Some emerging lessons learned in my mind:

1) It’s all about the three P’s-

Preventative measures—When you build a public work or safety structure, do it to the expectation that the structure will be there for catastrophic events like a 100-year storm. When the 25- or 50-year event comes along, the project will pay for itself by being more resistant to damage and decreasing repair and maintenance costs.

Preparation—don’t create plans that increase channels of authority. More channels create more bureaucracy. Bureaucracy, when it reaches a critical mass, protects itself from simple logic and blocks the free flow of information and resources.

Plans should be actively pruned to keep them simple and streamlined. That is how you keep a tree healthy and bearing fruit. Plans should have single points of contact with the authority, resources and logistical support to mold response to on-the-ground realities.

Pre-positioning—The machine should be set in motion and systems should be able to mobilize before an event, when possible, or during it at the latest. When human bodies are damaged, mobilizing after an event is already too late. Search and rescue teams are trained with a critical window of 72 hours. After that time, the survival probability of trapped and injured people falls away geometrically. Aid stations, supply drop off and rallying points should be decided before an event with alternatives in case those positions become unavailable.

2) Treat citizens as clients, not as flocks. Tax money is an account that set up to be cashed in during catastrophic events. Mississippi Power Company, the major electricity provider in southern Mississippi, prepositioned thousands of lineworkers to rebuild the electrical infrastructure almost immediately after it went down. Hundreds waited on the border of Georgia and other bordering states for the wind to die down so they could rush in. The reason Mississippi Power, a Southern Company subsidiary, did this was to get customers in a position to pay for power as quickly as possible. Shareholders would have it no other way. Profit incentives in this case worked better than the National Guard.

Winners and losers so far [Like SI’s Monday morning quarterback, in which Josh was quoted this morning. (Screw the Giants, go ‘Phins). Sorry, little digression]:

Winners:

1) Mississippi Power for what was mentioned above and also for pre-positioning

2) U.S. Coast Guard for being on the spot. USCG’s leadership gave every crew operational flexibility to do what they needed to save lives. Respect to Vice Admiral Thad Allen.

3) Firefighters and cops for fighting the good fight when many of their own lives were destroyed.

4) Seabee naval construction battalion for sticking their heads up when the winds died down, squaring their asses away and getting onto the streets to join the fight. It was good to see Seabee heavy equipment on the street the day after the storm.

5) Citizen’s who quietly assumed the role of gods like Capt. John Ludwig, a Seatow boat captain and pilot who braved 60+ knot winds and rising surge on his little Zodiac to pull eight live and five dead from the jaws of Katrina.

“Some of the dead, they’re hands were bleeding from holding onto the roof, and what looked like the father had his arm wrapped around one of the young ones,” he remembered. “It looked like the roof collapsed on them.”

And Michael Claudel and Bobby McAlister, of Hancock County, who pulled 14 people, one a pregnant woman, two dogs and two cockatiels from house to house and room to room during the storm. They fought rising water and deadly wind to ensure everyone survived, finally breaking through a roof to drag the others through the second story window of an adjoining house.

Losers:

1) FEMA for seemingly not doing any of the three P’s though that is your primary mission. Besides that, I’m not going to keep beating that dead horse. (Sorry about the clichés, Bearak)

2) Keesler Air Force Base for hiding behind your gates when your community was hurting so bad. For doing PT in the yard across the street from a shelter/ school full of poor people being evacuated for a dysentery outbreak-- and not lifting a God-damned finger. Seabees are as hardcore as you are soft.

3) I’m too pissed to continue on with the losers. I wish I could say that you know who you are, like the tv and sneaker looters, but you probably don’t.

That one timber sticking up to the left of the radio beacon is what remains of the Ship Island lighthouse.

Dock on Ship Island looking north. Those planks are stronger and more flexible composite materials, not wood.

Ferry landing on Ship Island.

Another casualty.

Park Service John Deere. It was thrown several hundred yards to the north side of Ship Island.

Fort Massachusetts. The boardwalk and entry gate to the fort were both destroyed.

The following appears courtesy of Knight Ridder News--
New Yorkers say they're repaying a debt from 9-11
BY MICHAEL NEWSOM AND JOSHUA NORMAN
Sun Herald
(KRT) - Unfinished business.
Chris Edwards and John Seiler, a pair of stocky, bald and tattooed retired New York City firefighters drove from Manhattan to Biloxi in a Red Cross truck Monday because they felt like they had unfinished business.
Edwards and Seiler had worked in the pit, or "ground zero," after Sept. 11, 2001, desperately combing through the wreckage of the World Trade Centers to find friends, firemen, survivors, anything.
After Sept. 11, Americans poured into New York to help. Now, New Yorkers are coming to South Mississippi with relief workers, law enforcement and artists helping after the most catastrophic event in America since that horrible, bright September morning in 2001.
"The trip that we're taking ... we're not holy rollers or anything," said Edwards, 46, who retired from Engine 81 in the Bronx recently because of medical issues. "I'm not on a mission. I just feel like we have unfinished business to help out the people down here who helped us, whether they was there helping or just here praying for us."
For Edwards and Seiler, it's also a little more than that.
The two are apart of the Disaster Action Response Team, a group of retired firefighters who assist the Red Cross in nearly every disaster. Their job here has been to bring supplies to the neighborhoods most affected.
When the two show up in a place to distribute food and water, it's like a whirlwind of energy. They run door to door asking, "how ya doin', hon?" hand out hugs and shed tears.
For them, this is also a bit of therapy for a wound that still has not closed, Edwards said.
"People still come up to us and give us hugs and say, `sorry,' four years later," said Edwards, sporting an FDNY shirt. "When you come down here and see the devastation, it brings back bad memories."
The devastation even overwhelms them sometimes, despite the horrors they said they experienced in the days after Sept. 11.
Driving through neighborhoods, where the unique smell of rotting flesh is overwhelming, often gives them pause, Edwards said. In addition, they find the scope of what happened nothing short of amazing.
"We had it bad in 9-11, but this is worse," said Seiler, 48, who sports a large "9-11-01" tattoo on his left forearm.
"What we had in 16 acres, they have in three counties," agreed Edwards.
But that seems to only have motivated them to work harder.
"They are a couple of tornados," said Richard Gonzalez, who is in charge of the Red Cross' food distribution program. "If I had three or four of them in trucks, we could feed the whole county. I can't say enough about those two. They're going where the need is the most."
Support from New York has come in myriad other forms, too.
Scott LoBaido, a professional artist from Staten Island, N.Y., stood in the heat on a roof in Orange Grove last week painting a 15-foot by 50-foot American flag, holding the roller and cursing the temperatures. He has been painting American flag murals on walls for about 15 years, but his workload grew after Sept. 11.
The 40-year-old LoBaido, who operates Scott LoBaido Studios, said he was inspired to paint murals in Manhattan in 2001 and again last week in South Mississippi after he saw Katrina's destruction.
"I watched all of it (on TV). I saw this thing coming. I watched the weather. You could tell the newscasters were afraid," he said.
LoBaido found a ride to South Mississippi and told his driver to drop him off the day after the storm somewhere he could volunteer. He found the Eagles Wings Foundation in Gulfport and began passing out food. He met Adam Plitt, a Gulfport teacher who found him the roof.
"We are needed here. The whole country was needed during 9-11. We got hit very badly. The whole country came. That's why I stayed there. That's why I came here. It's called returning the favor," LoBaido said.
The flag roof was the talk of the neighborhood as LoBaido was finishing up Thursday on East Burch Street off Dedeaux Road. A Red Cross helicopter flew over. LoBaido said he picked a rooftop partly because he thought it would be a morale booster for the large military contingent flying over Gulfport.
LoBaido said he passes the former World Trade Center site about three times per week, but Katrina's destructive swath was terrifying because it covers a large area.
Lt. Brendan Murphy was one of 14 Harrison, N.Y., police officers who also came to Gulfport. He said that here, memories of Sept. 11 came flooding back. He worked in New York City coordinating the efforts from a control center after the attacks.
"We watched what was going on (during Katrina). I think it is worse than what was reported," Murphy said. "I think it is a disgrace the way FEMA and the Red Cross have worked. That's because I'd say they're everywhere CNN tells them to be."
He also said Gulfport police were as good as any he had seen. As a surprise, the Harrison officers had 45 pizzas delivered from New York to the Gulfport operating center.
In addition to New York police and artists, one man connected to the crash of Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pa., came to Biloxi to work in Katrina's aftermath. Forensic Dentist Warren Tewes of the Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team (DMORT) is helping find and identify the dead, just like he did in Pennsylvania.
Tewes said the scenes on the ground in Pennsylvania affected him deeply. People there were never referred to as victims, he said. They were called heroes, which he said was different from the dead in South Mississippi, who were overwhelmed by a natural disaster.
He also said that another difference from his work with Flight 93 is the amount of time it will take to complete the identification process because the dead in Mississippi are scattered across several counties.
Tewes remained on the Flight 93 Federal Task Force, which was in charge of picking the design for the memorial to those 44 passengers and crew who fought their four captors. Plans for the Flight 93 Memorial in Somerset County, Pa., unveiled earlier this week, will include chimes for each of the dead located in a chapel.
"Freedom isn't free," Tewes said. "Flight 93 is about celebrating the sacrifice of others."

I just like this somewhat off shot of Seabees on the beach in Gulfport.
All photos on this blog (save the one of the photographer himself) by Josh Norman

Going through my photo files, I found two more I wanted to add quick. Here's a little firemen humor.
All photos on this blog (save the one of the photographer himself) by Josh Norman

Ah, a blessed pair of days off coming up. I've had one day off since the Tuesday before the storm (which was a Monday).
My place has been condemned, so I need to pack, basically, and if I have time find a place to live so I don't end up in a trailer park. My car is dying. I need to get on line at the bank for money too. Ah, a relaxing couple of days.
Although Mike did just call to say he had found steaks and cases of budweiser. Yes, please, I said.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the countless out-of-staters who have come to help in fire, polcie and rescue. Florida, Texas, Indiana, Alabama, Georgia are here in force giving are local boys a much needed few days off to go home and repair themselves, their families and, if they are lucky, their homes.
Ich habe auch zwei Oesterreichern latzten woche kennengelernt, die gerade aus Wien zu helfen angekommen sind. Ich will ihr danken, weil die zwei haben selbstbezahlt um hier zu kommen. Ich danke euch, ADRAT. (Austrian Disaster Research and Assistance Team. www.adrat.org)
Finally, I want to thank John and Chris, two retired FDNY guys who worked 9/11 and are now here helping with the Red Cross. It made me teary to see a pair of New York's Bravest helping out. (article in tomorrow's SunHerald).

Saturday 1:18 p.m. CDT

Nothing says Katrina like Spam. I am proud to say that I have just consumed my 10th Spam sandwich on wonder bread since the storm. That would make the 10th Spam sandwich on wonder bread I have ever had. I now find that a slathering of mustard and just a hint of Louisiana hot sauce cut the flavor that I can only faintly compare to urine. My gastro-intestinal system hates me and everything I stand for.

Just got back from a boat ride out to the beloved Ship Island. The fort still stands, though damaged. The lighthouse does not.
Bodies floating in the water as well as bags of Tyson chicken, probably blown off the port.

Pictures will follow.

John was mugging for me. I had to take this shot and post it. Glad he kept that cap on, as his bald head was blinding.
All photos on this blog (save the one of the photographer himself) by Josh Norman

That's Chris in FDNY dark shirt and John in sunglasses. Both are now reitred, but Chris is from 81 Engine in the Bronx and John is from Ladder 131 in Red Hook, Brooklyn. "The Happy Hookers", John quipped. Great guys. Big hearts. Hard workers.They are here helping with the Red Cross. New York's Bravest indeed.
All photos on this blog (save the one of the photographer himself) by Josh Norman

A Baptist clothing station. FYI, the Baptists are here in force. It's very impressive.
All photos on this blog (save the one of the photographer himself) by Josh Norman

The President Casino up close.
All photos on this blog (save the one of the photographer himself) by Josh Norman

As a frame of reference: that's the President Casino in Biloxi that was originally floating on a barge across the highway out to see a bit and over 1 mile from the spot it currently rests on.
All photos on this blog (save the one of the photographer himself) by Josh Norman

Sharkheads souvenir shop in Biloxi
All photos on this blog (save the one of the photographer himself) by Josh Norman

Ahhh Waffle House.(In Biloxi). I still can't believe that sign made it.
All photos on this blog (save the one of the photographer himself) by Josh Norman

Nowhere to drive-thru now.
All photos on this blog (save the one of the photographer himself) by Josh Norman

That is the fate of the Treasure Bay Casino in Biloxi. For those who don't know, that "ship" was floating about 400 yards out on the water.
All photos on this blog (save the one of the photographer himself) by Josh Norman

On Highway 90 in Gulfport.
All photos on this blog (save the one of the photographer himself) by Josh Norman

This cavalry came from Texas.
All photos on this blog (save the one of the photographer himself) by Josh Norman

Seabees cleaning up Jones Park in Gulfport on Highway 90.
All photos on this blog (save the one of the photographer himself) by Josh Norman

Accidental self-portrait with new camera.
All photos on this blog (save the one of the photographer himself) by Josh Norman

The cavalry has arrived.
All photos on this blog (save the one of the photographer himself) by Josh Norman

A bittersweet moment of levity: I went to a DMORT (see my article in today's SunHerald) center for families trying to locate missing loved ones. These four guys walk in looking for a family member and at one point the subject of dentures comes up.
The following monologue, which had everyone rolling on the floor clutching themselves with laughter, from one of the four men took place:
"Man, you fink FEMA gonna hep me ged thome new teef? I thaw my dendures floading away in da thtawm. I thweah man, I can' harly ea' nuffin. Dey wath givin ou' ham thamicheth da ova day. Me an' dith ova guy wath ea-in' nem. Took him ten minute ea' hith thamich. Took me foday-fahv minute ea' mine! I thweah' man. You fink da federa' gubnent goin hep me git thome teef back? Man, I can' ea' no cawn, no threemp. Ith terribew man, terribew."

The short answer to the shrimp & oyster fishing industry is that their ain't a whole hell of a lot left. Stay tuned for the story on the economics. For now, an older one:

Courtesy Knight Ridder News:
BY MIKE KELLER

SUN HERALD

It is still too early to tell how extensive Hurricane Katrina's damage is to coastal Mississippi's seafood industry. But a search for oyster fishermen in Hancock County's rural Claremont Harbor turned up communities essentially wiped away.

In a scene played out again and again on many streets, just slabs are left on many streets that held homes less than a week ago.

On streets intersecting Lakeshore Road, no debris is left around those slabs, just a few stilts stick out of the ground at odd angles, like daisies with their blossoms snipped. In another area, wooden structures again left no trace of their existence, while cinder block ones fell around their foundations like disassembled Legos.

Cows roamed the deserted roads, set free from their pastures when winds broke fences.

Neighbors said a few of the oystermen took their boats to safe harbor in Bienville, but they were not sure of the outcome.

Katrina's hours of tornado-like winds were enough to scuttle boats in the water and send some a mile or more inland.

In some of the waterways that run parallel to the little streets, the skeletal remains of oyster boats stick straight up out of the water, their bows buried deep in the mud-- tombstones to a deceased fishing community.

Just east of a bridge on Cowan Lorraine Road, many shrimp boats tried to take safe harbor in Bernard Bayou. At least eight ran aground from swelling water and wind. Now they wait for the bridges to open, bridges that stand between them and the Mississippi Sound, where a living shrimp population hopefully still exists.

"We don't know if we'll be able to catch shrimp," said Anh Phan, a Vietnamese shrimper who immigrated here in 1978. Her boat suffered no damage during the storm. "We're so worried."

Dead fish floated at the water's surface, maybe dead from the storm, or the chemicals and diesel that surely made their way into the bayou.

"If storm didn't come, we'd be outside catching shrimp," she said. "We never seen anything big like that ever."

My apartment will be condemned.
At least that's the vague quip I got from my landlady this morning. She dropped the whole issue of paying rent on a building that may be a health hazard. Thank goodness.
I pressed her and asked exactly how long I have to get out, and she refused to tell me. She said she is offering up space in these small apartments about 10 miles from work. Considering I lived a 1/2 mile from work and gas is scarce and expensive, I'm not thrilled with it. And, there isn't exactly an abundance of apartment space available now considering about 1/3 of it in the area was destroyed.
She said I should just come on down to the office today around two. I reminded her that I am a reporter working 10-12 hour days and she just said, "Oh, right. Well you take care hon." Click.
Bad time to have a shifty landlady who doesn't choose to make herself available.
I may end up squatting on my place. The only real issues with that are when electricity and running water will come back. It'll take a long time, for sure. All the electical outlets downstairs are coroded and The only thing I really want back is safe running water. I can live without A/C and TV but not without a sink to brush my teeth in.
Work is getting a little less hectic. The out-of-town reporters are starting to trickle out. I'm no longer climbing over rubble and talking to grieving families.
Knight-Ridder continues to do an amazing job of keeping us fed, watered and our cars gassed.
Ironically I am working on a long term story about exhaustion now. I'm kind of an expert, you might say. Everyone in local gov't is getting burnt out and crabby. That's saying nothing about fire fighters and cops.
Alright, that's the update, diary style. Gotta go find some tired people.
Keller is out finding what's left of the shrimping industry. Plenty of bottom feeding fun to come.

New NOAA aerial images:

http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/katrina/KATRINA0000.HTM

This is another photo that did not appear in the paper. It's of the Camero family in Pass Christian comforting each other as they cried at the end of services at Our Lady of Lourdes Church on Menge Avenue. "It's a wonderful release of tension and fear," said Luis, in white t-shirt.
All photos on this blog (save the one of the photographer himself) by Josh Norman

The following story appears courtesy of the SunHerald. The above photo I took - of Skip himself holding the glasses he threw away - did not appear in the paper because of an "electronic screw up," hence why I wanted to post it here.
PASS CHRISTIAN, Miss. - Horace "Skip" Brown woke up early on Aug. 29 to fry some eggs for himself and Ubu, his dog. He said he never considered leaving his home behind the police station in Pass Christian to flee Hurricane Katrina because he had worked hard on his land and he loved it.
By 8 a.m., Ubu, his light-brown, long-haired mutt, started barking wildly and water began bubbling up through the floor of his home.
By 8:30 a.m., the 55-year-old lifelong resident of the Pass said he was floating parallel to the ceiling of his kitchen and his dog was frantically swimming next to him.
A fire extinguisher floated by and he grabbed it. He managed to punch a small hole in the roof of his kitchen and shove Ubu through.
Brown, a handyman, janitor, gardener and anything else he needs to be, has bad eyes and wears thick glasses. He said he took off his glasses and tossed them through the hole.
"I didn't want to see myself die," Brown said.
Water got into his mouth, and Skip said he was about to let himself go.
Then he opened his eyes for what he thought would be the last time.
"I looked up and I seen that light and the dog was looking at me and I said, `Shoot, if that dog can make it through that hole, I can,'" Brown said.
He got through and floated away with Ubu and the rest of his house. The house stopped floating when it wedged between a pair of trees. Skip and Ubu were able to climb out of the wreckage when the waters receded.
These days, man and dog live on the second floor of St. Paul's School in Pass Christian.
Brown spends his days fishing off a pier nearby and digging through the wreckage for keepsakes, clothes and cleaning products to keep the school clean.
Besides losing his house, Skip lost a Pass Christian landmark of sorts.
"Man, he had a beautiful garden," said Skip's brother Ronnie, who was bunking down on a porch in a trailer park because his home was destroyed, too. "He must have spent $10,000 on that thing. People would come to take pictures in it and everything."

All photos on this blog (save the one of the photographer himself) by Josh Norman

Wednesday morning- a quick note before trying to find the seafood fishermen who have been completely uprooted and face a serious economic problem shortly.

Once again, for those who are interested in chipping in with money, since that's about the only way to chip in on the ground here:
American Red Cross-for us
Salvation Army-more for us
Humane Society-for our friends who hang with us.

Also, higher ed. students. Like the little ones you need to get back to school. Many universities are offering help to displaced college people. From one post among several:

I am trying to get the word out to university students who were affected by the hurricane. Please pass this on to anyone who might be interested; five universities in Nova Scotia, Canada are willing to take in students at a reduced tuition fee. One is even offering to take 5 students free of charge (will provide full tuition and room and board). The others are willing to do whatever they can to get students into classes and houses. contact hurricane.relief@acadiau.ca
or go to www.smu.ca to see two examples. Also, you can contact me via my web blog for further information.
Cathy

Canada would be fun.

Also, I have heard Columbia University in New York is willing to take in students.
Don't stop learning.

I found beer.
A big thank you goes out to the company who owns T.G.I. Friday's up on Hwy 49 north of I-10. Their beer was cold and their fries were warm. 'Twas one of my best birthdays ever.
On a bit of a personal note/gripe, I found out that my building, still sans electricity and clean running water, may be condemned and/or bulldozed and that my landlady still wants to collect my rent. At least Mike has semi-plush carpets and electricity. The prick.

On to business.
For those of you still seeking loved ones:
I encourage you to utilize our gracious employers website listed in our links to the right. You may also check www.gulfcoastnews.com for advice on searching.
In addition, we recieved this post not long ago:
The Bulletin Blog (www.bulletinblog.org) is the Web's Bulletin Board for reuniting victims of disasters with families and friends.
If you have been a victim of a disaster, you can Post any information you wish so that your family and friends will be able to find you on our website and know the status of your situation. You may also search your name on our website to see if your family or friends have already made a Posting seeking your status.
If you are a family member or friend searching for the status of a loved one, you can Post a picture and message asking them to contact you.
You can include a link in your Posting to help direct people to your own website or another website where important information may reside.
You can also include photos and images in your Postings.

Finally, call the Red Cross. They are finally starting to make a unified list of all the people who hve checked into shelters.

For those of you looking to help:
For now, donating money, clothing, food and medicine to either the Red Cross or the Salvation Army is the surest way to directly help here.
In time, when things begin to calm down slightly, we will have more information on what charity avenues open up, but driving around, the Red Cross and the Salvation Army are the two groups I have seen working the hardest to help those hurt bad.

From Michael Moore:
>Dear Mr. Bush:>>Any idea where all our helicopters are? It's Day 5 of>Hurricane Katrina and thousands remain stranded in New>Orleans and need to be airlifted. Where on earth could you>have misplaced all our military choppers? Do you need help>finding them? I once lost my car in a Sears parking lot.>Man, was that a drag.>>Also, any idea where all our national guard soldiers are? We>could really use them right now for the type of thing they>signed up to do like helping with national disasters. How>come they weren't there to begin with?>>Last Thursday I was in south Florida and sat outside while>the eye of Hurricane Katrina passed over my head. It was>only a Category 1 then but it was pretty nasty. Eleven>people died and, as of today, there were still homes without>power. That night the weatherman said this storm was on its>way to New Orleans. That was Thursday! Did anybody tell you?>I know you didn't want to interrupt your vacation and I know>how you don't like to get bad news. Plus, you had>fundraisers to go to and mothers of dead soldiers to ignore>and smear. You sure showed her!>>I especially like how, the day after the hurricane, instead>of flying to Louisiana, you flew to San Diego to party with>your business peeps. Don't let people criticize you for this>-- after all, the hurricane was over and what the heck could>you do, put your finger in the dike?>>And don't listen to those who, in the coming days, will>reveal how you specifically reduced the Army Corps of>Engineers' budget for New Orleans this summer for the third>year in a row. You just tell them that even if you hadn't>cut the money to fix those levees, there weren't going to be>any Army engineers to fix them anyway because you had a much>more important construction job for them -- BUILDING>DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ!>>On Day 3, when you finally left your vacation home, I have>to say I was moved by how you had your Air Force One pilot>descend from the clouds as you flew over New Orleans so you>could catch a quick look of the disaster. Hey, I know you>couldn't stop and grab a bullhorn and stand on some rubble>and act like a commander in chief. Been there done that.>>There will be those who will try to politicize this tragedy>and try to use it against you. Just have your people keep>pointing that out. Respond to nothing. Even those pesky>scientists who predicted this would happen because the water>in the Gulf of Mexico is getting hotter and hotter making a>storm like this inevitable. Ignore them and all their global>warming Chicken Littles. There is nothing unusual about a>hurricane that was so wide it would be like having one F-4>tornado that stretched from New York to Cleveland.>>No, Mr. Bush, you just stay the course. It's not your fault>that 30 percent of New Orleans lives in poverty or that tens>of thousands had no transportation to get out of town.>C'mon, they're black! I mean, it's not like this happened to>Kennebunkport. Can you imagine leaving white people on their>roofs for five days? Don't make me laugh! Race has nothing>-- NOTHING -- to do with this!>>You hang in there, Mr. Bush. Just try to find a few of our>Army helicopters and send them there. Pretend the people of>New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are near Tikrit.>>Yours,>>Michael Moore>MMFlint@aol.com>www.MichaelMoore.com>>P.S. That annoying mother, Cindy Sheehan, is no longer at>your ranch. She and dozens of other relatives of the Iraqi>War dead are now driving across the country, stopping in>many cities along the way. Maybe you can catch up with them>before they get to DC on September 21st


From me:
Dear Mr. Moore,My name is Josh Norman. I am a reporter with the SunHerald of Biloxi, Mississippi. Last Sunday and Monday, I was in Biloxi when the eye of Hurricane Katrina passed over my head as a category 4.It was terrifying.Immediately after the storm, I went out and reported on the disaster. I met families destroyed, saw neighborhoods reduced to their concrete foundations, smelled death and dispair and heard the disbelief roll off of everyone's toungue. Disaster, perhaps, is therefore not strong enough of a word.What will be a disaster is a divided and bickering nation.I appreciate your work, Mr. Moore. I understand your viewpoint.I have voted democrat across the board since I started voting ten years ago. I could very easily be described as a liberal too...I was in the Peace Corps for Christ's sake.But I do not feel that now is the time to berate Bush. Now is not the time to bring him down a peg. He may be pathetic, he may be barely able to actually help, but any help he can get down this way is desperately needed. By causing him to divert energies to defend his frequently spotty record people who attack him are diverting his energies away from here.And, I feel like you and others who attack him are diverting your energies away from here too.This disaster is about people. It's about the mother who came home from work and found her baby and husband had drowned in her living room. It's about the casino janitor who came home and found his daughter's baby photos missing - his house had been reduced to a slab - much the same way Hurricane Camille had done to his baby photos.It's about the firemen who had to swim out of their fire station, had their homes leveled, and are still working 20-hour days, 7 days a week.We need help here. Now. Listening to the political bashing, frankly, makes me concerned. I know Bush did wrong. I know there was a major fuck up. Now is not the time for finding of what that fuck up was.Have you spent as much time helping the people of South Mississippi and Louisiana get clothing, medicine, food and water as you have figuring out what Bush did wrong?-Josh

I don't know when my greeting upon meeting new people changed. I used to say, "How are you?" or "How's it going?"
At some point in the last couple days, my brain realized that was a stupid question. Even if someone says "fine" it is just their automatic response answering.
I heard myself make the switch to "how are you folks holding up?"

Just heard how a reporter here fared. He had to swim off his roof in the middle of the storm. He said that the top of his roof was almost exactly 60 feet above the river that his house used to be on.
The last he saw of his home was a whirlpool that formed as water rushed down his chimney. When the waters receded, everything was gone.