various Websites are hosting message boards and other information for people searching for the missing. Here are a few:
Family News Network of the International Committee of the Red Cross

The National Next of Kin Registry

Craig's List

NOLA.com (The Times-Picayune)

Katrina People Finder

WWL-TV


Other Information:

Federal Emergency Management Agency: 1-800-621-FEMA; www.fema.gov

Louisiana Homeland Security: www.ohsep.louisiana.gov

City of New Orleans: www.cityofno.com/portal.aspx

Louisiana Governor's Office: www.gov.state.la.us/

Mississippi Emergency Management: www.msema.org

Mississippi Insurance Department assistance line for displaced state residents: 1-866-856-1982

National Hurricane Center: www.nhc.noaa.gov