News :: Civil & Human Rights : Health & Drugs : Poverty & Urban Development

Struggling for a Home After Hurricane Katrina

Author

~Bradley
bradley*riseup.net (verified)

Date Created

22 Sep 2005

More details...

On September 20, after Vinny and I visited the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, we headed over to the Reliant Arena to find out more information about Katrina survivors being transfered from the Arena to Fort Chaffee, a military base in Arkansas.

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Hundreds of people were loading into school and charter buses apparently headed to Ellington Field in Houston where they would be flown to Fort Chaffee, Arkansas

The mood was more tense that it had been in previous days. It seemed that most people were not sure what was going on. Hurricane Katrina has wrecked peoples homes and changed their lives forever. After trying to find family members and friends, the next step for Katrina survivors has been to try to find some form of housing.

Audio: Download the mp3 (5:07 minutes / 2.4 MB)

I met up with my friend Josh and he told me that he secured an apartment in Houston for himself and his wife. He also told me that numerous corporate media cameras showed up the night before and the way Katrina survivors were treated quickly changed in front of the cameras.

Audio: Download the mp3 (2:24 minutes / 1.1 MB)

Milton, a Pastor in Houston, was offering people shelter at Pleasant Grove Church which could house about 100 people. He was also highly critical about the way Katrina survivors were treated.

Audio: Download the mp3 (1:57 minutes / 1 MB)

I also spoke with John, a Katrina survivor from New Orleans that was trying to find his son Patrick who has been missing since Hurricane Katrina stuck.

Magnificent saw the microphone I was holding as I was walking around and he asked me what it was for. He then asked if he could speak to me from his heart.

Audio: Download the mp3 (3:55 minutes / 1.8 MB)

Laurence wanted to share his incredible story of survival. He took up Pastor Milton's offer to be sheltered at the Church.

Audio: Download the mp3 (7 minutes / 3.3 MB)

Now we learn that Hurricane Rita is headed to the coast of Texas and may flood Houston.

see also:

Interview from 'Dome City' with Josh from New Orleans
http://santacruz.indymedia.org/newswire/display/18591/index.php

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If you can make it out to Texas, Mississippi, Alabama or Louisiana, your help is definitely needed.

Also, if you can donate money to support independent media for survivors of Hurricane Katrina, that would be very helpful as well.

Vinny and I have put out a request for donations. Please read the following article for information on one important way that you can help out. thanks.

Support Independent Media in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
http://santacruz.indymedia.org/newswire/display/18525/index.php

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