slidell - email to a friend

hey - there was a big segment this AM on CNN about
slidell.  did you see it?

it doesn't look good - and i wish i had some info to
indicate otherwise.

but remind yourself that the family is safe....
and tell them to NOT go back.

wait until the roads are cleared and safe.  and make
sure they have plenty of supplies to sustain
themselves if they do go back because public utilities
are not going to be avail.

take care - try not to worry too much since everything
is beyond your control.  beyond anyone's control....

Paper-shuffle Land - email to a friend

Hi - it's so nice to hear from someone outside my
little world here in federal paper shuffle land!  I
keep getting interrupted so this email may be
incoherent.

I'm still in Atlanta.  Working noon to midnight.  I'm
like Cinderella and it's about time for me to make
like a pumpkin.  It's a good shift for me.  Basically
setting up funding to spend on debris cleanup and
other recovery missions in Mississippi and Alabama.
$45M+ as of today.  Louisiana is handled by another
office.

I'm not sure how long I'll be here.  But I hope to
move fwd to Louisiana when my gig in Atlanta is up.
Impatient to do some real work and not this
paper-shuffle stuff.  But I'm going to enjoy my hotel
accomodations and good eats before roughing it in some
federal camp they are likely to set up for workers.

Basically I'm telling the MS and AL offices when they
have money to spend to buy ice and water or mobilize
contractors who will execute the debris, housing,
missions.  Lots of explaining and re-explaining and
making sure something isn't being done twice or not at
all.

There are some funny stories to tell about life in the
bureaucracy.  But I'm sure that if I get the
opportunity to work in Louisiana, the stories won't be
so funny.

You might find the images at these links rather
interesting.
http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/
http://alt.ngs.noaa.gov/katrina/

Here's an email I was copied on earlier today:


Sir,
Just completed chopper flyover w/ Sen Cochran.

"Depressing" was how the Sen put it.  Saw MS NG
soldiers on the ground--primarily debris removal.
Their presence will grow over time; if nothing else to
deter looters.  Search and rescue continues to be the
priority.  Don't think you'll see casualty figures
until MEMA is relatively certain of final
#s--unfortunately believe this will be bad (~100 dead
is the current figure).

Some have said the coast looks like downtown
Baghdad--not even close.  Less the shooting, Baghdad
is in much better shape.  As you reported yesterday,
the Gulf Coast from Pascagoula to Bay St Louis (~60
miles) is devastated.
Will work options but this one is huge--guessing
bigger than the '92 Andrew hurricane.
Survey team doing ground recon to potential JFO
locations--Coliseum in Biloxi or Readiness Ctr in
Gulfport.  Still believe we need to set up "resident"
offices, probably centered around the critical
"zones"/affected areas.  This is where the bulk of the
Corps augmentation will fall in.

Heading towards MEMA HQ--plan to participate in their
1530 news conference; Sen Cochran is scheduled to be
there also.
v