The following are several items from concerned citizens who are engaged in the rescue and assistance of the victims of Katrina. Any suggestions, advice, and contributions to this list will be greatly appreciated and should be Emailed here.

Click here for a list of web links and phone numbers to help you do your part.

For a list of New York City events benefiting Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts, Click here.

10/3/05 - Subject: Katrina

I remember thinking frequently after 9/11 that people who didn’t live in New York, no matter how great their sympathy and distress and despair over the attack on the World Trade Center, had no idea just how horrendous it was for us New Yorkers. I still tend to feel that way, which is not to denigrate the empathy and sensitivity of those who only experienced it through television and news accounts. I’ve thought of this often during the past weeks since the catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina.

All these days and weeks later, the disaster has receded from the consciousness of many of us who know about it only from the television, internet and newspapers. I got an email from an NYSD reader last week who is a victim of that terrible natural catastrophe. I share it with you ...

From: "R Clark" <labmaw@msn.com>
To: dpc@newyorksocialdiary.com, labmaw@msn.com
Subject: Katrina

David,

For the last three or four months, I have enjoyed the New York Social Diary website and look forward to seeing what happens in the true social part of the world. I find it both entertaining and informative as it is a life so different from my own. However, I would like to share my story and why I have contacted you.

My name is Rhonda Clark and I live on the Mississippi Gulf Coast in the city of Gautier which is located on the Gulf. Needless to say I have not visited your website since before August 28th, the day of our evacuation form Hurricane Katrina. It was an absolute necessity to leave our home, as I care for my Mother, Joyce, who is unable to walk due to severe neuropathy. She is confined to a bed, so waiting till the last minute to evacuate was never an option. We usually take our cat Cole, but sister-in-law, Corrina suggested he would be ok confined in my bedroom. I agreed as there was so much to take, so much to do. It always takes three to four vehicles to make our trip, as one van carries a special lift necessary to move my Mother from her chair to the bed.

While we were safely away from the coastline, we were in constant contact with my brother Dwight and his family in Pascagoula during Monday morning as the storm was fast becoming furious. Since the storm was more likely to affect the western end of the Mississippi coast and we are located to the east, they thought it was safe to remain home. Well, they were wrong and very shocked as the water started flowing into their home. Water from the gulf which is several blocks away. We were on the cell phone with my sister-in-law, ReJeana, while the water was rising and suddenly the glass sliding door burst into the home from the pressure of the debris and water. This made it necessary to make another decision and that was to go outside to wait in their vehicle and watch the water level continue to rise. It was too late to escape.

In the meantime, their son Brian, who lives a couple miles away, was watching the water flood his newly purchased home. He and his two dogs fled to the second story while watching the water below reach the dining table, as the storm above them was beating the roof brutally. He had just acquired a new truck two weeks earlier and it was filling with salt water, guaranteeing quick corrosion.

Keith, Brian's brother, was actually returning to Iraq for a second tour of duty as a Marine. He was literally in route to Iraq as the storm was trying to destroy his hometown. To assure the safety of his car, he had returned it to Pascagoula from Camp Pendleton, California just two weeks prior to Katrina. His car was in Brian's garage and was now floating in the storm surge.

ReJeana's parents chose not to stay in their home, as they lived nearer to the beach, but had found shelter in a safer area of the city. Soon we heard that their refuge was also flooding, but fortunately they had a second story to move to. Their home had certainly flooded.

We were all in shock. Thank goodness for cell phones, which kept us connected at such a stressful time. It was as if life was in slow motion like witnessing a car accident and wondering when all movement would stop. But there is more to tell.

My other sister-in-law works at the Pascagoula Police Department. Corrina had called earlier to let us know that the river was already overflowing from the storm surge. She was not due to work till 6pm, but it was mandatory to be there. The PPD is located near the Pascagoula River and she was video taping as it was approaching the police department. Attempts to move the personal vehicles and the police cars were in vain. There was no 'high' ground at this point. She watched her own van flood. The police station was already on generator power as the winds had already done extensive damage to the city. The generator power did not last long, as the water kept rising and soon shut the generators down. Now, communication was going to be a very big problem. At one point, a police motorcycle was pushed into the lobby where water was still rising and communicating over the motorcycle radio was one available way to make contact to the on-duty police. The 911 system was having technical problems and calls would sometimes go to other police departments in surrounding towns and then be redirected to the original police department. So many calls were received from people begging for their lives, when suddenly all communication was halted. The batteries of the portable phones finally died late that evening.

My brother Lowell and his son Cory had returned to Hattiesburg where my Mother and I were, to be with us during the storm. As the stories of such fast and unpredictable flooding was taking place, my Mother and I had reconciled that our home was no doubt under water, as we lived within sight of the bayous that intertwine like blood veins throughout our town. We were basically surrounded by water, but never had been threatened by flood waters. Not even from the infamous Hurricane Camille in 1969. The Singing River is about a mile east of us and the gulf a mile south. The bayous, river and gulf have always been as personal to us as our own backyard. These are our bayous and rivers and gulf, we all share and love our waters, but not on that day.We suddenly did not trust our waters.

Later, we heard from Dwight that the water had stopped rising and was slightly receding. We were getting good reports from all and knowing that all of our family members were alive was what truly mattered. Dwight told me later that he really didn't have a plan, just assumed that they would climb onto the top of the 'Jimmy' and unto the roof and then decide what to do next.

The winds beat the coast several hours after the tidal wave had done extensive destruction. This wind and rain was reaching far inland for at a least two hundred miles. Hattiesburg was especially hit hard from Katrina. The choice to seek shelter in Hattiesburg was simple. Even though it is only 60 miles north of Biloxi/Gulfport, we were fortunate to book the 'last room in town', as the power companies were already booking entire motels at a time Friday afternoon when the predicted landfall was pinpointed to our coastline. Also the handicap van we own is not the most reliable for long trips, Hattiesburg is usually in our escape plan, our safe harbor.

From the window of the Motel 6, we watched as shingles slam our automobiles. Awnings, gutters, and other miscellaneous motel parts were flying in all directions and the wind gusts made us all exhale collective sighs from holding our breath. This also went on for hours. The tree outside our door tried hard to uproot, but held on somehow. With the drama of the storm swirling around us, I managed to video some of the power of the storm.

A small battery powered black and white tv was able to bring us some reports to validate what we already knew, that this was indeed a killer storm. As the water was receding from our family's homes, we were struggling to comprehend the widespread devastation in the two counties to the west of us. Also, the destruction in Louisiana and Alabama, especially in the low lying areas many miles below New Orleans. As the small tv tried hard to show us what happened, we were overwhelmed. What we had dreaded for so many years, that another 'Camille' would tear us apart, indeed did just that. We all had 'Camille' stories we told and retold. So many times, a story of the Mississippi coast, would include the phrase, 'before Camille' or 'after Camille' whether it had anything to do with the storm.

I remember how my own mind was traveling throughout our home and trying to imagine where the water reached. Did it ruin the motor of my Mother's hospital bed? Was Cole ok? We had already determined that a cat can and will do much to survive and I could just picture him sitting alive but traumatized on the top of the dresser. I was pretty sure he had not used up eight of his lives, at least I had hoped not. I imagined the entire house slowly from floor upward and cringed at the thought of such destruction. What could we do, where would we go, as I would need to be with our Mother and also at home for cleanup.

Hours had passed and from all accounts, the water was back where it belonged, but much was lost. Many residents of the Motel were from New Orleans and were so pleased that they had 'dodged the bullet'. The storm had taken that 'easterly' turn that many had hoped for, but would be tragic news for our State. But no one really 'dodged' this bullet, as it was much wider and more powerful than any of us could have imagined.

The motel power had been off for hours and it was beginning to get very hot and the water system was down too. It had been very difficult to make or receive calls by now. It was about 5pm when I received a call from Corrina and she was very excited. She had managed to get through, with much difficulty, to Gautier to check on our home as she was convinced she had 'killed Cole', by suggesting he be left behind. She had less than an hour before her 12 hour shift officially began, but she just had to know the fate of our home. She screamed, 'You're house is ok!" I was not really hearing this. "What, where are you? I don't understand." "And Cole is alive," she added. Entering the darkness of the house due to no power and plywood over the windows she immediately knelt to the floor and touched the carpet and it was dry. She made a quick run to my bedroom and Cole was stretching on the bed and acknowledged her with a 'meow'. He was safe and dry.

"Rhonda, I don't understand either, all I know is the house is fine and even the roof looks good too." "Of course the yard is torn up, but who cares?" I felt relief and thankfulness that can not even be described. I turned to my Mother to give her the good news and she started to cry. Later the next day, Lowell and Corrina found that their home had also been spared.

A few days passed and finally we were able to return home and find what really happened to our community. So many people we knew lost their homes or were flooded. Friends we knew were caught in their houses as 4 to 5 feet of water rushed in extremely fast. So many neighbors decided to leave at the last possible minute and lives were saved because of this. There will always be people who 'ride out the hurricane', but I have yet to find anyone that did this time, no matter how many they have survived in the past, that would stay in another one.

There are many more stories and details, but I will end this for now.

I share our story to explain a request for help and that is where you, David come into the story. Many people had insurance, but most did not have flood insurance. None of our relatives had any flood coverage, so any wind damage will be covered, but the great loss by flood is is a great loss. I would like to help my family, but I resigned my job a year ago to move in with my Mother to care for her. Needless to say, I am not in a position to help like I would like to, but I am trying to be in a position to find people who may be interested in helping meet specific needs. Three homes lost all major appliances and vehicles to varying degree. Some drivable, some totaled. Brian will be able to replace his truck, but the others will have to hope for the best, as there are so many extra expenses involved in the rebuilding.

If you are willing to share our story I will be grateful and any help is welcome. I will be glad to write updates and give complete accountability of any donations made. I have witnessed miles and miles of discarde appliances, so I know many are in need, not just my family.

My home phone number is 228-497-1601 and my cell number is 601-818-2720. Please leave a detailed message if you should decide to respond and if my Mother should answer she will ask you to call back if I am not home. My home address:

724 De La Pointe Drive
Gautier, MS 39553

I would like to thank you for possibly considering this request.

Sincerely,

Rhonda C. Clark
labmaw@msn.com

9/26/05 - Subject: Kermit Update - Monday

Good Morning! As well all recover in the Houston area from Hurricane Rita, we are again refocused on the gulf coast to the east of us. As you have probably seen on the news, with Rita's arrival the levies broke again in New Orleans, and the tornadoes tore through Mississippi and Louisiana. Hard to grasp what everyone from this area must be thinking.
 
From our word on the ground in New Orleans (police officers/firemen) the biggest issue with the reflooding of some of New Orleans is the moral. The areas that reflooded already had major damage from Katrina and the water should be able to be pumped back out in the next few days. There is some concern as to how the levies will ever be secured to rebuild the Big Easy. If you talk to the locals they believe it will be up and running soon. If you talk to the people that have been on the ground in the city through all of this - they want to believe it will be the same place it was pre-Katrina ... but really can't grasp how everything will be secure. Their comments today are that Nagin (the mayor) is now laying low with his "return" comments and the governor does not seem to have a solid plan for this recovery - there does not seem to be a plan - just a general request for money and a big picture of what everyone wants it to be.

There truly is a decade, or even a generation, before that area of the Gulf Coast will see a return to "normal" and with the primary focus continuing on New Orleans because of the size of it ... the other smaller communities to the East continue to be deprived of any efforts from Red Cross / FEMA etc ... we hear from them that if it were not for the goodness of people that live in that area without damage, the survivors would have nothing.
 
The efforts, prayers and so forth will be needed for a long time to come!
 
Below is an article that was in The New York Times this morning!

Cheers & Love!

— Kristi

From NY Times/Forum: Popular Music

" We will swing again in that place," Kermit Ruffins said by phone from Houston, where he went when Hurricane Katrina came. Mr. Ruffins is a trumpeter beyond compare, the crowned emperor of the New Orleans sound, who cooks red beans and rice and plays with his band, the Barbecue Swingers, every Thursday down at Vaughn's, in the Bywater section of the upper Ninth Ward. A flashlight aimed at Vaughn's last Thursday night revealed an intact building - and a big mess to go with it. "Could be six months, could be eight, could be a year," Mr. Ruffins said, "but I can't wait to get there and throw the grand reopening party on the new New Orleans. Count on that."

Workers interviewed this week up and down the high-low culture scale echoed Mr. Ruffins's optimism to a person. The message they sent from near and far was the same: This wounded city will heal itself show by show, and gig by gig, because culture - ribald, prissy and everything in between - is the nub around which the whole ball of yarn is wound. New Orleans without zydeco, without jazz, without theater, without nude dancers and orchestra players, is just a swamp town with hot summers, bad schools and a lot of mosquitoes. If this city is to return, it will do so on the backs of the artists who make it a place like nowhere else.

Mark Samuels, the owner of Basin Street Records, said as much. His small New Orleans label is the home to Mr. Ruffins, Los Hombres Calientes and Dr. Michael White. Mr. Samuels spent last week sneaking into the city from his temporary headquarters in Austin, Tex., to grab CD's so his artists would have something to peddle at their shows. Sitting at his brother's house in Metairie outside New Orleans last week, he showed pictures of his house in Lakewood South - a total loss by the looks of it - and shared his hopes and worries about the future.

" You can redo Bourbon Street anywhere in the world," Mr. Samuels said. "All you have to do is let people drink on the street, expose themselves on balconies and open a bunch of T-shirt shops. But New Orleans is a lot more than that. There is nowhere else in the world where you can head out to the Maple Leaf and hear the Rebirth Brass Band. That can't be recreated somewhere else."

Still, many New Orleans artists are now at large, playing for big audiences elsewhere. The Rebirth Brass Band tore the roof off in New York the other night as part of a benefit, and the Olympia Brass Band is setting out on tour from Phoenix. But while the money may be good, the tours will not be successful unless they end in New Orleans, where the rents were cheap and the clubs ample.

Many of those clubs made it through. Tipitina's is fine, for example, and Preservation Hall endures. As for the Rock n' Bowl, where the crash of pins mixed with the twang of a plucked guitar, John Blancher, who owns and runs the place, would like to reopen, but is also looking into some properties in nearby Lafayette. The club on the second floor is fine. But beneath it is mayhem, the result of eight feet of water rolling strikes for a week.

" I expect to reoccupy it," Mr. Blancher said. "From the outside, you would never want to even walk in there, but the inside is fine."

The insides of New Orleans seem great. The soul of the place, now dispersed, continues to thrive. The body is a hurting unit, though.

Dr. Ike - Ira Padnos to those who don't know him - is a medical doctor and a local scenester, the kind of man who embodies New Orleans's glorious, weird vibe. An anesthesiologist who worked through the storm at the Louisiana State University's hospital, he is now performing cultural triage in his role as executive director of the Mystic Knights of the Mau Mau. He won't say this - modesty is a persistent feature of the local milieu - but both his jobs will play a role in putting the paddles on the stilled heart of New Orleans. The Mystic Knights run the Ponderosa Stomp, a roots music festival that runs concurrently with the city's giant Jazzfest - "all killer, no filler" is its advertising cry - and serves as a reminder that much American music started and persists here. Reluctantly, the Knights have decided to move the Stomp to Memphis this year, for a benefit show, which is fine, but it is not New Orleans.

Many of the cities cultural treasures were not flooded, Mr. Padnos said. But for New Orleans to return, he added, "depends on people - the waiters, the musicians, the Indians - who live in the Ninth Ward, the Seventh Ward and Tremé, all of which were hit hard by the flooding. You need those people to come back to drive the city's culture."

It is still unclear what exactly they will be returning to, if they return. For instance, somewhere in the basement of the Orpheum Theater here there are 10 timpani drums floating in the muck and mire. At some point, Jim Atwood, the owner of the drums and a member of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, will retrieve his equipment - likely ruined - and assess his future. But he is not expecting anything approaching normal anytime soon.

" Normal, when you are talking about New Orleans, is always a relative term," Mr. Atwood said. He and his wife, a flutist in the orchestra, said they have not really come to terms with what happened to the city and what it means for them.

" We have yet to have that conversation out loud," he said. "But when we do, I think it is likely we will conclude that New Orleans is where our home is, and hopefully our jobs as well."

The jobs may be there, but what many culture workers in New Orleans would like is an audience.

" Art here comes up from the streets," said Barbara Motley, who owns Le Chat Noir, a cabaret on St. Charles Avenue left relatively undamaged by the storms. "The city failed a lot of the people who live here and I think they will be slow in coming back, with good reason."

" On the other hand, this is New Orleans," she added, "so I would not be surprised if people decide they need a laugh and a show. We'll see, won't we?"

9/26/05 - FW: Kermit Update ... From the Big Apple to the Big Easy

The families that are returning need your continued prayers and support. The schools still remain closed in New Orleans, there is no power/water etc ... and the emergency systems have been stressed beyond the ability to help. It will be an adjustment that could take years. As we see in the news that Mayor Nagin was "opening" New Orleans for the return of 182,000 people, the reality of the situation is that the police and military on the ground there are furious with this decision. People will have no access to food, water, fire or ambulance systems, no 911 if there is a problem, the city is filled with sewage, creating illnesses at a minimum, not to mention it is still hurricane season! The homes where the water has receded can possibly be searched for a few surviving belongings, however the homes will inevitably be leveled because of the structural stresses, mold and other issues.

9/19/05 - From the Big Apple to The Big Easy, NYC's Concert for the Gulf Coast

An all-star lineup of New Orleans musicians and rock legends will come together for a benefit at New York City's Madison Square Garden on September 20th.

Dubbed The Big Apple To The Big Easy, the concert will feature Elton John, Fats Domino, Rod Stewart, Jimmy Buffett, Lenny Kravitz, Earth, Wind & Fire, Bette Midler, The Neville Brothers, Stevie Nicks, John Fogerty, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and The Rebirth Brass Band, among others.

Organizers aim to support long-term rebuilding and relief efforts in the Gulf Coast regions affected by Hurricane Katrina.

The show's executive producers are Grammy Awards producer Ken Ehrlich and Festival Productions president Quint Davis, who is also producer/director of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and the Essence Music Festival.
"In the midst of this national crisis, to have the City of New York, which has known such tragedy itself, to reach out to the citizens of New Orleans is a wonderful thing, and to do it in such a way that celebrates the rich traditions of New Orleans music shows and understanding and compassion that is truly heartwarming," the producers said in an official announcement of the concert.

Click here to purchase tickets.

9/14/05 - COACH in action, CNN Segment

Dear Friends,

I just wanted to let you all know that the Cedars-Sinai COACH for Kids staff has been working hard to the point of exhaustion in Houston. They began their work at the George R. Brown Convention Center and assisted there until the center was fully supported by the American Red Cross. The team then began traveling to a variety of different shelters in a number of ethically diverse communities providing medical services to kids and their families. They took numerous translators with them to the various shelters and not only helped with the medical and mental health needs but also helped them connect to the Red Cross and other support assistance from the available resources.
  
Andrea White, the wife of the mayor of Houston, invited Joan Schnitzer Levy to accompany her on Sunday to visit the COACH For Kid's Clinic in the Asian Community where they were providing services. Mrs. White was very kind and expressed the sincere gratitude of the Mayor and the city of Houston for traveling all the way from Los Angeles to assist the city of Houston in taking care of the overwhelming number of evacuees who needed medical attention.

CNN traveled along with COACH to some of the shelters and aired a segment taken at one of the Asian communities where over 12,000 evacuees came after the hurricane. I have attached the CNN link if you would like to see the segment of COACH at work in the Asian community. Video: Mobile medical unit.

I also want to thank all of you who have been so supportive of the COACH Mobile Medical Program. The ability to provide expeditious response to any location near or far in an emergency or disaster, with a fully functioning clinic and our top notch staff is something we can all be proud of. As a community we can also be proud of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for being so quick to respond to the needs of Mayor White and immediately upon request send the entire staff to Houston to help aid in this disaster.

My best regards,
Donna Estes Antebi
Chair, COACH For Kids Mobile Medical Program

9/12/05 - Subject: Nationwide Dine Out Planned for September 27 for Hurricane Relief

Dear Chef and Restaurateur,
 
Please join Share Our Strength, Windows of Hope and Open Table.com as we invite you and your restaurant to participate:
 
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
“RESTAURANTS FOR RELIEF ONE MEAL. ONE NIGHT. ONE-NATION.”
 
100% of the proceeds from the national “dine around” will provide relief to area food banks and assistance to families of the hospitality industry who were affected by Hurricane Katrina.
 
Windows of Hope learned from the tremendous outpouring of support after 9/11 how the hospitality industry is always eager to help those in need. When we learned of the Restaurants for Relief One meal. One night. One nation. appeal it was natural that Windows of Hope would partner in Share Our Strength’s effort.
 
WHEN: Tuesday, September 27, 2005
WHERE: Restaurants across the nation 
 
YOUR ROLE: We are asking Chef and Restaurateurs across the nation to donate a portion of their proceeds from this day to Share Our Strength’s Hurricane Katrina Fund.
 
Should you agree to participate go to www.strength.org 
 
Sincerely,

Ashley Graham, Leadership Director Share Our Strength & Darlene Dwyer (Executive Director, Windows of Hope)

9/9/05 - Subject: Starburst the Miami emergency crew with the euthenasiadate ... today ...

Could not email ... bounced back ... finally got hold of the guy with Starburst ... they are "animal paramedics ..." they rescue animals in fires, and any kind of disasters.

He said ... "We have not had 400 phone calls a month ... and we have had 400 phone calls in the last two days about this dog ... she has a home." God bless him and his people ... I am sending a donation. He actually said she might like the weather better in Santa Barbara. I was going to announce to Adam that I had to go pick something up in Miami ... he would haver understood ... I would have brought back some antiques and pretended I found the dog on the highway!!! Tee hee ... he would have loved this dog ... did you see her face??? Did you adopt her???? ...

Penny

September 8, 2005
latimes.com : Opinion : Commentary

The Thin Veneer of Civilization

By Timothy Garton Ash, TIMOTHY GARTON ASH is a professor of European studies at Oxford University and a Hoover Institution senior fellow.

THE BIG LESSON of Katrina is not about the incompetence of the Bush administration, the scandalous neglect of poor black people in the United States or our unpreparedness for major natural disasters, though all of those apply. Katrina's big lesson is that the crust of civilization on which we tread is always wafer thin. One tremor and you've fallen through, scratching and gouging for your life like a wild dog.

You think the looting, rape and armed terror that emerged within hours in New Orleans couldn't happen elsewhere? Think again. It happened here in Europe only 60 years ago. Read the memoirs of Holocaust and Gulag survivors, Norman Lewis' account of Naples in 1944 or the recently republished anonymous diary of a German woman in Berlin in 1945. It happened in Bosnia just 10 years ago. And that wasn't even the force majeure of a natural disaster. Those were man-made hurricanes.

The basic point is the same: Remove the elementary staples of organized, civilized life — food, shelter, drinkable water, minimal personal security — and we go back within hours to a Hobbesian state of nature, a war of all against all. Some people, some of the time, behave with heroic solidarity; most people, most of the time, engage in a ruthless fight for individual and genetic survival. A few become temporary angels; most revert to being apes.

The word "civilization," in one of its earliest senses, referred to the process of human animals being civilized — by which we mean, I suppose, achieving a mutual recognition of human dignity, or at least accepting in principle the desirability of such a recognition. Reading Jack London the other day, I came across an unusual word: decivilization. The opposite process, that is — the one by which people cease to be civilized and become barbaric. Katrina tells us about the ever-present possibility of decivilization.

There are intimations of this even in normal, everyday life. Road rage is a good example. Or think what it's like waiting for a late-night flight that is delayed or canceled. At first, those carefully guarded cocoons of personal space we carry around with us in airport waiting areas break down into flickerings of solidarity. The glance of mutual sympathy over the newspaper or laptop screen. A few words of shared frustration or irony. Often this grows into a stronger manifestation of group solidarity, perhaps directed against the hapless check-in staff. (To find a common enemy is the only sure way to human solidarity.) But then a rumor creeps out that there are a few seats left on another flight at Gate 37. Instant collapse of solidarity. Angels become apes. The sick, infirm, elderly, women and children are left behind in the stampede. Dark-suited men, with advanced degrees and impeccable table manners, elbow aside the competition, get their boarding passes and then retreat into a corner, avoiding other people's gaze — the gorilla who got the banana. All this just to avoid a night at the Holiday Inn in Des Moines.

Obviously, the decivilization in New Orleans was 1,000 times worse. I can't avoid the feeling that there will be more of this, much more of it, as we go deeper into the 21st century. There are just too many big problems looming that could push humanity back. The most obvious threat is more natural disasters as a result of climate change. If this cataclysm is interpreted by politicians as — to use the hackneyed phrase that they will themselves undoubtedly use — a "wake-up call" to alert Americans to the consequences of the United States continuing to pump out carbon dioxide as if there were no tomorrow, then the Katrina hurricane cloud will have a silver lining. But it may already be too late. We may be launched on an unstoppable downward spiral. If so, if large parts of the world were tormented by unpredictable storms, flooding and temperature changes, then what happened in New Orleans would seem like a tea party.

In a sense, these too would be man-made hurricanes. But there are also the more direct threats of humans toward other humans. Thus far, terrorist attacks have provoked outrage, fear, some restrictions of civil liberties and the abuses of Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib prisons, but they have not resulted in mass hysteria or scapegoating. But suppose this is just a beginning. Suppose there's a dirty bomb or even a small nuclear weapon exploded by a terrorist group in a major city. What then?

Almost having the force of a flood is the pressure of mass migration from the poor and overpopulated South of the planet to the rich North. (Not accidentally, anti-immigration populists routinely use the flood metaphor.) If natural or political disaster were to put still more millions on the move, our immigration controls might one day prove to be like the levees of New Orleans. Even with current levels of immigration, the resulting encounters — especially those between Muslim immigrants and European residents — are proving to be explosive. How civilized will we remain? And then there is the challenge of accommodating the emerging great powers, especially India and China, into the international system. Especially in the case of China, where communist leaders use diversionary nationalism to stay in power, there is a danger of war. Nothing decivilizes more quickly and surely than war.

So never mind Samuel Huntington's "Clash of Civilizations." That, as the old Russian saying goes, was long ago and not true anyway. What's under threat here is simply civilization, the thin crust we lay across the seething magma of nature, including human nature. New Orleans opened a small hole through which we glimpsed what always lies below. The Big Easy shows us the Big Difficult, which is to preserve that crust.

Starburst

I am sorry for the delay in getting out these next two emails. Today has been a day filled with incredible emotions and a lot of praising. Karen & Lisa's (Kermit's fiance & sister) father finally made it out of New Orleans and is now in Arlington. He is safe and in good hands. Kermit's brothers and sister, along with his father, and other friends and family all joined hands for the first time since the storm came in - somewhere over a meal of ribs and butter beans! And tonight was capped with Kermit serenading Karen's mom with Happy Birthday!

We are some incredibly blessed people. I am up here now writing out this email as laughter fills the air downstairs with people that are so thankful to
be alive and together, and so incredibly overwhelmed with the generosity that has been put out for them. The people we know are great people!

I am going to start the list of this group of 15 (I think) along with 2 dogs! that are here at my house ... the list is in no particular order ... and I
asked them to express themselves on their list so you could get a feel for them ...

Brittany Brown
Age: 13
Bra: 36B
Shoes: 8 1/2 wide (she would love a pair of white nikes)
Shirts: XL
Pants: 18 1/2 plus
Underwear: 7
Slippers: Women's size
Favorite color: pink

She would love a pretty ricky poster with glitter, a pink cd player, pink (or any color of purse), footies, back socks, silver earrings, silver bracelet, spongebob socks, lip gloss, Pantene Pro U Shampoo and conditioner, magazines with pretty ricky and hip clothing!

Rita James
Age: 59
This was our birthday girl and she says "I am a 59-year-old, but I dress
very modern."
Shoe size: 7 1/2
Clothes size: 6
Jeans: size 7 - 8
Capris: size 7 - 8
Bra: 36B
Baseball caps: (2 please)
T-Shirts: Medium
Panties: Size 5
Dress: Size 6
Slippers
Tennis Shoes: 7 1/2

Bryisha McGowan
Age: 14
Bra: 32A
Shoes: 6 1/2
Shirts: Medium T-Shirts
Pants: Childrens
Underwear: 10-12 childrens
Spongebob socks
Scooby Doo Socks
White Ankle Socks

She would like a red cd player, books, jewelry, an Omarion CD, 3-piece bathing suit, sports bras in red, blue and white, Omarion posters and scooby doo poster. She also needs tennis shoes, slippers and likes hip clothing.

Betty Martin
Age: 54
Bra: 36B
Shoes: 8M
Shirts: L
Pants: Petite 12
Underwear - Thongs: Size 8
Capris: Size 10
Slippers: 7 - 8
She "dresses very modern"

Jade Brown
Age: 16
Shoe size: Women's 9 or Men's 7
Bra size: 36B
Underwear: 5
Pants: 7 - 8
Shirts: Medium

Jade would like some Polo shirts - with collar; Jeans with wide legs, shorts that are knee length, Air Force One Shoes (white) Jordans (club zero); bic
razors, pajamas with character boxers and long pants, white tee shirts, hanes undershirts. Her favorite colors are yellow, blue and red. She would like any clothing from American Eagle Outfitters, Aeropostalel, Hoilisters, Abercrombie and Fitch, ankle socks, belts - silver, black and color, silver jewelry, basketball shorts - any color, book sack (small Jansport) and school supplies, knee-length loose fitting plaid, khaki, and cargo shorts, Aeropostale track jacket.

Mildred Rudolph
Age: 83
Shoes: 8 1/2
Shirts: Medium
Pants - Elastic Waist: Medium
Underwear: 6
Slippers: 7 - 8
Blouses: Medium

Jimmie L. Slack, Jr.
NEW ORLEANS POLICE OFFICER - STILL THERE ON DUTY
Underwear: Size medium 34 - 36
Undershirt: Size XL White
Razor blades
Shoe Size: 13 (needs HI TECH MID black boots for work)
Leather converse tennis shoes size 13
Athletic T-Shirts: size 2XL
Socks: Navy blue work socks, White ankle socks
Jeans: 36 x 34

Jimmie joined us today after transporting a family to safety here in the
Houston area - he was able to spend some time with his family and share in breakfast with everyone. PLEASE KEEP HIM IN YOUR PRAYERS AS HE HAS RETURNED TO SERVICE THIS EVENING.

Jimmie L. Slack III
Age: 9 1/2
Shoes: 3 1/2 boys
Tennis shoes: 4 boys
Pants: 12 slim
Shirts Boys: 12 -1 4
Underwear: Boxers size 10-12
Undershirts - white: Size 10 - 12
Socks: Size 6 1/2 - 8 1/2

Aside from just wanting his dad to come to Houston to stay, Jimmie wants gameboy advance games, game cube games and a book bag (on a side note as we went for a walk today he wondered what had become of his basketball goal).

Lisa J. Brown
Age: 41
Shoe size: 7M
Bra size 34B: no underwire
Underwear: 6 - cotton highrise, high cut
Ladies T-Shirts: Size medium
Socks: 9 - 11
Pants: Size 8
Blouse: Size medium

Rita Blunt
Age: 82
Bra size: 34B
Tennis shoes: Size 8M
Shoes size: 8M
Shirts: Medium
Pants: Petite 12 elastic waist
House coat
Underwear: 10
Slippers: 7 - 8

Gladys Lemar
Age: 58 "Jazzy"
Shoes: 7 (tennis shoes)
Pants: 12 stretch jeans petite
Top XL - T-shirts (jazzy)
Bra 38C with underwire
Underpants: 7 hipsters
Sleepwear: PJ's medium
Ankle socks

Doretha Theard
Age: 78
Shoes 10 1/2: String up shoes - SAS type
Slippers
Tops XXL
Pants: 22 - 24 W - Petite stretch
Bra: 48B long line
Underwear 12
Care Free products for hair light hair products for curl
Solid Gold Liquid
Right On Hair Conditioner
Absorbine Jr.
Doretha would like Jeans and Slip over tops

Kermit Ruffins
Age: 40 ENTERTAINER EXTRAORDINAIRE
Kermit needs to get back on the road entertaining so his primary focus is clothing for entertaining
Black 3 button suits: Size 42 regular
5 white dress shirts: 13 1/2"
Stripe neck ties
Black dress shoes size 9
7 1/2 Black stetson wide brim hat
Large Men's underwear - boxers
Black dress socks
Deodorant - Speed Stick

Karen Brown (Ruffins)
Age: 39
MATERNITY WEAR! (Karen spent today at the hospital - but we found out all is
well and that she is now 8 weeks pregnant) She likes modern maternity wear, size 6 or 7 - 8
Pants: Size 6
Dresses and skirts that fit loose
Bras: 36B
Underwear: 6
Shoes: 5 1/2 - 6 (flat dress shoes)
Shampoo, conditioner and deodorant
Hair gel
Toothpaste
Hair rollers - small, medium or large
Body lotion

That is it for now gang - I need to start a new email with another 15+ that we have found!

Thanks so much for everyone's help! I think tomorrow morning we will head for church and spend the day rejoicing some great things! I am not sure if we will be home. On Monday we plan to reconnect with Kermit's family and enjoy a holiday!

Thanks for your help and the emails tomorrow will come with pictures!
Thanks thanks thanks for your response!

Donna Estes Antebi

From Donna Estes Antebi:

Dear Friends,

After days of frustration with the disaster relief efforts I am very proud to say that Cedars Sinai Medical Center's COACH For Kids Mobile Medical Clinic, along with our entire staff are getting ready to leave for Texas. As many of you know we are well trained as part of the Los Angeles Emergency Disaster Response Program and proud to be able to mobilize our incredible team of medical experts to help out where it is needed the most.

We had someone generously donate a private plane to fly in the entire staff to Houston. Donald and one or two others will be driving the actual clinic. We are bringing medical services to the Georgia Brown Stadium to care for the people who will hopefully soon be getting out of New Orleans. We are flying in the medical supplies and donations separately. Joan Schnitzer Levy of Houston helped me facilitate the coordination between Cedars and Houston's Mayor Whites office.

Everyone is set to leave Monday night or Tuesday will be morning. They have requested donations of Pedialite, clothes, diapers, socks, underwear, books, etc., to be dropped off at Cedars. I will get back to you with the exact location at Cedars when they find a supply holding area.

For those of you who are associated with the press please to let them know. We are hoping the more people see other states get involved the more they will take it upon themselves to do the same. We will have the official press release ready on Monday.

On behalf of Cedars Sinai Medical Center and the City of Los Angeles, COACH For Kids is very proud to be bringing our team to Texas ... we just can't get there fast enough. I will keep you posted on our efforts.

Thanks for all of your support.

Follow up from Donna Estes Antebi:

Dear Friends,

COACH has been working all weekend and is ready to roll out tomorrow. They will be going to Houston and the exact location will be determined as the situation dictates when they get there.

The Staff flies out at 8:00 AM and the mobile will leave early afternoon when it is fully loaded with supplies.

They have asked that donated items be dropped off between 9 and 11 am on Beverly Boulevard at George Burns Drive. You will see the COACH Mobile Clinic inside the gates. Marta will be on site there if you need to reach her. Her number is 310 384-4646.

Just a reminder, here are the things they have specifically requested, diapers, water, Pedialite, shoes, underwear, clothes, socks, games, baby formula, baby food, Purell, toothbrushes, toothpaste, books, etc. Please try to label sizes for all clothing and shoes. We have found that large one gallon size plastic zip lock bags are very useful for keeping organized items that go together such as complete outfits and shoes. The better and more obvious the labeling the easier to distribute and sort through. The COACH staff will update us with their eye witness accounts once they get their mission underway.

Thank you all for your continuing support of COACH For Kids. You have made this mission possible.

And Deep in (and from) the heart of Texas ...

In the small town of New Braunfels a few miles east of San Antonio they are expecting the arrival of 700 dogs and cats, victims of Katrina, starting this week. Concerned animal lovers have signed up to take care of as many as they can and arrange for adoption to safe homes. Among those able to help are Brooke Negley and her mother, Nancy Holmes. Brooke has a boarding kennel outside of San Antonio called “The Russell Inn” and she also has a large, for moment, unoccupied goat pen where she plans to keep some of the dogs where they will be safe and cared for. Many others in Texas are doing the same. Local veterinarians have agreed to donate their services for shots, medicines, etc. until the terrible fall-out from Katrina settles down.

Pilots Tom Powers and Jimmy Walker with Jonathan in Panama City The ultimate reunion in Lake City of Jonathan and his mother

Below are web links and phone numbers to help you do your part. Give, donate, sacrifice like your own life depended on it:

AmeriCares
Disaster relief and humanitarian aid organization providing immediate response to emergency medical needs, as well as supporting long-term humanitarian assistance programs.

American Red Cross
Providing disaster services and relief, 800-HELP-NOW (435-7669) English, 800-257-7575 Spanish.

America’s Second Harvest
Providing food to victims, 800-344-8070.

Angel Flight Southeast
A corps of volunteer private pilots providing free flights in small private planes for the relief efforts.

Catholic Charities USA
Providing relief and recovery assistance, 800-919-9338.

Church World Service
Developing long-term recovery plans to assist with recovery, 800-297-1516.

Feed the Children
Clean drinking water and ice to keep food from spoiling are two major needs that Feed The Children is helping with.

Humane Society of the U.S.
Rescuing animals and assisting their caregivers in the disaster areas.

Mennonite Disaster Service
Providing relief to victims, 717-859-2210.

Noah’s Wish
Helping to keep animals alive in face of the storm devastation, 530-622-9313.

Operation Blessing
Transporting food, water, cleaning kits, and other emergency supplies, 800-436-6348.

Salvation Army
Local, regional, and national disaster relief programs, 800-SAL-ARMY (725-2769).

Samaritan's Purse
Helping victims of natural disasters.

United Jewish Communities
Working with Jewish federations and network communities in the affected regions UJC will assess damages and help coordinate relief efforts.

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