Something Else That Needs to be Said

[GeorgeWendtCFI]

God Bless Texas!

[MEck51]

George, where have you been. They already have a song about that. But realy it is great that one state has extended so much and it seems without any hesitation. I see many cities have also extended places to stay to victims, this is great and hopefully more to come. I saw last night in many college football towns reservations in hotels have plummited, sure this is probably due to the massive mess, but more importantly the hotel owners are welcoming in victims. This is exactly the type of thing that needs to happen in times like this.

[GeorgeWendtCFI]

George, where have you been. They already have a song about that.

I wrote that song. Yeah, that's the ticket...

[Dave1983]

God Bless Texas!

Right on George. How bout dem Cowboys! (sorry, couldnt resist )

Im still waiting for my state to step up (other then FD,PD & EMS). Come on JEB (W's little bro), we do border Alabama.

[EFD840]

George, thank you for starting this thread. I had the same thought this morning but didn't sign on to do it.

Without a doubt, this is the state of Texas' finest moment.

Dave, I can't speak for FL, but there are states that are doing things that simply are getting lost in the shuffle, For example, Alabama's state parks director has made all the cabins and campgrounds in our state park system available to FEMA as housing for evacuees but few people outside his agency and FEMA know it (that will change when evacuees start showing up and vacationeers lose their reservations ). I bet if you look around similar things are happening in your state too. Texas' generosity is so tremendous it is overshadowing the other efforts. It is very hard to find words to describe how impressed and awed I am by what I see happening in that great state.

[Skwerl530]

Absolutely! It seems that Texas has their crap together. I saw earlier how people are being processed through the superdome and it looks like they have it down. All those poor people that had to live in squalor for a week finally have the care they need.

[ColdFireJT]

Florida is doing its part as well, although not as widely publicized (Which I think is fine, all the people from this state and every other state that have offered to take in residents of the affected area dont need to be on TV to know they're doing a good thing). Hospitals all over the state have been shuffling around their patients to make room for patients from other hospitals along the gulf coast. Several of the big ones especially (like Shands at UF here) have cleared out thier pediatric wings and sent patients to other area hospitals to make room for the PICU kids from New Orleans and Mississippi. There are also hundreds of towns all over the FL penninsula who have offered up temporary housing for displaced families. I think its pretty much the same for all the other states who border the affected areas.

[5pts384]

Along I-10 (the poor side of Florida) the counties have opened shelters, sent supplies and personal. You won't find much in the news, we'er too small and poor to make the headlines.

[prymtym]

The city of Detroit has extended an invitation to all hurricane refugees to come and stay here for a while... provided they bring their own police and firefighters!
KC

[nmfire]

The city of Detroit has extended an invitation to all hurricane refugees to come and stay here for a while... provided they bring their own police and firefighters!
KC

Haha. I hear the US is trading Pat Roberts to Venezuela in exchange for 2 million barrels of free oil. See, everybody is pitching in.

[Spectre08]

Gov. Perry has handled this AMAZINGLY. The response from Texans and the Texas government alike is remarkable. They are saying that 225,000 people from New Orleans are now in Texas. That's half the population.

[Dave1983]

Florida is doing its part as well, although not as widely publicized (Which I think is fine, all the people from this state and every other state that have offered to take in residents of the affected area dont need to be on TV to know they're doing a good thing). Hospitals all over the state have been shuffling around their patients to make room for patients from other hospitals along the gulf coast. Several of the big ones especially (like Shands at UF here) have cleared out thier pediatric wings and sent patients to other area hospitals to make room for the PICU kids from New Orleans and Mississippi. There are also hundreds of towns all over the FL penninsula who have offered up temporary housing for displaced families. I think its pretty much the same for all the other states who border the affected areas.

Sure, but how much is that directed by the state? The hospitals here are getting ready too, but they are doing it on their own. The aero-medical programs have gotten together (again, on their own) and are sending helicopters and crews.

As for the state, my county had 5 engines with 2 full crews each ready to roll and the state said nevermind?

[SAFD46Truck]

The multi-agency effort here in Texas is nothing short of massive. Here in San Antonio we are expecting over 25,000 refugees. My crew was out at Kelly Field yesterday with many other SAFD companies offloading planes of refugees. Unbelievable....airliner after airliner and C-130 after C-130 arriving only minutes apart all day long packed with refugees, many sick/injured and non-ambulatory. These poor folks have nothing, and I mean NOTHING. They show up with only 1 shoe or in bare feet, with tattered rags for clothes. They haven't eaten in days, much less showered. The babies are in dirty diapers. The elderly have no medication. It's just very very sad.
The thing I found impressive is the level of response I saw yesterday. The military and Coast Guard, FEMA, local PD's and FD's, units from every EMS agency public or private ,the Red Cross, the Salavation Army. You name it and I probaly saw them yesterday, working diligently and without complaint. It was really amazing to see.

[Spectre08]

You know, if I were evacuated from a hurricane ravaged area and sent to Florida or Houston I'd be pretty ****ed.

send me to Montana, or Arizona, or Nebraska. Or some other completly inland area.

[Station2Capt]

Being from Texas I too am very proud on my home States responce to this need to help. Here in my home town (Longview) we currently are up to about 500 of the evacuees. Which when you compare us in size to Houston, San Antonio and the other big cities we are housing alot. I have been to the evacuation center every day to help out in some way. The first night we opened the shelter was the hardest, there were just a few, less than 100 who had come in. At that time I really had time to sit down and visit with the people. It is heart breaking to talk to them and hear there stories. So many people I have talked to have stated that they packed to be gone for 3 days or so and now have nothing and I mean nothing except the few things they brought. No one expected this to become as bad as it has become. Our shelter is one of the few shelters that are housing pets. We recieved a couple the other day who had gone to several shelters and were told they could not bring there pets in so they left (the pet is all they have in life now) and when they show up in Longview and we say yes your pet can stay the look of joy and tears in there eyes is overwelming at times. Our department has a FEMA regestered team of which I am a part of and we have yet to be called up. But at this time I dont care about that I am getting the chance to help out in another. If your area is not housing evacuees and you want to help give money to the Red Cross of other agency of your choice it is greatly needed. Again God Bless Texas, The persons in Lousiana, Mississipppi, Alamaba, and the entire USA.

[ttjjss]

It looks like many other states are trying to get set up to handle some of the folks.
I agree that Texas is doing much More than its share and the rest need to get in and help also.
There has been a few thousand folks come into Arkansas and now they are processing most of them through the old Fort Chaffee site over around Ft Smith.
Many states just dont have enough room for large numbers of people but it is going to take everyone to help these folks out.
I figure it is like this everywhere, but here in Arkansas, every little town and bump in the road is making available every square inch possible to put people up. We have a few hundred that came to our area and some are in shelters at churches, schools etc but most are in an "extra" bedroom someone offered. There are even a few deer and duck camp cabins that have been filled with evacuees.
A little town about 10 miles from me opened up their school which was closed down last year. they were told told to expect 200 people and they got ready, then saturday they were told their room wasnt needed. Yet anyway.
It is going to take all of us to get this done and Texas is doing a good job of stepping up to the plate.
Asst Chief Tyler Sitzer
Weiner Fire & Rescue Dept
Weiner, ARK &
Ark Coordinator for Helping Our Own, Inc. www.helpingourown.org

[ColdFireJT]

As for the state, my county had 5 engines with 2 full crews each ready to roll and the state said nevermind?

Yeah, I know. Everyone else is in the same boat. We offered two crews - one full engine company and a light duty squad company. Nothing. NOt even a call back to say "No thanks." So now instead we're sending two guys on the FEMA team thing. At least we'll be able to help in some way, even if it is just handing out flyers.

[BC79er_OLDDELETE]

We've been sending ambulance crews down to the Astrodome nearly 24/7 to assist in transport and triage, as has nearly every EMS agency with 12 counties. Even though I've been down here for 6 years, the generosity of everyone still floors me. In 3 hours on Saturday we did a fill the boot style collection for the Red Cross and managed to raise nearly $14K. The piles of clothing and food that people are taking to the Astrodome, the Brown Convention Center, and even dropping off at our stations are unbelievable.

I'm certainly feeling the American pride. While other countries turn elsewhere for assistance with a disaster, all we have to do is look to each other for that helping hand. God Bless America.