That Sickening Thud

National Council on Disability on Hurricane Katrina Affected Areas

Basic Info

People with disabilities in the Gulf Coast areas of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana are experiencing tremendous loss of life and devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. Current data indicates that people with disabilities are now most at risk in this situation-and will need recovery assistance for months or years. A disproportionate number of the Hurricane survivors are people with disabilities whose needs for basic necessities are compounded by chronic health conditions and functional impairments.

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The 102,122 people with disabilities living in New Orleans include people who are blind, people who are deaf, people who use wheelchairs, canes, walkers, crutches, people with service animals, and people with mental health needs. At least half of the people with disabilities in New Orleans who are of working age are not employed. Many of the people rely on a variety of government programs such as Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid to help them meet their daily service and support needs.

The total destruction of the physical environment and public/private infrastructure and communications systems in the Gulf Coastal areas affected by Hurricane Katrina has life-threatening implications for all citizens with disabilities, and those without disabilities. The implications for these people include:

* for people with physical disabilities and who are over 65 years of age, being unable to leave their homes, group homes, nursing homes, hospitals without significant assistance;

* for all people with disabilities, being prevented from using any type of accessible public transportation which in all likelihood do not exist anymore;

* for people who are blind, being unable to even get around in their own flooded neighborhoods because they can no longer navigate the environmental landscape;

* for all people with disabilities driven by floods from institutions or group homes or nursing homes, needing to be housed in less than satisfactory conditions with considerably less than the necessary range of services and supports they need for an indeterminate amount of time;

* for people with disabilities who have service animals, are unable to rely on those animals outside of the house or group home because these animals cannot navigate safely in the flooded streets;

* for people who are deaf, being challenged to access emergency information through television, radio, TTY, etc. because public communications systems are somewhat compromised;

* for all people with disabilities, being unable to secure life-saving food and water because many of them are trapped within the confines of inadequate supplied shelters, stadiums, etc.; and

* people may have lost or become separated from the drugs they rely on daily for diabetes, heart disease and other chronic ailments. Pharmacies in the affected areas may have insufficient stocks of vital drugs like insulin for diabetics, creating a need to organize efforts to import and distribute essential medicines in the area. In addition, many pharmacies have been raided by looters.

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How can we help?

(This note was distributed by an Independent Living Center)

Dear IL Colleague,

As you may know, the Centers for Independent Living in Biloxi, Mississippi and New Orleans have been gravely affected by the hurricane. In fact the Biloxi, MS center was totally destroyed. Many of you are asking how you can help. Here is what we have learned from colleagues in those states.

Sending money is the first priority. Sending supplies to those centers is helpful too but NOT RIGHT NOW, because they can't get through the water.

Here are the suggested options for right now:

1) Send a check or credit card payment to the Red Cross and designate it for Hurricane Relief, or designate it for people with disabilities in the Biloxi/Hattiesburg or New Orleans areas.

2) If you want to send money for the CILs that are dealing with this disaster directly, here are your options:

For the Biloxi Center, mail the check (payable to LIFE of Central MS and designated for the Biloxi Center) to:

LIFE of Central Mississippi

754 North President Street, Suite 1

Jackson, MS 39202

For the centers in Louisiana (make checks payable to Resources for Independent Living - this is a branch of the N.O. center - and designate for the New Orleans center)and mail to:

Resources for IL

11931 Industriplex Blvd. Suite 200

Baton Rouge, LA 70809


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Click on the picture for a short .avi video of two fully fire-suited players playing Dance Dance Immolation, one of them missteps and fire shoots at him.

This was one of my favorite art pieces at Burning Man. This old fashioned clock was made out of reclaimed wood carved in great detail. Its interior held actual working clockworks, also made out of wood. It was fascinating to watch the wooden clogs slowly turn, interlocking each step. Each of the legs had some intricate carved weather-vane type thing on top, and the clock had 3 faces: one showing the actual time, one showing time controlled by viewers by spinning a captains wheel which in turn controlled a small monkey that turned the hands of the clock, and one with hands spinning in opposite directions representing the unconscious.

The pendulum in the clock was made from a recycled Wok; the bells, which chimed on the hour, were made out of welders tanks.



The artist was offerred $30,000 NOT to burn the piece, but declined.

see the interior of the clock here

nuff said

Portland people:

http://www.livejournal.com/community/damnportlanders/5838439.html

I would like to inform you
that
Portland will be welcoming approximately 1000 SURVIVORS of Hurricane
Katrina
very soon. We at the NE Coalition of Neighborhoods encourage all to
help
volunteer to make this transition smooth for them. Currently we don't
know
what the demographics will be, but the assumption is most will be
African
American. It would be nice to show the SURVIVORS that Portland DOES
have a
caring and supportive Community that is willing to support them and
help
them in any way we can!

There will be a meeting this evening from 6pm-8pm at Emmanuel Temple
Church
(located @ 1033 N Sumner on North Michigan/Sumner). At this meeting,
you
may register to volunteer. There will be many committees there to
choose the
area in which you would like to volunteer. There are many ways to
donate/volunteer your services, remember these SURVIVORS have nothing.