by GDN01 » Tue Sep 20, 2005 2:21 am
Jenz, what is happening is unbelievably sad. Hundreds of thousands of people are in shelters all across the U.S. with no idea of when, if ever, they will return to their home - the place they want to be.<br><br>They have suffered in ways most humans will hopefully never experience. They were left to die by a govt. that obviously does not care about the people. They are just now beginning to realize they will have to start a new life in a place where they have no family or friends, no job, no belongings. <br><br>The child I was holding, his mother was there in the shelter, I just didn't know who she was. There are about 2,000 children who are either lost, or whose parents are lost. The govt. agencies can't just place them in homes without some effort first to find their families. For many of them, it was a decision on the parents' part to have their children evacuated, in an effort to save their lives, while the parents stayed in New Orleans, to wait for another bus to take them to some other destination - and there was no process in place to take down contact info that would help re-unite them. Families and individuals are just now beginning to surface from the shelters, realizing they can't stay there forever and they can't go home - and must begin to rebuild a life. It is very sad and very difficult.<br><br>And now the reality is setting in here, where I live, that we are the next hit. Every model shows this next hurricane coming in to Galveston and Houston. Will it be a Category 3, or 4, or 5, as it gains strength coming across the gulf? I've already got a family from the south part of Houston coming to my home. I'm trying to get a shelter prepared in my work place for more. We are all feeling panicked and trying to put plans in place to be more effective in the aftermath than what happened in New Orleans. <br><br>I need to get out tomorrow and buy water and food. I have two families that I've been helping here from New Orleans who I need to get supplies to - they can't stockpile food and water on their own. <br><br>I feel like I can't do this. I can't deal with one more disaster. But this is what I do. I know I will keep putting one foot in front of the other and do what has to be done. But I'm exhausted. I don't know how much more I can take. <p></p><i></i>