Has anyone heard from TJ?

How did he end up from this storm?

Thanks Erica, glad to hear that.

I have not seen his presence here recently, and it wasn't until the storm that I realized that.

Hi All;
I just finally got the old puter back up and running tonight for the first time since 8/29. I'm in Eastern Jackson County Ms. (Pascagoula) which was on the far Eastern fringe of Katrina. This was far and away the worst storm in history even for this area. We had sustained winds (for many hours) in excess of 100 mph and got storm surge from the Gulf over most of the city (up to about 3 mi. inland). That's never even come close to happening in the history of the city.

As for sending $10 to the Red Cross - if you know someone that needs it you'de be a lot better off sending it directly to them - that way it might do some good. The FEMA and Red Cross operations down here are a BAD joke.

Putermann..

Please don't misunderstand - I don't condem the Red Cross - they are a good organization. Rather I am, as are many others, critical of the "system" and the gross lack of organazation and cordanation of all the agencies. There is a Red Cross presense here - they're doing all the mechanical things you see them routinally do - there vehicles roam the neighborhoods dispensing food and other aid. What I'm refering to is the lack of effective personal recovery aid. Some three weeks after the fact and they have yet to establish an actual office in this area for people to go to apply for vouchers or any other type of help. All you have is an 800 number to call which is an exercise in futility. The Red Cross actually has a permanent office here in town - of course there's no one there because of damage to the building. Even FEMA finally got two local offices opened last Saturday and Sunday. I manage a retail bedding speciality store that's part of a small locally owned chain on the Coast. My store has been back in operation for about a week now. I have yet to have the very first person come in with a Red Cross voucher for bedding - something we expected to be flooded with by now based on past experience.

Certainly there has never been a natual disaster of this magnitude in the history of the country. And certainly that makes a difference. However, on the other hand, four years after 911 things should have been a LOT better organized. If we should have a large scale terrorist attack we would face very similar problems as we have with Katrina. I certainly hope THIS time we learn some serious lessons. You can bet there are those around the world that would love to do us harm that are sitting back and observing the current situation and the weaknesses they see - can you imagine if we had a serious attack anywhere in the country right now or the near future? God help us all !

Putermann..