Katrina and Wilma woes continue

If you can find it in your hearts and pocketbooks to send a little (more) money to the Red Cross, the people of Louisiana and Florida would really appreciate it! As you’ve probably gathered from the news, FEMA help is limited to nonexistent. Here’s a quote from a flooded resident in the local paper: “[We] would like to thank the Red Cross for giving us water, food and helping us to buy new furniture. They’ve been wonderful to us. FEMA has not done one thing.”

From our conversations with friends and relatives in New Orleans, we know that things are still Really Bad there. Many areas *still* don’t have power and gas. This has impact city-wide. Chris says the few school buildings that are open are “platooning” students through, holding classes for one school in the morning, another midday, and a third in late afternoon. With the infrastructure coming back at a snail’s pace, with some areas still closed completely to residents – they can ride a bus by their homes to have a look at the outside but are not allowed to disembark – and with very few stores and restaurants open very limited hours (making for lines and crowds), life there sounds pretty depressing.

Here in the Keys, the damage was a fraction of what New Orleans suffered and recovery is well under way, but people are still hurting. Insurance checks are starting to arrive for damaged homes, businesses, and boats (we heard 3500 wrecked boats from Key Largo to Key West), but the big pinch here was all the cars destroyed by the flooding. One guy joked that 5% of KW residents evacuated, so about 5% of KW residents still have cars. In many cases, comprehensive auto insurance does not include flood damage. This is true for one of the guys in the dockmaster’s office here. To replace his flooded work truck will cost him more than $20,000 out of pocket. Even those with insurance or the wherewithal to simply buy a new car are having difficulties. Imagine car dealerships under six feet of destructive salt water, and you can see that not only did residents lose their own cars but there was nowhere to go to buy new ones! When we turned in our Orlando rental car, the agency waiting list had more than 700 names on it, and two weeks after the storm, we still see truckloads every day of replacement cars being hauled in and ruined cars being hauled out. (I don’t want to think about where they’re putting all the heaps.)

Anyway, sad stories abound, and help is still desperately needed. Pitch in if you can!