Words from Louisiana

we have come to know a virtual friend through the internet who lives close to New Orleans. she was kind enough to send us some creole heritage tomato seeds when we requested them after she left some comment mentioning them. she is among the kind and intelligent people who view our offerings here, and often leaves interesting and insightful comments. you may have noticed her wit and perspicacity in comments on other blogs. we e-mailed her shortly before the hurricane came ashore offering our best wishes for her and her family, not knowing if she would even be able to receive our note. she sent a short e-mail back, letting us know that she and her family were safe and secure, from the local library in the town to which they had repaired. we offered to post anything she might wish to send us about her experience. today we received the following:

Your weather report post is great. The bastards have already started to blame the victims, the locals, anybody but themselves. Homeland Security and FEMA were worse than useless before Katrina and in the immediate aftermath.

My emotions alternate between deep sadness for the people of the city I grew up in and fury at the Bush administration for their ponderously slow response.

As you know by now we have no homeland security. What all the billions went for, I don't know. As for Hastert's comments about bulldozing the city, they are despicable and he should resign as Speaker of the House. I heard Cavuto on Fox say that the US should just write off metro-New Orleans - you know - as though it's a failed business. Do they have any concept at all that real people live in the area? Insensitivity of this caliber is beyond belief.

I live in a small town about 65 miles away from NO now. One of my daughters lives in Jefferson Parish, and my sons live near me. My husband and I were in New York City for five days before the weekend of the storm. We were in the waiting area at the airport, on the way home when we found that the hurricane would hit somewhere near the Louisiana coast.

We spent one night at home, immediately began securing our house, and the next morning evacuated to the small farm where my husband grew up, which is located north of Baton Rouge. We could get wind there, but would not be in danger of flood waters. Our children and grandchildren, fourteen in all, evacuated to the farm which contains two rather small houses. In addition we had five dogs and three cats with us. But thank God for those two houses, because we did not have to worry about finding reservations in a motel. I was just so absolutely grateful that my family was together in a safe place. None of us knew whether we would have homes to return to when the storm was over.

The storm was not bad in our area; we had some wind and rain, but came out fine. When the storm was over we were able to get through to our neighbors who had stayed behind to ride out the storm, and we found out our house was OK. In fact all our houses were intact and not flooded, even that of our daughter who lived just outside of NO. A couple of days after the storm, my son-in-law was able to get to his house in Jefferson Parish and take supplies to his neighbor who had stayed behind and helped by feeding their pet chickens. The neighbor had no running water and no power, so my son-in-law was his lifeline. Every few days he would take him supplies.

On his first trip in, he brought back a friend who was living in his house with no running water and no power, so we had fifteen by then, and another dog. The friend was crapping in his back yard because he could not flush the toilet. He is a hygiene nut, so he was freaking out.

But we were the forunate ones. We have so much to be grateful for. The TV pictures were nearly unbearable to watch. One wonders if help would have come at all but for the TV pictures there for all the world to see. Even Shepherd Smith from Fox News said we looked like a third world country.

Our local university was used as a staging area for evacuees with medical problems for a few days until their conditions were evaluated. They were then moved on to who knows where. I was talking to some of them in the shelter at the Catholic student center, which was a shelter for people with pets. They said the folks from our town had been wonderful to them. I told them that we all knew that it could have been us. Had the storm moved to the west rather than to the east, we could have been in their situation. Either way NO was going to get it.

We are fine now in our home, but I just can't seem to move on. I feel that I'm living in a sort of twilight zone, stunned beyond belief. We have heard from extended family and, so far everyone is OK.

I have ridden out hurricanes before, both Andrew and Betsy, and the 1948 hurricane, but I will never ever do it again.

I see that our friend Ivor Van Heeden, from the LSU Hurricane center is all over the news now as an expert. He has been crying out for years about the danger - to the point where some around here wanted him fired because of his doomsday warnings. They just wanted him to shut up, but he would not. He and some others who tried to give the warnings were right, but they laughed at him.

janeboatler


our first almost-ripe creole tomato! grown from seeds from janeboatler.

we also very highly recommend the current post by Philalethes at bouphonia. he brings his usual intelligence and compassion and command of language to bear on the ugly social assumptions of too many people.

Rubbing Salt into Fresh Wounds

A body floats in New Orleans (from CNN)

All disasters are local. That's a matter of course. Earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis all have a locus, and the emergency response to it begins there. But once it becomes obvious that the local government can not manage an adequate life-saving response, it becomes FEMA's responsibility. We've seen our government respond quickly to international crises, even to Florida hurricanes that left fewer dead and did less damage. Something horrific happened in New Orleans. From Tuesday through Friday of last week, the entire world was filled with a numbing dread elicited by the staggering ignorance and monumental incompetence of the Bush response team. The world turned its eyes to Washington-- not to Mayor Nagin, not to Governor Blanco, but to George Bush. As it should have. He and his conservative politics failed our nation in the most disgraceful manner possible. Now, his team tries to shift blame to the locals, and by doing so, merely rub salt into the fresh wounds. Absolutely nothing is beneath this team of transmogrified humans.
The following is the text of the weather service announcement of Sunday, August 28th. Any member of the Bush team pleading ignorance or blaming locals should be summarily fired, and the president should be impeached for dereliction of duty. Everyone should keep a copy of this for future reference, as the Bush administration revises history for its own survival.
UPDATED FOR FULL TEXT OF NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
1011 AM CDT SUN AUG 28 2005

...DEVASTATING DAMAGE EXPECTED...

.HURRICANE KATRINA...A MOST POWERFUL HURRICANE WITH UNPRECEDENTED
STRENGTH...RIVALING THE INTENSITY OF HURRICANE CAMILLE OF 1969.

MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS...PERHAPS LONGER. AT
LEAST ONE HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL
FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL...LEAVING THOSE HOMES SEVERELY
DAMAGED OR DESTROYED.

THE MAJORITY OF INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS WILL BECOME NON FUNCTIONAL.
PARTIAL TO COMPLETE WALL AND ROOF FAILURE IS EXPECTED. ALL WOOD
FRAMED LOW RISING APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL BE DESTROYED. CONCRETE
BLOCK LOW RISE APARTMENTS WILL SUSTAIN MAJOR DAMAGE...INCLUDING SOME
WALL AND ROOF FAILURE.

HIGH RISE OFFICE AND APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL SWAY DANGEROUSLY...A
FEW TO THE POINT OF TOTAL COLLAPSE. ALL WINDOWS WILL BLOW OUT.

AIRBORNE DEBRIS WILL BE WIDESPREAD...AND MAY INCLUDE HEAVY ITEMS SUCH
AS HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND EVEN LIGHT VEHICLES. SPORT UTILITY
VEHICLES AND LIGHT TRUCKS WILL BE MOVED. THE BLOWN DEBRIS WILL CREATE
ADDITIONAL DESTRUCTION. PERSONS...PETS...AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THE
WINDS WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK.

POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS...AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN
AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS.

THE VAST MAJORITY OF NATIVE TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. ONLY
THE HEARTIEST WILL REMAIN STANDING...BUT BE TOTALLY DEFOLIATED. FEW
CROPS WILL REMAIN. LIVESTOCK LEFT EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL BE
KILLED.

UPDATE: I just found this little FEMA item while I was searching for the full text of the National Weather Service Message of 8/28/05--

Copyright 2005 States News Service
States News Service
August 28, 2005 Sunday
666 words
HOMELAND SECURITY PREPPING FOR DANGEROUS HURRICANE KATRINA
States News Service
WASHINGTON
The following information was released by the Federal Emergency Management Agency:

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency is warning residents along Gulf Coast states to take immediate action to prepare for dangerous Hurricane Katrina as it approaches land.
"There's still time to take action now, but you must be prepared and take shelter and other emergency precautions immediately," said Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness and Response. "FEMA has pre-positioned many assets including ice, water, food and rescue teams to move into the stricken areas as soon as it is safe to do so."
Landfall is currently expected late Sunday evening, with the eye of the storm arriving Monday morning.
On Saturday, President Bush has declared an emergency for the states of Louisiana and Mississippi opening up FEMA's ability to move into the state and assist the state and local governments with mobilizing resources and preparations to save lives and property from the impact of Hurricane Katrina. FEMA is moving supplies of generators, water, ice and food into the region for immediate deployment once the storm passes. FEMA's Urban Search & Rescue (USAR) and Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMATs) are also staged for immediate response anywhere in the region. The funding and direct federal assistance will assist law enforcement with evacuations, establishing shelters and other emergency protective measures.
FEMA has deployed USAR teams from Tennessee, Missouri and Texas to stage in Shreveport, LA.. USAR teams from Indiana and Ohio are staged in Meridian, MS. Two teams each from Florida and Virginia and one team from Maryland are on alert at their home stations.
A total of 18 DMATs have been deployed to staging areas in Houston, Anniston and Memphis. There are 9 full DMATs (35 members per team) and 9 strike teams (5 members per team) in these staging areas.
Both Mississippi and Louisiana have mandatory evacuation orders in place for some areas. National Guard troops have been deployed to assist law enforcement in evacuations.
Meanwhile, in Florida, joint federal-state-local damage assessments continue in the heavily impacted areas of south Florida from Hurricane Katrina's impact on Thursday. The joint damage assessment teams are expected to finish much of their work on Sunday. Assessment teams are not only looking at whether structural damage to communities and individual homes and property exists, but also to what extent private insurance and other federal agency and volunteer organization programs will cover any damage found. This will help determine the need for a federal disaster declaration or if state and local resources can cover the remaining needs. The state of Florida has opened distribution centers in Homestead and Miami for commodities of ice, water and food. Power outages continue to be addressed and shelters are open for those in need.
FEMA's Regional Offices in Atlanta, Georgia, and Denton, Texas, are monitoring Hurricane Katrina's progress through the Gulf and are closely coordinating with Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama state Emergency Operations Centers. FEMA Advance Emergency Response Teams have been deployed to Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. FEMA has also sent Mobile Emergency Response Support vehicles to Mississippi and Louisiana. Eighteen Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMATs) and 3 Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) task forces have been deployed to the region for further dispatch when needed.
FEMA prepares the nation for all hazards and manages federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates mitigation activities, trains first responders, works with state and local emergency managers, and manages the National Flood Insurance Program and the U.S. Fire Administration. FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003.
August 30, 2005

The September Tomato Report

so here we are at the designated end, i think, of the great tomato contest. we have eaten many tomatoes. well, more than three or four anyway. we have learned that last summer was perhaps atypical in terms of sustained heat. this year has been cooler and wetter. we have tomatoes coming on, but, alas, not many ripe yet. the greenhouse has saved us and the most prolific plant so far has been a volunteer cherry tomato. some of this year's plants, for some reason, have produced more foliage than fruit, although one has at last a fine set of greenies.

our outside plants are likewise full of green fruit, some starting to turn yellow or orange. we have creole tomatoes from a friend in new orleans (whose house and family survived) that are coming on strong, but not yet ripe. so here are some pix........

this is a volunteer growing from where we buried kitchen compost. looks to be a kind of heritage type from fruit from a volunteer in the greenhouse last year, which had to come from the previous owner's crop. we just yesterday noticed a volunteer avocado here, from the compost.


this is last night's dinner input from the garden. eggplant, spinach, tomatoes, and basil. we didn't eat the flower.



our entry for "most sensual." the mood is established by the hand, don't you think?

BOBCAT!: When Reality Demands Attention

We've had our attention focused on lands very far from our small patch of yard these past few days. This evening after we let Bonsai out, he didn't stray far from the back door. DPR and I were having dinner and talking about the state of the world, when Bonnie-boy made a sound like he wanted to come back in. When I opened the screen door, he didn't make a move to come in but stared into the yard. I looked where he was staring and there was a huge bobcat not more than a hundred feet from our door. Thirty feet on the other side of the pond. I couldn't believe it was that close. I grabbed Bonnie, who decided he should be coy at the moment, and tossed him into the house. DPR had already grabbed the camera, but the bobcat was moving pretty furtively and hiding behind some of the tall grasses. We think he figured out how to get under the fence because by the time DPR handed me the camera, the bobcat was outside. I saw it walking along the fence and clicked two shots. Unfortunately, in the heat of the moment, I kicked some rocks off the steps, and it really scared our visitor. I was able to click one more shot, but most of its body was concealed by the tree. I think you get a sense of what we were looking at though.

Bush Goes for the Photo-Op

There is something surreal about listening to CNN reporters, MSNBC reporters, ABC reporters asking questions of officials that I would ask, with the same incredulous horrified sound in their voices that I have in mine.

There is a palpable rise in consciousness at the moment because the photographs coming from the superdome and convention center, the streets of New Orleans and Mississippi demonstrate in absolute terms our staggering ill-preparedness for a homeland catastrophe. These images are as grossly unsettling as photos from Abu Ghraib, except instead of torture we see people being subjected to abject neglect and devastating privations. Yet, isn't it a kind of torture to be forced to go without food and water for days, to be compelled to live in a sea of human shit and piss of 25,000 people, to have no place to hide from rapist, thieves, and thugs. These photos and news stories are not secret. They are not being surreptitiously leaked to us. This is just the news out of New Orleans. This is the fruition of conservative politics brought to its logical and predictable conclusion.

There is something deeply incongruous about watching George Bush trying to look interested, like a man with compassion. I left this comment over at Staying Alive the other day. I did at first think the President had a second My Pet Goat moment, but I'm starting to think it feels more like Karla Fay Tucker redux. The guitar-playing / posing with warships while a city was drowning is what finally drove home how he mindlessly mocks the helpless. Somehow, even the dead and dying don't elicit what would be considered by any standard a response worthy of a human being. His feigned interest now is merely a vulgarity.

I am conflicted. I feel some hope that this catastrophe will bring to light the need for an efficient, compassionate, progressive government, that 2006 will restore us to congressional leadership. But I am full of despair that the illumination has come once again on the backs of the poor and destitute.

Disaster

we are struck dumb by the enormity of the disaster. the hurricane itself was awful. our nation's response, not that of individual citizens, but the official action, is our national shame. what has "homeland security" bought us, if not the planning and resources to respond to disaster? others, more eloquent than we are, are keeping us informed of the current crisis and the genesis of the failure of a proper national response. the neo-con, "compassionate conservative," faux-christian republican administration has betrayed homeland security for a pre-emptive, optional war.

go read Shakespeare's sister, Digby, and Billmon.

Chris Clarke at Creek Running North has a link to a stunning interview with Ray Nagin, mayor of New Orleans.

Signing Off For Now

We are silenced by the crushing weight of angst, despair, destruction, and death emanating from our gulf states.
We have nothing to add to the discussion, but our outrage and grief.
We'll be back when we have something to say.
Until then...