Mover Mike

I can't begin to imagine the suffering of over 1,000,000 people caught in the way of hurricane KATRINA. Wizbang brings up some interesting points that can challenge us here in Portland. If there were a natural disaster in Portland, one of the first things people need is information about their neighborhood and the family and friends who live there.

Somebody try to find and compile (reliable) damage reports from specific neighborhoods.

How does FEMA work?

Somebody read the news reports on what FEMA is doing and what it is not... Somebody read their site and distill it for those of us who don't have time for red tape.

How do you get money from the Red Cross? Is it a grant or loan?

What happens to my utilities? How do I cancel my auto-pays?

How do I get new glasses? How do I get prescriptions refilled?

Portland has Neighborhood Emergency Teams (NETs)

In the event of a citywide or regional emergency such as a severe winter storm, flood or major earthquake, households need to be prepared to be on their own for the first 72 hours. Neighborhoods need to be prepared for self-sufficiency, too. Volunteers will naturally be the first on-the-scene emergency responders in their own neighborhood, especially when firefighters and police are overwhelmed with requests for help and could be slowed down by impassable streets and other damage.

You can volunteer for the 26 hours of training. The training includes:
Disaster Awareness—Earthquakes and Other Disasters
Utility Control
Disaster Medicine - Treating Life-Threatening Injuries/Medical Triage
Disaster Medicine - Treating Common Injuries
Light Search & Rescue - Visual Assessment of Damaged Buildings
Light Search & Rescue - Rescue Techniques
Disaster Psychology and Trauma Intervention

The American Red Cross offers Family Disaster Planning. Take some time and learn their Four Steps to Safety

My new motto is WWMD! What would a man do - to protect his family, help his neighbors, and save lives. Looking at the scenes from the south, it is apparent that when the government is overwhelmed, civilization is not made of solid wood, but a thin veneer. It is incumbant upon all of us to be prepared.

Update:

As I read down through Free Republic several things jumped out at me, like the quick cuts we see in movies:

Welcome to New Orleans Mogadishu

The American Prowler

New Orleans was ripe for collapse. Its dangerous geography, combined with a dangerous culture, made it susceptible to an unfolding catastrophe. Currents of chaos and lawlessness were running through the city long before this week, and they were bound to come to the surface under the pressure of natural disaster and explode in a scene of looting and mayhem.

New Orleans Times-Picayune Web Log,

As the security situation in New Orleans deteriorates, downtown hotels are desperately trying to remove any remaining guests, but they are having trouble getting buses...the buses keep getting commandeered for other rescue efforts.

From Slate, Why no mention of race and class?

HoustonChronicle.com, Astrodome calls a halt to accepting more refugees after taking in 11,375.

JWR, Shoot looters

"John Carolan was sitting on his porch in the thick, humid darkness just before midnight Tuesday when three or four young men, one with a knife and another with a machete, stopped in front of his fence and pointed to the generator humming in the front yard. [One] said, 'We want that generator.' [Carolan responded] 'I fired a couple of rounds over their heads with a .357 Magnum . . . they scattered. You've heard of the law west of the Pecos? This is the law west of Canal Street.'"

Sun Herald.com,

One hundred people have been confirmed dead in Harrison, Hancock, Pearl River and Jackson counties. More bodies were being discovered under debris and in waterways.

I keep reading about the dead. A hundred here, dead pushed aside, alligators feeding on the dead. I have read speculation that there may be 50,000 dead. We may never know the scale of the horror.

The images of young black men looting out of a sense of entitlement, I don't know, damages the relief effort. How many looters have been shot? I don't think we are getting the real story. It's Mogadishu and Hotel Rwanda. I suspected it could happen here. I am not happy to see it happen