Look at this.
Craigslist.org is chock-full of people offering free and discounted housing to storm victims. These listings are from people who are, in some cases, hundreds of miles from the storm's path. There are offers for free housing from
Boston to
Austin. There are local stories for you in places like
Milwaukee,
Houston,
Dallas,
Boston,
Atlanta, Long Island and so on, with people who are making the offers of free housing.
Some people are so darn nice. Here is a person from Houston who is willing to share a one-bedroom apartment for three weeks.
Craigslist.org's New Orleans site also has these fascinating lists and collections for victims of Katrina:
Journalists have found Craigslist to be fertile ground for seeking out interviews. Here is an NPR reporter looking for storm victims who have been using blogs to get or send news.
I thought it was interesting, too, that some international journalists were using the site to try to find a place to sleep and bathe.
Storm Aid: TV/Radio Telethons for Hurricane Victims
I have seen this popping up around the country, broadcast stations launching telethons for storm victims. Many of them will air tonight.
From St. Louis to Fort Smith, Ark., Lansing, Mich., and North Carolina to South Carolina, TV stations well outside of the storm's path are pitching in to raise money for recovery and cleanup. In New York City, Erie, Pa., and Iowa's Quad Cities, stations have already collected money.
NBC, MSNBC and CNBC will air “A Concert for Hurricane Relief” at 8 p.m. Friday. Broadcasting and Cable reported that the special will feature performances by artists with ties to the affected areas, including Tim McGraw, Harry Connick, Jr., Wynton Marsalis and will feature an appearance by Leonardo DiCaprio, among others.
Viewers will be encouraged to donate to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund .
The National Association of Broadcasters is urging TV and radio stations to donate as much time as they can to promote the needs of the Red Cross. For the life of me, I do not understand why a station would run meaningless self-promotions right now, when such public service announcements could be so valuable in moving people off their sofas and into action. I think people still do not understand how big this need/problem is yet.
Clear Channel Communications Inc., America's largest radio station owner, lists some of the more than 1,200 radio and TV stations it owns as doing fundraisers for the storm victims.
There are some interesting complications behind all of this broadcast fundraising. This weekend, the MDA Labor Day Telethon is scheduled to air on about 200 stations. The telethon will come at the same time that relief agencies are trying to tap the nation/world for flood relief donations.
Jerry Lewis announced last night that the telethon will feature celebrity fund-raising appeals for the relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He also announced that MDA will donate $1 million of its funds to help victims in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Lewis said stars of music, movies, comedy and other fields would be recruited to make appeals for hurricane relief during the first four hours and last four hours of the 21-and-a-half-hour broadcast.
In some cities, the United Way is running or is about to begin annual pledge/giving campaigns. Charities are often reluctant to compete with UW, because United Way is their mother's milk during non-emergency periods of time. How are your communities managing this?
Radio Operators to the Rescue
There is a Web site where you can enter information about somebody you are trying to contact in the emergency area, and amateur radio operators will try to pass that information along.
Ham radio operators also provide emergency communications for the American Red Cross, which has established a similar "Get Info" hotline: 1-866 GET INFO (1-866-438-4636).
NOLA.com also now has a missing persons bulletin board. Thousands of messages have been posted.
Fuel Standards Relaxed
The federal government yesterday announced some interesting waivers to help the relief effort.
The Environmental Protection Agency is waiving sulfur standards for diesel fuel and volatility standards, which regulate the evaporation rate for gasoline, until September 15. Those steps, the EPA says, will increase fuel production.
What You Need to know about the Astrodome
http://www.ballparks.com/baseball/national/astrod.htm
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/buildingbig/wonder/structure/astro.html
When is Looting OK?
Within the next two days, the Pentagon says, another 10,000 National Guard members will be mobilized in the storm-damaged areas to restore order and help in other ways.
Clearly, some of the looting that we see on TV is just outrageous theft of TVs and jewelry. There are reports of roving bands of people, smashing windows and stealing guns. Even in Gulfport, Miss., The Sun-Herald reported:
Looters are taking whatever their hands can find, creating a sense of lawlessness that has overwhelmed local police.
Water, food, cigarettes and beer are some of the most sought-after items, but even kids' piggy banks aren't safe. In unconfirmed reports, looters have hit homes on Hardy Avenue in West Gulfport where residents reported piggy banks had been broken and robbed.
But when, if ever, is "looting" permissible for survival?
The Montgomery Advertiser took on the issue in an editorial. Here is an excerpt:
It is unconscionable for anyone to attempt to take advantage of the misfortune of others in their communities following disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, and when possible authorities should deal harshly with looters.
In other words, it's tempting to just suggest that police shoot looters and be done with it.
But there is going to be enough death associated with Katrina, and adding to the death toll by declaring open season on looters is not the best course.
In extreme situations such as the havoc left by Katrina, even arresting looters may not make sense. The first priority for public safety personnel has to be finding and rescuing people whose lives are at stake.
That's the real tragedy of the looting in New Orleans: It is pulling law enforcement officers away from search-and-rescue operations at a time when the lives of thousands of people remain at risk.
Please note that we are not talking about people stranded without food or water who break into stores to keep from starving. Taking food and water to survive is one thing, but there is nothing in a clothing or jewelry store that is necessary to survival.
... Of course, every state has laws against breaking and entering and theft. But looting is much more reprehensible than just simple theft, and there should be much stronger penalties when such thievery occurs in the wake of disasters such as hurricanes or earthquakes.
Beyond New Orleans
Here are some newspapers covering the areas further out from the big metros and the areas most covered so far.
Lessons Learned from Andrew
It is interesting to note that Katrina moved through South Florida last week on the 13th anniversary of Hurricane Andrew, the previous record-holder for storm damage.
I spent some time looking back at Hurricane Andrew anniversary stories to see what we might need to be covering. Here are some of those 10-year anniversary collections that look at issues of building codes, warnings, cleanup, evacuations and psychological damage.
Just before Katrina made landfall, The Miami Herald noted that New Orleans was headed for big trouble, largely for not having learned the lessons that South Florida learned from Andrew:
Take historically weak Louisiana building codes and questionable enforcement. Add a housing stock that is virtually all wood-framed -- and often aged and dilapidated. Stir in the fact that many structures have been weakened by termite infestation.
Then top it off with a predicted 28-foot storm surge that could overwhelm levees and pumps that keep the Mississippi River and Lake Ponchartrain out of bowl-shaped New Orleans.
What you have is a recipe for a disaster so ruinous it could overshadow the catastrophic damage Hurricane Andrew wrought in southern Miami-Dade County in 1992.
''New Orleans is never going to be the same,'' National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield told The Herald.
This is also worth a look. In 2002, The (New Orleans, La.) Times-Picayune warned that the levee system around the city was not adequate to protect the city. In fact, as has proven to be true, the levees might cause as much harm as good in times like these. The paper also warned that building requirements and emergency shelter space were severely lacking.
Pump Rage
Gas station clerks say they are getting the brunt of rage from consumers who are angry about prices.
An AP story said:
Bruce Hutton, professor of marketing at the University of Denver, said the high prices could spark even more angst than the frustrating long lines during the 1970s energy crisis because the current situation is far less clear-cut.
The 1970s crisis sparked from obvious oil shortages. But today, despite growing inventories, numerous factors are combining to drive up prices -- refinery problems, growing demand from China and energy traders worried over capacity tightness.
Hutton, who has done extensive research on consumer decision-making and energy usage information, said there's also a sense of entitlement among consumers today.
"In some respects, that makes it a whole lot more anxious or anxiety-producing," he said.
Rae Dougher, manager of energy market issues at the Washington-based American Petroleum Institute, said outbursts directed at employees are common.
"The higher the prices, I think, the more frustrated and angry consumers are becoming," Dougher said. "I think that they always suffer from consumers' wrath."
She noted that, although gas prices are soaring, gas station owners are often suffering squeezed profits or even losing money -- and they still have to deal with irritated customers who blame them for high costs.
"I think it's hard on a lot of the retail owners and workers to do business," Dougher said.
Bobby Poudel, who works at a Dallas Citgo station, said business has been undeniably less pleasant since prices started skyrocketing in June.
"A lot of people show their anger to me," said Poudel, 26. "Sometimes I've got to say, 'That's not me!' "
Pump-and-Run Crimes Rising
WCBS Radio said:
New York State Association of Service Stations and Repair Shops Director Ralph Bomberri says so-called "pump rage" is going on everywhere.
"The more you raise the price, the more attractive it becomes attractive for people to drive off," said Bomberri, who said his organization is lobbying for legislation that would gas thieves.
What the Road Rangers Saw
Al's Morning Meeting reader Melissa Keeney, a reporter at WINK-TV in Fort Myers, tells me:
With gas prices soaring, our WINK team went out for a trip with local road rangers, here in southwest Florida, that patrol I-75. They normally deal with stranded motorists, flat tires, etc. But we discovered they're finding a lot more people running out of gas on the highway now. They suggest it might be because drivers are trying to go as long as they can on a tank.
Here's the link to our story.
I suspect you could also check with your local AAA Club and find the same thing.
We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and hot links.
Editor's Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided whenever possible.
