This is the Ray Nagin Motor Pool, which prior to the disaster contained
255 buses with a capacity of 66 persons each, or the ability to evacuate 16,830 persons. Left unused, they were
left to stream oil and gas into the floodwaters of New Orleans.
Temporary Trailers:
Small update and comment as of March 22, 2006:
In Louisiana, FEMA has installed about 50,000 trailers for emergency housing. However, there still are requests for
about 90,000 trailers, affecting a number of people many times over that amount. Just in Louisiana! Trailers are
typically 8 feet by 30 feet. Most who have gotten them or who are still on the waiting lists do not qualify for reconstruction
funds through any of the federal programs.
One man wisely has left his children and wife staying in another location
out of the area as he returns periodically to strip away the damage, and begin the process of reconstruction. Why is
that so wise? Among other things, because of the air. He noted he's not sure what the air is going to do to people
long term. And he is right. Miles and miles of a toxic stew was formed as sewage, industrial chemicals, decaying
bodies, and other matter steeped together. The mold, mildew and other problems spawned by the situation will affect
the air quality for a long time to come. Many returning rescuers and volunteers developed the "Katrina cough".
Given that yet another fatality was added to the death toll from the September
11 attacks just in the last month, nearly five years from those attacks, we should all be cognizant that the risks of rebuilding
in the more seriously damaged areas may be even beyond the issue of future hurricanes or the stabilty of the levees.
The new September 11 fatality was directly related to lung injury from the toxic air in the aftermath of that disaster.
Although no one really knows what will happen, we will not be surprised if we learn at some future date that the earliest
returning survivors evidence some kind of negative health affects.
Several lessons:
1) Get your financial house in order with insurance, savings, or some kind of relocation plan
in case mass and sustained evacuations affect you and your family.
2) Be sure you and your entire family have breathing protection by means of at least an N95 particulate
masks. They don't screen out everything, but the testing standard is that they must screen out 95% of dry or water-borne
particulates that are greater in size than 0.7 microns, if worn correctly. These should be part of every preparedness
kit across the entire US, and the need for them begins at the same time that the emergency first develops. Click on the underlined
link directly below this sentence for more information about N95 masks.
