Helping each other through Katrina's shared misery

As soon as Hurricane Katrina made its way as far north as Birmingham, it knocked over a tree which brought down a powerline which took the Anniston Star Online offline for a day and a half. Since we couldn't post news to our main site, we put more on our partner site, MSNBC.com, and that almost immediately began attracting e-mail from MSNBC.com readers. These messages appear to be directed to a general audience rather than specifically to northeast Alabama, but they do not exclude or exempt local readers. Some are pleas for help, others offer suggestions for how to help and some simply vent. Here they all are, with only slight editing. I will add to this list as new messages come in. Feel free to add your own comments.

I've added a new blog for Katrina stories and New Orleans memories. You'll find it here.


Wednesday, August 31, 2005 3:34 PM
Name: Kathy Menefee
Comments:
In no way do I want this to appear that I am trying to take advantage of the situation, but I want to help! My name is Kathy Menefee and I am a publishing consultant with Favorite Recipes Press in Nashville, Tenn. The victims of Katrina live in my territory and I want to help them on a large scale. I am aware that the Today show has partnered with Meredith Press to do a cookbook for the benefit of the T.J. Martell Foundation. I want to do the same; a cookbook put together very quickly (highlighting those areas cuisine) and sell it with the proceeds going towards relief and rebuilding. I want to raise amillion dollars or more! Can you help me? I need to find a person or organization to champion this project. Time is of the essence! God bless us all, Kathy Menefee Publishing Consultant Favorite Recipes (Contact Geni Certain at the Anniston Star if you need to contact this writer.)


Wednesday, August 31, 2005 9:35 PM
Name: Julia Williams
Comments:
Looking for Kae Smith of Slidell, La. She called an hour before Hurricane Katrina hit. She thought she was safe and had no evacuation plan. She used to work for the government. When I spoke with her Thursday (when it was apparent the storm was going to hit her) she responded with, "I just watched the news and the weatherman we all trust said we 'don't have anything to worry about'." I think that weatherman should be hung and then fired.


Thursday, September 01, 2005 8:22 PM
Name: Susan Wooten
Comments:
This past week we all have watched thousands and thousands of people lose their whole world. I am not just talking about homes, jobs, TVs, and DVDs, I am talking about their sense of well-being, safety, and belonging. Even though the survivors might have other survivors around them, they still feel like they are alone and might feel there is no future for them. The rest of the county has to step up and let them know they are not alone. To the people with the power or the strings to pull: Go to different cities and get the hotels to give a few free rooms, get the local restaurants to give meal cards or such for so many meals, get the local doctors to give heath care, get the community and business to help with other needs, try to get apartment buildings to give rent free apartments for 3 or 6 months (remind them of the tax breaks and good PR). The towns that will help can send buses to pick the people up. If not, there are people who would drive their own vans to pick the people up, plus there are people in every community who will open there own doors to the survivors. Houston has stepped up, but now the rest of the country has to. If what happened to the hurricane survivors happened to me, or the rest of the country, we would pray someone was there for me, for us. We must also show the rest of the world that we can come together and do the right thing, that not all of us are materialistic self-centered jerks, and that the U.S. isn't like the Wild West. We must do more, we have to do more than just sending money. If we don't, how can we talk about how great this county is and how great our lives are.


Thursday, September 01, 2005 10:47 PM
Name: Tony Nelzen
Comments:
I have some cousins that live in Slidell, La. Hal & Debbie Taylor. How do we find out how they are doing re: Hurricane Katrina?


Friday, September 02, 2005 12:05 AM
Name: Taryn Gregory
Comments:
www.hurricanehousing.org A great Web site for people who need someplace to go. There are currently over 1,200 households signed up who can accommodate 3-10 people. There are also some listings for 180 unit cottages within 500 miles from New Orleans — all being offered for free. If you get the word out, perhaps more people will volunteer & some of the people being turned away in Houston or those still in Biloxi, Gulfport & New Orleans can be partnered up with civilians willing to take them in. The media has the power to help.


Friday, September 02, 2005 7:44 AM
Name: Trudie Hurd
Comments:
The Associated Press and other media keep saying that people are looting and shooting ... albeit sometimes they also say "...it's out of desperation..." The wording should be changed, especially when the AP puts out a picture of an Asian (or person of color), and a Caucasian couple in the same article. They are both wading through the water in Louisiana, but the word "looting" is used when describing the person of color obtaining "bread"; where the word "finding" is used for the Caucasian couple. All of these people are experiencing a very difficult time. All of them are desperate, hungry, scared, thirsty and desolate! All of them! This makes me want to cry. I knew in my heart that it has been wrong for the media to focus more on the actions of the people trying to survive — and some losing their minds because of terrible trauma and watching loved ones, friends and even strangers dying around them — I knew it! It is a tragedy. Maybe the media should be asking for everyone's help more and asking for prayer and focusing on putting the microphones up to the people every chance they get to ask their names in case a loved one is looking for them, or wandering if they are alive. I will go on line to 7 on your site and tell them just that!


Friday, September 02, 2005 12:00 PM
Name: Yejoon Koh
Comments:
I haven't seen any mention of this on your site, and if it has been mentioned, it should be a lot more clear. The major immediate problem right now is that there are no place to put many of these people. shareyourhome.org and craigslist.org are filled with people offering their homes. PLEASE make this resource known to the people who need it. Also, transportation poses a problem as well. Would it be so bad to take a few school days off and use school buses to transport people to these open homes? Diesel fuel is economical.