Hi
Thanks for inquiring about my husband "Joe" ( Captain, USN). He is indeed gone, but right now, he is attached to FEMA in Atlanta, coordinating military assistance. I don't know when he'll be back, but right now he is pulling a 5pm to 9am shift. They called him in over a week ago, but with Katrina being a moving target, he didn't know exactly where they'd be using him until he actually arrived in Atlanta, so he drove down in the van with sleeping bag, water bottles, peanut butter and all the other sweet necessities of life.
In the past couple of days, he has been involved in getting federal emergency drug stockpiles released to Mississippi and other states. They were completely out, but due to the communications problems, were unaware of that fact. The feds can't legally release the stuff ( or other similar aid) until the state requests it, so that caused a delay. He has also been involved in renting three cruise ships from Carnival for 6 months for housing in New Orleans. I gather he spends a lot of time on the phone badgering state and local officials to request what they need so that they can legally send it to them.
Meanwhile, in Meridian, where they had prepositioned 300 trucks full of supplies and helpers two days before the hurricane, they have built two field hospitals in the hangars. I don't know when the 300 trucks got to their destinations further south, but the roads and interstates have been reduced to goat trails and as of Friday, much of Meridian itself was still without power. They've been fixing lines as fast as possible but Katrina was still a Cat 1 storm when it went through town ( even though Meridian is a 4 hour drive inland from New Orleans) and there are trees and debris everywhere. Biloxi and Gulfport, as you will have seen, have basically been reduced to a pile of mulch. Buoys and channel markers and navigation aids have been washed away making it very difficult for ships to land and ditto for a lot of aircraft radar and navigation aids. A lot of those aircraft you see down there are relying on handheld GPS systems...if they've got them. Meanwhile, the bed of the Mississippi Delta has been rearranged and will need to be recharted.
This has been a disaster of biblical proportions. The media are focusing on the horrors in New Orleans, and understandably so, but a lot of poeple have been and continue to work their butts off on this thing and it would be a morale booster if they would mention that once in a while. If you can help in any way ( I'm sure you already are) please do, and pass the word along. 1-800-help-now.
