Gulf Coast residents flee 'extremely dangerous' Gustav
Story Highlights
NEW: New Orleans mayor "strongly, strongly encouraging everyone in this city to evacuate"
Gustav's winds were nearly 145 mph as it gets ready to slam Cuba
Hurricane center calls Gustav "extremely dangerous"
Thousands flee Gulf Coast; Gustav could hit Monday or Tuesday
BELLE CHASE, Louisiana (CNN) -- As Hurricane Gustav's winds reached up to 145 mph on its predicted path to the U.S. Gulf Coast -- ravaged in 2005 by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita -- residents headed inland in droves.
"This makes Gustav an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale," the National Hurricane Center said.
In New Orleans, still recovering from Hurricane Katrina, anxiety was high.
"I am strongly, strongly encouraging everyone in this city to evacuate," New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said at a news conference Saturday. "Start the process now."
"I'm not sure where I'm going," Margie Hawkins of New Orleans told CNN as she stood outside Union Passenger Terminal, where people were waiting to be transported out of New Orleans.
However, she was not fazed.
"I am confident and positive that the city will arrange a good place," she said, her small dog Bubbles yipping at her feet. Unlike the runup to Katrina, officials are allowing people to take their pets with them.
"My last 24 hours have been somewhat worrisome and very, very prayerful, because this is a very serious threat, and it's a lot of people to get to safe ground or be safe where they are," Hawkins said.
go here for more
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/08/30/gustav.prepare/index.html
Showing posts with label New Orleans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Orleans. Show all posts
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Gulf coast residents flee Gustav with memories of Katrina
Gulf Coast residents flee deadly Gustav
Thousands of residents hit the road this morning as deadly Hurricane Gustav threatened Cuba and stayed on track to slam into the Gulf Coast sometime late Monday or early Tuesday. The powerful Category 3 storm is raising memories of catastrophic Hurricane Katrina, which hit New Orleans almost exactly three years ago. full story
Thousands of residents hit the road this morning as deadly Hurricane Gustav threatened Cuba and stayed on track to slam into the Gulf Coast sometime late Monday or early Tuesday. The powerful Category 3 storm is raising memories of catastrophic Hurricane Katrina, which hit New Orleans almost exactly three years ago. full story
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Is New Orleans in danger of flooding again with Fay?
Tropical Storm Fay came with so much rain that it was being measured by feet instead of inches. Today, it's still raining in Central Florida, just outside of Orlando. We lost count how many times we drained the pool because it was flooding onto the deck and between the wind and rain, we just had to replace our garage door. We were lucky here but on the coast, streets are flooded and so are homes. They had alligators, snakes and fish swimming down streets. Over 50 homes were damaged by tornadoes spawned off Fay. Two women drowned at beaches, a worker died from electrocution, a man died from fumes of a generator and there were several other deaths. This thing is a monster! It made landfall 4 times in Florida alone.
The problem is, she is heading to New Orleans. Are they ready? Are the levees going to be a bigger problem when the rain dumps feet into New Orleans? After reading this, I doubt they are ready for much at all.
New Orleans repeating deadly levee mistakes
Associated Press
Published: Saturday August 23, 2008
NEW ORLEANS - Signs are emerging that history is repeating itself in the Big Easy, still healing from Katrina: People have forgotten a lesson from four decades ago and believe once again that the federal government is constructing a levee system they can prosper behind.
In a yearlong review of levee work here, The Associated Press has tracked a pattern of public misperception, political jockeying and legal fighting, along with economic and engineering miscalculations since Katrina, that threaten to make New Orleans the scene of another devastating flood.
Dozens of interviews with engineers, historians, policymakers and flood zone residents confirmed many have not learned from public policy mistakes made after Hurricane Betsy in 1965, which set the stage for Katrina; many mistakes are being repeated.
"People forget, but they cannot afford to forget," said Windell Curole, a Louisiana hurricane and levee expert. "If you believe you can't flood, that's when you increase the risk of flooding. In New Orleans, I don't think they talk about the risk."
click post title for more
Monday, August 18, 2008
2 killed after car drives into LA. train's path
2 killed after car drives into La. train's path
AP foreign, Tuesday August 19 2008 Content
KINDER, La. (AP) - Police say a car failed to yield at a Louisiana railroad crossing and drove into the path of a freight train, killing the two people inside the car.
State Police Senior Trooper Stephen LaFargue says 52-year-old Nelson Guidry and his passenger, 46-year-old Jacqueline Guidry, were pronounced dead at the scene of Monday's accident. Both were from Kinder, about 180 miles west of New Orleans.
LaFargue says Guidry's Chevrolet Cavalier failed to yield as a southbound Union Pacific train approached. The crossing was marked with signs but no crossing arms. He says the engineer sounded the horn as it approached.
Neither victim was wearing a seat belt. Routine toxicology tests are pending. No one on the train was injured.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/7735250
AP foreign, Tuesday August 19 2008 Content
KINDER, La. (AP) - Police say a car failed to yield at a Louisiana railroad crossing and drove into the path of a freight train, killing the two people inside the car.
State Police Senior Trooper Stephen LaFargue says 52-year-old Nelson Guidry and his passenger, 46-year-old Jacqueline Guidry, were pronounced dead at the scene of Monday's accident. Both were from Kinder, about 180 miles west of New Orleans.
LaFargue says Guidry's Chevrolet Cavalier failed to yield as a southbound Union Pacific train approached. The crossing was marked with signs but no crossing arms. He says the engineer sounded the horn as it approached.
Neither victim was wearing a seat belt. Routine toxicology tests are pending. No one on the train was injured.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/7735250
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Toledo Vet Center addresses increase in stress disorders
“As human beings, we’re not born to experience the things that we experience in war. When you experience it, it changes you,” he said. “My main focus since I’ve returned home is to help other individuals like myself to ensure they’re getting the things they need, from someone who understands what they’re going through.”
Article published Sunday, August 17, 2008
Toledo Vet Center addresses increase in stress disorders
Army major selected to oversee area’s 1st VA counseling facility
By GABE NELSON
BLADE STAFF WRITER
When Maj. Dorian LeBeau returned from active duty four years ago, he was angry — angry about the horrors he saw in Iraq and Afghanistan, angry that his friends and family wanted to talk about them, and, above all, angry at himself for having changed.
Major LeBeau, a soft-spoken New Orleans native, came home in early 2004 after more than two years in the Middle East. As a commissioned Army mortuary affairs officer based at Camp Doha, Kuwait, Major LeBeau was deployed into the combat zones of Iraq and Afghanistan to recover remains, sometimes the bodies of U.S. soldiers killed in combat.
He struggled to readjust to life in New Orleans, where helicopters weren’t carrying dead bodies back to base and a siren didn’t signify an incoming missile. He didn’t like the same things he had liked before going to war. At first, he preferred to be alone.
Major LeBeau said his difficulties readjusting to civilian life drove him to become a social worker for the Department of Veterans Affairs, so he could help soldiers hurting the way he once did.
click post title for more
Monday, August 4, 2008
Post-Katrina Syndrome
Storm stressed
August brings a flood of bad memories and waves of dread. But overall, local therapists say, our collective post-K psyche is improving. Monday, August 04, 2008By Diana Samuels
After two hurricane seasons without a direct hit from a serious storm, local mental health experts say that Hurricane Katrina-related anxieties have begun to fade, though some psychological effects still linger.
Social worker J. Chris Barrilleaux says he sees fewer cases of post-traumatic stress disorder, and more clients suffering from depression as they continue to be bogged down with insurance hassles, home repairs and other obstacles to the full restoration of their pre-hurricane lives.
"The inability to finalize, to put closure on an event, brings depression," Barrilleaux said.
It can help simply to talk through feelings and understand the reasons behind the depression, he said.
Social worker Kelley Lockhart-Delaune said many of her clients come to her with issues such as marital or drug problems, but "we sort of find out . . . it is Katrina-related."
Children also have buried some of their Katrina-related emotions now that people don't talk about the storm as much, said Dr. Douglas Faust, director of the psychology department at New Orleans' Children's Hospital. Faust described a "Post-Katrina Syndrome" -- the feelings are there, but it's "sub-clinical" and not quite post-traumatic stress disorder.
"What you've got is a bunch of people who aren't having active thoughts about the storm," Faust said, "but it takes very little to destabilize them."
click post title for more
August brings a flood of bad memories and waves of dread. But overall, local therapists say, our collective post-K psyche is improving. Monday, August 04, 2008By Diana Samuels
After two hurricane seasons without a direct hit from a serious storm, local mental health experts say that Hurricane Katrina-related anxieties have begun to fade, though some psychological effects still linger.
Social worker J. Chris Barrilleaux says he sees fewer cases of post-traumatic stress disorder, and more clients suffering from depression as they continue to be bogged down with insurance hassles, home repairs and other obstacles to the full restoration of their pre-hurricane lives.
"The inability to finalize, to put closure on an event, brings depression," Barrilleaux said.
It can help simply to talk through feelings and understand the reasons behind the depression, he said.
Social worker Kelley Lockhart-Delaune said many of her clients come to her with issues such as marital or drug problems, but "we sort of find out . . . it is Katrina-related."
Children also have buried some of their Katrina-related emotions now that people don't talk about the storm as much, said Dr. Douglas Faust, director of the psychology department at New Orleans' Children's Hospital. Faust described a "Post-Katrina Syndrome" -- the feelings are there, but it's "sub-clinical" and not quite post-traumatic stress disorder.
"What you've got is a bunch of people who aren't having active thoughts about the storm," Faust said, "but it takes very little to destabilize them."
click post title for more
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Police kill man in standoff over FEMA trailer
Police kill man in standoff over FEMA trailer
Story Highlights
Eric Minshew's mental illness worsened after Hurricane Katrina, family says
He occupied one of last FEMA trailers in Lakeview neighborhood
FEMA was taking steps to reclaim trailer from weed-choked lot
Minshew ordered FEMA off property, barricaded himself in gutted house
Next Article in Crime »
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) -- A man fatally shot by police after a 10-hour standoff Wednesday had suffered with mental illness for much of his life, and it worsened in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, a family member said.
Eric Minshew, 49, ordered Federal Emergency Management Agency workers to leave his trailer when they arrived for an inspection Tuesday afternoon, according to accounts from police.
Later, police said he fired at them several times and was fatally shot after pointing a handgun at officers who tried to arrest him. No officers were injured.
Rosemarie Brocato, who lives about a block away from the house, said she had told police, "He's sick. Please don't shoot him. He needs help."
The man had moved into the family home about eight years ago, with no money and no job, his brother, Homer M. Minshew III, said Wednesday. He survived the hurricane, but the family was awaiting government aid so they could either pay the house off or fix it up and sell it.
He suffered for years with mental problems that "got a lot worse after the storm," his brother said. He felt his hopes of inheriting his parents' home -- a place he'd felt a strong connection to -- diminish, he said. He owned a gun because he had gotten a job as a security guard, according to his brother.
"He had a lot of serious mental issues and would all of a sudden go off on a rant about the government, the local, state government, the feds and everything else," he said. "He has some issues. He just snapped. Thank God nobody else got hurt."
go here for more
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/06/04/fema.standoff.ap/index.html
Story Highlights
Eric Minshew's mental illness worsened after Hurricane Katrina, family says
He occupied one of last FEMA trailers in Lakeview neighborhood
FEMA was taking steps to reclaim trailer from weed-choked lot
Minshew ordered FEMA off property, barricaded himself in gutted house
Next Article in Crime »
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) -- A man fatally shot by police after a 10-hour standoff Wednesday had suffered with mental illness for much of his life, and it worsened in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, a family member said.
Eric Minshew, 49, ordered Federal Emergency Management Agency workers to leave his trailer when they arrived for an inspection Tuesday afternoon, according to accounts from police.
Later, police said he fired at them several times and was fatally shot after pointing a handgun at officers who tried to arrest him. No officers were injured.
Rosemarie Brocato, who lives about a block away from the house, said she had told police, "He's sick. Please don't shoot him. He needs help."
The man had moved into the family home about eight years ago, with no money and no job, his brother, Homer M. Minshew III, said Wednesday. He survived the hurricane, but the family was awaiting government aid so they could either pay the house off or fix it up and sell it.
He suffered for years with mental problems that "got a lot worse after the storm," his brother said. He felt his hopes of inheriting his parents' home -- a place he'd felt a strong connection to -- diminish, he said. He owned a gun because he had gotten a job as a security guard, according to his brother.
"He had a lot of serious mental issues and would all of a sudden go off on a rant about the government, the local, state government, the feds and everything else," he said. "He has some issues. He just snapped. Thank God nobody else got hurt."
go here for more
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/06/04/fema.standoff.ap/index.html
Sunday, May 11, 2008
When America Fails To Take Care Of Our Own
Brad Pitt walks by a house in New Orleans. He's been there trying to help them rebuild. Even with this kind of attention, the Red Cross is running out of funds. FEMA trailers, contaminated with formaldehyde, blamed for creating further suffering of the survivors of Katrina, are to be removed but no one knows where all the people are supposed to go to.
We failed to take care of our own.
Senator John McCain said that if he had been president after Katrina, he would have gone to New Orleans. The problem is, he was a US Senator enjoying his birthday cake with President Bush instead of going there as it was. They were so ambivalent to all the suffering that having a birthday celebration for someone who had many already was more important than those who just lost everything including over a thousand who would never have a birthday again.
Tornados rip threw homes across this nation leaving behind tracks of death and tears and yet we don't see very many news reports on what comes with the tornadoes or what happens after as they try to rebuild and recover. We see more about foreign nations being reported than we do of our own people. While there is nothing wrong with being generous with these other nations, especially given the magnitude of the devastation left by cyclones and tsunamis, you'd think the media would be more incline to report on what is happening right here.
We don't take care of the sick, poor or needy right here. Poverty rises and food pantries run out of food to give to the hungry. Jobs are lost and unemployment runs out leaving people out of money and out of the unemployment count. There is no point in claiming weeks when there is nothing to gain. On this I speak from personal experience because I worked for a church that did not pay into the system. There were no unemployment checks for me. I stopped claiming weeks.
We don't take care of the healthcare needs of our own people. It's too much to ask that we find a way to do this so that no one is every turned away or financially ruined because they became ill. We just don't take care of any of them. Yet we say it's their own fault they lost everything.
We don't take care of the emergency responders who rushed into New York after the attacks and let them breathe in contaminated air and then told them they were on their own when they had to deal with the illnesses caused by their heroism.
We don't take care of the National Guardsmen or the Reservists we tell to give up their jobs and businesses to deploy overseas. We send them away from all they worked for and then tell them it's their fault for joining in the first place.
We don't take care of the wounded coming back from deployment into foreign lands. From nations during WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Kuwait, Somalia, Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq, we make them fight yet again to have their wounds treated and receive compensation to replace lost incomes. We allowed the government to lie about the magnitude of the suffering they are going through at the same time we complain other nations are not telling the truth on the suffering of their own people.
Today is Mother's day, but I don't feel much like celebrating because of all the people who are suffering across this nation. A lot of mothers across the nation don't feel like celebrating either when they see their children suffering. We know we failed to take care of our own.
We keep wondering why we didn't when this nation is supposed to be the land of plenty? Is it because we have become selfish? No, we've proven that when regular people step up to fill in for what the government is not doing. The question we should be asking is "how did we allow the government to be so callous, so detached from our own people?"
Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
http://www.namguardianangel.org/
http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington
Red Cross nearing the end of storm funds
05:06 PM CDT on Saturday, May 10, 2008
Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS -- Red Cross officials in New Orleans say the agency is nearing the end of its storm-relief funds. It has given nearly $200 million to help the longterm recovery of victims of the 2005 hurricanes.
Kay Wilkins is head of the agency's southeast Louisiana chapter. She says that once the recovery money is gone, the Red Cross will resume its more traditional role providing short-term relief and educating in areas such as first aid and water safety.
The Red Cross still plans to keep several long-term case managers to help families with continuing needs.
Wilkins says money for some programs will begin running out this summer, she said, and will likely be exhausted by year's end.
There's $28 million left to help victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita with rebuilding and recovery needs like utility deposits, child care and appliances. Another $26 million will help pay for psychological testing and therapy for families with debilitating stress or other mental health problems.
There's another $10 million in grants that Red Cross plans to announce soon for large local institutions to help improve their mental-health resources.
http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/wwl051008mlredcross.e9e8dbbb.html
FEMA shutting down 5 trailer sites today
07:49 AM CDT on Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Jill Hezeau / Eyewitness News Reporter
FEMA is scheduled to shut down five trailer sites in Orleans Parish, along with one in Jefferson Parish Wednesday – part of the agency’s continuing effort to have the sites closed by June 1, the start of hurricane season.
WWL-TV
Nearly 7,400 New Orleanians are still living in FEMA trailers.
Mayor Nagin said he would also like New Orleans residents to find alternate housing because of recent health studies concerning FEMA trailers.
Earlier this year, the Centers for Disease Control said Formaldehyde fumes in 519 trailers and mobile homes tested in Louisiana and Mississippi averaged five times the amount in most modern homes.
The studies also showed the high levels could lead to health problems and possibly cancer.
The following is a list of trailer sites closing Wednesday:
Apostolic Outreach Center, Orleans
Canal Street 1 & 2, Orleans
Cultural Arts Center Overflow Parking Lot, Orleans
Ideal Place Playground, Orleans
KW Esplanade Property, Orleans
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, Jefferson
FEMA is scheduled to close more sites next month, including five in Plaquemines Parish, two in St. John the Baptist Parish and one in St. Tammany, St. Bernard, Cameron and East Baton Rouge Parishes.
Anyone living in a FEMA provided travel trailer or mobile home and has not yet found permanent housing is asked to call FEMA at 1-888-294-2822.
http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/wwl043008jbtrailers.b46a13e3.html
We failed to take care of our own.
Senator John McCain said that if he had been president after Katrina, he would have gone to New Orleans. The problem is, he was a US Senator enjoying his birthday cake with President Bush instead of going there as it was. They were so ambivalent to all the suffering that having a birthday celebration for someone who had many already was more important than those who just lost everything including over a thousand who would never have a birthday again.
Tornados rip threw homes across this nation leaving behind tracks of death and tears and yet we don't see very many news reports on what comes with the tornadoes or what happens after as they try to rebuild and recover. We see more about foreign nations being reported than we do of our own people. While there is nothing wrong with being generous with these other nations, especially given the magnitude of the devastation left by cyclones and tsunamis, you'd think the media would be more incline to report on what is happening right here.
We don't take care of the sick, poor or needy right here. Poverty rises and food pantries run out of food to give to the hungry. Jobs are lost and unemployment runs out leaving people out of money and out of the unemployment count. There is no point in claiming weeks when there is nothing to gain. On this I speak from personal experience because I worked for a church that did not pay into the system. There were no unemployment checks for me. I stopped claiming weeks.
We don't take care of the healthcare needs of our own people. It's too much to ask that we find a way to do this so that no one is every turned away or financially ruined because they became ill. We just don't take care of any of them. Yet we say it's their own fault they lost everything.
We don't take care of the emergency responders who rushed into New York after the attacks and let them breathe in contaminated air and then told them they were on their own when they had to deal with the illnesses caused by their heroism.
We don't take care of the National Guardsmen or the Reservists we tell to give up their jobs and businesses to deploy overseas. We send them away from all they worked for and then tell them it's their fault for joining in the first place.
We don't take care of the wounded coming back from deployment into foreign lands. From nations during WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Kuwait, Somalia, Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq, we make them fight yet again to have their wounds treated and receive compensation to replace lost incomes. We allowed the government to lie about the magnitude of the suffering they are going through at the same time we complain other nations are not telling the truth on the suffering of their own people.
Today is Mother's day, but I don't feel much like celebrating because of all the people who are suffering across this nation. A lot of mothers across the nation don't feel like celebrating either when they see their children suffering. We know we failed to take care of our own.
We keep wondering why we didn't when this nation is supposed to be the land of plenty? Is it because we have become selfish? No, we've proven that when regular people step up to fill in for what the government is not doing. The question we should be asking is "how did we allow the government to be so callous, so detached from our own people?"
Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens
Features works and the private collection of the internationally known Czech-American sculptor displayed in his former home in Winter Park, Florida.
Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
http://www.namguardianangel.org/
http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Mental Health Crisis hits New Orleans
Mental health crisis plagues New Orleans
By Rick Jervis, USA TODAY
NEW ORLEANS — Bernel Johnson showed all the signs.
He was diagnosed by a psychiatrist as aggressive, homeless and schizophrenic. He was kicked out of a Salvation Army homeless shelter late last year for holding a fork to a fellow resident's throat. On Jan. 4, Johnson was committed to a psychiatric facility for causing a disturbance at a bank. He was released and, a few weeks later, attacked New Orleans police Officer Nicola Cotton, 24, in a parking lot.
Johnson wrestled Cotton's service handgun from her and shot her 15 times, killing the officer, police said. Johnson remains in jail without bond, charged with first-degree murder.
New Orleans health and law enforcement officials say more cases such as this could unfold if the city's mental health crisis isn't resolved soon. Since Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city 2½ years ago, the number of public mental health facilities and community outreach centers has decreased dramatically, leaving the mentally ill without medication and monitoring.
go here for the rest
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-03-04-katrina-health_N.htm
Linked from RawStory
This was one storm that caused days of trauma and suffering. Now think about what happened to these people. Now think about living with trauma everyday while deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. Think about Vietnam veterans and all other veterans exposed to this kind of trauma. There is no need for anyone to ever question why so many are wounded by PTSD. We want to think the men and women who serve are different from us. In many ways, they are. We cannot forget that they are just humans and can experience the same wounds we do but they are exposed to more horrific traumatic events than we are.
By Rick Jervis, USA TODAY
NEW ORLEANS — Bernel Johnson showed all the signs.
He was diagnosed by a psychiatrist as aggressive, homeless and schizophrenic. He was kicked out of a Salvation Army homeless shelter late last year for holding a fork to a fellow resident's throat. On Jan. 4, Johnson was committed to a psychiatric facility for causing a disturbance at a bank. He was released and, a few weeks later, attacked New Orleans police Officer Nicola Cotton, 24, in a parking lot.
Johnson wrestled Cotton's service handgun from her and shot her 15 times, killing the officer, police said. Johnson remains in jail without bond, charged with first-degree murder.
New Orleans health and law enforcement officials say more cases such as this could unfold if the city's mental health crisis isn't resolved soon. Since Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city 2½ years ago, the number of public mental health facilities and community outreach centers has decreased dramatically, leaving the mentally ill without medication and monitoring.
Mental illness also is rampant among the city's homeless, whose population has spiked since the storm from 6,200 to 12,000 today, says Sam Scaffidi of the New Orleans Police Homeless Assistance Unit. Under the Interstate 10 overpass at the corner of Claiborne Avenue and Canal Street downtown, homeless encampments have multiplied since Katrina into a sprawling colony of tents, soiled sleeping bags and cardboard caves.
go here for the rest
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-03-04-katrina-health_N.htm
Linked from RawStory
This was one storm that caused days of trauma and suffering. Now think about what happened to these people. Now think about living with trauma everyday while deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. Think about Vietnam veterans and all other veterans exposed to this kind of trauma. There is no need for anyone to ever question why so many are wounded by PTSD. We want to think the men and women who serve are different from us. In many ways, they are. We cannot forget that they are just humans and can experience the same wounds we do but they are exposed to more horrific traumatic events than we are.
Monday, February 18, 2008
New Orleans hospital issue stirs veterans
New Orleans hospital issue stirs veterans
Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com
The issue of relocating the Veterans Administration Hospital in New Orleans is a touchy one for Link Savoie, a member of the committee on veterans affairs on Gov. Bobby Jindal's transition team.
Savoie sees medical students from LSU and Tulane getting more consideration than veterans.
"When Katrina hit New Orleans, that area of the city flooded," Savoie said. "All the good equipment at the VA was on the first and second floors, so it was ruined. Now, they're talking about rebuilding the hospital near the same location."
The VA has stated it wants that similar location, instead of a move to Jefferson Parish in suburban New Orleans or elsewhere, as a convenience to the medical students. That has incensed veterans like Savoie, who sees veterans being demoted in importance.
click post title for the rest
Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com
The issue of relocating the Veterans Administration Hospital in New Orleans is a touchy one for Link Savoie, a member of the committee on veterans affairs on Gov. Bobby Jindal's transition team.
Savoie sees medical students from LSU and Tulane getting more consideration than veterans.
"When Katrina hit New Orleans, that area of the city flooded," Savoie said. "All the good equipment at the VA was on the first and second floors, so it was ruined. Now, they're talking about rebuilding the hospital near the same location."
The VA has stated it wants that similar location, instead of a move to Jefferson Parish in suburban New Orleans or elsewhere, as a convenience to the medical students. That has incensed veterans like Savoie, who sees veterans being demoted in importance.
click post title for the rest
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Where candidates put mental health on their to do list
NAMI sent out questions to all the candidates. You would think they would all take the mental health conditions of so many Americans important enough to stop and answer the questions, but you would be wrong. It appears that most of them think this is not worthy of their time to address.
Questionnaire View a copy of our candidate questionnaire.
Biden sent a letter instead of answers but at least he showed he does know some of the facts.
Gov. Bill Richardson of New MexicoGov. Richardson has provided NAMI with this
Mental Health Platform in lieu of a response to our questionnaire.
McCain did not address mental health other than fluff.
McCain, who you would think as a Vietnam vet and POW, would put this on the front of his to do list considering we are loosing more when they come home than we do when they are in Iraq or Afghanistan. You would think that with the track record of the government addressing PTSD in Vietnam veterans is so deplorable, McCain would be the first one screaming about his but I guess it doesn't fit in with his priorities.
But at least he responded. The other Republican candidates didn't bother. But Romney offers something very interesting.
http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=2008_Primaries_and_Elections&Template=/ContentManagement/
HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=55411
With two occupations still going on with no ending date, why is this not important to all of them? Why wouldn't they stop talking and start listening to veterans and their families? How many times have they showed up at VFW or American Legion halls looking for supporters without showing any real support when it mattered?
The next president will be the next Commander-in-Chief. They need to take all of this seriously or we will keep seeing mental health for all Americans suffer, crime rates go up and homelessness go up. We have thousands in New Orleans suffering from the trauma of Katrina. We have close to that figure in New York still suffering from the 2001 attacks. From coast to coast, police, firefighters and emergency responders suffer with PTSD. If we cannot manage to take care of the people we count on the most when they are wounded by their jobs, then where will that place the rest of the people suffering with the aftermath of trauma? kc
Questionnaire View a copy of our candidate questionnaire.
Biden sent a letter instead of answers but at least he showed he does know some of the facts.
Sen. Joseph Biden of DelawareSenator Biden has provided NAMI with thisEdwards addressed the questions.
Mental Health Policy Statement in lieu of a response to our questionnaire.
John Edwards, former Senator from North CarolinaObama answered the questions
Questionnaire response
Sen. Barack Obama of IllinoisRichardson responded
Questionnaire response
Gov. Bill Richardson of New MexicoGov. Richardson has provided NAMI with this
Mental Health Platform in lieu of a response to our questionnaire.
McCain did not address mental health other than fluff.
McCain, who you would think as a Vietnam vet and POW, would put this on the front of his to do list considering we are loosing more when they come home than we do when they are in Iraq or Afghanistan. You would think that with the track record of the government addressing PTSD in Vietnam veterans is so deplorable, McCain would be the first one screaming about his but I guess it doesn't fit in with his priorities.
Sen. John McCain of ArizonaSenator McCain has provided NAMI with this
Mental Health Statement in lieu of a response to our questionnaire. The Campaign has informed us that it is Senator McCain’s policy not to respond to questionnaires.
But at least he responded. The other Republican candidates didn't bother. But Romney offers something very interesting.
Mitt Romney, former Governor of MassachusettsThe Campaign has informed us that it is Governor Romney’s policy not to respond to questionnaires. As with all candidates, we have asked whether they have information that they would like to submit on their mental healthcare/healthcare positions and the response is pending.
http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=2008_Primaries_and_Elections&Template=/ContentManagement/
HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=55411
With two occupations still going on with no ending date, why is this not important to all of them? Why wouldn't they stop talking and start listening to veterans and their families? How many times have they showed up at VFW or American Legion halls looking for supporters without showing any real support when it mattered?
The next president will be the next Commander-in-Chief. They need to take all of this seriously or we will keep seeing mental health for all Americans suffer, crime rates go up and homelessness go up. We have thousands in New Orleans suffering from the trauma of Katrina. We have close to that figure in New York still suffering from the 2001 attacks. From coast to coast, police, firefighters and emergency responders suffer with PTSD. If we cannot manage to take care of the people we count on the most when they are wounded by their jobs, then where will that place the rest of the people suffering with the aftermath of trauma? kc
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Post-Katrina New Orleans, half have trauma disorders
Mental disorders rife after Hurricane Katrina-study
CHICAGO (Reuters) - About half of adult New Orleans residents suffered from anxiety and mood disorders months after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city, a higher rate than after most natural disasters, researchers said on Monday.
Depression, panic disorders, and post-traumatic stress were diagnosed in 49 percent of New Orleans residents surveyed five to seven months after the storm struck on August 29, 2005, the study found.
About one-quarter of U.S. Gulf Coast residents of Mississippi and Alabama affected by the monster storm were found to suffer from anxiety and mood disorders, lower than in New Orleans and comparable to rates from similar disasters.
The researchers concluded that the slow government response to the hurricane in New Orleans created "avoidable stressors" on people who lived through the storm, which killed more than 1,400 people and uprooted 500,000 along the Gulf Coast.
go here for the rest
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN0342197320071203
CHICAGO (Reuters) - About half of adult New Orleans residents suffered from anxiety and mood disorders months after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city, a higher rate than after most natural disasters, researchers said on Monday.
Depression, panic disorders, and post-traumatic stress were diagnosed in 49 percent of New Orleans residents surveyed five to seven months after the storm struck on August 29, 2005, the study found.
About one-quarter of U.S. Gulf Coast residents of Mississippi and Alabama affected by the monster storm were found to suffer from anxiety and mood disorders, lower than in New Orleans and comparable to rates from similar disasters.
The researchers concluded that the slow government response to the hurricane in New Orleans created "avoidable stressors" on people who lived through the storm, which killed more than 1,400 people and uprooted 500,000 along the Gulf Coast.
go here for the rest
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN0342197320071203
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
After trauma of Katrina woman wonders "Are the dead the lucky ones?"
New Orleans: Tranquility Lost
African America - Katrina
Wednesday, 07 November 2007
by Jarvis DeBerry
When crazy things happen to normal people, strange changes occur in their psyches. Tranquility - the feeling of security and inner peace - is shattered by unforeseen, overwhelming events, and may never return. The survivors of New Orleans are left largely alone to cope with a catastrophe whose aftermath is made even more cruel by those who gloat in, and profit by, the destruction of an American metropolis. Citizens without material resources are expected to emerge psychologically whole, when the richest nation on Earth claims it doesn't have the resources to rebuild the fundamental structures of their former lives. The question arises: who is mentally "imbalanced" - the survivors of cataclysm, or the enablers of ongoing social destruction?
New Orleans: Tranquility Lost
by Jarvis DeBerry
This article originally appeared in the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
"Katrina itself is over, the Katrina experience is not."
Before Hurricane Katrina, the woman explains, she'd never had "any nerve problems." Never before had she needed pills to keep her calm, pills to keep her from "hollering out loud in my sleep," pills to quiet "those noises I kept hearing in my head; the screaming as people were dying."
But that was then. "I am frightened and worried all the time now. So, I numb myself to try and keep myself wrapped tight. If not, all the pieces of me would fly away."
Hers is the first account in a book called Stories of Survival (and beyond): Collective Healing after Hurricane Katrina. The woman isn't named. She doesn't need to be. She's one of us. She's in her sixties. She self-identifies as having been one of this city's "working poor." In her most despairing moments, she wonders if the people who died during the storm weren't the lucky ones. "They don't have to be dealing with all this."
"What New Orleanians are going through now cannot be neatly diagnosed as post traumatic stress disorder."
click post title for the rest
African America - Katrina
Wednesday, 07 November 2007
by Jarvis DeBerry
When crazy things happen to normal people, strange changes occur in their psyches. Tranquility - the feeling of security and inner peace - is shattered by unforeseen, overwhelming events, and may never return. The survivors of New Orleans are left largely alone to cope with a catastrophe whose aftermath is made even more cruel by those who gloat in, and profit by, the destruction of an American metropolis. Citizens without material resources are expected to emerge psychologically whole, when the richest nation on Earth claims it doesn't have the resources to rebuild the fundamental structures of their former lives. The question arises: who is mentally "imbalanced" - the survivors of cataclysm, or the enablers of ongoing social destruction?
New Orleans: Tranquility Lost
by Jarvis DeBerry
This article originally appeared in the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
"Katrina itself is over, the Katrina experience is not."
Before Hurricane Katrina, the woman explains, she'd never had "any nerve problems." Never before had she needed pills to keep her calm, pills to keep her from "hollering out loud in my sleep," pills to quiet "those noises I kept hearing in my head; the screaming as people were dying."
But that was then. "I am frightened and worried all the time now. So, I numb myself to try and keep myself wrapped tight. If not, all the pieces of me would fly away."
Hers is the first account in a book called Stories of Survival (and beyond): Collective Healing after Hurricane Katrina. The woman isn't named. She doesn't need to be. She's one of us. She's in her sixties. She self-identifies as having been one of this city's "working poor." In her most despairing moments, she wonders if the people who died during the storm weren't the lucky ones. "They don't have to be dealing with all this."
"What New Orleanians are going through now cannot be neatly diagnosed as post traumatic stress disorder."
click post title for the rest
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Lingering Depression Adds To Katrina's Toll In Gulf
Lingering Depression Adds To Katrina's Toll in Gulf
By Peter Whoriskey
Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, September 22, 2007; Page A01
NEW ORLEANS -- A gravel-voiced fire department captain, Michael Gowland says he had never been a big crier.
"I'm not a Neanderthal," he said last week, "but I wasn't much for tears."
Now, sometimes, he cries two or three hours at a stretch. Other times, his temper has exploded, prompting him one day to pick up a crescent wrench and chase an auto mechanic around a garage. Even more perplexing to him, the once devout Roman Catholic now wonders "if there's anything out there."
"If anyone had told me before that depression could bring me this low, I'd have said they were a phony," Gowland, 46, married and a father of three, said during a break from fixing his flooded home. "Everything bothers me."
More than two years after the storm, it is not Hurricane Katrina itself, but the persistent frustrations of the delayed recovery that are exacting a high psychological toll on people who never before had such troubles, psychiatrists and a major study say. A burst of adrenaline and hope propelled many here through the first months but, with so many neighborhoods still semi-deserted, inspiration has ended.
Calls to a mental health hotline jumped after the storm and have remained high, organizers said. Psychiatrists report being overbooked, at least partly because demand has spiked. And the most thorough survey of the Gulf Coast's mental health recently showed that while signs of depression and other ills doubled after the hurricane, two years later, those levels have not subsided, they have risen.
click post title for the rest
By Peter Whoriskey
Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, September 22, 2007; Page A01
NEW ORLEANS -- A gravel-voiced fire department captain, Michael Gowland says he had never been a big crier.
"I'm not a Neanderthal," he said last week, "but I wasn't much for tears."
Now, sometimes, he cries two or three hours at a stretch. Other times, his temper has exploded, prompting him one day to pick up a crescent wrench and chase an auto mechanic around a garage. Even more perplexing to him, the once devout Roman Catholic now wonders "if there's anything out there."
"If anyone had told me before that depression could bring me this low, I'd have said they were a phony," Gowland, 46, married and a father of three, said during a break from fixing his flooded home. "Everything bothers me."
More than two years after the storm, it is not Hurricane Katrina itself, but the persistent frustrations of the delayed recovery that are exacting a high psychological toll on people who never before had such troubles, psychiatrists and a major study say. A burst of adrenaline and hope propelled many here through the first months but, with so many neighborhoods still semi-deserted, inspiration has ended.
Calls to a mental health hotline jumped after the storm and have remained high, organizers said. Psychiatrists report being overbooked, at least partly because demand has spiked. And the most thorough survey of the Gulf Coast's mental health recently showed that while signs of depression and other ills doubled after the hurricane, two years later, those levels have not subsided, they have risen.
click post title for the rest
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
PTSD veterans face combat and Katrina
PTSD has strong presence on Coast
Veterans face both combat and Katrina
By MEGHA SATYANARAYANASUN HERALD
BILOXI --The number of Gulf Coast veterans seeking treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder rivals that of major cities such as San Antonio, Minneapolis and Salt Lake City, according to an internal document obtained by McClatchy Newspapers through the Freedom of Information Act.
With the New Orleans and Gulfport facilities destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, the stress of nearly 1,400 veterans with PTSD and their 10,700 outpatient visits during 2006 fell on remaining facilities of the VA Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System in Biloxi, Mobile, Pensacola and Panama City. The workload is intense, said Kelly Woods, assistant chief of psychology services in the Gulf Coast system. They see at least 20 people each month in a residential program and do at least 100 new and followup appointments each month in Biloxi and at other sites.
Many PTSD vets are from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, and the numbers needing treatment are expected to grow as more come home.
Several will have to deal with both combat stress and losses suffered from the hurricane, he said. PTSD symptoms, from the vague, "My wife says I'm different," to things like nightmares, violent outbursts and substance abuse, take months to years to surface. The combination of war and Katrina has pushed some to exhibit symptoms earlier. "Katrina was a trigger - I need help," Woods said. "Lots of guys lost their home while in an active war zone."
go here for the rest
http://www.sunherald.com/278/story/143265.html
Veterans face both combat and Katrina
By MEGHA SATYANARAYANASUN HERALD
BILOXI --The number of Gulf Coast veterans seeking treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder rivals that of major cities such as San Antonio, Minneapolis and Salt Lake City, according to an internal document obtained by McClatchy Newspapers through the Freedom of Information Act.
With the New Orleans and Gulfport facilities destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, the stress of nearly 1,400 veterans with PTSD and their 10,700 outpatient visits during 2006 fell on remaining facilities of the VA Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System in Biloxi, Mobile, Pensacola and Panama City. The workload is intense, said Kelly Woods, assistant chief of psychology services in the Gulf Coast system. They see at least 20 people each month in a residential program and do at least 100 new and followup appointments each month in Biloxi and at other sites.
Many PTSD vets are from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, and the numbers needing treatment are expected to grow as more come home.
Several will have to deal with both combat stress and losses suffered from the hurricane, he said. PTSD symptoms, from the vague, "My wife says I'm different," to things like nightmares, violent outbursts and substance abuse, take months to years to surface. The combination of war and Katrina has pushed some to exhibit symptoms earlier. "Katrina was a trigger - I need help," Woods said. "Lots of guys lost their home while in an active war zone."
go here for the rest
http://www.sunherald.com/278/story/143265.html
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Clergy in New Orleans need PTSD counseling
Clergy in New Orleans need counseling
By JANET McCONNAUGHEY, Associated Press Writer
Fri Aug 31, 5:20 PM ET
NEW ORLEANS - Clergymen struggling to comfort the afflicted in New Orleans are finding they, too, need someone to listen to their troubles.
By JANET McCONNAUGHEY, Associated Press Writer
Fri Aug 31, 5:20 PM ET
NEW ORLEANS - Clergymen struggling to comfort the afflicted in New Orleans are finding they, too, need someone to listen to their troubles.
The sight of misery all around them — and the combined burden of helping others put their lives back together while repairing their own homes and places of worship — are taking a spiritual and psychological toll on the city's ministers, priests and rabbis, many of whom are in counseling two years after Hurricane Katrina.
Almost every local Episcopal minister is in counseling, including Bishop Charles Jenkins himself, who has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Jenkins, whose home in suburban Slidell was so badly damaged by Katrina that it was 10 months before he and his wife could move back in, said he has suffered from depression, faulty short-term memory, and difficulty concentrating or sleeping.
Low-flying helicopters sometimes cause flashbacks to the near-despair — the "dark night of the soul" — into which he was once plunged, he said. He said the experience felt "like the absence of God" — a lonely and frightening sensation.
Churches and synagogues have played an important role in New Orleans' recovery, supplying money and thousands of volunteers to rebuild homes and resettle families. But an April survey found 444 places of worship in metropolitan New Orleans — about 30 percent — were still closed 20 months after the storm because they were damaged or their congregations scattered. click post title for the rest.
Even clergy can feel the absence of God after trauma. It is not the only outcome of PTSD but it shows that a strong faith will not prevent PTSD. It has nothing to do with faith, nothing to do with courage, or bravery, education, intelligence, patriotism or anything else other than a human being exposed to trauma.
Think of what this event in New Orleans is teaching us about combat. Think of the results from this one storm and the flood that followed when the waters came rushing in. Leaving politics out of it ( which is very hard for me to do) this event left scars that will last a lifetime that no one else can see with their eyes.
September 11, 2001, is engrained in the soul's of the people from New York more than anyone else in the nation, while the nation feels the heart tug, we were not there. Some felt as if their lives were in danger across the nation, but they were not there witnessing it in real time. We are still seeing the numbers increase from those exposed to this one day's events.
Now add in these traumatic days, acknowledge the wounds the people exposed to them carry, then think about experiencing them everyday for a year or now for fifteen months, and still knowing that when you go home, the safety of home will not last because you will be re-attacked all over again in the next round of redeployments. Some are on their fifth tour.
Then think of the people having to live in Iraq. Those who do not get to go home for a rest because it is their homes being attacked on a daily basis. They did nothing wrong and they lived in relative peaceful neighborhoods before the invasion. The Iraqi people have traumatic events happen daily, horrifically and without end.
Why is it we can understand the effects of Post Traumatic Stress when it happens here but we can never accept it when it happens someplace else? Each time this nation experiences a traumatic event, there are after shocks reverberating for many years and yet this nation still regards PTSD as if it were some kind of personal defect.
The plain simple truth is, you cannot expose a human to trauma and expect them to just get over it. No one ever lives their lives the same way after trauma. A part of them changes. Sometimes it is only slight changes but other times it is truly life altering.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Katrina victims struggle mentally
Katrina victims struggle mentally
By Marilyn Elias, USA TODAY
Many Gulf Coast residents still feel the wallop of Hurricane Katrina nearly two years later.
Mental illness is double the pre-storm levels, rising numbers suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, and there is a surge in adults who say they're thinking of suicide.
A government survey released Wednesday to USA TODAY shows no improvement in mental health from a year ago.
About 14% have symptoms of severe mental illness. An additional 20% have mild to moderate mental illness, says Ronald Kessler of Harvard Medical School, who led the study.
The big surprise: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which typically goes away in a year for most disaster survivors, has increased: 21% have the symptoms vs. 16% in 2006. Common symptoms include the inability to stop thinking about the hurricane, nightmares and emotional numbness. go here for the rest
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-08-16-neworleans-illness_N.htm
You have got to be kidding! PTSD does not go away in a year. A would like to know where they got that idea from. It gets worse unless it is treated.
How is PTSD diagnosed?
A diagnosis of PTSD is made when symptoms in the main clusters (re-experiencing, numbing, avoidance, and arousal) are present for an extended period and are interfering with normal life. The first step in getting treatment is getting a diagnosis. This can be difficult for a number of reasons:
symptoms may occur months or years after the traumatic event and may not be recognized as being related to the trauma beliefs that people "should be able to get over it" or "shouldn't have such a reaction" or "should solve their own problems" may delay treatment being sought guilt, blame, embarrassment or pain may interfere with a person seeking help avoidance of anything associated with the trauma may result in an inability to recognize the need for treatment
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/post_traumatic_stress_disorder_symptoms_treatment.htm#diagnosis
Hurricanes Puts Countless Americans At Risk for PTSD
As survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struggle to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives, the reality of just how much things have changed for them is setting in. While early in the diaster they may have been running on adrenaline and coping well with events, they are now finding it harder and harder to go about their daily lives. Sleep is disturbed and anxiety levels remain high. They may feel depression and deep despair over their losses. As with any survivor of a traumatic event, they are at strong risk of developing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
What Is PTSD?
The American Counseling Association, offers us 10 criteria for recognizing PTSD:
Re-experiencing the event through vivid memories or flash backs
Feeling “emotionally numb”
Feeling overwhelmed by what would normally be considered everyday situations and diminished interest in performing normal tasks or pursuing usual interests
Crying uncontrollably
Isolating oneself from family and friends and avoiding social situations
Relying increasingly on alcohol or drugs to get through the day
Feeling extremely moody, irritable, angry, suspicious or frightened
Having difficulty falling or staying asleep, sleeping too much and experiencing nightmares
Feeling guilty about surviving the event or being unable to solve the problem, change the event or prevent the disaster
Feeling fears and sense of doom about the future
http://depression.about.com/od/naturaldisasters/a/ptsd.htm
Psychosocial Consequences of Natural Disasters in Developing Countries: What Does Past Research Tell Us About the Potential Effects of the 2004 Tsunami?Fran H. Norris, Ph.D.
http://depression.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ/Ya&sdn=depression&cdn=health&tm=28&
amp;gps=182_781_869_567&f=00&su=p247.3.140.
ip_p284.8.150.ip_&tt=14&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//www.ncptsd.va.gov/ncmain/ncdocs/fact_shts/fs_tsunami_research.html
It has gotten to the point where even people trying to help get the word out about people suffering from PTSD, put out false information without even knowing it. I'm glad they did this story on the Katrina survivors, but they really should have gotten the whole thing right.
We have a bunch of humans suffering and dying because people still don't understand what PTSD is. The people in New Orleans suffered from what happened during and after a hurricane. The people, the men and women we call "troops" suffer from the trauma of combat. The people in Iraq, the Iraqis, suffer from what is happening in their country. People all over the world suffer from all kinds of causes but the two things they have in common keeps getting missed. They are all humans exposed to trauma.
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