Number 1 - you're right, but the remarks were so unrealistic and hurtful
that I had to respond. Any disaster is just that... A disaster, but our
lives are destroyed enough without having to see that kind of attack on
the RM listserve.
Number 2 - There are plenty of records-related horror storied caused by
Katrina. There are licensed and certified craftsmen (electricians,
carpenters, plumbers, etc.) that can't get work rebuilding a city that
desparately needs their skills because they lost their vital
records--including their certifications--when their homes and businesses
flooded, and can't prove that they are licensed to do business in the
city. Thousands of prosecution records on pending court cases were
lost when the basement in which they were kept flooded, and remained
flooded for days. They are desperately trying to save what they can,
but the flood waters stood for so long and were so full of chemicals, it
will be very difficult. Individuals and small businesses are going
crazy trying to come up with the documents needed to apply for the
FEMA/SBA loans to get back into business because they didn't practice
good records management and lost most if not all of their business
records. They evacuated their homes and took personal vital records, but
many didn't take their business vital records.
Records-wise, it's a grand mess down here. Thank heavens the new Orleans
Historical Collection personnel are well-versed in records management,
as they save the entire collection (which contains documents that go
back to the 1700's) from destruction. Because my company has a strong RM
program and plan, we didn't have any damaged or lost records. We were
able to relocate immediately to our hot-site near Beaumont, Texas, and
restart operations within hours of relocation. The same applied when we
had to evacuate our Texas site because of Rita - we moved to still a
different site near Baton Rouge and continued to operate. It was a
struggle over the past few years getting the program completed and ready
for action, but it was worth it.
-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Markley, Patricia
Sent: Thursday, October 27, 2005 2:54 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: FW: (NOW OT OT OT) Katrina
Number 1: It's not a contest -- there's plenty of suffering to go round
in this world.
Number 2: I implore the participants in this list to stick to records
management discussion.
Pat Markley
Siena College
-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Laiche, Elizabeth
Sent: Thursday, October 27, 2005 3:08 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: FW: (NOW OT OT OT) Katrina
I'm so upset at this thread that I'm writing a commentary back. I can't
believe that any reasonable person would compare Katrina to a blizzard,
or say the things that were said in the two e-mails below.
Did the blizzard kill hundreds of people? Were dead bodies floating by
during and for days after the blizzard, and were they lined up in
makeshift morgues for weeks or months waiting for identification because
they were so decomposed? Did the blizzard cause the loss of over
500,000 jobs (at last count, and still rising)? Did the blizzard
completely devastate hundreds of square miles the size of the country of
England? Did the blizzard destroy thousands of homes, crumpling them
like match sticks? Did the blizzard scatter thousands of people over 44
different states? Did the blizzard cause tent cities to pop up under
interstate overpasses because people were kicked out of hotels or
shelters and have no place else to go? How about the city's basic
services and infrastructure - did the blizzard cause 30 million in
damage to the city's traffic systems - not just shut red lights down for
a few days, but destroy them completely - wires, lights, poles and all?
Did the blizzard totally shut down the city's sewer system and destroy
the pipes of the system so that it will take months and millions to
rebuild? Did the blizzard contaminate the city's water supply, so that
much of the city, even now, does not have drinking water? Did the
blizzard destroy most of the garbage pickup facilities and equipment,
leaving mounds of garbage, piled as high as the houses, in the streets
with no way to pick it up? Did the blizzard create millions of tons of
trash--a good bit of it rotting food? Katrina did all of this.
Did the blizzard wipe an entire parish (or county) off the face of the
earth, so much so that people can't even recognize their neighborhoods
to find their destroyed homes? Did the blizzard destroy--not damage but
destroy--over 350,000 cars (and that was just in New Orleans)? Did the
blizzard pick up the cars like toys and slam them into homes or drop
them on rooftops? Did the blizzard rip up concrete streets and totally
destroy bridges? Did houses that made it safely through the blizzard
burn down when the electrical grid came back on because of storm-damaged
electrical systems? Did thousands upon thousands of people loose every
single thing they owned? Did thousands of acres of trees and thousands
of homes look like scenes from Europe during the WWII blitz bombings?
Did block after block of tress, houses, machinery--everything!--turn
gray with a combination of mold, spilled oil, and flood-gunk after a
blizzard? Did people have to cover their noses to keep from chocking on
the horrible smell of decay after the blizzard? Did the effects of the
blizzard last not just for days or even weeks, but for months or even
for a lifetime? Did thousands of families have to be spit apart for
months or years, or even permanently because of a blizzard? Katrina did
all of this, too. None of this happens in a blizzard, or even a
"normal" hurricane. I've lived through two bad hurricanes - Betsy and
Camille - neither come anywhere near this catastrophe.
The previous writers say they just melt snow for water, pluck people out
of their car, carry on, etc. How nice for them! We don't have snow,
and what little water we do have is contaminated with chemicals from
flooded-out garages and businesses, farm run-off, oil and gas from cars,
street grime, dead bodies and muck. As to plucking people from the
area... most of our infrastructure is GONE - roads destroyed, police,
fire and school busses destroyed. It's nice that these people have
extra clothes to put on - thousands of us have only the clothes on our
backs. It's nice that these people can light a fire in their hearth -
thousands of us have no homes or hearths at all. You had winds of 50
mph? Try sustained winds of 100 mph, with regular gusts up to 150 mph
for several hours!
Mr. Whitaker doesn't know what a "biblical" proportion disaster really
is, and I hope he never has the opportunity to find out, because eating
his words as he "sobs" for help will be very hard. If he wants to spout
rhetoric, he should come to New Orleans and try to drive without traffic
lights, try to find food, water and gas so he can eat, drink and bathe
every day, try to find a school open so his kids can go to class, try to
find a place with electricity and water to rent... Or ANY place to rent,
try to get his prescriptions filled in a city that is not receiving
deliveries and has very few stores open, try to find a place that
doesn't stink of rot and decay and mold, try to find someone who doesn't
look haunted, desperate, sick. But he's better come "prepared" with a
tent, his own food and water, a portable potty, etc. because there is no
place to stay in the city or the any surrounding areas for over 100
miles in any direction.
I know what I'm talking about because I was there, and I still am. I
moved out of New Orleans 2 years ago so I wouldn't have to evacuate for
a storm, and so I could offer a place for others to evacuate to with
their pets. I WAS prepared with food, gas for our generator, bottled
water, insect repellants, pet foods, medications, first aid items...
everything we needed for a "normal" hurricane and a few weeks without
services, water, or grocery stores. I was not prepared for something
the scope of Katrina, or the last-minute rush of people who came to my
house when they received mandatory evacuation notice on short notice,
just hours before the storm hit. I was not prepared to be trapped for
days until we could cut our way out to a main highway. I was not
prepared to have people staying at my house for weeks because they had
no place else to go, or the inability to buy food because markets were
closed and couldn't get deliveries. I still don't have appliances,
which were blown out during the storm when lightening struck the house,
and was I was weeks without electricity in 98 degree heat. Some of my
friends are gone and won't be back. My family is spit apart since the
business my son-in-law worked for went under. He found work in Wyoming
and they have relocated, so I won't get to see my precious granddaughter
grow up. My entire place is a maze of destructions. I make a good
salary but I don't have enough money for food right now because of all
the repairs I'm having to make (can't wait for the insurance - only
heaven know when that will get here!) so I depend on church food lines
or the food bank to keep going. And I'm one of the lucky ones! There are
people much, much worse off then me, like my sister's family - it will
be months before she can move back into her damaged house, which has to
be gutted and reconstructed. A co-worker got only a few inches of flood
water in her house, yet the house is unlivable due to mold, which is on
everything!
So put your money where your mouth is, Mr. Whitaker, and whoever wrote
the first e-mail as well. Come down here, and let us drop you off in
the middle of the 9th ward, or Chalmette, or Lakeview, or Slidell.
We'll give you a day's food and water, and a map. I'd like to see you
to find your way out since street signs are gone and streets in general
are unrecognizable, and through ungodly muck which is chin-deep in
places, while trying not to choke on the smell. If you do get through
it, I bet you won't even think of repeating what you wrote previously.
And if you should have a blizzard of "biblical proportions" (such as
snow over the top of thousands of 2-story houses, that lasts for weeks
totally destroys your city the same way Katrina did to us), I will be
one of the first people to open my heart and wallet to help any way I
can, because I know what it's like. Pray that you never find out.
I tell you this, Mr. Whitaker, there is no way to prepare for something
this massive. What about the poor people of Indonesia - do you feel
they deserve what they got because they were not prepared, even though
tsunamis are known to happen in that part of the world? Do you expect
the people of southern California to "be prepared" when their "big one"
hits? Will you view them as whining and sobbing as the are being dug
out of the remains of their shattered city and equally shattered lives?
That event, when it hits, will be comparable Katrina. No matter how
destructive they are, blizzards, tornadoes, or any other "normal" event
will ever compare to the complete and total devastation of Katrina. For
now, she, and she alone, has earned the unfortunate title of
"unprecedented catastrophe" in this country.
And to the rest of you, I say this... Thank the Lord that there are
hundreds of acts of true and random kindness and support going on, or
we'd all be in the loony bin by now. Negative people are not the norm,
and again, I am thankful for that. To all of you who have help in some
way, no matter how small, I send our sincerest thanks. It's
appreciated. New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are down, but not out.
We'll be back, better than before, but we won't be the same ever again.
I've had my say... Back to the business of records management....
-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Steven Whitaker
Sent: Thursday, October 27, 2005 9:59 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: (NOW OT OT OT) Re: Will we keep email (and everything else)
forever one day?
EXACTLY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Those who want to take care of themselves, their family and friends,
WILL PLAN AHEAD AND DO SO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not sit around and sob,
hoping for some TV news airtime, after they have not lifted a finger to
do anything to prepare for themselves, while their city and state do
nothing...; and blame the feds when FEMA is late getting organized.
*-----------------------------------------------------------------------
P.S. a person sent me this
Subject: North Dakota News Bulletin
(For those of you who are not aware, North Dakota and southwestern
Montana got hit with their first blizzard of the season a couple of
weeks ago)
This text is from county emergency manager out in the western part of
North Dakota state after the storm.
Amusing...
WEATHER BULLETIN
Up here in the Northern Plains we just recovered from a Historic event
--- may I even say a "Weather Event" of "Biblical Proportions" --- with
a historic blizzard of up to 24" inches of snow and winds to 50 MPH
that broke trees in half, stranded hundreds of motorists in lethal snow
banks, closed all roads, isolated scores of communities and cut power to
10's of thousands.
George Bush did not come....
FEMA staged nothing....
No one howled for the government...
No one even uttered an expletive on TV...
Nobody demanded $2,000 debit cards.....
No one asked for a FEMA Trailer House....
No news anchors moved in.
We just melted snow for water, sent out caravans to pluck people out of
snow engulfed cars, fired up wood stoves, broke out coal oil lanterns or
Aladdin lamps and put on an extra layer of clothes.
Even though a Category "5" blizzard of this scale has never fallen this
early...we know it can happen and how to deal with it ourselves.
Everybody is fine.
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