Sat, 10 Sep 2005
"Hi everyone-- Things are going well here. Spirits have been lifted in the past couple of days (way better than our first night here--ugh). The improvement we think is due mainly to people getting debit cards from Red Cross (b/t $350-1250 or so I heard, depending on family size) and from FEMA (I think for $2000 but could be wrong on both counts--accuracy of information is questionable--different info about everything, esp. numbers.) Speaking of questionable information (oops), things to correct/clarify from the previous email:
- 250,000 ppl have been processed in Houston--not necessarily all still in Houston.
- Reliant Park (the complex that holds the astrodome, Reliant Arena, Reliant Center, and giant Reliant Stadium) was in fact on lock down b/c Red Cross was distributing above mentioned debit cards--not some security breach we thought/were told? it could have been.
- Turns out about 97,000 folks have been processed through Reliant Park. I believe about 6,000+ remain (?) and many are moving out as they receive debit cards and are able to get some housing secured (apartments or otherwise). There are still about 1200 or so folks in the Convention Center.
- Reliant Arena--the bldg. that was emptied of folks (except for some medical stations, including isolation) was making room and bringing in cots for more folks. before i give you misinformation about where those folks are coming from (New Orleans? elsewhere in the Reliant complex?) I'll just say that maybe we'll find out today and get back to you.
I know you guys can read about all of this stuff (probably not super accurate either, it's hard to get facts for sure), so I'll stick to non-news stuff, except for this little comment in this here "Emily's Political Corner:"
You have likely read that Dick Cheney (your fave and mine) is supposed to visit Texas (Austin, not Houston) today (Saturday). After reading about his tour of Mississippi and hearing that the response there was "impressive" I bristle to imagine what he says about Texas. I don't know what things are like at Austin's convention center--but they doubtless won't be as good as he says they are. I suppose it's not revelatory to say that the Dark Lord's li'l tour are purely politically motivated: look how great the response is/look how organized we are/look how excellent our administration is/nevermind Iraq and the lack of National Guard/talk to Chertoff about any accountability, not me!/vote Republican in 2008! People have been here a week and Cheney (not even Bush who took his sweet time to go elsewhere) shows up today...for two minutes. It just seems any concern is feigned. Disgusting. I mean Oprah and Chris Rock were in Texas days ago. I'm just saying.
[End sanctimony.]
It's not terrible here, organizationally-speaking but far from perfect and very very far from coordinated; response activities and orgs are operating fairly autonomously. The net result of this is that single things like medical response or law enforcement are pretty well underway with each single goal being met with success, but there's not much discussion between any of these groups and seemingly not much communication with the residents (evacuees) about what's happening next. So, things like handing out debit cards (which has been stopped), the times and locations of which was announced in the local paper, didn't trickle down to other people within the complex (so the paper's our only source of info too).
A lot of the interviewing is quick, people say they're fine, I get their age, check that there are "no problems" on my sheet and move on. During these stretches, it's easy to forget that the many of the people we are interviewing lost their homes and/or contact with their family members. Just a series of short exchanges that help you get data and remind them of medical and mental health services. Most have been to medical and I've come across more folks who have used mental health as well and others who are open to it, which is good. For some reason, the mental health counselors aren't allowed to walk around and talk to people which is truly unfortunate because some people sure are talking. Not conversational so much as thinking out loud, heads full of working out tons of logistics to get established, constantly running down plans to get their family members together. One woman was going to use a free Continental ticket (how awesome is that?) to get her son to Houston from Corpus Christi since she has a bag full of medication for him. Chances are, if he's in a shelter there, he has maybe been able to get his meds, but of course his mother's going to worry, right? I met another woman who was in her cot and hadn't had food or water since the day before (it was 7 pm at this point) and felt totally alone b/c her husband was out all day taking care of logistics, etc. She talked about losing her house and everything she owned. I went and got her some food (smoked sausage, green beans and bread that looked GOOD) and snuck it to her cot. She was so grateful and this look on her face was so hopeful and thankful and looked so different than it did before, all teary and hopeless and sad and yeah yeah none of this is about me, of course of course, but that second sure felt like it was and it was great. (I know his this must sound.)
My boss was working in the pediatrics clinic and met a guy working there who was evacuated and was totally alone. He apparently was sort of lost and the folks at the pediatrics clinic got to know him, found out he was handy and asked him to put in some plumbing and install a sink. He did. They also found out he was a substance abuse counselor in New Orleans and so he has been able to provide some counseling to some residents going through withdrawal and other issues. So, this fella works at the peds clinic everyday and goes home to the astrodome to sleep at night. In a couple of days, he is going to use a free airline ticket (shout out to Continental) to go to California, where two of the nurses there are from. The hospital where they work has promised him a job ("we’ll find one, we promise.") and one of the nurse's sisters has a room where he can stay. Amazing.
Not to be too rosy, because there are a million sad circumstances surrounding these rare good outcomes, but isn't incredible how people can look out for each other? It's very humbling to see how generous people can be. This: I met a volunteer who's from New Orleans, was evacuated and has no idea where he family is. She said she's helping out because it helps her to think that someone else could be doing the same for them.
Another resident said that when she went to get mental health counseling she ended up helping more than she was helped because she was okay and not as bad off as others and they need her help and she feels better helping them anyway.
In addition to the debit cards improving spirits, last night Reliant Park opened "Reliant Town Square" a makeshift entertainment/amusement area with tents (some with A/C) of NEW board games, free video games and pinball machines (including the Adams Family one which is AWESOME), basketball courts, moonbounce-esque big slides and other such things that I TOTALLY want a turn on, but given they're for evacuated children, well, it'd be slightly inappropriate. But they look like they're having a great time--yay! Nettie (a colleague) and I were giddy when we left that area b/c it was so exciting and fun and felt just like a summer fair. It seemed like a lot of the kids felt that way, too, which is awesome.
Lots more to tell but this is way too long as it is, so I'll update once more in a day or two. We leave tomorrow morning (instead of Monday) since thankfully there are less and less people to interview (84 first night, then 53, then 31). Love to you all, thanks for your nice emails and I'll be in touch soon. Kisses! emilyo"
No comments:
Post a Comment