Thread: Thank you from the Hurricane Zone

You know--that stinks! Why would FEMA quit giving out ice? You KNOW they have ice somewhere for all of those MINORITIES that I saw lined up for water and ice the VERY NEXT DAY. THAT infuriated me. WHY, if ANYONE lives in a hurricane prone zone, would they not take the threat of one seriously enough to ALWAYS keep water, non-perishable food and necessities for at least 3 days on hand at all times? I keep enough of all of that stuff and I don't live in a hurricane zone or a typical terrorist target but we DO get ice storms and there are times we are without power and can't get out for a couple or so days. In fact, I probably have 3 weeks worth of provisions! I also have my duct tape and sheets of heavy plastic!!! (For the biological weapons, you know!!)

Hi LegalUSCitizen! I just saw this topic and want to tell you how relieved I am to know you are your family are A-OK and want to thank you so much for keeping an eye out on the Fleecing of America!!

You're the best...always working for your fellow Americans even during adversity!!

It is so good to be back with you and all the Great Americans of ALIPAC!

Hi Bootsie, Hi Judy!

Before when I tried to post the generator ran out of gas, and it cut me off, so if that ever happens you'll know why.

Bootsie, what you're saying is so true. Everyone should be prepared for something, whether it's a terrorist attack, a hurricane, a winter storm, we never know these days.

After this, I plan to get a box or find a cabinet and just start an emergency supply area. Being ready makes all the difference in the world.
But you can never be ready enough. Food goes very quickly under these conditions, I've been very surprised. I thought I was ready, but I wasn't as ready as I probably should have been. I would advise everyone to always keep at least a half a tank of gas. In a terrorist attack, electricity could go and you want to leave and you can't. That would be the ultimate bad situation. And remember, even if you can get partially out of your area, there will be traffic, and they will run low on gas miles away from the point where you leave.

GAS. That's one of the most important things to always have today, I've come to believe. Water. Food. But definitely GAS. Go and filler up tonight!!

I feel like I'm brain dead right now. I feel very out of touch. It was just yesterday that we began to hear about a few things happening around the country. Thank God for this little generator which is enabling me to be here a bit. It has been a great help to be in contact again.

Good Words of Advice, LegalUSCitizen. We tend to think and live by "aah, it won't happen to me" but it does and it will. Stocking up and being prepared is the best and only way to minimize the hardship. WE should all start doing that and build good caches of batteries, food, and yes...that petrol.

I know you are SO GLAD to have that generator, Legal! Now, of everything on the list, that is the ONLY thing I don't have in my emergency supply kit!!! Got gas! Got food. Got a HUGE bin of water drawn up for flushing toilet. Got bottled water, toilet paper, Coleman stove, tons of batteries, radio, two kerosene heaters in case the power goes out in an ice storm and 20 gallons of kerosene for those. I try to keep plenty of gas in the car and also have 5 gallons in cans. My deceased husband was a Scoutmaster for 40 years so I learned to "Be Prepared"!!!! AND, it helps that I have a full basement where I can store all of that stuff. IF I didn't have that, I wouldn't have room for much at all in the house!!!

KEEP UP THE GOOD SPIRITS, LEGAL. We are pullin' for ya!

WOW!!! I got cured of my self-pity almost 90% tonight. I heard for the first time that people in the Northeast are going through a crisis too, with flooding, and levees breaking.

I am sorry to hear that. I told all the neighbors. It gave them a shot of anti-self-pity serum too.

I'm worried about our whole country, and about all of the U.S. citizens of our country. Going through a disaster helps a person to understand that our country is vulnerable to many different types of serious and dangerous events and that we do not have an unlimited number of people and supplies to help in a disaster.

We must take care of the people who belong in this country first. We have to change our ways. What George Bush has been doing looks even more insane to me now, than it even did before.

For me, this hurricane has been a wake up call.

People need to know that in the worst of moments that they can depend on their government to respond to them.

To tell you the truth, with President Bush in office, no matter how many visits he makes, no matter how many hands he shakes, I don't feel that
the American people should have a very big feeling of security. He has been too reckless with our well-being and safety, and it only takes going through a disaster to realize this to the fullest.

Even though the ice has been plentiful, to tell you the truth, I'm just glad it was only ice that we needed. God forbid if we needed true rescuing or medical help.

Twenty million illegal aliens apparently does not put off alarms in his head. Try thinking about it in reference to the Avian Flu. Am I wrong to think the U.S. government's first obligation should be to the legal citizens of this country ??

LEGAL--you have zeroed in to exactly what I've been thinking AND FEARING ever since Katrina struck. I know that the Mayor of New Orleans and the Governor of Louisiana could have and SHOULD have done more BUT what really ALARMED me was the pitiful response from FEMA. You are definitely right about the CITIZENS of this country having the right to have certain expectations from the federal government and these disasters have reinforced my opinion that we have made ZERO progress since 9/11 in the Homeland Security Department.

Natural disasters are going to come and we expect those. It is just appalling to me that FEMA was "out to lunch" in their response to the Gulf Coast. You would THINK that, after being exposed for their laxity, they would have made major improvements but your situation right now points out that they are just completely incapable of handling an emergency. It seems like, because Bush has appointed his cronies to these positions of national security who are unqualified, we are just SUNK.

So--the response to the NATURAL disasters that we've suffered for the last few months only gives us cause for real fear because, if FEMA AND the DHS can't handle the natural disasters, there is just NO WAY they could handle a terrorist attack OR a natural disaster such as Avian Flu. They are just NOT prepared. They should have learned a lesson from the flu vaccine shortage last year and they PROMISED that it would NOT be a problem this year. We already see that they have failed yet again on that promise. I read an article yesterday that said, nationwide, 85% of doctors have NOT been able to get flu vaccine even though they ordered it in the spring. I KNOW that to be true because MY doctor has not been able to get it and my son is in charge of ordering it for their office and he ordered it REAL early in the spring and they have only gotten 100 doses which was meant for the staff and their families. SO, CDC is not even able to get FLU VACCINE so it seems logical to connect the dots. There is no way in hell that they could respond to a biological attack OR something like the Avian flu. My son has to deal with the CDC on a regular basis in order to report things like confirmed cases of flu or hepatitis or the like and he says that it is the MOST INEPT bunch of idiots that he's ever had to deal with.

SO--that leaves us with this conclusion. We cannot depend on FEMA. We cannot depend on the CDC. We cannot depend on the federal government to protect its own CITIZENS. We have a very serious problem and I don't know WHAT Bush is going to do to correct it. Four years after 9/11 should not find our federal government so completely unprepared to deal with disasters. After all the money that has been allocated, all the supposed training provided and all of the disasters that have occurred have done NOTHING to awaken those IDIOTS to REALITY.

Legal--you are really a good one to assess the situation because you are smart, sensible, observant and willing to look at the whole picture impartially and I trust your assessment completely. I KNOW you would not be laying blame that was unjustified. So, the question is what in the world can WE do to FORCE our government to protect us from natural disasters and terrorist attacks which are both very real possibilities?

I even hate to say this but it seems to me that the only thing that could wake Bush's supporters up would be another terrorist attack. They STILL brag that, because of all of their GOOD WORK, we have not had another attack since 9/11. WE know that it has VERY LITTLE to do with anything they have done to prepare this country for that eventuality but, until we can convince ALL Americans that we are completely unprepared, I just don't see anything that CAN be done.

Sorry to ramble on but this is an issue that just INFURIATES ME and I tend to get on my soapbox. I am so glad you are alright but I KNOW you are suffering. I just heard on TV that it might be mid-November before power is restored to all of the effected areas in Florida. I'm assuming you are still without power???? Take care and, if you need a place to stay, come on up to North Carolina! I promise I wouldn't make you wash your clothes in the bathtub or hang them on a clothesline!!!

I'm up so I'll stick in my two cents until LegalUSCitizen can respond tomorrow.

We are alone and on our own. Whatever we get will be the result of TV and Media Coverage and through the Military. These white collar agencies of the federal government are pig pens for the most part. They are on cush jobs; with too many managers; too many "breakfast meetings" at 9 and 10 am in the morning; too much of too little bang for the buck. Almost all the work in disaster is incredibly performed by the American Red Cross, the Southern Baptist Convention (my church and I just learned this fall that they serve all the food distributed by the American Red Cross) and the military.

FEMA doesn't actually do anything by design. It "organizes" and "takes control" and "manages". Yet, the people aren't at their desks; don't answer their phones; don't watch television the primary source of information from reporters in the field: don't pick up bodies; don't deliver food; don't perform search and rescue; don't clean up debris; don't provide medical care; don't evacuate; don't DO anything but talk to each other, attend press conferences; draw big checks and spend alot of our money.

So TRUE. BTW--did you read recently an email sent from Mike Brown's secretary to the ONLY FEMA worker who was at the Super Dome in New Orleans during the disaster?? This person actually had the NERVE to tell this man, who was BEGGING FOR HELP, that Mr. Brown needed more than 20 minutes for his lunch break because the LINES WERE SO LONG at the restaurants in BATON ROUGE! I SWEAR--this is the TRUTH. This FEMA employee was trying to get the word to his boss about how bad things were in the Super Dome and this is the response he got.

This crony of Wackident was a bigger national disaster than the hurricane itself. I bet, if we dug deeply enough, we would find similar appointees in jobs throughout our government that were appointed by our ESTEEMED President because they pump up his EGO--his already inflated ego at that. It doesn't matter to him whether he appoints QUALIFED people for particular jobs as long as they are big donors and suck up to him enough.

ONE MORE THING on the response issue that maybe Legal can confirm or deny. I heard from my sister-in-law and her sitters that the SALVATION ARMY was much better in responding that the Red Cross. You're right about the Churches, Judy. That's where they were getting their supplies distributed but I've read a lot of complaints about the Red Cross and their response--not just during Katrina but in other situations as well. When I made my donation, I made it to the Salvation Army because I have heard such glowing reports about their response. AND, I think that because the Red Cross is part of the United Way, they get all of the credit AND money because people are almost FORCED on the job to donate to the United Way. The Salvation Army is left to fend for itself.

Legal--any comments on that??? I would really like to hear from someone who is actually in that situation because it would help me know where to channel my donations.