Post K Mental Health blog

Some people may be familiar with Josh Norman thru the
"Eye of the Storm" blog which he co-authored from Mississippi following Katrina's landfall there.

Joshua has awarded the fellowship through the Kaiser Family Foundation to explore ways in which disasters affect people mentally, specifically the way Hurricane Katrina affected people on the Gulf Coast.

The new blog, called Post Katrina Mental Health

In one of his first posts, Josh tries to answer the question
at
What is a Katrina Victim ?. Here's a little piece of that post

There are certain story lines that many people seem to have followed, with only the details differing.
One story I keep hearing over and over again is this one: "My (parent, grandparent, elderly relative, etc.)
was doing fine before Katrina. They survived the storm. However, upon returning to their home in (the Pass, the Lower 9, the Kiln, Gentilly, etc.)
afterwards, their health started to deteriorate. They stopped (eating, sleeping, smiling, communicating, etc.) Eventually, they died.

Scuzzbuckets of the Week

First we have a post by a seemingly unhappy, unfulfilled individual entitled "Cutting Through the Katrina Krapola"


Written by Gerard Vanderleun, whom one blogger describes as " is an ugly man with an ugly soul ". That blogger seems to have hit the nail on the head.

In his latest diatribe against New Orleans, Gerard goes on and on and on using ideas that seem to come from the black hole where his heart may or may not have been. His commentors share the reign of SOTW for their input as well (see some below) Some excerpts:


I've considered the matter of New Orleans carefully.

I've weighed the never-ending, and now maudlin, saccharine suffering of its people against my now limitless cache of compassion fatigue. They have been found wanting.

To be fair and just, here's what I propose we give New Orleans from this day forward. Nothing. Niente. Zip. Zero. Nada. And a full-scale barium enema just for asking for one more thin dime. Did you send money to this barrage of bozos? I did and I want it back. With interest.


If that doesn't set the hair on the back of your neck to a stand, some of the comments from his readers will...


Wouldn't it be worth it in the end if we could somehow turn this Democrat-controlled city into an ally in the war on terror?
Posted by: Gagdad Bob

Maybe it's time for a new t-shirt:
"Nuke Nawlens"
with the Super Dome and a mushroom cloud.
Posted by: tkdkerry

It's time these lazy thugs got off their bottom heavy behinds and did for themselves instead of wanting everyone else to do for them...talk about a microcosm of the "nanny state" in action...

GREAT article!
Posted by: Miss Beth

Real Americans are not money grubbing leeches that are too useless to earn their own keep.
Having been to NO, I see nothing worth keeping.
Blow the levees and let the River wash the filth away.
Posted by: goobersnot


It goes on and on, but you get the picture. Now there are responses by NOLA bloggers and others who take offense to this article, but when you're dealing with
people as closed minded as those above, it's not worth the effort to try to show them the error in their small-minded thinking, IMHO.

For more local reaction on this article, here are a few links:
Varg

Oyster

Gentilly Girl

Ashley

Animamundi

Hurricane Radio

Slidell Votech gets help

From the Times Picayune, 1-13-08:

FEMA to give college $2.2 million

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has pledged $2.2 million to replace the ruined contents of Louisiana Technical College's Slidell campus, which has been closed since Hurricane Katrina.



The money will go toward replacing furniture and equipment for the college's culinary, nursing, welding, automotive, drafting and computer technology programs. The items were destroyed after the storm inundated the campus off Canulette Road with more than 7 feet of water.

Steve Zeringue, senior compliance officer for the college, said the money will be "of great benefit" to the school.

"The residents of St. Tammany Parish need all the equipment necessary to train for job opportunities," he said. "FEMA has been very cooperative. They've done a good job addressing our needs."

Sending a team to the inundated campus after the storm, FEMA initially estimated the damage to be $160,000, Zeringue said. After school officials provided a more detailed list of the furniture, computers and technical equipment destroyed in the storm, FEMA came back with the revised cost of $2.2 million.

The school will relocate north of Lacombe to a consolidated educational campus that will include Delgado Community College, Southeastern Louisiana University and the University of New Orleans, as well as an advanced studies high school.

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St. Tammany Parish will finance construction of the colleges through a bond issue and repay the debt through lease payments from the universities, which will be given ownership of the buildings once they are paid off, officials have said.

With plans to open the campus in two years, parish officials are waiting for final approval from the Legislature to start construction, said parish spokeswoman Suzanne Parsons Stymiest.

Rough estimates have the construction costing $30 million.

"It may take three (years) but this is a project that (Parish President) Kevin (Davis) is fully committed on, and he is pressing everyone to move forward as quickly as we can," she said.

Still Not Okay

Check this out

Russel Honore

Russel Honore is retiring from the military.


He came to "fame" in the days following Katrina when Ray Nagin, talking to Garland Robinette on September 2, 2005 said this
Now, I will tell you this -- and I give the president some credit on this -- he sent one John Wayne dude down here that can get some stuff done, and his name is [Lt.] Gen. [Russel] Honore.

And he came off the doggone chopper, and he started cussing and people started moving. And he's getting some stuff done.

They ought to give that guy -- if they don't want to give it to me, give him full authority to get the job done, and we can save some people.


Notable Quotes from the fine gentleman who is Russell Honore

America needs to get over it. We can't control everything. We can't control the storms.


By-and-large, these are families that are just waiting to get out of here. They are frustrated; I would be, too. I get frustrated at the cash register counter when the paper runs out.

I can't swing a dead cat without hitting a reporter.


I told myself I'd stay in until I reached major, and then go on and do something else.


The preparations are what they are. We're here. The storm is coming. We are as best prepared as we can be as the eye of the storm approaches.


They went into stores to get food to stay alive. Looting isn't the right word. I call it survival.


This is a Disaster. This isn't something somebody can control. We ain't stuck on stupid.


We've got a plan, but don't confuse the plan with execution. We're doing something that is very different. Nobody goes around with 50 tons of water.


Who is affected more when it's cold? Poor people. Who is affected more when it's hot? Poor people. Who is affected more when it's wet? Poor people. Who is most affected when the economy is bad? Poor people. Poor people are the most fragile.


Worse things have happened to America. We're going to overcome this, too. It's not our fault. The storm came and flooded the city.


You can't vote that water out of the city of New Orleans.


And the classic Honore quote, one that made me actually put a bumper sticker on my car:



The man

Thanks to Mr. Clio for the reminder of this gem.

Katrina Cottage

I noticed a lot of hits on my website resulting from searches for Katrina cottages, so I decided to do a post with a little more info about them.
First, the history:

Five days after Hurricane Katrina, when Andres Duany and Steve Mouzon of the New Urban Guild met in Miami to conceive what would become the foundation concepts of the Katrina Cottage. Andres said early in the meeting that "this disaster is simply too enormous to depend on one type of delivery system to rebuild. We have to have all hands on deck. Houses must be site-built from stock house plans, panelized, modular, and manufactured.

Originally created to take the place of those nasty FEMA trailers, Katrina Cottages are suddenly becoming popular for camps, weekend homes and other uses across the country. Compared to the 23-28 foot temporary travel trailers that FEMA spends roughly $75,000 to deliver and install for Katrina victims, the 400 to over 1,000 square-foot cottages can be set up in days for less than $60,000.



Blueprints for the Katrina Cottages can be purchased at
Lowes online for $700.
The smaller homes have metal roofs that can withstand 140-mph winds. They also have termite and rot-resistant siding, and moisture-resistant interior wallboard that makes them suitable for flood-prone areas. The house can be built in as little as six weeks, according to Lowe's.


The smallest of the cottages, with 544 square feet of living area, will cost around $29,000 for the kit, which contains all materials above the foundation -- including studs, insulation, fixtures, plumbing and appliances. The homeowner must pay for construction, a foundation, and a heating and cooling system, which could add more than $80,000 to the cost, depending on local construction costs.




Katrina Cottages are being constructed to house the members of the Louisiana National Guard, at Jackson Barracks , a fixture in the neighborhood for more than 170 years. The 100-acre, 100-yard-wide Barracks straddle the Orleans/St. Bernard Parish line for about a mile from north to south. They took on water, too, from Katrina and Rita: varying in depth from about 4 to 22 feet.



Katrina Cottages dot com offers a description of the "kernel cottage"

A Kernel Cottage is a seed, or kernel, of the larger house it will grow into effortlessly through the Grow Zones. Thomas Jefferson built Monticello this way, living in one of the little cottages at the back of the house for several years as he built the larger main house. Much of America's traditional architecture is charming precisely because it has grown piece-by-piece over the years.


There are several different versions of the Katrina Cottage:


Cottage I - architect Marianne Cusato - located in Ocean Springs, Miss. - 308 Square Feet


Cottage II - architects Steve Oubre-Andrés Duany - location: Chalmette, LA - 770 Square Feet



Cottage III - architect Eric Moser - located in Pass Christian, Miss. - 1182 Square Feet


Cottage IV - architect Marianne Cusato - located in Ocean Springs, Miss. - 544 Square Feet


Cottage V - architect Andrés Duany - located in New Orleans, La. - 612 Square Feet


Cottage VI - architect Andrés Duany - located in Sarasota, Fla. - 480 Square Feet


Cottage VII - architect Steve Mouzon - (it travels) - 225 Square Feet



Cottage VIII - architect Steve Mouzon - located in Silver Spring, Md. - 523 Square Feet


Katrina Cottages are not new. For years it seems, people have traded in living in huge mansions to simplify their lives in very small homes.

The Small House Society provides links to existing Small House Communities, people offering land for small house communities, designers and builders for small houses as well as other links.

Scuzzbucket of the Week

Umatilla Florida firechief Richard Shirk.

The chief of this small central Florida volunteer fire department was asked to resign after he e-mailed pictures that showed the exposed breast of a 26-year-old car crash victim, officials said Monday.

Umatilla Fire Chief Richard Shirk told city officials he e-mailed images of crash and the woman, who later died, for training purposes. Shirk told officials he did not notice the woman was partially nude in at least one of the photos.

City Manager Glenn Irby said Shirk initially sent the e-mail to representatives of three nearby fire departments and it was forwarded to other people.

Shirk was hired in October as the city's first paid fire official, earning $55,000 a year to oversee volunteer firefighters.

Irby said Monday that Shirk was being offered three-months pay in exchange for his resignation.

Katrina Cough

Got the Katrina cough still? I know I do.

From the above link
Led by Henry Glindmeyer, a professor of pulmonary, critical-care and environmental medicine in Tulane's medical school, researchers are keeping tabs on the respiratory health of 1,000 local workers.

The project, which is underwritten by a $1.86 million grant from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, consists of annual follow-ups. During these sessions, each volunteer will answer a questionnaire, undergo a noninvasive breathing test and wear a monitor for five or six hours to detect workplace exposure to dust, bacteria and mold

Those FEMA trailers

FEMA trailers are still being used in the wake of Katrina. I took a ride to the central part of town the other day, about a 5 mile trip, and counted about 50 trailers still being occupied while people rebuild their homes.

Not only is there a danger of becoming seriously ill from formaldehyde poisoning, these fires are pretty damn flammable. Here are a few cases:

Slidell April 06 . A couple is burned.

August 2008, a Cameron Parish evacuee dies in a trailer fire.

December '07 - The East & Slidell. One
unoccupied trailer burns in The East and in Slidell, a pile of flaming debris from the demolition of a FEMA trailer got out of hand, destroying the remains of the unoccupied trailer and damaging two occupied ones nearby, fire officials said.

Pearlington, Ms. April '06 A fire takes the life of a 71 year old wheelchair bound man

A 13 month old baby injured in Waveland, December '06

July '07, Biloxi, Ms.

February '07, Kenner, LA

Pascagoula, Ms, 63 year old man dies, July '06 in a trailer fire


What it's like to be temporarily Living two years in a FEMA Trailer

Not only are residents of these trailers susceptable to formaldehyde and the danger of fires,now there are reports of toxic mold From the Institute for Southern Studies' Gulf Coast Reconstruction Watch website:
In the Institute's August 2007 report titled "Blueprint for Gulf Renewal: The Katrina Crisis and a Community Agenda for Action," [PDF] Sharon Hanshaw (executive director of Mississippi's Coastal Women for Change) described how many of FEMA trailers have become infested with mold, compounding formaldehyde-related health problems and forcing cash-strapped survivors to continuously replace ruined possessions.

One science building expert who examined the inside walls of two FEMA homes in Ouachita Parish, La. found one type of mold spore at up to 30,000 times the levels found outside, indicating a wall exposed to excessive moisture levels

The cause of a good number of these fires could very well be related to how these trailers were set up....usually by people totally unaware of the safety measures that should be taken when installing. From the Institute for Southern Studies' Gulf Coast Reconstruction Watch website:

One LPGC inspector told Gambit that working with the government contractors was "like dealing with used car salesmen on the seedy side of town." Are these really the kind of operators to whom taxpayers should be handing millions of dollars in no-bid contracts?

From the Independent Weekly website cover story "Up in Flames"
While many trailer fires and explosions can be attributed to discernible causes, others leave firefighters and investigators stumped. Many of the fires are blamed on trailer occupants themselves, but some are tied to shoddy installation and maintenance by FEMA contractors, according to fire investigators.

I wonder how FEMA is going to bullshit their way out of this situation?
A fake news conference?

Here's a look back at their performance since '05

More here....

I could go on and on and on, but you get the idea.

Scuzzbuckets of da week

This is just too funny to pass up. But the greediness of the perpetators is pretty low life IMHO.

from WWL TV website

HOUMA, La. A 6-foot-3, 265-pound man says a restaurant overcharged him for his trips to the buffet line, then banned him and a relative because they're hearty eaters.


These two rednecks give Louisiana a bad name.

A spokesman for the restaurant denies the claim.

Ricky Labit, a disabled offshore worker, said he had been a regular for eight months at the Manchuria Restaurant in Houma, eating there as often as three times a week.

On his most recent visit, he said, a waitress gave him and his wife's cousin, 44-year-old Michael Borrelli, a bill for $46.40, roughly double the buffet price for two adults.

"She says, 'Y'all fat, and y'all eat too much,'" Labit said.

Labit and Borrelli said they felt discriminated against because of their size. "I was stunned, that somebody would say something like that. I ain't that fat, I only weigh 277," Borrelli said, adding that a waitress told him he looked like he a had a "baby in the belly."

Houma accountant Thomas Campo said the men were charged an extra $10 each on Dec. 21 because they made a habit of dining exclusively on the more expensive seafood dishes, including crab legs and frog legs.

"We have a lot of big people there," said Campo, who spoke for owner Li Shang, whose English is limited. "We don't discriminate."

Labit denied ever being told he would be asked to pay more than the standard adult price.

The argument grew heated, and police were called.

The police report states, "The incident was settled when the management advised that the bill was a mistake and, to appease Ricky, the meal was complimentary."

Labit said he insisted on paying but was told not to come back. He complained that when seafood on the buffet line runs out, the restaurant only grudgingly cooks more.

Campo said the proprietress tries to reduce waste of quality food, he said.

"Food is for eating, not toys for your child," reads a sign posted on a wall in typewritten text. A handwritten addition reads "Or 20% added."

Doing Good

The "Make It Right" project has raised enough money to build 65 homes in the Lower 9th Ward.

The program on Monday announced it is nearing the halfway point in reaching its initial goal of raising sufficient funds for 150 affordable, environmentally friendly homes. The average construction cost is estimated at $150,000 per house.


Hot pink tents have been erected to represent the homes.

Most of the donors through Make It Right's Web site have been "average Americans who want to help." In one week alone, after the project's official launch Dec. 3, nearly $500,000 was raised just through the site.

That's what I call doing something good without holding a hand out to the government.