Total confusion in Texas

[malaise]

re distribution of emergency supplies. This was OK for those who had prepared for the hurricane or those who did not lose everything during the first two days - now the two million people without power are throwing away almost everything in the fridge/freezer.

FEMA - Fugg <[/b>b]Every Major Arrangement!

[marshall]

1. Not everyone is in total confusion

My friends and relatives don't have power, but they are doing okay. They have lost their frozen goods and refrigerated items, but they have dried beans, rice, and much more food that they have kept back for a case like this. And they are getting food from the local churches. Their biggest gripe is without electricity they don't have air conditioning and it is hot and muggy--but one can live with that. One friend does have a small solar powered generator that will run a couple of appliances--not a refrigerator but it will run a fan and a radio or a light.

[malaise]

3. Press conference on now with Mayor of Galveston

About 15,000 people still on island.

add

[fed_up_mother]

8. It's not hot anymore. The weather is glorious, in fact.

Well, it's not muggy if you're not right on the coast.

[cwydro]

2. We were without power for three weeks after Georges

and it was very difficult. Those with generators were envied. The worst thing is the heat and no fans. We had plenty of supplies however, because we prepare for storms every year. We threw everything in our fridge away too. Now, in advance of storms, we try to eat and/or prepare the food in there and then eat it in the days right after the storm.

In my experience, FEMA's main role is reimbursement for losses incurred.

Ice, food, cleaning supplies were all brought in by the National Guard and the Red Cross. I know the Salvation Army provided food in the poorer neighborhoods twice a day.

Many of the grocery stores, once they were able to open again, gave ice away from semi trucks. People all pull together.

[The Stranger]

5. FEMA's main role is not just "reimbursement for losses incurred."

As the name states, it is a Federal Emergency "MANAGEMENT" Agency.

All it does under the GOP and the GOP's half-century war on government is MISMANAGE the emergencies and then blame disaster victims and the local officials who are actually trying to assist the disaster victims.

[cwydro]

9. I sai.d "in my experience"

One is told to file claims with them for reimbursement for property loss.

And it was no help to me in 1998 after Georges whatsoever.

I did get help from FEMA in 2005, after Wilma, but it was a very difficult, exhausting and unpleasant experience.

FEMA is despised down here.

[cobalt1999]

4. We went almost 3 weeks without power after Hurricane Ivan.

Not fun, but not total confusion. Grill up everything in the fridge, then grill up everything in the freezer, then it's canned or dried food until the power comes back on.

Water supplies will be the toughest thing for the folks in Texas. Once you run out of water, the bland food and life without A/C are trifles.

[Javaman]

6. They shouldn't be throwing away that meet, they should be drying it itn the sun....

but then again, in these modern times, that's a lost art.

we as humans have lost so much in the last 150 years.

[DevonRex]

7. Sad isn't it? We don't even know basic skills that could save

our lives in tough times. We're dependent on stores for everything now.

I'm taking steps to right that wrong in my own family. But it's not easy at all. Like knowing how to pollinate vegetables grown indoors, and eventually how to dry meat and do my own canning.

Who among us would know how to make flour from grain if we had to? Or how to make vinegar for pickling?

Or how about how to make cloth? I bet nobody here knows how to do that. I certainly don't. Just one more thing to add to my list of stuff I should know how to do.

[Igel]

10. Nonsense.

There are dozens of distribution points set up today. The massive and total confusion? The aid trucks were on their way to the main distribution hub when the state told FEMA to organize the "PODs" for people to pick up food ("POD" = point of distribution"). The state was to do it; FEMA had neither staffing nor trucks on hand for delivery, so the city stepped in. When the trucks arrived, the stuff was redistributed. Oddly, the trucks were delayed by flooded highways, as well.

The massive time loss was "several" hours--which means that instead of getting PODs set up just before sundown and onset of curfew Sunday, they were open Monday morning. People were complaining--those not in the evacuation areas were out of food, out of water. To which I had to wonder, "How is that possible?" Ike made landfall at 2 am Saturday morning; and by 7 pm Sunday people were out of water? Their refrigerators and freezers had completely thawed, and their food spoiled? They'd gone through their canned goods and baked goods? Apparently either the reporter was daft, or lots of people couldn't be bothered to fill pots and pans with water, to keep their fridge closed unless necessary, to actually have a weekend's worth of food set aside for what FEMA told them to expect--3 days on your own. They couldn't handle 2. Even filling pots and pans with tap water gives you a lot more than 3 days' supply of drinking water, for about $0.50.

In any event, dozen PODs were set up by 11 am yesterday, Monday, less than 48 hours after the TS-force winds died down. And around 60 are set up today. Mirabile dictu, within the 72-hour time frame.

Over 1/4 of Houston's electrical customers have power, bringing the number of powerless "customers" under 1.5 million--still a frightening number, but they've spread the power around a bit. Grocery stores and gas stations moved higher on the list of goals. I went shopping today for milk and some other stuff we could live without, my debit card worked just fine, so the data links are even up with the banking system. They were short on some stuff--cookies, bread, the kind of thing that those without power would need. *But* they had more than they had Friday afternoon--so they'd been restocked since then.

Every little fastfood place was packed--delis or burger or BBQ joints. At least the ones that were open. They'll do a better job in some respects than the POD-stuff will. And they'll supplement the FEMA food distribution, for those who can afford cheap fast food.

Some traffic lights were out. Some weren't. Rice University is open and classes are in session. Most of the medical center district will be up and running tomorrow; downtown's getting there quick. A lot of gas stations were open, where there was power, with extra gasoline tank trucks parked less than a block away (meaning they *were* being resupplied). Lines stretched to a whopping 10 cars.

If we call that total confusion, we've just said there's nothing worse. I can easily imagine worse, 3 days after Ike went through.