Comments on: More on Me and the Hurricane

By: Miz

Miz — Sun, 04 Sep 2005 08:25:12 +0000

Good Post….

By: James Dillard

James Dillard — Fri, 02 Sep 2005 18:53:36 +0000

Right on, Bo. It’s easy for a lot of people (especially me, seated in an air-conditioned dorm, unaffected even by the price of gas…not owning a car and all). I’m not sure NO will entirely disappear (there is, after all, a port there) but it will never be the same. What really awakened me was the picture on the NYT website of a huge fire, with a vortex of smoke. And my thought was the same as yours: we’re not that far from the third world.

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Fri, 02 Sep 2005 00:36:27 +0000

Destitution and poverty is everywhere. You can believe that slick.

By: mealone

mealone — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 17:21:51 +0000

:iving in NY all my life I never realized how other parts of the country lived in such destitution.

It’s a crying shame that it has come to all these deaths.

GW would never have let his brother’s state of FL go out like this.

Very touching post.

By: grayse

grayse — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 00:49:45 +0000

I read people’s blogs or hear them talk and they say the people that stayed behind are “stupid”, “idiots” and dont understand “how they could do such a thing” and you gave them the answer right here. They had no choice. Like you said, not everyone is lucky enough to have a car, have the money to up and leave… have a place to GO. Those of us that are fortunate enough to have the resources should help. I just think its our human obligation. I know there isnt a whole lot we can do as individuals to help these people get their lives back… their families… their homes… but we all can do SOMETHING. I couldnt even imagine losing everything I have. Some people lost EVERYTHING- family, friends, material things… *smh*

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 23:47:58 +0000

This hit me much harder than when the twin towers fell. This is much more profound, but I don’t feel even an equal sense of urgency. Throughout today and yesterday I’ve watched the aftermath on the viewer at work from my computer. I’m like you, I’m not much of an advocate of news programs, but I had to see. There’s not much it seems us regular people could do. Pray for those poor people. Third world is real…people seem to have such a distorted view of what America really is, what it looks like. It ain’t pretty and I have a feeling it’s gon’ get a lot uglier before the fat lady starts hummin’.

I agree. This is definitely one of your best pieces.

By: Star

Star — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 20:11:34 +0000

I havent been able to sleep thinking about this whole event.

I have a co-worker whose in-laws lost everything and still decided this morning, they HAD to go back to NO. They kept saying ‘It is still my home.’

It really frustrates me that, the only things I can think to do are, donate money to the RedCross, volunteer and give blood.

I keep wondering if I am forgetting to call anyone I know.

All I really know to do is to keep praying for these folks.

By: dame

dame — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 16:59:04 +0000

This is the best thing I’ve ever read of yours, only b/c you normally tackle sports and pop culture.

Thanks for spelling the situation out in this intense detail for us. It’s very easy to see this as something going on “on tv” only.

May I forward this on as an email?

That means I need to write more like this, just under less tragic circumstances. Check the archives, though, for other things.

By: Strongforu

Strongforu — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 16:42:07 +0000

Thank God I wasn’t the only one to notice that almost no whites were being shown on the disaster news coverage. Now there are nearly 10,000 folks crammed into the not-so ‘Superdome’ which has no air conditioning and overflowing toilets.

I don’t blame brothers for looting for necessities like clothing,food and water, after all, it’s been three days since the hurricane struck and FEMA hasn’t been able to get to most areas because they’re deluged under 10-20 feet of water and the highways are destroyed. (Remember some of these people are living on the roofs of their homes now praying that the waters will recede). However, stealing stereos and tv’s doesn’t make a whole lot of sense in a city that is completely devastated.

I was just told that someone saw on the news that the Nat’l Guard was jammin’ women up for taking diapers and formula. Really. Dunno if this is even really theft. Unless the self-checkout thing is still working, they weren’t gonna be able to sell that shit, anyway.

By: lady b

lady b — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 16:39:54 +0000

It’s real. The devastation in NO is insane – unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. The thing that keeps pissing me off here (in chi) is that no one is really showing what’s happening there. The folks are much too interested in watching for the effects that Katrina will have on gas prices than on helping out their fellow man.

I guess the only thing worse than hearing the complaints over the impending gas price increases is knowing that my uncle in NO decided that he didn’t really want to leave his beloved city and home. He said if NO went under, he was going with it because for a man like him, there would never be any other place like home. Call it insanity, devotion – what you will – but I think it’s amazing that not everyone even wanted to leave.

What is happening in the durty is tragic, upsetting, disappointing, etc. but I can’t honestly say that watching people steal from stores, things which they cannot use is worse than watching those same businesses rob those same people my entire life. The whole situation just blows.

The economic concerns of this are real, though. Where are all these people going to live? Work? How will that affect others living and working condition? Where are those kids going to go to school? As for oil, gas went up twenty cents yesterday, I’m told. It’s hard to help your fellow man when you can’t afford to get on a tank.