Crisis Recovery International

Things are going well. I am getting ready to leave for Sri Lanka and Vietnam. Tsunami relief is slow and people are still suffering as a result of the disaster. I will see what I can do to help some of those families recover and get back on their feet. In Vietnam I will be teaching in a school. The schools there are pleading for English teachers. They tell me that if the children don't have English skills, they will be out of the job market when they get older. We have developed a program to teach children English in real time over the computer, but I have to go to Vietnam to get it set up. We can always use more donations of money and computers! Keep in touch.

Posted by Roger on 8/3/2007 at 1:09:14 PM EST.
Subject:

Hey Sandy, how are you doing, just interested to see how things are progressing

Posted by Sandy on 7/26/2007 at 11:24:04 AM EST.
Subject: Mobile Home park in Greensburg

I am putting on some pictures of the mobile home park in Greensburg. There are no rentals available in this community and so this park has been built for the residents until they can rebuild their homes. They will sign a rent-free lease for one year. This park is temporary until they can build and move back into their homes. I also included photos of the storm shelters built for the mobile home park residents for severe storms. There are 18 of these storm shelters scattered throughout the park and the shelters are just steps away from their front doors.

Posted by Sandy on 7/26/2007 at 11:23:37 AM EST.
Subject: Mobile Home park in Greensburg

Posted by Sandy on 7/26/2007 at 10:42:06 AM EST.
Subject: Greensburg in the midwest

Greensburg recovery is moving quickly. The town wants to build back eco-friendly and they are working hard to make that happen. There is a film crew here to document the recovery and they are going to stay for the entire time to film. We are working out of a tent and we have had all kinds of critters come in. We had a little bird fly in, toads hopping on the floor, squirrels who want to be fed (and we do), and there is a colony of snakes under the floor but they don't bother us. I put some pictures in the photo gallery so you can see what the midwest looks like. I also included the first modular home put back in Greensburg. Take care, Sandy

Posted by Sandy on 6/24/2007 at 10:03:21 PM EST.
Subject: Greensburg recovery

Greensburg recovery is continuing at a fast pace. The birds and squirrels have come back to the area. Trailers are being brought into the area and a trailer park is being built for the residents of Greensburg. The trailers are temporary while they rebuild their houses. Right now demolition is keeping up at a fast pace. The houses are being demolished and hauled away. Basements are being removed and the holes are being filled in. The town will have a different look when it is rebuilt. The school in the picuture has been leveled. I put in a couple of pictures so you can see the area around Greensburg. It is harvest time and the wheat is rolled up in fields around the area. And finally, there is a picture of their temporary hospital.

Posted by Sandy on 6/10/2007 at 9:25:50 PM EST.
Subject: Greensburg

Well, its been a month since the tornado. The town is being leveled, one house and basement at a time. The first thing that reopened was the liquor store, then the post office, and then the quick shop. The police do not have check points anymore and are not stopping traffic from going through the town. Hwy 54 goes right through the middle of the town and it is now reopened. There is a lot of traffic going on the Hwy and it is going very slow. People are stopping to look at the damage and take pictures. Some of the emergency vehicles are pulling out of town. The Salvation Army has been feeding us because there is nowhere else to eat. They are also getting ready to pull out of town. FEMA is developing a large mobile home park which is going to hold 200+ residents. Our work is beginning to slow down some because nearly everyone has applied for help. The wind blows constantly. I come home from work every day with dirt in my eyes, ears, hair, and my clothes are covered with fine coating of dirt. One day the wind was blowing so bad we had to wear N95 dust masks to try to keep out the dirt and any other contaminants in the air; like asbestos. I am enjoying my work here, but it is challenging because of the outside environment. Take a look at some of the pictures on the Photo Gallery page.

Posted by Sandy on 6/1/2007 at 9:57:03 PM EST.
Subject: Flags at Greensburg

It is always interesting to me how flags are used at disasters. They pop up like magic and then disappear just as quickly. Every time I go down the street there are flags at different places. Take a look at the photo gallery to see some of them.

Posted by Sandy on 5/30/2007 at 10:32:57 PM EST.
Subject: Greensburg tornado

The curfew is still on in the city of Greensburg. Residents can only be in town from 8 am to 8 pm. I put a picture of the Town Hall in the photo gallery. Everything around the building was demolished by the tornado, but the 100 year old town hall is still standing. The area around the building is where we have all the agencies parked. Agencies from local, state, and Federal government are all here, including the Salvation Army who is feeding us. There is nowhere else to eat in the area as the town is gone. It is interesting to me that frequently in disasters people fly American flags. I have some pictures of flags I will put in the gallery. Also, notice the yellow house standing and everything around it is gone. It is always interesting how tornadoes skip some buildings.

Posted by Sandy on 5/29/2007 at 10:57:53 PM EST.
Subject: Greensburg, Kansas tornado

I am working in Greensburg, Kansas where they had an F5 tornado. I have put some pictures on the Photo Gallery. The town is nearly gone, there are only a handful of houses standing. The work is progressing quickly, there are a lot of workers out in the neighborhoods buldozing houses and picking up debris. We are working to get the residents into trailers and mobile homes so they have someplace to live. I am working outside in Greensburg where the wind blows constantly and the dust covers everything. I have to come home and change clothes and shower all the grit out of my hair and off my skin. It is great to be out working in the field, even with the wind and bugs!

Posted by Sandy on 5/13/2007 at 10:20:46 PM EST.
Subject: Laura's Plantation

Laura Locoul Gore was a Creole woman who owned and ran a plantation. The plantation was was passed down from mother to daughter for four generations. For two hundred years they ran the plantation, owned slaves, and made trips to Europe. They also had an active social life in New Orleans. According to the guide, society was not based on race but rather on class. It was apparently that way until the "uncivilized" Americans started moving into the area, then the society began to change. I loaded a picture of the plantation, the slave quarters, and items in the quarters.

Posted by Sandy on 5/13/2007 at 4:55:21 PM EST.
Subject: FEMA workers

I really enjoy my work and getting out and meeting people and trying to help them. However, not everyone is happy to see us, and there are certainly hazards to being out in the field. I uploaded some pictures to show you some of the things we have to navigate. There are biting and stinging critters, dogs, signs warning you off, deep mud, rain, sun, 6 foot fences to navigate, communicable diseases, cockroaches, and some angry people. One of the trailers I went up to had a sign that said "if I catch you I kill you". I, of course, knew that the person living in the trailer did not mean me and so I walked up to the door and knocked. Fortunately, she was very friendly once she opened the door, but I was not sure what was going to greet me. Another man came racing around the corner of the trailer yelling at me to get off his porch and away from his trailer. I explained that it was "my" trailer, not his, he was borrowing it. He thought about it for a minute and then started to laugh. I breathed a sigh of relief. All of us have stories to tell about the people we meet. Most of the folks are kind and courteous, but you never know what you are going to get until you are there. It is always a challenge.

Posted by Sandy on 5/8/2007 at 11:36:42 PM EST.
Subject: Neighborhoods in May 2007

Wanted to give you some idea of the condition of some of the neighborhoods here in New Orleans. Thousands of the neighborhoods are still abandoned as are stores and restaurants. That has caused a couple of problems. The first is that the rodent population has exploded. There are rats everywhere; and they are big and healthy looking. The other problem is that because there are abandoned neighborhoods, gangs and drugs have moved into the empty houses. Home owners are afraid to move back into a neighborhood where they are the only house that is being fixed. Not only is there the danger of the gangs, but if no other people move in, they are afraid they won't be able to sell their house if they feel they need to leave. One of the local people I talked to was an elderly woman who said she is one of only a handful of people fixing her house in her neighborhood. She told me she was bringing home groceries in the middle of the afternoon, when 2 men pushed her down and took her purse. She was unhurt but very frightened. She told me she is stuck now, with her money invested in the repairs. She said that she intends to sell as soon as she can and move away. Take a look at the pictures in the photo gallery. Another major problem here is that there are so many houses that have "deferred maintence". Many of the houses have been let go, and the wind from the hurricane just dealt the final blow. They didn't have insurance and because the damage was not caused by the storm, they didn't get very much money to repair from disaster assistance.

Posted by Sandy on 5/6/2007 at 2:40:45 PM EST.
Subject: Storm on May 4

I was out working in the field when the sky got really dark and the rain started to pour. It is a drive back to my hotel and I wasn't sure I was going to make it back without stalling in the middle of the road! One of the pictures in the photo gallery shows the Neutral Ground with water running over it like a small water fall. There were ducks swimming in the water in the neutral ground, where there is usually grass. The neutral ground is what most of us call the median in the road. Here it is very wide and has a deep canal in the middle of it to drain the water. Obviously the rain was coming down faster than the canal could contain it. I was following the fire engine through the water and it was leaving a wake that I thought was going to come into the car through the bottom of the door. There wasn't any way to get off the road because the cars were so packed in as everyone was trying to get to higher ground! Two of the pictures are downtown New Orleans. The water drained fairly quickly after it stopped raining, but a lot of cars were stalled in the road by then. I got back to my downtown hotel safe and sound. Sandy

Posted by Sandy on 5/1/2007 at 11:18:49 PM EST.
Subject: Low income housing

Thought you might like to see some of the new low-income housing being built here. I am going to load on the old project which is closed (there are many of them in this city) and the new housing being built. The old projects were shut-up and fenced off. Recently, some folks have moved back into some of the projects, with and without city approval.

Posted by Sandy on 4/29/2007 at 11:14:53 PM EST.
Subject: FEMA trailers

It was announced last week that the rent assistance and trailers would be extended to March 2009. I thought you might like to see some trailers and trailer parks. This is a nice one. Some of the trailers are travel trailers and some are bigger like the cottage style here. In addition, of course, there are trailers on private lots of homeowners.

Posted by Sandy on 4/15/2007 at 10:53:56 PM EST.
Subject: Festival in the French Quarter

There was a festival in the French Quarter this weekend. There was plenty of music, food, and interesting people to watch. I sat on the bank of the Mississippi and watched the ships while the bands were playing. I am loading a few pictures for you to see.

Posted by Sandy on 4/14/2007 at 5:02:02 PM EST.
Subject: Driving in New Orleans

Driving in New Orleans is quite an adventure. The driving strategy seems to be "try not to get hit". The stop lights,stop signs, and speed limit signs seem to be "suggestions". And the roads, the roads are like being on a roller coaster that has pot holes. The roads go up and down and have gaps between the pavement that you try to avoid while not hitting the car next to you. I tried to take some pictures, but you can't get the full impact of the bouncing and jerking that takes place. Sandy

Posted by Sandy on 4/14/2007 at 3:57:32 PM EST.
Subject: Gulf of Mexico

Recently Aspen and I went down to the Gulf of Mexico. It is beautiful down there, but the area where we went seems so vulnerable to storms. The area at the tip of one of Louisiana's fingers is a wide sandbar surrounded by marsh with the gulf pounding one side of the sandbar. Take a look at the pictures. It was a warm sunny day down here while most of you are still seeing snow. This has been a really nice winter for me. Sandy

Posted by Sandy on 4/1/2007 at 7:58:41 PM EST.
Subject: Window shot out of car

Hello everyone. Well, I have been telling everyone not to worry about the violence here. It mostly affects local young men, not tourists. Friday morning, on my way to work, my back window was shot out. I heard a crash and a shattering sound. I looked around, didnt see anyone, but the left rear passenger window was shattered and falling into the back seat and floor of the car. I was not hurt but I was shaky. I drove back to the hotel and called the police. An hour later the officer arrived and said he thought it was a pellet gun because there was no exit hole on the other side of the car. When I took the rental car back to Avis, the lady asked me if I was booked on the next plane out of here. I'm not out of here, I am staying, but it certainly makes you feel vulnerable.

Posted by SANDY on 2/26/2007 at 10:08:43 PM EST.
Subject: Mardi Gras

Thought I would show you some Mardi Gras pictures. I had a blast. Lots of craziness! I was surprised that the first parade was Jan 6 and they went all the way to Feb 20. I didnt realize that it lasted so long. I ate my first King Cake, really, several bites of several King Cakes. The cakes have a baby baked into the cake. The locals weren't quite sure why, but the person who gets the piece with the baby (its really little) has to buy the next cake. Take a look on the photo page.

Posted by Sandy on 2/21/2007 at 10:49:56 PM EST.
Subject: New Orleans tornado

I am putting a few New Orleans tornado pictures here. Two of the FEMA trailers were turned over, some were pushed off their foundations. Some of the trailers had holes in the sides of them from debris that was pushed into the walls. Some of the folks I talked to were nearly finished with repairs on the hurricane damage when the tornado destroyed their house again. Some of them had used all of their personal money to fix their house because they go little or no insurance money to repair. Now they dont know what they will do.