Remember Those that are Really Important; the Missing children of Katrina

Michelle Malkin has an update from her original posting, LOST CHILDREN OF KATRINA: UPDATE. Some of the children have been reunited with their parents as the LA Times has reported.

So far, parents displaced by flooding have reported 220 children missing, but that number is expected to rise, said Mike Kenner of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which will help reunite families. With crowds churning at evacuation points, many children were parted from their parents accidentally; one woman handed her baby up onto a bus, turned around to pick up her suitcase and turned back to find that the bus had left.

Michelle’s post has some encouraging and wonderful stories of children that have been reunited and other links to still help find the many others that still need our help.

Those that Help: India

The United States, by far the largest donor to the world, has gotten some help in the Katrina crisis from India. India has faced the Tsunami last year, and beyond that has had trouble with water purification issues throughout its history.

So India is sending over a team that specializes in water purifications and a medical support team. So remember those countries that have and will step up and help the United States in this time of turmoil.

From the Telegraph of India:

If all goes well, an Illyushin-76 Indian military transport plane loaded with large water purification systems both for households and communities and critical medical supplies will take off in a day or two from an airfield in India for the southern US which is reeling from a killer hurricane which hit the area a few days ago.

The Russian-built military transporter has been readied in anticipation of clearance by US authorities of an offer by New Delhi to “stand in solidarity and sympathy with them in these trying times” of death and destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina.

The Illyushin, which will bring its own naval boats and dinghies for a “self-sustaining and self-supporting” relief operation in the US, will also carry a medical team from the Indian Army Medical Corps.

The team will include a surgeon, an anaesthetist, doctors, nurses and paramedics who have had first-hand experience in handling the effects of natural disasters.

Via Boing Boing and Bruce Sterling.

ABC Poll; Who Is to Blame for For Hurricane Response

Unfortunately in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina people have decided to play the blame game instead of concentrating on the matter at hand, evacuating the people from the hard hot Gulf coast regions and providing them with care. Of course we need a scape goat in all of this and by the looks of how the hurricane response was handled it appears that there is more than enough of blame to go around.

The MSM and curious enough the Governor of Louisiana and the Mayor of New Orleans seem to be the loudest critics of the Federal Government and President George W. Bush. What a shock. I think Mayor Ray Nagin best look at his own actions. A really good look. Some how in all of this due to political partisanship, not only is President Bush responsible for the slow hurricane response many also are blaming him for the hurricane as well. Even some people in this country have decided to as well. Even though the focus should be on relief efforts, lets look at who the American people think is to blame.

In an ABC News Poll on Views of Hurricane Response it would appear that although Americans blame the Federal Government and even more so the local/State governments for their unpreparedness.

Americans are broadly critical of government preparedness in the Hurricane Katrina disaster — but far fewer take George W. Bush personally to task for the problems, and public anger about the response is less widespread than some critics would suggest.

The most critical views cross jurisdictions: Two-thirds in this ABC News/Washington Post poll say the federal government should have been better prepared to deal with a storm this size, and three-quarters say state and local governments in the affected areas likewise were insufficiently prepared.

Other evaluations are divided. Forty-six percent of Americans approve of Bush’s handling of the crisis, while 47 percent disapprove.

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Post Katrina; Beyond Comprehension

There are some things in life that just fail to make any sense or comprehension. Some of the post hurricane actions in New Orleans just make me shake my head in wonderment. What were these people thinking? Michelle Malkin has an amazing post on THE LOST CHILDREN OF KATRINA, please read.

In the rush to evacuate people from the storm-ravaged New Orleans area, at least two dozen children have been separated from their parents in Louisiana, according to the state social services department. Some children and parents also have been separated and sent to neighboring states in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and as the evacuation continues officials expect that number to grow larger, according to Marketa Garner Gautreau, an assistant secretary with the social services office. “As people have been pushed onto buses and jumped onto buses, they’ve gotten separated from their families,” Gautreau said.

I agree that it is difficult right now to discuss the politics and the blame game of Hurricane Katrina when such immediate actions of stupidity are going on. Let us focus on the issues at hand and help the victims of this disaster now. Especially the children, the most helpless of us all. I agree with Michelle, start forwarding these photos to the MSM so that they get them help instead of just covering the blame game aspect of this disaster.

Help the most defenseless of our population in this disaster, please help the children.

Children Say the Most Amazing Things; while Adults are Arguing over post Hurricane Katrina

The post Hurricane blame game has begun. Although there is a time and a place to obviously fix the wrongs that we have witnessed, now is the time to help those in need not point fingers. There is so much blame to go around it makes no sense for adults to cast stones as who in America is to blame when from the Federal, State and Local levels all failed, including some its citizens. However, those of us must remember that even if there were plans in place, a worst case scenario occurs. However, what is more amazing in all of this while adults fight over the blame game in the name of debate listen to what the children are saying around us. Looks like we all may learn a little bit about humility and what is truly so innocent and right. Out of the mouth of a 6 year old little girl from one of our own comes the following:

Just thought I would share a story of what my daughter did today that reminded me how innocent and compassionate children are.

My six year old daughter went with me grocery tonight. When we drove up there were news vans and CHP all over the parking lot covering the Red Cross Donation Drive that was set-up.

My daughter asks “Mommy, can we go over there and give them some more money?” with the sweetest smile on her face.

I answered “Of course we can, we should give all we can to help right now because people really need our help.”

“Mommy, can you pull this tooth out?” as she tries to wiggle a tooth not ready to come out.

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