Healing Katrina: Volunteering in Post-Hurricane Katrina

Hello, President Obama!

2009-01-21T10:32:00.002-05:00

Congratulations to President Obama!

Let's hope that he will take a more active role in the re-building of the destruction these years after Hurricane Katrina ... and that he will respond more appropriately when the next natural disaster strikes.

May God bless America.

'Totally Wrong' Bush's Final Words on Katrina ... Hopefully

2009-01-12T23:05:00.006-05:00

In this article from the AP, President George Bush attempted to defend his poor leadership role in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

From the article:

"Bush, in some of his last comments before leaving office, said Monday at a news conference that he stood behind the federal government's response to Katrina, even though he admitted once again that some things could have been done differently and acknowledged there's still more work to do. Those words stung for people still living in the aftermath of the storm, still waiting for neighbors to come home.

"More people need to have their own home there," Bush said. "But the systems are in place to continue the reconstruction in New Orleans. You know, people said, 'Well, the federal response was slow.' Don't tell me the federal response was slow when there was 30,000 people pulled off roofs right after the storm passed."

and:

The comment drew an at-times exasperated response from residents like LeBlanc and government leaders, some of whom believe federal bureaucracy is still choking recovery efforts.

"Clearly there were mistakes made at every level of government, and I and other Louisiana leaders have accepted responsibility for our own," Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., said. "But no state is equipped to respond to a catastrophe of this magnitude, and for this reason, federal law specifically tasks the federal government to step up. It did not, and the president's failure to account for that responsibility more than three years later is terribly disappointing."

Former Gov. Kathleen Blanco, the Democrat in office when the storm hit, said state and local officials and volunteers played a major role in the rescue effort.

"President Bush is totally wrong about the federal response," said Blanco, who didn't seek re-election after her image was battered following the state's response to both Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. "It was absolutely too slow in those early, critical days."

Residents here have levied criticism at every level of government since the storm, not just the White House. After levees failed during Katrina, an estimated 80 percent of New Orleans was under water. The surrounding area and parts of the Mississippi Gulf Coast were essentially wiped out. A massive military presence didn't arrive until days after the storm, and the storm is blamed in the death of more than 1,600 people across Louisiana and Mississippi.

A tug-of-war between federal, state and local government has persisted in the years since. State and local officials have complained about red tape tied to aid programs, and Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal said Monday that a backlog of infrastructure project worksheets under appeal or in dispute with the Federal Emergency Management Agency "continues to hinder the recovery efforts of our communities that cannot finish rebuilding their schools and police and fire stations."

leaving the final word for ...

Melanie Ehrlich, a resident and frequent critic of the state-run Road Home program, said that residents, not goverment at any level, have rebuilt the city.

"They've done this in spite of a response by the federal government that has been too slow and much more concerned about bureaucratic rules that did not fit with this historic disaster," she said.

The Katrina response "is still a national disgrace, and New Orleans, in many places, still looks like a war-torn city."

It is truly, truly time for George Bush to step out of office.

Bush and Katrina

2009-01-02T15:01:00.003-05:00

An article in Vanity Fair proposes a meta-interview, that is, putting together a number of interviews from those close to President Bush. As the article states, "A sweeping draft of history—distilled from scores of interviews—offers fresh insight into the roles of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and other key players."

the article states:

"August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina, one of the most powerful hurricanes ever recorded, strikes the Gulf Coast. The storm surge breaches the levees in New Orleans; the city is flooded and eventually evacuated amid a complete breakdown of civil order. Bush flies over the city on his way back from a fund-raiser out West. Days later, visiting the destruction as relief efforts falter, the president praises the fema director, Michael Brown: “Brownie, you’re doing a heckuva job.”

Bush vows to rebuild New Orleans, and Brown, whose performance is widely criticized, is effectively fired; the president’s approval rating sinks to 39 percent. Three years after Katrina the population of New Orleans will have dropped by one-third. The city’s defenses against storms and floods will remain a vulnerable patchwork.

Dan Bartlett, White House communications director and later counselor to the president: Politically, it was the final nail in the coffin.

Matthew Dowd, Bush’s pollster and chief strategist for the 2004 presidential campaign: Katrina to me was the tipping point. The president broke his bond with the public. Once that bond was broken, he no longer had the capacity to talk to the American public. State of the Union addresses? It didn’t matter. Legislative initiatives? It didn’t matter. P.R.? It didn’t matter. Travel? It didn’t matter. I knew when Katrina—I was like, man, you know, this is it, man. We’re done.

Michael Brown, director of fema, which becomes part of the Department of Homeland Security: There were two things that went wrong with Katrina. One is personal on my part. I failed after having briefed the president about how bad things were in New Orleans and telling him that I needed the Cabinet to stand up and pay attention. When that didn’t happen, I should’ve leveled with the American public instead of sticking to those typical political talking points about—how we’re working as a team and we’re doing everything we can. I should’ve said this thing is just not working. Probably would’ve been fired anyway, but at least it would’ve caused the federal government to stand up and get off their butts.

The second thing that happened was this. [Homeland Security Secretary Michael] Chertoff inserted himself into the response, and suddenly I had this massive bureaucracy on top of me. I should have basically told Chertoff to kiss off, that I would continue to deal directly with the president. But he’s the new kid on the block and the White House deferred to him, and it gave me no choice but to work through him, which then scoped things down and caused it to just completely implode on itself.

Lee Hamilton, former Indiana congressman and vice-chair of the 9/11 commission: When you have a disaster strike, you have to have someone in charge. They didn’t have anybody in charge in New York during 9/11. They didn’t have anybody in charge in Katrina. And you get a mess.

Politically it’s a very difficult thing. You’ve got the counties, the cities, and the federal government and all the rest to work it out. Nobody wants to give up authority prior to the fact. The governor of Louisiana wants to be in charge. The governor of Mississippi wants to be in charge. The mayor of New Orleans wants to be in charge. You’ve got 50 other cities that want to be in charge. I have come to the view in these massive disasters—like Katrina or New York on 9/11—that the federal government has to be in charge because they’re the only one that has the resources to deal with the problem.

But presidents don’t like to stomp on governors and override them. When these kinds of problems are not resolved, people die."

Thank goodness we'll be saying goodbye to President Bush here in 2009. Let's pray our future leaders will not let people die as they did in the aftermath of Katrina.

FEMA Trailer Strategy: Blame the Victims

2008-10-22T16:22:00.004-04:00

AP News Service reports of toxic poisoning in FEMA trailers that appears to be happening to people near Cedar Rapids, Iowa who were displaced by the flooding in June of this year.

The article reports:

"The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday questioned a TV station's findings of high formaldehyde levels in agency-issued trailers and said the lifestyles and habits of the flood victims living in the trailers may be to blame.

Government tests have shown high formaldehyde levels in FEMA trailers and mobile homes sent to Gulf Coast hurricane victims starting in 2005, and a judge recently cited evidence that FEMA delayed an investigation into complaints about the homes there."

... and ...

"The conference call between reporters and FEMA officials turned testy when Samp said an infant living in a tested trailer had been taken to the hospital with a nosebleed.

"Some of these people are moms with babies, OK?" Samp said. "What responsibility does FEMA have to make sure that the air quality is safe enough to continue living there, even if (the reading) wasn't the baseline number?"

FEMA spokesman Michael Lapinski replied that residents unhappy with their trailers could move out.

"You can have a health concern regardless of what the formaldehyde reading is," Lapinski said. "If you have a health concern and you want to move out of that housing, you're free to move out of that housing." But moving out of that housing could cost the residents, said Bill Vogel, FEMA's coordinating officer for disaster recovery in Iowa. If they've already received the maximum of $28,800 in a housing-assistance grant from FEMA, then they'll be moving out on their own dime."

Didn't we go through this in the aftermath of Katrina?

Oh. Yeah. That's right.

The article continues,

"Earlier this month, a federal judge in New Orleans ruled the government is not immune from lawsuits claiming Gulf Coast hurricane victims were exposed to high formaldehyde levels in FEMA-provided trailers. The judge said there was evidence FEMA delayed investigating complaints about the trailers because it might be held legally responsible.

Roughly 800 people are plaintiffs in the Gulf Coast cases, and attorneys are seeking certification as a class-action on behalf of thousands of people who lived in FEMA trailers after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

Government tests of the air quality in hundreds of those trailers and mobile homes showed formaldehyde levels that were, on average, about five times higher than what people are exposed to in most modern homes."

This is simply ridiculous. Bail out corporations? No problem. Give enormous amounts of money to executives who have already proven themselves incapable of handling money? Absolutely.

But bail out the people displaced from their homes by natural disaster, many of whom are poor? Forgeddaboudit!

Ridiculous.

New Film on Katrina

2008-09-24T09:42:00.002-04:00

I just found out about a new movie called "Trouble the Water," that tells the story of folks who lived through Katrina in New Orleans.

The movie has won several awards, including "Best Documentary 2008" at the famous Sundance Film Festival.

Visit the movie's website here.

FEMA to Close Trailer Parks

2008-05-28T22:42:00.002-04:00

The AP is reporting that FEMA is in the process of closing down their post-Katrina trailer parks.

As I wrote about in HEALING KATRINA, many people were basically dumped into these trailer parks in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Some live there still, and the article reports that people are concerned about some of these folks becoming homeless.

A continuing tragedy ....

Today I'm the Featured Author ...

2008-04-08T12:58:00.000-04:00

... on this website.

Surprise! More Problems Revealed!

2008-03-13T21:54:00.006-04:00

In an article released today, AP writer JOHN MORENO GONZALES reports that "tens of thousands" of people in New Orleans

"... are still waiting for their government rebuilding checks, and many complain they can't even get their calls returned. But the company that holds the big contract to distribute the aid is doing quite well for itself."

Some of these folks have been living in trailer homes for 2 1/2 years. Simply outrageous.

The company that has been placed in charge of managing the housing operation, ICF International of Fairfax, Va., seemed to be able to talk the great state of Louisiana into giving it a pay raise, despite the poor work record. As the article notes:

"In the waning days of Gov. Kathleen Blanco's administration, state officials increased the management contract ceiling from $756 million to $912 million — this, after the Legislature wanted to fire ICF over its handling of the homeowner recovery program, called Road Home."

Not bad. A for-profit company bungles the job ... and gets a $156 million pay raise. (Clearly, I'm in the wrong line of work.)

Soon after Katrina, the Federal Government and Louisiana Government set up this "Road Home" program to help people out. From the AP article:

"Road Home was created in June 2006 as a state-run, federally funded plan to compensate homeowners for the breach of New Orleans' government-run levees. Homeowners can apply for grants to repair their homes, or obtain buyouts if they don't want to fix things up."

Yet, 56,000 applicants — nearly 40 percent of the qualified total — had yet to receive a cent as of last month ...

Good news and bad news here, folks. But I'll get to that in a minute.

As one might guess, ICF began pointing fingers at the state while splitting hairs at the same time. The article goes on,

"ICF spokeswoman Gentry Brann blamed the state's ever-changing rules and political meddling by officials and community groups for many of Road Home's difficulties.

She said that Road Home has come to be regarded as an entitlement program, and said the company must carefully evaluate 157,000 applications to guard against fraud.

"The state essentially redefined the goal of the program from rebuilding to relief in midstream," Brann said.

She said the $912 million that the company could be paid is to cover the costs of the program and was approved by public officials.

"It's very important to note this is not a `pay increase.' It's not actually even `pay' to ICF. Rather it is an increase in the contract ceiling to cover the additional unit price costs incurred by our subcontractors," Brann said."

As a consultant and independent contractor myself, this last paragraph is one of the best examples of hair-splitting that I've seen in a long time. If I usually charge $9,000 for a corporate keynote speech, and then decided that I needed $18,000 per speech, yes, technically, since I don't get "paid" by a company when I give a keynote speech (in the same sense that the company pays an employee), so I can't really say I get a "pay raise." But money does change hands ... and that's the point here.

Now ... the good news and bad news?

The bad news? From the AP article:

"Plagued by cost overruns and delays, Road Home is expected to cost the taxpayers $10 billion in federal money and has become another glaring symbol of frustration and red tape in post-Katrina New Orleans."

$10 billion dollars. That's significantly bad to people like you or I.

The good news? To use a phrase I heard when I was volunteering in Mississip, compared to what the U.S. is spending on the military, "That ain't nothin'."

It's a bit tricky to get a handle on U.S. military spending, since estimates on U.S. military spending range from approximately $500 billion (White House) to $711 billion (Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation).

But even at the most conservative amount ($500 billion from the White House), the U.S. is spending about $1.37 billion PER DAY on military expenditures. So the $10 billion "cost overruns and delays"? It takes about ONE WEEK to spend that much money in the military. (And again, that's using the more conservative figures, so reality is probably far worse.)

As I said in my book HEALING KATRINA, I'm not opposed to the military. I AM opposed to wrong-headed priorities, though. Leaving people to rot in poisonous trailers is the wrong thing to do.

A New Review of "Healing Katrina"

2008-02-19T09:23:00.001-05:00

There's a new review of "Healing Katrina" that was posted by Savannah from Florida, who said in part of her review:

"Congratulations, Mr. Warneka, for keeping a journal of your time as a volunteer and sharing it with the world. It shows us the strength, compassion and human kindness of the volunteers."

Read her full review here.

Thanks for the kind words, Savannah! :-)

FEMA, FORMALDEHYDE, FOUL-UPS

2008-02-15T07:58:00.000-05:00

An article from the NEW YORK TIMES describes FEMA's continuing incompetence around Katrina recovery and rebuilding.

The article states:

"At a news conference Thursday, Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, announced that tests of 519 trailers and mobile homes in Louisiana and Mississippi revealed unacceptably high levels of formaldehyde, a suspected carcinogen that can cause serious breathing problems even in people who do not ordinarily have respiratory problems."

The problem?

"Red flags went up about formaldehyde nearly two years ago. In June 2006, a man who had complained of formaldehyde fumes was found dead in his trailer. FEMA received many warnings, not only from the families who occupied the claustrophobic trailers but from the Environmental Protection Agency and, more recently, the House Committee on Science and Technology. Yet FEMA waited until the disease control centers had done the survey before seriously swinging into action."

The trailers, which I wrote about in my book HEALING KATRINA: VOLUNTEERING IN POST-HURRICANE MISSISSIPPI, were used to house thousands of people in the afermath of Hurricane Katrina. Many of the people were part of the marginalized populations in our country. The New York Times:

"The saddest part of this is that the people who are most at risk are, for reasons of age, illness or poverty, the least able to defend themselves. Just about everyone who could move out of the trailers has moved. Of the original 140,00 trailers, only about 35,000 are still occupied, and many of these are on private property, usually the occupants’ driveways. The truly vulnerable trailer population consists of former renters who are still living in FEMA parks — playgrounds, churchyards and the like — because they have no place to go."

One of the hallmarks of a civilized country is how it treats poor, sick, young and old. By that standard, America is failing miserably.

Federal Law Ties Judge's Hands

2008-01-31T07:11:00.000-05:00

In this AP wire story, U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval ruled this week that the Army Corps of Engineers cannot be held liable due to the flooding of New Orleans after Katrina.

The article notes that the judge was quite critical of the Corps,

"The judge issued a stinging condemnation of the Corps, saying the agency "cast a blind eye" in protecting New Orleans and "squandered millions of dollars in building a levee system ... which was known to be inadequate by the Corps' own calculations."

... and this from the plaintiffs' lawyer:

"I knew we had an uphill battle, but we had to do it," plaintiffs lawyer Joseph Bruno said. "It's an outrage. Read the opinion: The judge reads through all the negligence by the Corps, but says he had to rule the way he had to."

In another outrage, people are still living in the trailers, some of which I visited during my volunteer time in Mississippi:

"This cost people's lives and property," said Gwen Bierria, 66, who is still living in a government-issued trailer and is among the tens of thousands of people who have filed claims against the federal government for damage from the levee breaches."

Very frustrating to read ....

Post-Katrina Polling

2007-12-10T14:15:00.000-05:00

It's been awhile since I've posted on this blog, but the residents of the Southern states are never far from my mind.

Here's an interesting poll that's being conducted by the University of New Orleans.

Basically, the poll reports:

"A new poll suggests mixed feelings among Americans for providing more federal aid to help New Orleans recover from Hurricane Katrina, though more than half of respondents believe too little aid has been provided so far.

The University of New Orleans poll being released Monday showed 35.2 percent of respondents "somewhat willing" to support more federal spending for recovery, mindful that involves "expenditure of tax dollars," while 22.3 percent were "neither willing nor unwilling." Another 20.3 percent were "extremely willing;" 22.2 percent were somewhat or extremely unwilling.

Yet, 51.7 percent believed the federal government has provided too little aid. About a third believed the amount has been "just about right."

PTSD and Katrina

2007-10-19T11:57:00.000-04:00

This article from Associated Press has experts calling for more research into Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

While the article specifically addresses veterans returning from Iraq, it also states:

"While PTSD was first recognized in Vietnam veterans, war is far from its only trigger. Crime, accidents and other trauma can cause it in civilians, too. Sufferers experience nightmares, flashbacks and physical symptoms that make them feel as if they are reliving the trauma, even many years later."

As I discussed in my book HEALING KATRINA, it is important to remember that victims from Hurricane Katrina (as well as disaster response workers) still suffer from PTSD.

Second Anniversary of Katrina: It's More Than New Orleans

2007-08-29T08:16:00.000-04:00

On this second Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, I encourage people to remember that many more places beyond New Orleans have been impacted ... as the media mostly focuses on New Orleans.

How bad is it?

As Yahoo News reports,

Meanwhile, an international people's tribunal has been convened to take testimony from victims. The tribunal is being spearheaded by legal activists trying to build a case under international law accusing the United States of human rights abuses during and after Katrina.

A very sad anniversary.

Continuing Investigations into Medical Deaths During Katrina

2007-08-26T21:21:00.000-04:00

CNN reports on the continuing investigation and legal issues concerning the possibility that hospital personnel murdered patients under their care during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

CNN reports a Newsweek interview of one doctor:

"One of the physicians absolved in the proceedings, Dr. Anna Pou, described post-Katrina conditions at the hospital as "less than Third World." Hospital staff went into "reverse triage," in which the sickest patients would be treated last, Pou told Newsweek in an article published Saturday."

Very sad.

Is my math correct here?

2007-08-05T20:16:00.000-04:00

Check my math ... please!

Associated Press writer Mary Foster report that many poor continue to be stuck in FEMA trailers several years after Katrina. Reporting that 120,000 trailers were provided by FEMA The article goes on to say

"Because hurricanes Katrina and Rita destroyed so much affordable housing, Lewis and thousands of others displaced — mainly the poor, elderly and infirm — have nowhere else to go."

and still more ...

"Our biggest challenge is finding housing for people," said Mario "Sam" Sammartino, who supervises Catholic Services caseworkers at Louisiana's FEMA trailer parks. "What's left here is the poorest of the poor. Anyone with a job or a house has already left."

Many of the hurricane evacuees from New Orleanians didn't own homes or lived in the city's 5,100 public housing units. But federal officials plan to tear down four projects and replace them with mixed-income developments, and private rental housing — if it can be found — is expensive.

Sammartino and others working to resettle residents believe it will take at least five years to clear the FEMA parks. About 45,000 trailers are still occupied in Louisiana, 20,000 in Mississippi, 17,000 in Texas and 400 in Alabama.

Okay, let's do the math:

120,000 FEMA trailers provided in 2005

(45,000) Trailers occupied in Louisiana
(20,000) " " in Mississippi
(17,000) " " in Texas
( 400) " " in Alabama
=========
82,400 Trailers still occupied in 2007

82,400 / 120,000 = approximately 69% (.68667%)

So in roughly 2 years, the U.S. government has managed to get ONLY 30% of the population of the FEMA trailers placed into permanent housing?!?

Is it me, or does something sound wrong with those number?

I would call that a continued failure on the part of our government.

Memories...

2007-07-05T10:44:00.000-04:00

I was cleaning my hands with hand sanitizer the other day, and was astounded at how quickly that smell took me back to Southern Mississippi....

Katrina, Global Warming ... and the Future of Earth.

2007-05-08T10:32:00.000-04:00

Many scientists are concluding that Hurricae Katrina and Rita were both products of global warming. This article from LiveScience.com written by Andrea Thompason and Ker Than is an important timeline about the future of our planet. The article is so disturbing that I'm going to repeat it here in full...

********************************

Timeline: The Frightening Future of Earth
By Andrea Thompson, and Ker Than

posted: 19 April 2007 08:32 am ET

Our planet's prospects for environmental stability are bleaker than ever with the approach of this year's Earth Day, April 22. Global warming is widely accepted as a reality by scientists and even by previously doubtful government and industrial leaders. And according to a recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), there is a 90 percent likelihood that humans are contributing to the change.

The international panel of scientists predicts the global average temperature could increase by 2 to 11 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100 and that sea levels could rise by up to 2 feet.

Scientists have even speculated that a slight increase in Earth's rotation rate could result, along with other changes. Glaciers, already receding, will disappear. Epic floods will hit some areas while intense drought will strike others. Humans will face widespread water shortages. Famine and disease will increase. Earth's landscape will transform radically, with a quarter of plants and animals at risk of extinction.

While putting specific dates on these traumatic potential events is challenging, this timeline paints the big picture and details Earth's future based on several recent studies and the longer scientific version of the IPCC report, which was made available to LiveScience.

2007

More of the world's population now lives in cities than in rural areas, changing patterns of land use. The world population surpasses 6.6 billion. (Peter Crane, Royal Botanic Gardens, UK, Science; UN World Urbanization Prospectus: The 2003 Revision; U.S. Census Bureau)

2008

Global oil production peaks sometime between 2008 and 2018, according to a model by one Swedish physicist. Others say this turning point, known as "Hubbert's Peak," won't occur until after 2020. Once Hubbert's Peak is reached, global oil production will begin an irreversible decline, possibly triggering a global recession, food shortages and conflict between nations over dwindling oil supplies. (doctoral dissertation of Frederik Robelius, University of Uppsala, Sweden; report by Robert Hirsch of the Science Applications International Corporation)

2020

Flash floods will very likely increase across all parts of Europe. (IPCC)

Less rainfall could reduce agriculture yields by up to 50 percent in some parts of the world. (IPCC)

World population will reach 7.6 billion people. (U.S. Census Bureau)

2030

Diarrhea-related diseases will likely increase by up to 5 percent in low-income parts of the world. (IPCC)

Up to 18 percent of the world's coral reefs will likely be lost as a result of climate change and other environmental stresses. In Asian coastal waters, the coral loss could reach 30 percent. (IPCC)

World population will reach 8.3 billion people. (U.S. Census Bureau)

Warming temperatures will cause temperate glaciers on equatorial mountains in Africa to disappear. (Richard Taylor, University College London, Geophysical Research Letters:)

In developing countries, the urban population will more than double to about 4 billion people, packing more people onto a given city's land area. The urban populations of developed countries may also increase by as much as 20 percent. (World Bank: The Dynamics of Global Urban Expansion)

2040

The Arctic Sea could be ice-free in the summer, and winter ice depth may shrink drastically. Other scientists say the region will still have summer ice up to 2060 and 2105. (Marika Holland, NCAR, Geophysical Research Letters)

2050

Small alpine glaciers will very likely disappear completely, and large glaciers will shrink by 30 to 70 percent. Austrian scientist Roland Psenner of the University of Innsbruck says this is a conservative estimate, and the small alpine glaciers could be gone as soon as 2037. (IPCC)

In Australia, there will likely be an additional 3,200 to 5,200 heat-related deaths per year. The hardest hit will be people over the age of 65. An extra 500 to 1,000 people will die of heat-related deaths in New York City per year. In the United Kingdom, the opposite will occur, and cold-related deaths will outpace heat-related ones. (IPCC)

World population reaches 9.4 billion people. (U.S. Census Bureau)

Crop yields could increase by up to 20 percent in East and Southeast Asia, while decreasing by up to 30 percent in Central and South Asia. Similar shifts in crop yields could occur on other continents. (IPCC)

As biodiversity hotspots are more threatened, a quarter of the world's plant and vertebrate animal species could face extinction. (Jay Malcolm, University of Toronto, Conservation Biology)

2070

As glaciers disappear and areas affected by drought increase, electricity production for the world's existing hydropower stations will decrease. Hardest hit will be Europe, where hydropower potential is expected to decline on average by 6 percent; around the Mediterranean, the decrease could be up to 50 percent. (IPCC)

Warmer, drier conditions will lead to more frequent and longer droughts, as well as longer fire-seasons, increased fire risks, and more frequent heat waves, especially in Mediterranean regions. (IPCC)

2080

While some parts of the world dry out, others will be inundated. Scientists predict up to 20 percent of the world's populations live in river basins likely to be affected by increased flood hazards. Up to 100 million people could experience coastal flooding each year. Most at risk are densely populated and low-lying areas that are less able to adapt to rising sea levels and areas which already face other challenges such as tropical storms. (IPCC)

Coastal population could balloon to 5 billion people, up from 1.2 billion in 1990. (IPCC)

Between 1.1 and 3.2 billion people will experience water shortages and up to 600 million will go hungry. (IPCC)

Sea levels could rise around New York City by more than three feet, potentially flooding the Rockaways, Coney Island, much of southern Brooklyn and Queens, portions of Long Island City, Astoria, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens, lower Manhattan and eastern Staten Island from Great Kills Harbor north to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. (NASA GISS)

2085

The risk of dengue fever from climate change is estimated to increase to 3.5 billion people. (IPCC)

2100

A combination of global warming and other factors will push many ecosystems to the limit, forcing them to exceed their natural ability to adapt to climate change. (IPCC)

Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels will be much higher than anytime during the past 650,000 years. (IPCC)

Ocean pH levels will very likely decrease by as much as 0.5 pH units, the lowest it's been in the last 20 million years. The ability of marine organisms such as corals, crabs and oysters to form shells or exoskeletons could be impaired. (IPCC)

Thawing permafrost and other factors will make Earth's land a net source of carbon emissions, meaning it will emit more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than it absorbs. (IPCC)

Roughly 20 to 30 percent of species assessed as of 2007 could be extinct by 2100 if global mean temperatures exceed 2 to 3 degrees of pre-industrial levels. (IPCC)

New climate zones appear on up to 39 percent of the world's land surface, radically transforming the planet. (Jack Williams, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)

A quarter of all species of plants and land animals-more than a million total-could be driven to extinction. The IPCC reports warn that current "conservation practices are generally ill-prepared for climate change and effective adaptation responses are likely to be costly to implement." (IPCC)

Increased droughts could significantly reduce moisture levels in the American Southwest, northern Mexico and possibly parts of Europe, Africa and the Middle East, effectively recreating the "Dust Bowl" environments of the 1930s in the United States. (Richard Seager, Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, Science)

2200

An Earth day will be 0.12 milliseconds shorter, as rising temperatures cause oceans to expand away from the equator and toward the poles, one model predicts. One reason water will be shifted toward the poles is most of the expansion will take place in the North Atlantic Ocean, near the North Pole. The poles are closer to the Earth's axis of rotation, so having more mass there should speed up the planet's rotation. (Felix Landerer, Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Geophysical Research Letters)

Floods Flashback Katrina

2007-04-16T17:49:00.000-04:00

As I watch on the media about the flooding that is occuring on the Eastern seaboard, I think back to the experiences that I heard so many people having lived through in the aftermath of Katrina.

For people suffering from PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), pictures of flooding can easily trigger remembering traumatic events.

My heart goes out to everyone impacted by this current flooding, as well as those Katrina survivors (and those who helped them) who's trauma re-surfaces.

Katrina Fatigue....

2007-03-21T08:05:00.000-04:00

Got this email about Katrina Fatigue from Oxfam. I encourage everyone to act today...

Dear Tim,
A year and a half after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the hard work of getting survivors out of FEMA trailers and back in safe and decent homes has just begun. Unfortunately, "Katrina Fatigue" is setting in on Capitol Hill, and Congress is reluctant to help the region anymore. Low-income families are still in danger of being left out of the recovery process, and they need your help right now.Please call your representative today at (202) 225-3121 and ask him or her to support H.R. 1227, the Gulf Coast Hurricanes Housing Recovery Act.
Then click here and tell us what he or she said.

Tomorrow, March 20th, members of Congress will vote on a bill that would go a long way toward solving the continuing housing crisis—H.R. 1227, the Gulf Coast Hurricanes Housing Recovery Act of 2007. The bill will increase transparency and accountability for how states spend federal dollars; protect the rights of public housing residents; and help create rental housing for disabled, homeless, and elderly people.

There are also amendments to help people still receiving FEMA assistance to move out of trailers and into rental housing.Let Congress know that the crisis in the Gulf Coast is still a national priority! Call your representative today at (202) 225-3121, and tell him or her you care about the recovery of the Gulf Coast. Don't forget to click here and tell us what he or she said.When you call, ask to speak with the staffer in charge of housing issues.

Tell him or her this:

- I expect Congress to deliver on its promises to address the continuing crisis in the Gulf Coast.

- I am concerned that the most vulnerable families are being left out of the recovery.

- I would like my representative to vote for H.R. 1227, including the Green Amendments and the Manager's Amendment, when the bill comes to the floor on Tuesday.

Tell Congress to shake off Katrina Fatigue and pass this important bill that will help these families get out of FEMA trailers and back into homes.

Sincerely,Tim Fullerton
Oxfam America Advocacy Fund

Posting and thinking...

2007-03-09T12:52:00.000-05:00

Part of my intention in keeping this blog has been to post some of the pictures I took while I was down in Mississippi, along with the story of the photo.

Even this long after the storm, I find myself reluctant to go back to those memories.

Weird how long PTSD lasts.

Whew! Back in Blogspace...

2007-02-21T15:50:00.000-05:00

Hi all!

My apologies to my regular readers ... had a bit of technical difficulties and was out of Blogspace for a bit.

I'm back and should be blogging regularly now.

Warmly,

Tim

Identifying the bodies from Katrina

2006-12-17T10:04:00.000-05:00

This article from the Associated Press tells the heart-breaking story about how even now -- more than a year and half after Hurricane Katrina, workers are still attempting to identify bodies that were found after Katrina hit.

I've posted the article in full so that people will still be able to read it after the AP no longer posts it.

********************
Workers struggle to ID Katrina victims

By RUKMINI CALLIMACHI, Associated Press Writer
Sat Dec 16, 8:18 PM ET

Water is unforgiving to the dead and by the time the crews arrived, the men were missing their eyes.

Carefully, the workers slipped them into black, zippered bags, placed them inside a van and drove them 70 miles to an emergency morgue which had been set up inside a refrigerated tent. Over the months that followed, investigators cut them, prodded them, photographed them, X-rayed them and removed pieces of their DNA, all in an attempt to coax their bodies into spitting out names.

In neat rows beside them are the coffins of 27 other anonymous souls, their bodies stuck in a forensic purgatory — unknown, unclaimed and unable to be buried more than 15 months after Hurricane Katrina made landfall.

There were those among Katrina's dead who succumbed alongside people they knew; slips of paper or damp cardboard, inscribed with their names, were tucked into their clothes. But many more drowned alone, their bodies drifting in the black water, getting snagged on fence posts, coming to rest beneath freeway overpasses, in the rubble of uprooted homes.

It's a fate which continues to torture the living as they struggle to give the dead what the dead are owed.

A body can only say so much about itself. It can tell its sex, for instance, its height, a race. Bones can speak of past accidents.

But the elements and simple decay can erase much of the rest. More than a week passed before the first crew arrived to retrieve the more than 1,300 people who died in Louisiana and by that time, many of the bodies were bloated beyond recognition.

Besides their eyes, the two men were missing their finger- and toenails. Soaking in the coarse water, their skin color changed; the workers who retrieved them couldn't tell if the men were black or white.

___

The two bodies had been lying in the mud inside the locked apartment at 224 De La Ronde Drive for at least 16 days when the white, unmarked van pulled up.

With orders to save the living, the National Guard had already searched the building, but could do little more than mark it with the words "2 dead" and a spray-painted X. They painted a red arrow over the muddy weeds, pointing to apartment 4D, before moving on.

Then the rescue crew from Kenyon International Emergency Services arrived, slipping into white Tyvek suits and strapping on respirators. They broke down the door.

With their gloved hands, they lifted the two bodies from a carpet of wet mud and placed them into two plastic body bags.

Then they carried them out feet first, as they walked in life, said Kenyon CEO Robert Jensen, a veteran of the U.S. Army's mortuary service, where he learned the ritual.

"We can't give them a lot, but we do what we can to give them a little bit of their dignity back," he said.

Under police escort, they were driven out of the disaster zone to the tiny town of St. Gabriel on the winding banks of the Mississippi River.

In the Bible, the archangel Gabriel stands at the gates of heaven. Here, Blackwater guards greeted the dead, ushering them into a refrigerated tent where the fresh, cold air was not enough to disperse the odor of death — a fruity smell, like that of a distorted, stinking peach.

"I always knew how fragile life is. But I had never seen so many people in that terrible condition before," said Dr. Frank Minyard, 77, Orleans Parish's coroner since 1973. "They were bringing them in by the truckload. All in body bags. All badly deteriorated. As tough as I am — and I think I'm tough — it affected me. I lost the joy in my heart."

In a loading bay, the bags containing the two men were lifted onto two aluminum tables and unzipped. The mud was washed from their bodies, and the investigators recorded what few details were apparent, starting with the men's personal effects.

The first man had on a fancy, short-sleeved dress shirt. On it, a pattern of red, single-stem roses. In his pocket, $60. On his shoulder, a blue tattoo of a sailing ship.

He was 6 feet tall and at least 65 years old. Several weeks would pass before his skull and facial bones were measured and investigators could say with certainty that he was white.

When they opened the second bag, they found a naked man. He was also over 65 and around 6 feet tall. Measurements would show that he, too, was white.

In the bag with him was a single packet of Sweet'n Low.

___

Each man was tagged with a number, their name in the afterlife until their real ones could be found. Then they were wheeled to different compartments in the tent, each one with a different identifying function.

At the X-ray booth, morgue workers took full-body images of the corpses. They hoped to find a pacemaker or a hip implant — a piece of steel inserted inside the body that might yield a serial number.

The men had none.

They also looked for evidence of trauma, a healed fracture, perhaps, that could be pinned to a relative's memory of a car accident or bad fall.

There were none.

At another station, investigators tried to lift their fingerprints, but their skin slipped off like a glove.

They took X-rays of their teeth in the hope that dental records salvaged from New Orleans could help them attach a body to a name.

(Back in the submerged city, Doug Cross, a dentist whose own practice was underwater, donned a Hazmat suit and ventured inside flooded dentists' offices. It would take him an hour or more to open a bloated filing cabinet and meticulously pull apart each crusty folder. Files crumbled in his hands. Others remained stuck together like a child's botched paper mache project.)

In another compartment of the tent, a piece of each man's right tibia, or shinbone, was extracted, and from the inner core of the bone, his DNA.

The specimen was put on ice, but the men would have to wait three more months, until the state finalized a contract with a DNA lab, before their genetic code could be unraveled.

Like the living, the dead would learn early on to wait.

___

In December, the bone fragments were cut into halves and carefully rewrapped.

The first piece was sent to a DNA lab in Virginia. The second to a lab in Bosnia, set up to unravel the identities of people retrieved from mass graves.

In Baton Rouge, a family assistance center was fielding calls from the relatives of the more than 13,000 people initially reported missing. More than 1,000 mouth swabs were collected from the families of those presumed dead and a database of their DNA was established. Back in New Orleans, investigators were venturing into the rubble, retrieving hair brushes, nail clippers, socks, anything that might offer specks of the genetic barcode of the missing. Almost all of it was contaminated by the floodwaters.

Relatives were asked to bring Christmas and Mother's Day cards in the hope that a trace of saliva could be found behind the crusty stamp.

It would be spring before the two labs returned their findings: Their DNA didn't match any of the samples donated by families of the missing. But it turns out, the genetic material distilled from the four tiny pieces of thigh bone was nearly identical.

The two men from apartment 4D are brothers.

___

In April, the bodies of the two brothers made the 70-mile trip back to New Orleans in another refrigerated truck.

The warehouse which was to become their temporary home is on a street of flowering weeds not far from Interstate 10, in a deserted, industrial corridor downtown. Its yellow, corrugated metal doors are sealed shut. It's a place that might store two-by-fours, or PVC pipes, an anonymous product, sold in bulk.

For the first time, they were laid to rest in handsome, silver coffins. Inside, the brothers still lie in their body bags, but the bags now rest against the silken, ivory crepe that lines the caskets. Priests and ministers of different faiths came to bless the coffins lying in the warehouse, murmuring prayers.

"It kills me that we can't identify them," says Julia Powers, chief of the forensic identification unit handling the Katrina deaths.

When she got word that the men were brothers, Powers could barely contain her excitement: "I mean, how many people are missing two white, elderly brothers?" she asked.

At her desk inside the New Orleans Forensic Center, she searched the database. For keywords, she tried variations of "white," "brothers" and "over 65" — but got no hits.

No one, it appeared, has been looking for two brothers from a street of flooded 1970s-era apartment buildings in the white, blue-collar community of Chalmette, La.

___

From the beginning, the identification of the dead, like every aspect of the post-Katrina recovery, was marred by bureaucratic red tape. Eventually, a state-of-the-art morgue, nicknamed the "forensic Taj Mahal," would be erected inside the shell of a building in Carville, not far from St. Gabriel.

But as federal dollars dried up, it would be packed up, and the forensic team disbanded. The remaining dead were shipped back to New Orleans. Relief agencies that had collected information on the missing packed up, too, and some took their databases with them.

By spring, only a few scientists remained. New employment contracts, unlike their previous agreement, specified that they could do only analysis, not field work. They could pore over pathology reports and X-rays, but they couldn't search flooded houses.

Despite all the restrictions, the constantly shrinking team — which now consists of just one full-time employee, Powers — succeeded in identifying more than 900 people who died in Louisiana. But some homes fell through the cracks and were never searched, like the one where the brothers were found.

___

Fed by the floodwaters, the shrubs flanking apartment 4D have bloomed into calf-high weeds. They're tough and knotted and they encroach on the landing.

St. Bernard Fire Chief Thomas Stone was there when they took the bodies out, and now, more than a year later, he has returned with an AP reporter and photographer who want to document the place where the brothers lived and died.

He shoved the door open. The mud that once flowed across the floor had turned gray and crusty, and as it hardened it receded and revealed some of the dead men's belongings — like the medicine bottle, lying in a corner of the living room.

Stone knelt down, picked it up and scanned the label, holding it to the oval of light pouring in from a broken window.

Turning it in his hand, he read: Warfarin, 5 mg. The medication — typically prescribed to prevent blood clots — was last filled at the neighborhood's Sav-A-Center on Aug. 18, 2005, 10 days before the storm.

Also on the label was the address of apartment 4D. And a smudged name.

"How do you pronounce that?" asked Stone, struggling to sound out the unfamiliar syllables.

Keistut Pranckunas.

It's like uttering the name of a ghost.

___

"They had a difficult name — Greek, I think. Maybe Russian," says Abdul Khan, the owner of the apartment block that housed apartment 4D.

Pranckunas?

"That's it!" he exclaimed.

"I kept on checking the paper to see if they'd turn up on a list of the dead. They never did," said Khan, a businessman who owns several buildings in the flooded neighborhood.

For years, he'd leased the unit to the brothers. The two kept to themselves, staying behind the apartment's locked door, rarely venturing out. One was sick. The other cared for him.

Occasionally, Khan would see the healthy one wheeling a cart back from the Sav-A-Center loaded with groceries, rattling it across the uneven pavement. Off to the side of the mold-coated living room is a cart bearing the Sav-A-Center logo. There are three more in the first of the two bedrooms, neatly stacked, one inside the other.

When the waters began to rise, Khan says, their upstairs neighbor banged on the door, shouting. He tried to kick it in. The door was bolted from the inside.

After the storm, Kahn tried to retrieve his rental records to help investigators, but the waters had ruined them.

Louisiana voter registrations show that a Kiestutis Pranckunas lived at apartment 4D. He was 78. Also living there, according to public records, was 81-year-old Peter Pranckunas.

___

Plug "Pranckunas" into the Google search engine. Skim past links to a Lithuanian church in Saginaw, Mich., a football roster and a Web ad for a wedding accessories business, and eventually, you'll find a link to the Katrina People Search Board.

There, 11 days after Katrina toppled New Orleans' levees, someone posted this message:

"HI: We have two uncles that lived in Chalmette LA ... Their names are Peter and Kayo Pranckunas. If someone knows their where abouts it would be appreciated if you would let us know. Thank you and God Bless all of You."

It's a dead end. E-mail the address listed at the bottom and an automatically generated message bounces back — the account has been disabled.

But if you keep searching the Internet, you'll eventually come to an obituary published in 2002 in the Telegram & Gazette, in Worcester, Mass.

Withold Pranckunas was 81 when he died of cancer. He was one of eight children of Lithuanian immigrants and was survived, says the obituary, by three brothers — including Peter and Kayo Pranckunas of Chalmette, La.

Withold Pranckunas also left behind four daughters, among them Valerie Pranckunas.

She answered her phone in Winslow, Maine, on the second ring.

"Oh my God," she gasped, and she sobbed. "Oh my God."

___

A half-century ago, Peter and Kayo joined the circus, leaving their Massachusetts town to tour the country with the lions and bears of Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey. When the big top wound its way back to Worcester, the uncles arranged for the girls to have front-row seats.

Now 53, Valerie last saw them when she was a child; her uncles, who worked at a concession stand, gave her a stick with a toy monkey on top.

Ringling Bros eventually made its way New Orleans and there, after years on the circus trail, the two got off.

In his old age, Peter would become an invalid, bedridden and slowly slipping into dementia. Kayo, stronger and healthier, took care of him. Kayo was the one with a tattoo of a sailing ship on his shoulder.

Their meager Social Security check didn't allow them to have a phone. Several years ago, their nieces sent them a phone card, a book of stamps and a stack of Christmas cards.

Once or twice a year, Kayo walked to a gas station near the apartment and asked the attendant to dial the 1-800 number on the back of the card so he could telephone his nieces, or their father. Occasionally, they would send letters, sometimes written inside one of the Christmas cards or on the back of junk mail.

When it became clear that Katrina had decimated New Orleans, three of the nieces called a relief organization, giving full descriptions of their missing uncles. It was catalogued in a database which was never passed on to the team currently struggling to name the dead.

___

Although the brothers' files have been updated to reflect their names, the caskets are still tagged with seven-digit numbers. Before they can be officially identified and put to rest, their DNA must be matched to that of their nieces, the little girls they used to treat to the circus.

Once the match is confirmed, they will most likely be cremated; that's what they wanted, says the family. Their ashes will be poured into separate urns, which will be sent to the Massachusetts town where they were born.

There, those who know them by name await them.

___

EDITOR'S NOTE — Authorities have asked anyone with information on other unidentified Katrina victims to call the New Orleans Forensic Center at 1-504-658-9660.

*****************

How very, very sad.

NEW for 2007!

2006-12-06T12:33:00.000-05:00

My new book, HEALING KATRINA: VOLUNTEERING IN POST-HURRICANE MISSISSIPPI is now available.

The only book of its kind, HEALING KATRINA documents my experience in Southern Mississippi in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Here's what people are saying about HEALING KATRINA:

"I was deeply touched by the sense of compassion that comes through in Healing Katrina."
- Lynn Williams, Ph.D., Cleveland, OH

"We've all heard stories about Katrina....but what about those who volunteered to help? Would you give up two weeks of your life to serve just because it's the right thing to do? Read Tim Warneka's intimate story and decide for yourself."
- Barbara Grano, Organizational Development Consultant, Richmond VA

“Reading this book will inspire you to find ways in which you can make a difference in your community."
- Margit Cruice, Family Coach, Brisbane, Australia

“Tim's book is a moving account of the multiple tragedies that continue despite our efforts to block them from awareness. Told with humor, love and compassion, the book is a spiritual wake-up call for those willing to face reality.”
-Elliot Ingersoll, Ph.D.
Counseling Education Department Chair, Cleveland State University

"Healing Katrina is an interesting, well-written, behind-the-scenes look at the invaluable role played by the Red Cross in the aftermath of the hurricane."
- Paul Linden, Ph.D.

You can purchase Healing Katrina on-line at:
http://www.asogomi.com

Stil Struggling with the Loss...

2006-12-06T12:14:00.000-05:00

Even now, more than one year after Hurricane Katrina, the results of the government's ineffective leadership are pouring in. This article from AP newswire reports that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) just reported that over $1 billion (that's "billion" with a "B") was wasted on fraudulent hurricane assistance. Some of the highlights of the report include:

* $20 million lost on duplicate property damage claims.

* $3 milion lost due to payments to ineligible foreign students in the Gulf region.

Best of all?

Last week, a federal judge ruled that the Bush administration must resume housing payments for thousands of people displaced by Katrina. FEMA (of couse) is appealing the ruling.

Now, I'm not legal expert, but let me get this straight:

In addition to losing nearly 1 billion in aid, our government is effectively suing itself (so that prosecution AND defense are being paid for at taxpayer expense) in order to house Americans who lost their homes in the country's largest natural disaster.

Is it me, or is this situation intolerable?

Hurricane Season (again)....

2006-06-13T21:32:00.000-04:00

The media is playing to the fact that it's hurricane season again. Folks I've talked to who have been in southern Mississippi recently say there's still much to be re-built.

I find myself getting frustrated with the media as it continues to focus on only New Orleans, when the reality of the situation was that an area the size of Great Britain was impacted by last year's hurricanes.

A friend of mine is vacationing in Florida, and he's been down there as tropical storm Alberto hit. I've been surprised at the force of my concern for him over the weekend, as the storm threatened to turn into a hurricane. Weird.

Funny....

2006-03-26T16:40:00.000-05:00

...how sunlight can play with the bare branches of an early spring Ohio day and look amazingly like a late fall afternoon in Mississippi.

I was just looking out the window at some of the trees and shrubs that surround my house, and found myself remembering.....

I was driving down a Mississippi backroad somewhere near Kiln, and I stopped to ask for directions at a house where a number of men were working on cutting down some trees that had been torn out by the post-Rita tornados that had hit the area. I passed around Gatorade for everyone, and we sat and talked a bit.

As I was leaving, one of the men (who had a gorgeous Cajun/French name that I can't recall just now) pointed to a large damaged white farmhouse across the road, and said, "I really appreciate what all y'all in the Red Cross have done for us here in ol' Miss. If'n ever you need any help, y'all just knock on that farmhouse door -- even if it's 2:00 in the morning -- and I'll do anything I can to help y'all."

I hope that if that my house is ever damaged in a natural disaster, I'll have the wisdom and grace to extend an invitation to the disaster workers to knock on my door -- even at 2:00 a.m. in the morning.

Thoughts about Gestalt & Crisis Intervention...

2006-03-19T17:28:00.001-05:00

Hi all!

It's been months since I've written, but I still continue to ....(what's the word?)...incorporate my experience down South into the rest of my life. Today I received a request from a list-serv that I belong to for information about Gestalt & crisis intervention. Here's what I wrote:

***************************

I spent two weeks last fall down in Southern Mississippi with the American Red Cross working with people who lived through Hurricanes Katrina and Rita (most of whom disliked being referred to as "survivors", so I'm avoiding that term). While I'm continuing to debrief about my own experience there (even 6 months later), I'd like to share some insights that I found helpful during my time as a Disaster Worker.

1. GESTALT IS PERFECT FOR CRISIS WORK
I found that Gestalt was a VERY powerful tool to apply when I was working in Mississippi, and the strongest part of this powerful tool was focusing on the "I-Thou" relationship in the present moment (physical process was a close second...keep breathing!). Both critical incident stress debriefing and counseling interventions were required -- with different interventions for different people.

There were other Mental Health workers where I was who took a decidely non-Gestalt, gung-ho, "See-this-clipboard-I'm-carrying-I'm-a-Mental-Health-Worker-and-I-can-fix-all-yo ur-problems" type of approach, which seemed to serve only to alienate just about everyone in the room, present company included (and taught me why mental health services often gets a bad reputation -- because we deserve it).

Deciding which interventions to "extend" to people before you meet them feels rather un-Gestalt (IMHO). The power of Gestalt, for me, lies in the focus on being present in the moment and being willing to engage in authentic dialog with people. Being fully present in authentic dialog is far scarier (for me). It would be so much easier to 'know' what do do...and less effective.

2. TO SUPPORT OTHERS, SUPPORT YOURSELF
When I was working in Mississippi, I quickly discovered that at some levels, the work was much simpler than I expected; while at other levels, it was completely exhausting.

The work was simpler in the sense that, as an experienced clinician used to working at deeper levels with long-term clients, I experienced many of the interventions I used in Mississippi as somewhat "light", and I was worried they they were too superficial.

When I sought feedback from the folks I worked with, they were strongly supportive of the Gestalt approach, saying things like "I felt like you were with me the whole time", and "You weren't trying to 'fix' me like some other people have done."

At the same time, while the work felt "lighter" then I usually do, I found myself quickly getting exhausted after only a few hours of doing such work (I'm used to working very long days). The learning for me: Crisis work is simple work. And very stressful.

3. MEET PEOPLE WHERE THEY ARE...HERE & NOW
Another thing that I would strongly suggest is taking a page from community based care -- go and meet the people where they are (a very Gestalt perspective, I think). While engaging in community-based care, the American Red Cross wisely suggested that we NOT identify ourselves as mental health workers to the general population, as doing so only seemed to have people trying to get AWAY from us as fast as they could (mental health treatment has a rather negative sigma here in the U.S....don't know how mental health services are perceived in the Phillipines - you're more of the expert on that, I'm sure. Adjust accordingly.)

If you're working at an evacuation shelter, I think the WORST thing to do is to set up a table/area as "Mental Health" and sit behind the table waiting for people to come to you (if that is the only thing you do). When I was working shelters, I found it MUCH more effective to simply wander around talking to people...one doesn't need to hang out in a shelter too long before you quickly begin to identify stress responses in people...'wandering' up to someone who looks stressed and starting a conversation often seemed to work wonders....far better than waiting for them to come over the the Mental Health table.

4. WORK IN COMMUNITY (a.k.a, "Teams")
I WOULD, of course, identify myself as a Mental Health Worker to the other workers in the evacuation shelter. The other workers can then act as more 'eyes and ears' - when they saw people getting stressed out, they would flag me (or one of the other Mental Health Workers) so that we could (hopefully) quietly intervene before things got crazy.

I also discovered that my role as "on-the-job-trainer" became very important, as I helped the non-Mental Health staff sort through what kind of situations needed to be addressed immediately and which ones did not. For example, I found that ANYONE crying AT ALL was often cause for quite an alarm among the shelter staff. Helping to debrief the shelter staff in the moment by educating them that (it almost seems silly to write this) it is normal for people to cry in stressful situations would go a long ways toward avoiding an escalation of the situation.

5. THE ZEN OF CRISIS WORK
In Mississippi, I learned that every interaction is important. (Very Zen). In addition to the more straight-forward mental health intervations, I had conversations with people around cooking, fishing, travel and even cars (which I know nothing about). These conversations typically felt fairly innocuous to me -- no big deal...

...and I can't begin to tell you HOW MANY TIMES people would come up to me later and say some variation on:

"Thank you SO much for talking about [insert topic here]! I felt SO much better after having a NORMAL conversation."

I learned to not underestimate the powerful healing that occurs for people when they can have 'normal' converations in the midst of a an enormous crisis. Every true conversation (read: genuine contact) is important in a crisis.

Pardon the length of this post. I hope something in my words help support you, and don't hesitate to contact me if I can be of further help. You'll be in my prayers.

Best of luck.

Peace,

Tim

*****************************

Food for thought.

Still getting back into things

2005-10-17T17:00:00.000-04:00

Hi all!

Well, I've been home for over one week now, and I'm still trying to get my feet on the ground. It's been pretty weird. Even though I've was only (!) there for two weeks, I find myself experiencing a fair amount of PTSD symptoms. Minor stuff, but still somewhat troublesome. I continue to be very tired. Sometimes the slightest sound or smell will take me back to Mississippi. Lots of other stuff, too. I've managed to get a massage and see my therapist, and both of those sessions have helped tremendously. My family and I also went on a nature hike on Sunday at Penitentary Glen - part of the Lake County Metroparks - it was very beautiful in the woods, and the fall continues to soothe me.

I just began writing out my experiences from the journal that I kept. I experienced a great deal of resistance in writing it out, and, procrastinator that I am, put it off for several days. I'm finally getting down to work, and the journal is already bringing back memories that I've forgotten.

As always, an interesting process.....

A cool article about the food at the SeaBee Camp

2005-10-10T16:55:00.000-04:00

Hi all:

I'm still putting things into perspective here at home. I was looking up some Katrina information on the web, and came across this article that describes the food I got to eat at the Seabee base.

The article mentions a guy named Gary Stewart, who I had the pleasure and priviledge of meeting. Gary welcomed us home each and every night, with a rousing recitation of what was on the evening's menu. I can't even begin to tell you how much I looked forward to seeing Gary's face each night. (If anyone out there knows Gary, thank him profusely and buy him a beer for me...).

I was there for the margarita night, and it was awesome....

here's the article:
http://www.idahostatesman.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051004/NEWS01/510040360/1001/NEWS

Home on Sunday

2005-10-09T13:27:00.000-04:00

Hi all! I've been home for two days now, and still adjusting....(I imagine 'adjusting' will take some time). I find that I am very, very, very tired, and that doing even small things tires me out even more. I'm also experiencing a lot of the typical stress-related symptoms - finding it difficult to concentrate, not wanting to be around crowds of people, etc. I know what the symptoms are, but experiencing them is still weird.

It's been wonderful to see my kids and my wife - I've missed them greatly. I got on the Aikido mat yesterday for a short practice, and that felt good too.

All in all, I'm just winding down a bit. I'm hoping to spend some time this week editing my journal and then I can post it - and pictures - on the web for all to see.

:-)

Tim is coming home !

2005-10-06T05:44:00.000-04:00

For the last 2 days tim has been on the Sea Bee's base helping where he can. He has helped talk to other workers who might be having touble coping with what is going on in the south ( wait til they see what is going on in Washington D.C.!) Tim has worked long hours usually 6:30 Am to 1 am. He is taking brakes and pacing himself so he does not burn out. I for one ( patrick) cannot wait to hear the stories of what Tim Witnessed there. - He flies out on Friday.

Patrick

Oct 3rd - Monday

2005-10-03T18:03:00.000-04:00

Tim gave a quick call and said that from what he has seen, the South needs 4-5 times as many mental and medical Doctors as possible! So if you are on the fence about helping out, or thinking there is too much help right now, Please give it another thought.

Patrick

Sunday night. Oct 2

2005-10-02T22:30:00.000-04:00

Tim called just now. He spent the day working in Kiln Mississippi ( Map) Tim was working with families that have moved up there from Bay St. Louis ( map) Which, I guess was wiped out! So They are setting up trailer homes for about 400 families. Tim is doing alright, drinking lots of water because of the heat and trying to help all he can. Tim said this place hit the trifecta in disasters, First Katrina, then Rita, then tornados! Tim said he was ok but you can hear in his voice that he has a lot to process about what is down there.

Patrick

Saturday Oct 1st

2005-10-01T23:52:00.000-04:00

Saturday, Oct. 1st
(From Mary)
Tim called around 9:15 the morning. His cell reception was good. After just four days(?) it seems
like he has experienced enough already for a lifetime. His take on the American Red Cross is that they are amazing, organized and doing SO much to bring relief to the area and yet, in the same breath, they can be floundering, dis-organized and have SO many more things that they could be doing.
Seems like an ARC volunteer's experience can vary from sleeping in an air conditioned hotel room to sleeping in the back of a UHaul truck without a shower for two weeks!

Tim mentioned some other groups that are working alongside the ARC down there - the Scientologists, and a group of Smoke Jumpers (firefighters who parachute in to combat fires and carry supplies). Turns out the Smoke Jumpers bring their own caterers and portable shower facilities when they travel, so Tim and the others have been enjoying well-cooked meals of BBQ ribs, Prime Rib and shrimp, cajun dinners, etc. as well as being able to use the shower unit (he described it as a mobile home constructed as a shower house).

Part of Tim's support network, consisting of John from Illinois and Theresa from Alaska continue to be stationed in the same area (even if they go their separate ways in the field during the day). They seem to be able to provide much needed processing time to one another. Tim also mentioned a fantastic ally he met, a Chaplain named Michael(?) from DC who had been, working to support a rather large area by himself. Tim remarked that Michael's sense of humor and perserverance was a bright spot for him, even though Michael has since returned home after a four(?) week stint.

Tim seemed steady and determined, as the rock that he is. Seemingly able to hold his own sense of being overwhelmed at bay so he can be there for others. He doesn't have internet access currently, but we'll continue to keep everybody posted through Patrick's ingenuity. He's got seven days and, I'm sure, a lifetime of experiences left.

Sending best wishes of courage and positive energy - Mary Eliz.

Thursday night

2005-09-29T23:57:00.000-04:00

Tim Called me. He drove from gulfport on Rt 10 and Rt 110 in to part of Biloxi ( but not the worst part) He said there was a great amount of distruction and has some pics to show on return. He saw what was left of the guitar/sign from the Hard Rock Cafe the rest was destroyed. And a casino boat was washed ashore! the locals said that they had swells 28-30ft High- Yikes!
He is O.K. but HOT and Has met some great people who need our help. _ don't forget to check out the redcross website.
Katie/ Gus Check you mail-

Patrick

Driving around Gulfport

2005-09-29T10:13:00.000-04:00

Hi all!

I had to talk quickly to Pat last nite - didn't have much power on my cell phone. I am spending evenings and nights at a CB's (sea bees) Naval station near Gulfport. There are 650-700 staff in a huge hangar....cots are about 2 ft. apart. (I managed to find a cot with my back to a wall, so that helps my introverted self not feel so freaked out by so many people! :-).

I drove down from Montgomery with John from Illinois and Theresa from Alaska. We had some sun and drove thru some rain. The closer we got to Biloxi, the more damage we could see. We spent the night in the shelter, and got briefed by the mental health supervisor by flashlight at at 10:30 meeting (since lights out on the base at 10:00).

We're using porta-toilets and showers on the back of a huge truck...it's an amazing set-up, and even more unbelievable when I think that every person in that room is a volunteer! There are people of all ages, from college students to senior citizens. Everyone seems very friendly and supportive, and I am quite certain that I was walking around in shock last night....it was a very surreal experience.

Today I am at the Biloxi HQ, which is operating out of a Shriner's building. They divide the coverage area out into "sectors", and I will be in a sector directly south of the Gulfport airport, and right along the beach. I can even imagine what I am going to see.

I miss my family greatly, and send my kids a big hug. I was able to call home b4 the kids left for school this morning, so that was nice (my son scored a goal in soccer last nite! hooray!).

This continues to be an amazing operation. Please keep us all in your prayers, and continue to financially support the American Red Cross.

see ya!

Wednesday 9:30 Central time...

2005-09-29T00:51:00.000-04:00

( from Patrick )
Tim called just now he sounds different. He Is safe and well fed at a military base in Gulfport Miss ( map link). Tim said it is lights out " at 10 -up at 6am " on the base. He said he is in an airplane hangar with about 700 people each with a cot and food. Tim is with 2 other people , One woman and one man. they said they will stick together and watch out for each other. --- Good ! He said the drive was smooth but as they came close to Gulfport, he started to see roof tops missing and trees flattened. ( Patrick's notes- Tim seemed to be a little pensive. HE joked a bit on the phone but it sounded like he knew he was heading toward the epicenter of a big disaster. Tim is smart , fit and knows how to take care of himself, and I know we will give him some support when he gets back) Go Tim Go!

Awaiting departure to Biloxi

2005-09-28T09:40:00.000-04:00

Morning all!

Sorry about the comment spam that's been getting thru....my kind brother-in-law Gus just coached me on the appropriate settings - hopefully the changes will eliminate the spam.

It's 8:45 a.m. and I'm at the ARC HQ awaiting deployment to Biloxi. (that last sentence sounded very military, no?!? ;-).

I'm going down with a good team, and I'll be right on the coast, so it will be interesting.

I was watching CNN last night, and they were doing some Red Cross bashing. From the inside, I want to say that I am absolutely amazed at what the ARC is doing. With a group of volunteers working off donations, they are incredibly organized given the conditions.

be well.

Biloxi bound!

2005-09-27T18:32:00.000-04:00

Hi all....

Just found out that I am being deployed to Biloxi, Miss. tomorrow....("And where," quoth I, "is Biloxi, Mississippi?"). It's RIGHT down on the Gulf coast, about 30 miles from where Katrina made land. So, I'm essentially going to Ground Zero. I'm told that it's safe and secure, and a place where "the need is great", so I'm off. I'll be going with two other counselors, a gentleman from Indiana, and a lady from Alaska (yes, THAT Alaska....makes my trip down from Cleveland seems like a short hop-skip-jump). The three of us plan on going out to dinner tonight to get acquainted, then we'll leave tomorrow morning. It looks like a 5-7 hour trip, but it'll depend on how we go.

Here is a map of Biloxi (MAP LINK)

More details to follow.....

Waiting for Deployment

2005-09-27T15:33:00.000-04:00

Hi all!

Tuesday afternoon...got through several orientation sessions. The Red Cross really has this organized (given the conditions). Overall, the presenters have been really good, esp. the mental health person.

Some facts that I learned today....

*Katrina is the largest disaster in the 125-year history of the Red Cross.

* The Red Cross has served more than 12 million hot meals in the Katrina response so far.

* To date, more than 328,000 people have received Red Cross disaster mental health services

* To date, more than 147,000 trained Red Cross disaster relief workers from all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands have responded to Katrina.

Wow. The numbers are simply staggering to me. It's really overwhelming being in a large group of people, all of whom have the intention of helping out. Amazing...

I am well. It's hot down here, and there's a lot of hustle/bustle as people prepare to deploy. I'm on a roller coaster ride of emotions, from excited to overwhelmed and everywhere in between.

Things are moving really quickly, so I want to apologize if I repeat anything on these blogs.

Ok, I just found out that I'm being deployed tomorrow, so I gotta go get my assignment.

See ya!

Tuesday morning

2005-09-27T07:41:00.000-04:00

Morning! I'm blogging as I'm waiting at the hotel for the ARC shuttle back to the main post. Today is orientation day - I'm sure I'll be learning lots. Slept well last night - an air conditioned hotel room was more than I was expecting! :-) Hope this wasn't my last shower for the week....

More to follow....

Latest news

2005-09-26T19:33:00.000-04:00

Hi all!

I finally managed to fly out of Cleveland...flew into
beautiful Memphis Tennessee (where people have
delightful accents!), and then on to Montgomery
Alabama. Drove to the Red Cross station with 4 other
guys - from Minnestoa, South Dakota and Upper
Michigan.

The Red Cross "home base" in Montgomery is set up in
an old K-mart store....it was pretty efficient. I got
checked in and processed ("in-processed" in ARC
language) fairly quickly and even fed! Because I
arrived later in the day (4:30 pm-ish), they are
assigning me a hotel room, and then tommorrow is
orientation!

It's been an amazing day, and the adventure is just
beginning! Stay tuned.

************************

love ya,

me

Tim Warneka, M.Ed., L.P.C.C.
President, The Black Belt Consulting Group, LLC

PJW

Trying again....

2005-09-25T20:23:00.000-04:00

It's Sunday night, and (hopefully), I'll be flying out early afternoon on monday. I had an enjoyable weekend - got to watch a movie with my kids, got to practice Aikido, and got to play super scrabble with my wife and some good friends. (Oh, and I cut the grass, too.). I was also able to take care of a number of other small details, including taking another step toward getting my book published, so I feel much less harried about leaving.

The American Red Cross (ARC) has been having daily conference/bridgeline calls for people to call in and get information about deployment. I listened in on the calls on both Friday and Saturday. There was a great deal of re-deployment and cancellations of trips (un-deployment (?), this ARC terminology is still new to me....) due to hurricane Rita. I don't envy the ARC officials this weekend - I'm sure they are facing some large logistical dilemmas.

For those of you who are counting, my return date is still the same - Friday, Oct. 7th.

...At least, I THOUGHT I was leaving....

2005-09-23T14:31:00.000-04:00

My wife dropped me off at the Cleveland airport, which was really hopping. Apparently a number of flights had been stranded overnight in Cleveland. Every counter had people trying to find connecting flights out so they could get home. I waited in line to check in, only to find that my flight had been cancelled d/t weather conditions caused by the hurricane (the connecting flight was unable to get through). With all of this going on, Northwest Airlines had only two clerks working. It took them 45 minutes to get through 8 people! Wow...

Luckily, a friend lent me her cell phone (thanks Kirste!), so I was able to call my wife and have her come get me.

After several calls to the American Red Cross travel agency, I was able to get through and found that the next logical flight out was Monday. Saturday flights are all jammed up, as they expect the storm to hit sometime on Saturday. Modern air travel is truly a systemic adventure - problems anywhere in the country has a ripple effect on everywhere else in the country (and probably the world, to some extent....)

So, I was just granted an unexpected weekend with my family! I had intentionally delayed sending my book to print because I wasn't able to prepare for the trip south and to adequately prepare the book for printing. Now, I'm excited to say, I should be able to complete the work on the book this weekend, and it'll be be prepared for printing while I am gone.

This has been an emotionally exhausting past few days for me. I plan on going home, taking a nap and having fun with kids this weekend...and cutting the grass, most likely.

My heart goes out to all the travel agents and airline personnel who are working hard to get people home as well as getting Red Cross people in to where they need to be. I'm sure everyone's thoughts and prayers are with the people in Hurricane Rita's path.

Leaving on a jet plane....

2005-09-23T06:55:00.000-04:00

Morning! I'm outward bound for Montgomery, Alabama this morning. A friend was going to be kind enough to drop me off at the airport, but luckily, the school where my wife works didn't have power/phones this a.m., so my wife and kids will drop me off....

My pre-deployment week has been REALLY stressful. Very busy. I'm looking forward to the flight just to be able to sit still for a few moments.

This is my first national deployment with the American Red Cross, so I'm feeling anxious and a bit overwhelmed. I hope that I can help. My intention is also to treat this as a two-week meditation retreat. Stillness in action.

I hope to be able to post more from where ever I end up being assigned. If we have web access, I'll do it. Otherwise, my brother Pat will be posting for me.

I ask everyone to please keep me and everyone else down South in your prayers, thoughts and meditations.

Regards,

Tim