Picking up the pieces after Hurricane Rita

The residents and business owners alike pick up the pieces and survey the destruction following the onslaught of Hurricane Rita. Although not as damaging, thankfully, as predicted there is still much to repair in Gulf Coast region.

More than a million people were without electricity and many coastal towns suffered major storm damage after the second ferocious hurricane to sweep off the Gulf of Mexico in less than a month slammed ashore early Saturday.

I think we can all give a sigh of relief that the damage and loss of life was not as bad as the the previous Hurricane Katrina or as any had predicted. There was a much greater preparation for Hurricane Rita than Katrina as thankfully both local, state and federal government officials learned from Hurricane Katrina. Also the citizens of the Gulf coast evacuated in mass in advance of Hurricane Rita.

Roofs were ripped off in the winds, businesses were razed by fire and floods spread through low-lying towns, but the region’s vital oil infrastructure was relatively unscathed and there were few reports of casualties.

Texas Governor Rick Perry told the Fox news channel:

“The good news is it appears that there’s been no loss of life. I mean, that’s almost a miracle, a blessing.” “The cleanup effort is just beginning. And we want to ask people to stay where they are. Don’t be coming back into this area, certainly. It’s still dangerous.”

AP: Texas, La. Begin Cleaning Up After Rita

>>>>Airlines Resume Houston Flights after Hurricane Rita

In the aftermath of Hurricane Rita, Commercial airlines resumed service Sunday at Houston airports that were shut down Friday before Hurricane Rita landed. Houston’s main airports, Bush Intercontinental and Hobby, were not significantly damaged as the storm shifted east and skirted the city, airline officials said.

>>>>Florida Keys Ready to Welcome Visitors After Hurricane Rita

Officials in the Florida Keys urged tourists to wait until today to travel to the area after it was sideswiped by Hurricane Rita on Tuesday.

Post Hurricane Rita, The Aftermath

As Rita grows weaker and slower, flooding, wind and rain still an issue for the Gulf Port region.

LAKE CHARLES, Louisiana (CNN) — The remnants of what had been Hurricane Rita dragged closer to their demise, but residual winds, flooding threats and darkness have forced an end to search-and-rescue efforts in southwest Louisiana.

Wind whipping at 30 mph is heaving water from Vermilion Bay and the Vermilion River onto land. Rescuers say they will wait until those conditions subside before resuming rescue missions.

The storm surge that created flooding should begin subsiding along the southeast Louisiana and Mississippi coasts, though tides could be 4 to 6 feet above normal with large waves, the National Hurricane Center reported.

AP; Perry, Blanco Fly Over Cities Hit by Rita

Hurricane Rita’s imprint — washed-out towns, wind damage and trapped residents — became ever-more apparent Sunday as authorities took stock of the wreckage and Houston braced for the return of nearly 3 million evacuees. While Rita didn’t match the destructive power of Hurricane Katrina, it still left a massive trail of destruction in Texas and Louisiana. The storm caused “tens of millions of dollars” in structural damage in the Houston area alone, Harris County Tax Collector-Assessor Paul Bettencourt estimated.

Texas officials set up regions that would reopen to evacuees on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, and Gov. Rick Perry urged Houston residents to respect the schedule laid out for an “orderly migration.” Commercial airline service to the city also resumed Sunday; many flights in were booked. Houston Mayor Bill White, wanting to avoid the gridlock that occurred as people fled from Rita, asked gas station attendants, convenience store clerks and grocery store workers to come back quickly. “There is some fuel available in tankers, but they can’t deliver it if you’re not there,” he said.

Houston Chronicle: Thousands getting jump on three-day plan for return

Hoping to beat gridlock as over 2.5 million evacuees try to make their way back to Houston and the Gulf Coast, thousands have begun their journeys home.

Hotels are one of few industries benefiting from Katrina (Hurricanes)

The recent hurricanes that have affected the Gulf Coast and Florida have been responsible for many bad things. Loss of life, property damage, increased gasoline prices to name a few. It has affected the airline and shipping industry as well. However, for the hotel industry is has created a boon.

ORLANDO (AP) — Hurricane Katrina may be blamed for rising gas prices, squeezing airlines’ bottom lines and agriculture shipping delays, but it has been a boon for one industry: the nation’s hotel sector.

The lodging industry’s leading research firm on Thursday raised revenue growth estimates for the year by more than a half-percent as a result of Katrina, adding to what already was expected to be the sector’s best year since 2000 when the industry profited $22.5 billion on $113.7 billion revenue.

(The rest of the story)

Aruban Election Results, Status Quo: “an isolated issue that was irrelevant to the election”.

The Aruban election results are in an the ruling party, (MEP) has won and kept its majority in Parliament. According to the AP, the MEP Party won 43% of the vote and won 11 seats in Friday’s parliamentary election.

ORANJESTAD, Aruba Aruba’s ruling party kept its majority in parliament in legislative elections for all 21 seats, election board officials reported on Saturday.

Prime Minister Nelson Oduber’s People’s Electoral Movement party won 43 percent of the vote and won 11 seats in Friday’s parliamentary election, while the main opposition Aruban People’s Party won 33 percent and now has eight seats in parliament.

The ruling party had held a 12-6 majority over the main opposition in the single-house legislature.

The Patriotic Movement of Aruba and the Real Democratic Party won one seat each in the election. The remaining five parties did not win legislative seats.

Voter turnout was at 85 percent, according to the board of elections.

Thus the status quo continues in Aruba as the people have voted. However, there is an amazing and almost unbelievable thought process and comments coming out of Aruba these days from the PM and appointed Task Force with regards to the situation of missing teen Natalee Holloway. Some outsiders thought that the issue might actually be a political issue in determining the next majority or coalition government in Aruba. The potential for Aruba’s tourism to be affected does exist. However, just recently the following comments were made regarding the matter.

From Amigoe, Jeff Lesker of AHATA and a member of the Strategic Communications Task Force stated the following when referencing Aruban tourism and the damage that may be caused by the negative attention caused by the investigation of Natalee Holloway:

“Dat is van groot belang voor de toekomst. This will blow over”, voegde Lesker daaraan toe.
(That is of great importance for our future. This will blow over,” added Lesker…

This is the thought process? It will blow over. Really? I hope this was nor a campaign bumper sticker, “Vote for us and this will blow over”.

Then just over the weekend Prime Minister Nelson Oduber makes the following comment,

On Friday, Oduber described Holloway’s disappearance as a tragedy, but he also called it an isolated issue that was irrelevant to the election.

“We will continue to upgrade our tourist industry and we will concentrate on having a balanced budget by 2009,” Oduber said early Saturday after his victory was assured.

I guess the issue of the bad publicity caused by the mere mention of a “boycott” on the Dr. Phil Show did not also cause members of the Strategic Communications task Force in this same Amigoe article to talk of law suits against the Dr. Phil Show? That would seem a far cry from just the equal time request that has been put forth.
(“… aldus ATA-directeur Myrna Janssen. Overigens worden ook juridische stappen onderzocht.”)

The fact that tourism represents nearly 70% of Aruba’s economy and that American make up about 70% of that number, many Americans question the investigation, Aruba has been so concerned with bad publicity that the Prime Minister formed the Strategic Communications Task Force to combat bad PR and the mere reference of the “B” word causes panic. All this and the Natalee Holloway disappearance although admittedly by the PM is tragic is also just and “isolated issue that was irrelevant to the election.” This is either great spin, a very naive individual or just mere complete misunderstanding of what words to say to formulate a sentence.

A lot of people do not want to see Aruba boycotted as those affected in a boycott are never the ones who usually have created a reason for a boycott; however, no one and I mean no one likes the term “irrelevant” ever used in any sentence when it refers to the disappearance and possible rape and murder of a teenage girl.

As stated I hope there is never a reason for a boycott in Aruba and I hope that Nelson Oduber fulfills his promise to the Holloway/Twitty families by continuing to investigation their daughters disappearance. Remember these comments that were made prior to the election PM?

Prime Minister Nelson Oduber, who has previously said Aruban authorities made mistakes in the early part of the Holloway investigation, added that he could appreciate the “dismay” of the missing teen’s mother.

“But, the case is not concluded. And we will continue to demand that the search for answers into what happened to Natalee will not cease,” Oduber said in a statement released Monday.

The remarks from the prime minister, who is running for re-election this month, are the first since the release Saturday of van der Sloot, 18, and two Surinamese brothers.

However, if there ever is a boycott many can look back to these very insensitive words an wonder why, “an isolated issue that was irrelevant to the election”.

A Sad Conclusion to the abduction of Caitlin Elizabeth Wooten

From KOTV 6, The bodies of missing teen Caitlin Elizabeth Wooten and her alleged abductor Jerry Don Savage were spotted by troopers who were searching for them in an Oklahoma Highway Patrol helicopter shortly before 10 am.

Officials in Ada say the bodies of Caitlin Elizabeth Wooten and Jerry Don Savage were spotted by troopers who were searching for them in an Oklahoma Highway Patrol helicopter shortly before 10 am.

Ada spokesman Mark Bratcher says the troopers guided a search team on the ground to the partially wooded area in Pontotoc County six miles southwest of Ada. Bratcher says each of the victims died from gunshot wounds, but it wasn’t known how long they had been dead.

As posted yesterday, an Amber Alert issues for 16 year old Caitlin Elizabeth Wooten who had been taken at gun point by Jerry Don Savage. Less than 24 hours later both are found dead from gun shot wounds.

A truly sad ending to an all to common situation in this country that could have been prevented. Reportedly, there was a restraining order against Jerry Don Savage, the ex-boy friend of Caitlin Elizabeth Wooten’s mother. He had allegedly kidnapped or had attempted to kidnap Caitlin’s mother.

Court records show Savage had a protective order filed against him on August 30th. We’re told he is the ex-boyfriend of Wooten’s mother.

This country needs to figure out a better way of how to protect children and those that actually obey the laws. Authorities need to figure out that “THE INNOCENT HAVE RIGHT TO!!!”. A piece of “protective order” paper is worth about as much as the paper it is written on to a person who does not care about the law. We need to start treating these individuals as the CRIMINALS they are and not worrying about their rights.

FORGIVE ME, BUT WHO WAS LOOKING OUT AFTER CAITLIN ELIZABETH WOOTEN’S RIGHTS?

Hat Tip: dragonfly

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