Texas Refugee Tales...

[darthrider]

This is from my friend Robert Hannant. I've known him 12 years from our Ducati club. He is a TV commercial producer/writer/director, has had short sunbjects featured at the Sundance Film Festival.
He is a very talented guy and one of the finest, nicest people I've ever known. He is one of my "special people".
Robert converted from uncomfortable atheism to Budhism 4 years ago and has been doing lots of volunteer work.


09/03/05:

came home last night after one o'clock for the second night after helping at a red cross shelter here in dallas for people from new orleans. i had been working at
the red cross chapter during the day and then going there at night to do whatever. got home to hear that find an email that we were going to be getting over
11,000 people in from houston where the astrodome had reached capacity. "Yikes!", I thought to myself. By a little after nine this morning I was the manager of
the single shelter to house all of these new arrivals at the convention center. another one was already open for about 1,100. i've barly even worked in a shelter
let alone manage one.

setting it up was so incredibly quick and done with so little info in such little time. really pretty amazing managing something like that. by mid afternoon we
already had busloads arriving. it is so unbelievably hard to describe - even though we probably only had a few thousand arrive by the time i left, it was such an
onslaught of opposite ends of the humanity scale - volunteers, victims, needy, giving, helpless, ready to help, filthy, clean. We registered them, fed them, set up
beds, created a large nursing and triage center with mental health, had a six month old baby given to us whose mother had died. later we set up a center for
other kids who had lost their parents right next to the area where we had the infirmed and elderly set up in a hallway. child protective services will be with us
tomorrow. Most of the cots had lost their way. tomorrow we'll have a walmart set up and also a full pharmacy. so hard to imagine.

and such sad news, my friends tommy and amy who i love so much; tommy stayed behind in their uptown house and amy and hannah left for shreveport to
tommy's mom. i got an email from amy that tommy hasn't been heard from in a few days. it's so hard to think about.

so, come help me. we'll be there for a while.

peace

robert

[darthrider]

Update from friend Robert on Day 2. The stress is beginning to show.
I haven't heard from him since. I'll try to get an update.


09/03/05:

hard to even know where to begin as the day revolved around getting told that another 50 busses full of New Orleans evacuees would be arriving at our shelter
and that another 100 were on their way, that 6,000 cots would be arriving by Fed Ex, that the feeding would now be ramped up to about 7,000 and that the
couple of dozen showers - the only ones we would have for over 7,000 people - would be turned away (we are at the mercy of the city and state for a lot of
matters). and we had phones set up to dial out on and areas to get baby food and feminine products and people running around getting stuff for the victims,
then an individual arrived with 30 desperately needed wheelchairs in the back of his pick-up while one of the states gaurdsmen did sign language for a few
families, and pandemonium as more cots came out with brand new comforters. this is a huge area: walking, walking, walking past hundreds of people who only
managed to get out with a garbage bag with a few possesions yet glad to be out of the superdome which they said was just horrible. and the occassional break
that i managed to just stop and talk to someone and hear about them wading for miles past bodies to get to an area where no one ever came to pick them up -
just so grateful for what we were doing. The triage and mental health area just kept growing and was swamped with the elderly, those needing perscriptions
filled, people fainting, plenty of foot infections with cuts and scrapes and untold other physical and mental health issues - lost family, dead family and just all
that horror. and endless amount of local people just dumping used clothing and baby clothes and almost everything that we can't distribute outside of our door.
as i left last nigt i saw people piling stuff onto another convention center dock that we don't even use. and now there are dumpsters full of it that could have
gone to others. we can only give out new clothing and have not been able to arrange with the city to have another distribution site. so i'm hoping/praying that
fema, hud and other fedearal agencies will be set up to start assisting today. there is a building set up and hopefully there will be no bickering. lotsa mistakes in
here i know, but i gotta go.

and then at one point in the morning as i past near the registration desk i saw a few girls run from in the crowd screaming towards the front doors and i
couldn't imagine what was about to happen. and everything seemed to slow down as I was afraid of what i would see. as they were nearly there i saw a baby
raised up from those in line to register and the hands of one of the screamers lifted up to take the child. her child. her living, breathing child. we all just stopped
as she held this precious bundle. and then someone started clapping and we all joined in. all day that was my reminder to myself that we were doing the right
thing.

so, remind your friends to put money where it will actually get to these people. it is so clear how much they will need it.

robert

[darthrider]

A little different twist to this one. This is from Karl Brohan, another riding buddy.
Karl flew Chinooks in Viet Nam and is now an American Airlines Captain. He lives nearby.
He is "right of center" to say the least but is intelligent, fair and is definitely not a racist, niether am I, but...

Dallas ended up with anywhere fron 25,000 to 45,000 refugees, depending on which estimate you listen to. No one really seems to know for sure. A huge number statewide.
They filled up Dallas Reunion Arena and the Convention Center and started spreading them out to Fort Worth, Arlington, and churches and other places in small towns in the "Metroplex" area.
Karl and I live in one of those - Keller. About 15 miles West of Dallas, 12 miles North of Fort Worth.
The 1st Methodist Church here is the largest church and was filled beyond capacity almost immediately. Many individuals have taken familes or singles into their homes. It is amazing.
My wife is a city employee (library) and she said there is a lot of concern in city gov of what is happening. Many refugees are just "disappearing". Catching rides, wandering off. Some have found jobs, others are looking. Some of these poor people are "mentally challenged". Some are just regular Joes, trying to keep their families safe and fed, looking for work. Many are 3rd, 4th generation welfare families. A great many have said they are not returning to NO after the cleanup. It seems many have a;lways wanted out and had no way to do it. Now they do.
Someone has donated a large apartment complex in another town with 2 months free rent. Don't know what happens after that but I think we can all guess.
Our unemployment picture, statewide, is not good. There are people everywhere collecting money & goods. We are anticipating a huge drain on the already bloated & overloaded welfare system.
My brother lives in Amarillo, 320 miles to the NW. There are hundreds of familes now there and other towns in that area. They are statewide and now in adjoining states.
I've been through two major floods and my heart just aches for these people, been there - done that. I don't blame them at all.
But as they say...no good deed goes unpunished.


09/09/05:

Hey everyone,
This is a heads up warning. I just rode up Randoll-mill a few minutes ago. What I saw concerns
me as a home owner in the immediate area. The refugees are here. There were several on
Randoll mill sitting under shade trees. They looked like they needed assistance. I called Southlake
DPS and told them this. They pushed me off on Keller....who took my name and then disconnected me. I did learn that a large number have been taken in by FT. Worth and Keller also took a bunch. These refugees are
moving away from the centralized locations. From a christian standpoint, they probably need
food, water and money.......from a homeowner standpoint, I expect commando camping in backyards and
house break-ins. Yes, most of them are "probably" good people, but how can you tell which
ones were the rapists, looters and murderers. Be on your guard!
Karl

[FGanger]

Darth,

What an incredible tale. When the full scope of this disaster finally gets tallied I believe it will surpass any of the earlier estimates. It will be difficult to separate the natural disaster from the human disaster.

The natural disaster was bad enough, but what followed is worse. Who would ever have thought that those bringing food and water to hungry, thirsty people would need to be armed.

I hope you keep adding to the posts.

Frank

[FGanger]

Dave,

This is a copy of my post in Patrick's playhouse. I thought it would fit here.

Frank
- - - - - - - - -
This article was sent to me by a friend who lives in Louisiana! I really think that it tells it all.


Unnatural Disaster
by Robert Tracinski
Sep 02, 2005
It has taken four long days for state and federal officials to figure out how to deal with the disaster in New Orleans. I can't blame them, because it has also taken me four long days to figure out what is going on there. The reason is that the events there make no sense if you think that we are confronting a natural disaster.

If this is just a natural disaster, the response for public officials is obvious: you bring in food, water, and doctors; you send transportation to evacuate refugees to temporary shelters; you send engineers to stop the flooding and rebuild the city's infrastructure. For journalists, natural disasters also have a familiar pattern: the heroism of ordinary people pulling together to survive; the hard work and dedication of doctors, nurses, and rescue workers; the steps being taken to clean up and rebuild.

Public officials did not expect that the first thing they would have to do is to send thousands of armed troops in armored vehicle, as if they are suppressing an enemy insurgency. And journalists--myself included--did not expect that the story would not be about rain, wind, and flooding, but about rape, murder, and looting.

But this is not a natural disaster. It is a man-made disaster.
The man-made disaster is not an inadequate or incompetent response by federal relief agencies, and it was not directly caused by Hurricane Katrina. This is where just about every newspaper and television channel has gotten the story wrong.

The man-made disaster we are now witnessing in New Orleans did not happen over the past four days. It happened over the past four decades. Hurricane Katrina merely exposed it to public view.

The man-made disaster is the welfare state.
For the past few days, I have found the news from New Orleans to be confusing. People were not behaving as you would expect them to behave in an emergency--indeed, they were not behaving as they have behaved in other emergencies. That is what has shocked so many people: they have been saying that this is not what we expect from America. In fact, it is not even what we expect from a Third World country.

When confronted with a disaster, people usually rise to the occasion. They work together to rescue people in danger, and they spontaneously organize to keep order and solve problems. This is especially true in America. We are an enterprising people, used to relying on our own initiative rather than waiting around for the government to take care of us. I have seen this a hundred times, in small examples (a small town whose main traffic light had gone out, causing ordinary citizens to get out of their cars and serve as impromptu traffic cops, directing cars through the intersection) and large ones (the spontaneous response of New Yorkers to September 11).

So what explains the chaos in New Orleans?
To give you an idea of the magnitude of what is going on, here is a description from a Washington Times story:

"Storm victims are raped and beaten; fights erupt with flying fists, knives and guns; fires are breaking out; corpses litter the streets; and police and rescue helicopters are repeatedly fired on.

"The plea from Mayor C. Ray Nagin came even as National Guardsmen poured in to restore order and stop the looting, carjackings and gunfire....

"Last night, Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco said 300 Iraq-hardened Arkansas National Guard members were inside New Orleans with shoot-to-kill orders.

" 'These troops are...under my orders to restore order in the streets,' she said. 'They have M-16s, and they are locked and loaded. These troops know how to shoot and kill and they are more than willing to do so if necessary and I expect they will.' "

The reference to Iraq is eerie. The photo that accompanies this article shows National Guard troops, with rifles and armored vests, riding on an armored vehicle through trash-strewn streets lined by a rabble of squalid, listless people, one of whom appears to be yelling at them. It looks exactly like a scene from Sadr City in Baghdad.

What explains bands of thugs using a natural disaster as an excuse for an orgy of looting, armed robbery, and rape? What causes unruly mobs to storm the very buses that have arrived to evacuate them, causing the drivers to drive away, frightened for their lives? What causes people to attack the doctors trying to treat patients at the Super Dome?

Why are people responding to natural destruction by causing further destruction? Why are they attacking the people who are trying to help them?

My wife, Sherri, figured it out first, and she figured it out on a sense-of-life level. While watching the coverage last night on Fox News Channel, she told me that she was getting a familiar feeling. She studied architecture at the Illinois Institute of Chicago, which is located in the South Side of Chicago just blocks away from the Robert Taylor Homes, one of the largest high-rise public housing projects in America. "The projects," as they were known, were infamous for uncontrollable crime and irremediable squalor. (They have since, mercifully, been demolished.)

What Sherri was getting from last night's television coverage was a whiff of the sense of life of "the projects." Then the "crawl"--the informational phrases flashed at the bottom of the screen on most news channels--gave some vital statistics to confirm this sense: 75% of the residents of New Orleans had already evacuated before the hurricane, and of the 300,000 or so who remained, a large number were from the city's public housing projects. Jack Wakeland then gave me an additional, crucial fact: early reports from CNN and Fox indicated that the city had no plan for evacuating all of the prisoners in the city's jails--so they just let many of them loose. There is no doubt a significant overlap between these two populations--that is, a large number of people in the jails used to live in the housing projects, and vice versa.

There were many decent, innocent people trapped in New Orleans when the deluge hit--but they were trapped alongside large numbers of people from two groups: criminals--and wards of the welfare state, people selected, over decades, for their lack of initiative and self-induced helplessness. The welfare wards were a mass of sheep--on whom the incompetent administration of New Orleans unleashed a pack of wolves.

All of this is related, incidentally, to the apparent incompetence of the city government, which failed to plan for a total evacuation of the city, despite the knowledge that this might be necessary. But in a city corrupted by the welfare state, the job of city officials is to ensure the flow of handouts to welfare recipients and patronage to political supporters--not to ensure a lawful, orderly evacuation in case of emergency.

No one has really reported this story, as far as I can tell. In fact, some are already actively distorting it, blaming President Bush, for example, for failing to personally ensure that the Mayor of New Orleans had drafted an adequate evacuation plan. The worst example is an execrable piece from the Toronto Globe and Mail, by a supercilious Canadian who blames the chaos on American "individualism." But the truth is precisely the opposite: the chaos was caused by a system that was the exact opposite of individualism.

What Hurricane Katrina exposed was the psychological consequences of the welfare state. What we consider "normal" behavior in an emergency is behavior that is normal for people who have values and take the responsibility to pursue and protect them. People with values respond to a disaster by fighting against it and doing whatever it takes to overcome the difficulties they face. They don't sit around and complain that the government hasn't taken care of them. They don't use the chaos of a disaster as an opportunity to prey on their fellow men.

But what about criminals and welfare parasites? Do they worry about saving their houses and property? They don't, because they don't own anything. Do they worry about what is going to happen to their businesses or how they are going to make a living? They never worried about those things before. Do they worry about crime and looting? But living off of stolen wealth is a way of life for them.

The welfare state--and the brutish, uncivilized mentality it sustains and encourages--is the man-made disaster that explains the moral ugliness that has swamped New Orleans. And that is the story that no one is reporting.

Source: TIA Daily -- September 2, 2005

[socalrob]

Darth

I truly respect the state of Texas for doing far more than its share in this disaster. I agree that this compassion is going to cost Texas alot of $$, trouble, & hassles both now & for a long time. Your state has stepped up to the plate, I hope the rest of the country comes to your aid when you need it.

I am shocked and ashamed of how miserly the state of California has been. I expected better. Cali, with at least 10 percent of the country's population should be taking alot more displaced people (we have a few thousand now ( I believe). I'd be proud if I were a Texan.

[FGanger]

Socalrob,

Not to beat-up California, but to add to your take on this. During the American depression of the 30's, California set-up "inspection stations" along the highways which crossed the border from other states. This was to prevent the people who were displaced from the "Dust Bowl" from entering.

I recall Will Rogers telling about how the "Dust Bowl refugees left Oklahoma and went to California - it raised the I.Q. in both states."

Frank

[geechie]

Hey Dave,

Your Buddhist buddy is a freakin' saint. May his tribe increase! I'm a comfortable atheist, but have no problem saying God bless him and all those like him.

I do think though that it's unfortunate that folks, right and left of center, have been so quick to try and make political hay from this tragedy.

There wll be plenty of time for that later.

George

[darthrider]

I agree about my Budhist friend Robert. I don't know much about Budhism but from what I've heard and seen from Robert the past few years is any indication, I think they have their "Christian ideals" pretty much perfected, and I mean no disrespect at all.

A few recent tidbits from Texas:
Get rich quick scammers & con artists are already rampant trying to separate the refugees...and the relief agencies, from their money. Of course this is not confined to Texas.

They are trying to ID and register a large number of sex offenders they know are here but haven't registered. I think it's a few hundred offenders...3 have registered. Yesterday one of the unregistered variety who had moved in with his sister grabbed a 14 year old girl and told her she "was going with him." The fiery little gal kicked, fought, yelled and screamed, broke away from him and called 911 while running home and locking the door. The cops arrived ASAP, took her back where it happened and she ID'd the bastard while he was hiding behind a dumpster.
I can only hope she landed at least one kick square in his formerly hopeful crotch and the jail doc has to amputate.

Refugees are still leaving the shelters "unofficially". No one knows who they are, what they are, how many or where they are going. All resources are just stretched too thin.

I got my annual phsical this morning (you know, I think that doc had *both* hands on my shoulders!), and I asked the nurse if they were seeing any people from the shelters. She said yes, quite a few with all kinds of maladies, as you would expect. And a large number with HIV and other STDs. Great.

Sunday afternoon I was riding my new Triumph through town here in Keller. In a nearby nieghborhood I saw what I am pretty certain was a refugee couple. They were black, about 30 and were pushing an infant in a stroller. They were walking against the traffic on a small 2-lane with very little traffic. I moved way over to the left so as not to scare the baby or worry them. They were dressed in obviousl new "K-Mart type" clothes (the shelters can not accept used clothes) and both looked sort of disoriented and very...weary. They seemed out of place in that nieghborhood but I couldn't know for sure. They didn't react to me at all, except to closely watch what I was going to do. As I slowly passed them I gave them a "deliberately friendly" wave and a nod. They both immediately broke into huge smiles and waved back.

I don't know, I guess I just saw the smallest particle of what friend Robert has seen in abundance, and felt. Although he sees it all, mainly the bad, I guess. The rest of the way home I wondered about them. The man looked like he could work anywhere, possibly a professional, at least steadily employed, probably. Hate to generalize, but they looked that way. I wondered what their thoughts must be about what happened, where they are now, their baby, their lost home and jobs, what's next.

When you see the throngs of refugees on TV you get one feeling. When you see a small, decent, scared family up close you get quite another.

I wish them well.

[arkline]

When you see the throngs of refugees on TV you get one feeling. When you see a small, decent, scared family up close you get quite another.

Hear, hear. What's that line about "there but for the grace of god, go you or I."

And I guess we get a choice...lump people together into categories or see them for the individuals they are...

[Rootin55]

On the radio on my way home, shop keepers calling in to complain about the 2000 dollard debit cards from the ARC. Seems some of the monies are being spent on jewelry, liquor and beauty solons. One caller questioned whether he would contribute again. Then I see a clip about a family of 7 living in tents in a Baton Rouge campground and down to their last 1000 dollars.

One thought I had about this is it seems we do things as Conveniently as possible.....myself included.

[darthrider]

This is from an AA Captain/riding buddy. I can't guaranty it's validity. I hope it is not true but I have seen a number of things about *very* similar incidences from seemingly reliable sources, so you at least have to wonder.
If it is true I hope it was only a small number of "bad apples" and not typical.
But...I am not naive either.
Dave



A little information you won't read in the papers. I can only relate what was told to me by my daughter who works for AA as a flight attendant.

AA donated the planes and fuels. The crews, cabin crews and all people that worked on the ground were volunteers. One flight was a 757 to MSY and back to DFW. This flight was to evacuate AA personnel and anyone else that they could get aboard. They flew in relief supplies including bottled water. On the return flight the survivors, not AA personnel were griping that there was no food or drinks. There was water at the water fountains. There was a lot of griping that the AA people filled up first class, now mind you they didn't pay a dime. When they got back to DFW the people were put up in the flight academy hotel and fed some where in the training center. These people didn't like this arrangement so they trashed the hotel. As far as damage was concerned I have no idea. AA got a hold of the relief authorities and had these people removed.

AA volunteered 6 flights a day from SAT to MSY. I'm not sure which AF base they flew out of but were able to buy military fuel. On inbound flights they carried all of the relief supplies they could and had to tanker in fuel for the return flight. On several flights the people were not happy that their ass had been evacuated because there was no food or drink. Some of the cabin crews decided to buy bottle water on their own to help the people on their extremely long 1.5 hour flight. Now this gave the passengers, if they can be called that, who fought over the first class seats, some thing to throw at the cabin people while they were trashing the plane.

Several of the volunteers informed AA that they had had it and they weren't going anymore. AA threatened to cancel the trips if this could not be controlled. I'm not sure just how this turned out but here is more irony. The relief agency that they were working through wanted AA to bring in a 777 so more supplies could be flown in at once and more people evacuated. After talking to AA I hope they are not holding their breath.

Long but, put it under the truth is stranger than fiction file.
I know Viet people didn't act this way and they were going to strange land.

[socalrob]

Darth, I'm reading your last post and I thinking why is Alcoholics Annonymous evacuating people, & whats a pilot doing in AA in the first place.

Oh, American Airlines. I get it.

That story is terrible if true, & I suspect it is. The Superdome & Convention Center have both been trashed to the point they may be total losses. Whats wrong with people not respecting property of others? I just don't understand it.

[boxermania]

Texas has really stepped in to help the displaced people from Louisiana. It is the largest single effort of all the states. The people of Louisiana will be etternally gratefull to our Texas neighbors.......

[Guest]

Frank

Thanks for your fascinating insight into the role of the welfare state and the Katrina debacle........

But what about criminals and welfare parasites? Do they worry about saving their houses and property? They don't, because they don't own anything. Do they worry about what is going to happen to their businesses or how they are going to make a living? They never worried about those things before. Do they worry about crime and looting? But living off of stolen wealth is a way of life for them.

The welfare state--and the brutish, uncivilized mentality it sustains and encourages--is the man-made disaster that explains the moral ugliness that has swamped New Orleans. And that is the story that no one is reporting.

This no doubt explains the high level of criminality and moral ugliness of such welfare dependant states as Sweden and Norway.

Is it not just possible that racism,poverty, alienation and massive wealth differentials might have something to do with it? The fact that everybody seems to be armed to the teeth might also be a factor.

Just wondering....

[FGanger]

Guest,

All I was doing was posting something from one who actually lives in the area directly affected by all of this. There are many articles, etc. from "outsiders" which are available. From what I've seen (limited to be sure), not many are coming out of residents or former residents of the area.

If I was to generalize on anything, it would be that there is hardly ever a single, simple explanation for an event as large as this. Similar events have occurred in other places in the World and people acted differently.

I'm sure New York has as much poverty as New Orleans, no different than any large American city. After 9-11 the only stories I saw out of New York were of heroes.

When teaching in the university, I used to warn my students about simple explanations. Especially when they are presented by others. An example I recall using was about the Great Depression: The Depression was caused either by over production or under production - it wasn't over production, so it must have been under production. Simple, yet wrong.

So again I say, this is not my opinion, but one from a "man of the cloth" who actually lives there.

Frank

PS: I'm sure this topic will be on everyone's tongue for years to come.

[darthrider]

An update from my friend Robert, helping run the Red Cross efforts in N. Texas. This was just before Rita "turned right" and spared Texas much of the mayhem we were expecting.


So, now we're in the deep deep doo doo here in Texas as we continue to have thousands of Katrina evacuees all over the state and no telling what Rita will bring. Already a couple of dozen dead before they even made to Dallas.

I had a break after opening the largest (and wildest) shelter that Dallas has ever seen and now I am going to be in the thick of this next effort for Rita. At the hotel we are working out of downtown I got roughly the same pep talk that I got last year as I waited in Atlanta before heading into Florida's third hurricane of the season: "thanks for being a part of this, the largest relief effort that the Red Cross has ever been involved in". And, yes, this one is huge.

The state has been carved up by the Red Cross into three or four and I am in the biggest district and will be in logistics at our command center -
procurement and getting stuff where it needs to be. I think that I will eventually take it over (No idea why I'm always asked to do stuff I've never done). This is going to go on for a long time from what we can tell and we'll be supplying all of the shelters and all of the efforts that go on.

Right now we have over two thousand volunteers pouring in from all over the country, we've got a few hundred rental cars already in Dallas and we'll pick up hundreds more cell phones over the next couple of days: you know, all just crazy numbers. And fast. Over a million evacuated and no telling who will be able to go home. And some of the NOLA people are creeping back into shelters as their housing deals didn't work out or were over AND Louisiana is flooded badly. Such crazy news!

So, always kinda fun to send a note off like this. And sad. It's really going to turn peoples lives upside down.

Robert