Tsunami
#31
Perhaps a bit ot, but still a little bit relative, don't you think?
(quote from Christian Science Monitor): The four hurricanes that hit Florida this year - Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne - caused an estimated $42 billion of insured damage and left 42,000 in the state homeless. Many are still living in damaged homes, or in the 11,000 mobile homes and trailers so far provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which was swamped by 1.18 million applications for emergency aid and has approved payments of $3.17 billion to date.
Even now, more than three months after the last storm hit, almost 100 people a day are still calling the FEMA help line to register as homeless for a variety of reasons: inspectors condemning damaged homes, residents forced out by spreading mold, the money being spent on hotel accommodation drying up, or the welcome with family and friends wearing thin.
Aid groups know of victims who are living in their cars, without basic sanitation or food-preparation facilities. Shelters run by the Salvation Army and Red Cross were expecting extra business this week as they opened early because of Florida's unexpected cold snap.
"The effect of the holidays on families who are already suffering can be severe," says Liza McFadden, president of the Volunteer Florida Foundation, which runs the state's hurricane relief fund. "There's little money, and people who might be unemployed are at home together for long periods."
"Holiday stress is real," says Garret Evans, a professor of clinical psychology at the University of Florida in Gainesville. "If you have children and celebrate Christmas this year, there will be a desire to make it special for them, to make it up to them for what they've been through this year. It's going to be hard, and a lot of these families are going to suffer. Financial woes add another layer of stress."
Professor Evans adds, "There has been time since the end of the hurricanes, an opportunity for many families to take a breather and orientate their lives again. I feel pretty good about a lot of those families. But there will still be many who continue to struggle. They feel that the world is moving on without them."
FEMA has announced that it will continue to fund crisis counseling for hurricane victims in Florida through Project Hope, set up by the state's Department of Children and Families to help people talk through their worries over financial strain or holiday stress. The organization has set up a 24-hour toll-free help line.
With the many challenges still ahead, even small steps, such an ensuring each child has a present under a Christmas tree, takes on great significance.
For Maria Ramos, it is enough to know that the holiday spirit is alive and well. "I guess Santa is going to come after all," she says.
(quote from Christian Science Monitor): The four hurricanes that hit Florida this year - Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne - caused an estimated $42 billion of insured damage and left 42,000 in the state homeless. Many are still living in damaged homes, or in the 11,000 mobile homes and trailers so far provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which was swamped by 1.18 million applications for emergency aid and has approved payments of $3.17 billion to date.
Even now, more than three months after the last storm hit, almost 100 people a day are still calling the FEMA help line to register as homeless for a variety of reasons: inspectors condemning damaged homes, residents forced out by spreading mold, the money being spent on hotel accommodation drying up, or the welcome with family and friends wearing thin.
Aid groups know of victims who are living in their cars, without basic sanitation or food-preparation facilities. Shelters run by the Salvation Army and Red Cross were expecting extra business this week as they opened early because of Florida's unexpected cold snap.
"The effect of the holidays on families who are already suffering can be severe," says Liza McFadden, president of the Volunteer Florida Foundation, which runs the state's hurricane relief fund. "There's little money, and people who might be unemployed are at home together for long periods."
"Holiday stress is real," says Garret Evans, a professor of clinical psychology at the University of Florida in Gainesville. "If you have children and celebrate Christmas this year, there will be a desire to make it special for them, to make it up to them for what they've been through this year. It's going to be hard, and a lot of these families are going to suffer. Financial woes add another layer of stress."
Professor Evans adds, "There has been time since the end of the hurricanes, an opportunity for many families to take a breather and orientate their lives again. I feel pretty good about a lot of those families. But there will still be many who continue to struggle. They feel that the world is moving on without them."
FEMA has announced that it will continue to fund crisis counseling for hurricane victims in Florida through Project Hope, set up by the state's Department of Children and Families to help people talk through their worries over financial strain or holiday stress. The organization has set up a 24-hour toll-free help line.
With the many challenges still ahead, even small steps, such an ensuring each child has a present under a Christmas tree, takes on great significance.
For Maria Ramos, it is enough to know that the holiday spirit is alive and well. "I guess Santa is going to come after all," she says.
#32
Originally Posted by ralper,Dec 29 2004, 05:04 PM
I don't want to turn this political but I've just read that President Bush has said that the $35 million is only the beginning, yet even that amount seems very small to me. I think we could and should do better. I wish we would spend as much money helping people as we do fighting them.
#34
Originally Posted by ralper,Dec 29 2004, 06:04 PM
...I don't want to turn this political but I've just read that President Bush has said that the $35 million is only the beginning, yet even that amount seems very small to me. ...
*Govt bureaucracy - $25
*Admin by charitable agency - $25
*Payoffs at the Border of subject country - $10
*Shipping and Handling - $15
*Taxes and Import Duties - $10
*Waste and Spoilage due to delays - $10
*Rice and water to the needy - $5
#35
Here is a list of relief agencies published in the Wash Post:
How to Help
A List of Organizations Accepting Donations to Provide Disaster Relief
Compiled From Staff and Wire Reports
Wednesday, December 29, 2004; 2:17 PM
Here are some of the local and national organizations accepting donations to help victims of the South Asian tsunami. Most groups recommend that people donate cash rather than supplies.
Some Web sites, such as the Network for Good, allow people access to listings of U.S.-based charitable organizations in a searchable database. Amazon.com also enables users to route donations to organizations from its homepage.
Action Against Hunger
247 West 37th St.
New York, NY 10018
212-967-7800
http://www.actionagainsthunger.org
ADRA International
Asia Quake Fund
12501 Old Columbia Pike
Silver Spring, MD 20904
800-424-ADRA (2372)
http://www.adra.org
Air Serv International
6583 Merchant Place, Suite 100
Warrenton, VA 20187
http://www.airserv.org
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Inc.
DC-South Asia Tsunami Relief
P.O. Box 321
847A Second Ave.
New York, New York 10017
212-885-0832
http://www.jdc.org
American Jewish World Service
45 W. 36th St., 10th Fl.
New York, NY 10018
212-736-2597
http://www.ajws.org
American Red Cross
International Response Fund
P.O. Box 37243
Washington, D.C. 20013
800-435-7669
http://www.redcross.org/
AmeriCares
88 Hamilton Ave.
Stamford, CT 06902
800-486-4357
http://www.americares.org
Asia Relief
19409 Olive Tree Way
Gaithersburg, Md. 20879
301-672-9355
Association for India's Development Inc.
AID Zone 3
P.O. Box 4801
Mountain View, CA 94040-0801
http://www.aidindia.org
Baptist World Aid
Asia Tidal Waves
405 North Washington St.
Falls Church, VA 22046
703 790 8980
http://www.bwanet.org/bwaid
B
How to Help
A List of Organizations Accepting Donations to Provide Disaster Relief
Compiled From Staff and Wire Reports
Wednesday, December 29, 2004; 2:17 PM
Here are some of the local and national organizations accepting donations to help victims of the South Asian tsunami. Most groups recommend that people donate cash rather than supplies.
Some Web sites, such as the Network for Good, allow people access to listings of U.S.-based charitable organizations in a searchable database. Amazon.com also enables users to route donations to organizations from its homepage.
Action Against Hunger
247 West 37th St.
New York, NY 10018
212-967-7800
http://www.actionagainsthunger.org
ADRA International
Asia Quake Fund
12501 Old Columbia Pike
Silver Spring, MD 20904
800-424-ADRA (2372)
http://www.adra.org
Air Serv International
6583 Merchant Place, Suite 100
Warrenton, VA 20187
http://www.airserv.org
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Inc.
DC-South Asia Tsunami Relief
P.O. Box 321
847A Second Ave.
New York, New York 10017
212-885-0832
http://www.jdc.org
American Jewish World Service
45 W. 36th St., 10th Fl.
New York, NY 10018
212-736-2597
http://www.ajws.org
American Red Cross
International Response Fund
P.O. Box 37243
Washington, D.C. 20013
800-435-7669
http://www.redcross.org/
AmeriCares
88 Hamilton Ave.
Stamford, CT 06902
800-486-4357
http://www.americares.org
Asia Relief
19409 Olive Tree Way
Gaithersburg, Md. 20879
301-672-9355
Association for India's Development Inc.
AID Zone 3
P.O. Box 4801
Mountain View, CA 94040-0801
http://www.aidindia.org
Baptist World Aid
Asia Tidal Waves
405 North Washington St.
Falls Church, VA 22046
703 790 8980
http://www.bwanet.org/bwaid
B
#36
Originally Posted by MsPerky,Dec 30 2004, 08:41 AM
These numbers are really staggering...I'm not sure there has ever been a natural disaster where so many died, has there? Over 110,000 so far.
Did anyone hear Larry King ask if this was a "natural" disaster last night?
#37
Good lord, you guys can't pass up an opportunity to bash Bush. Had he been all over the news right away, I'd be reading comments about how he was using this for political advantage. No offense, but it gets tiresome.
BTW, the EU's initial pledge was 4.6 million. The French pledge was 139K. The US gov't is starting at 35 million and that does not include private money (you know, where gov't money actually comes from) donations. Americans privately send 34 billion a year to international relief--including money donated by scary religious people that some on this board seem to love to hate. Our initial pledge does not include donations of food and other items. Nor does it include the 20% of the UN budget that US taxpayers already contribute. Nor does it include the use of our ships and personnel. The US and our citizens will step up, like we always do, and lend assistance because that's what we do. And I, for one, am proud of that.
Edit: Added some smileys---didn't intend this post to come across mean spirited.
BTW, the EU's initial pledge was 4.6 million. The French pledge was 139K. The US gov't is starting at 35 million and that does not include private money (you know, where gov't money actually comes from) donations. Americans privately send 34 billion a year to international relief--including money donated by scary religious people that some on this board seem to love to hate. Our initial pledge does not include donations of food and other items. Nor does it include the 20% of the UN budget that US taxpayers already contribute. Nor does it include the use of our ships and personnel. The US and our citizens will step up, like we always do, and lend assistance because that's what we do. And I, for one, am proud of that.
Edit: Added some smileys---didn't intend this post to come across mean spirited.
#38
and that's one of the reasons I've not been posting lately -- I have a very hard time even reading the board. Taxpayers whine about higher taxes and then whine if we aren't giving enough of it away -- I'm sick of reading all this stuff and hope we can put on a little bit brighter face in the new year.
Oh, and if you realllllly want to help out, I'm sure some of those relief organizations mentioned above will be happy to have your assistance -- they may even allow you to accompany their missions and help out physically as well.
Oh, and if you realllllly want to help out, I'm sure some of those relief organizations mentioned above will be happy to have your assistance -- they may even allow you to accompany their missions and help out physically as well.
#40
Originally Posted by grannyrod,Dec 30 2004, 10:34 AM
Sorry Perk but a 1931 flood killed 3.7 million in China; in 1970, a cyclone in Bangladesh killed 300,000; and in 1976, an earthquake in China took 255,000. I'm sure this one will rank right up there, though before it's all over. So very, very sad.
Did anyone hear Larry King ask if this was a "natural" disaster last night?
Did anyone hear Larry King ask if this was a "natural" disaster last night?