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Nuclear Katrina
Hurricane Katrina's toll could be so severe that its effect is credibly likened to a nuclear attack. HOW YOU CAN HELP!
Date: 9/1/2005 10:07:55 PM ( 19 y ) ... viewed 1711 times U.S. faces a tragedy of epic, appalling scale
UNION-TRIBUNE
September 1, 2005
New Orleans –
Natural disasters are such a regular part of life – that is, life as we experience it through the media – that in many instances we barely pay attention. An earthquake in Turkey, a flood in Bangladesh, even wildfires or droughts in our own country – so long as it's not in our own back yard, the events sometimes have so little resonance in our own lives that we hardly think about them beyond our initial grimaces upon seeing footage of ravaged towns and devastated wilderness. That's why when many Americans awoke Monday to news that New Orleans had not taken a direct hit from Hurricane Katrina and that Katrina was weakening, we could be excused for thinking this was just another of the storms that pound the Southeast every summer and autumn.
Three days later – after the shocking images from New Orleans and after grim new assessments of the damage to neighboring Mississippi and Alabama – any notion that this was just another storm is long gone. Instead, Americans will remember Katrina as an epochal event – a tragedy of sweeping and appalling scale with little precedent in our history.
It's hard to imagine given our smug satisfaction about technological and material progress that in 2005 a major American city essentially could be destroyed by a hurricane, or that a storm's toll could be so severe that its effect is credibly likened to a nuclear attack. Such things happen in the Third World, not in the richest country in history.
Or so we thought. It did happen here, and the result is the most costly natural disaster in terms of property damage in U.S. history. But a number preceded by a dollar sign – however many zeroes it has – can only hint at the ruination that Katrina has left behind. It is no exaggeration to say that millions of people will suffer for weeks, perhaps years, in the hurricane's wake.
For now, the best way that we as individuals can help is through donations of money and supplies, and through support of the massive relief and rescue efforts already under way. It's time to make plain that America stands behind those devastated by Katrina, and that we will do all we can to help them.
While we focus on these basics, the hunt for any lesson beyond the obvious – that, despite our hubris, nature is far from tamed – can wait.
How to Help: Organizations Involved in Hurricane Katrina Relief
* Habitat for Humanity: https://www.habitat.org/
• FEMA Charity tips: http://www.fema.gov/rrr/help2.shtm
• Red Cross: 1-800-HELP-NOW or https://www.redcross.org/
• Network for Good http://www.networkforgood.org
• Episcopal Relief & Development: 1-800-334-7626 or http://www.er-d.org/
• Mercy Corps http://www.mercycorps.org
• United Methodist Committee on Relief: 1-800-554-8583 or http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/emergency/hurricanes/2005/
• Salvation Army: 1-800-SAL-ARMY or http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/
• Catholic Charities: 1-800-919-9338 or http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/
• National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster: http://www.nvoad.org/
• Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: http://www.la-spca.org/
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More on Hurricane Katrina:
URGENT ECO-ACTION ALERT! SAFE WATER FOR NEW ORLEANS : http://curezone.com/blogs/m.asp?f=309&i=134
CDC wants to drop BLEACH on the flood waters of New Orleans to prevent disease. Whole Foods has volunteered to pay for and deliver the natural agent Effective Microorganisms for an ecologically safe and tested way to purify the flood waters.
TAKE ACTION: http://curezone.com/blogs/m.asp?f=309&i=134
NEW Orleans Wetlands Restoration: ECO-ACTION ALERT!
Protecting coastal communities from the next Hurricane involves restoration of vital wetlands that aborb wind energy and reduce hurricane storm surges. TAKE ACTION to let Congress know that along with funds for rebuilding, funding for restoration of the wetlands is imperative: http://curezone.com/blogs/m.asp?f=309&i=140
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Habitat for Humanity to Build Homes in the Gulf http://curezone.com/blogs/m.asp?f=309&i=131
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