I live in HouTx. We saw all the coverage from NOLA, the goodness and the horror. Then our city opened up our facilities to these desperate people. We all pulled together, we really did, at every level: state, city and county government, charities, organizations of every stripe, churches, and the hearts and hands of the regular folks here. All these years later I look around and see neighbors and friends I never would have known. Some were able to go back, and did. Lots stayed here, and some went to other places. Disasters like this change everything, forever. We can be wonderfully kind and courageous. We can be afraid and defensive. If we really look at what works, we will make better choices.
I actually left Houston for the Bay Area the day Katrina made landfall. As I drove from my parents' house to IAH, I heard about all the cars pulled over for the night, or stranded, on the shoulders of I-10W. Then I watched the long, painful aftermath from the hotel, as I looked for an apartment.
I remember how creepily important it was to Rush Limbaugh, at the time, to suggest that in times of natural disaster, white people are sturdy and self-reliant and go out and find a tool kit and fell some trees and build themselves a new city, whereas black folks climb up on a rooftop or pile into an arena and demand that someone come along and save them.
The sheer helplessness, hopelessness, grief and despair of people who had lost everything in a catastrophic flood and the stinking, horrid, unimaginable hell of the aftermath, were treated by Rush, in his cool, billionaire-funded propaganda headquarters, as a racial character flaw.
The acts of courage and resourcefulness were, of course, completely erased from the narrative, and not only by the fascist agitprop press, but by the mainstream press as well (by the time of Katrina, there were a lot of mainstream reporters----a lot---- taking their cues from the whole Drudge/Murdoch/Breitbart/National Review apparatus).
It was all pure Heritage Foundation, Koch-funded, Zyklon B in the civic well, of course, but it was effective.
It caught on among the white identitarian Republican right, whose vision of what it is to be "white" is heroic and fantastic, with roots in Lost Cause eliminationism, amped up into a kind of weird, epic, unfurling narrative of whiteness persecution and whiteness perfection by the Republican Party's dark money machine.
You did what you needed to do then, and still do now, to get through it. And you're doing good things in the community where you currently live. Don't let people saying shitty things get to you.
Back in the day I went to a factory near N.O. and their 1984 Hurricane Response Plan states, "as everyone in the region knows, any Hurricane 3 or greater will result in widespread and devastating flooding". But nobody could've predicted...
As a SF fan, I'm trying to parse the most memorable disaster or post-disaster tales against these axes of spontaneous cooperation vs. individualistic violence on the one hand, and the beneficial or disruptive role of central authorities on the other. I think it's quite telling that our assumptions on these issues are fed much more by our exposure to fiction than by scientific observation.
Tales that come to mind: Lord of the Flies, Lucifer's Hammer, The Sheep Look Up, The War of the Worlds, the umpteen Hollywood disaster movies on the model of (thx tabs) The Poseidon Odyssey...
Does anybody care to share a few of his own favourites?
A special mention I think to Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's Lucifer's Hammer with its gangs of anthropophagous African-Americans which are finally defeated by white proto-boogaloos led by a harsh but wise patriarch.
It was a rambling sort of thing covering various groups affected by Katrina with some great musical performances, way too much Steve Zahn and a hot violinist. Definitely worth a binge or rebinge
It was a god-awful mess on I-10. Jesus, the people in hotels, waiting, can't cook, so many people in one room. It all took far too long, and caused so much suffering.
For sure, the response was its own disaster of epic proportions. I have read the book, but I confess it’s been several years and couldn’t remember how much detail she went some of the Katrina response.
It was not only a disgrace, but a lot of it was blatantly unconstitutional. We formed a PAC and tried to get HUD and Congress and the media involved, but nobody gave a damn. If I had it to do over again, I would never have applied for a Road Home grant, I would just have said "Fuck it" and walked away.
One of the best examples of a true ensemble cast. No real “star” or central figure to speak of. Just a lot of good stories to tell through interesting people.
I live in HouTx. We saw all the coverage from NOLA, the goodness and the horror. Then our city opened up our facilities to these desperate people. We all pulled together, we really did, at every level: state, city and county government, charities, organizations of every stripe, churches, and the hearts and hands of the regular folks here. All these years later I look around and see neighbors and friends I never would have known. Some were able to go back, and did. Lots stayed here, and some went to other places. Disasters like this change everything, forever. We can be wonderfully kind and courageous. We can be afraid and defensive. If we really look at what works, we will make better choices.
I actually left Houston for the Bay Area the day Katrina made landfall. As I drove from my parents' house to IAH, I heard about all the cars pulled over for the night, or stranded, on the shoulders of I-10W. Then I watched the long, painful aftermath from the hotel, as I looked for an apartment.
I remember how creepily important it was to Rush Limbaugh, at the time, to suggest that in times of natural disaster, white people are sturdy and self-reliant and go out and find a tool kit and fell some trees and build themselves a new city, whereas black folks climb up on a rooftop or pile into an arena and demand that someone come along and save them.
The sheer helplessness, hopelessness, grief and despair of people who had lost everything in a catastrophic flood and the stinking, horrid, unimaginable hell of the aftermath, were treated by Rush, in his cool, billionaire-funded propaganda headquarters, as a racial character flaw.
The acts of courage and resourcefulness were, of course, completely erased from the narrative, and not only by the fascist agitprop press, but by the mainstream press as well (by the time of Katrina, there were a lot of mainstream reporters----a lot---- taking their cues from the whole Drudge/Murdoch/Breitbart/National Review apparatus).
It was all pure Heritage Foundation, Koch-funded, Zyklon B in the civic well, of course, but it was effective.
It caught on among the white identitarian Republican right, whose vision of what it is to be "white" is heroic and fantastic, with roots in Lost Cause eliminationism, amped up into a kind of weird, epic, unfurling narrative of whiteness persecution and whiteness perfection by the Republican Party's dark money machine.
You did what you needed to do then, and still do now, to get through it. And you're doing good things in the community where you currently live. Don't let people saying shitty things get to you.
Back in the day I went to a factory near N.O. and their 1984 Hurricane Response Plan states, "as everyone in the region knows, any Hurricane 3 or greater will result in widespread and devastating flooding". But nobody could've predicted...
As a SF fan, I'm trying to parse the most memorable disaster or post-disaster tales against these axes of spontaneous cooperation vs. individualistic violence on the one hand, and the beneficial or disruptive role of central authorities on the other. I think it's quite telling that our assumptions on these issues are fed much more by our exposure to fiction than by scientific observation.
Tales that come to mind: Lord of the Flies, Lucifer's Hammer, The Sheep Look Up, The War of the Worlds, the umpteen Hollywood disaster movies on the model of (thx tabs) The Poseidon Odyssey...
Does anybody care to share a few of his own favourites?
A special mention I think to Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's Lucifer's Hammer with its gangs of anthropophagous African-Americans which are finally defeated by white proto-boogaloos led by a harsh but wise patriarch.
Anyone remember the HBO series Treme?https://en.m.wikipedia.org/...
It was a rambling sort of thing covering various groups affected by Katrina with some great musical performances, way too much Steve Zahn and a hot violinist. Definitely worth a binge or rebinge
I will be a good cub, promise.
It was a god-awful mess on I-10. Jesus, the people in hotels, waiting, can't cook, so many people in one room. It all took far too long, and caused so much suffering.
For sure, the response was its own disaster of epic proportions. I have read the book, but I confess it’s been several years and couldn’t remember how much detail she went some of the Katrina response.
From one anarchist to another, Happy Father's Day, Doktor Zoom!
It was not only a disgrace, but a lot of it was blatantly unconstitutional. We formed a PAC and tried to get HUD and Congress and the media involved, but nobody gave a damn. If I had it to do over again, I would never have applied for a Road Home grant, I would just have said "Fuck it" and walked away.
Native Tongue
I'm a big fan!
https://youtu.be/FCNFmYoenmQ
One of the best examples of a true ensemble cast. No real “star” or central figure to speak of. Just a lot of good stories to tell through interesting people.
What really caused Katrina to devastate NOLA? Mr. Go, a/k/a Mississippi River Gulf and Oil: https://www.gregpalast.com/...