Florida shelters(aka school gyms): No Food, no blankets, no water

[Mika]

I am involved in a food and water mission to some of the "shelters" in Miami-Dade. My s/o and neighbors and I are making sandwiches and soup for some shelters in Miami-Dade. We are bringing many gallons of water.


No Food, no blankets, no water. This is Florida's idea of shelter for tourists and those at risk of hurricane damage.

This state is run by dangerously incompetent idiots.

Florida is hardly fit for living.

:argh:

[derby378]

1. Thanks, Bush brothers!

You managed to fuck over a completely nice state!! Two more months!!

[graywarrior]

3. I saw an interview of a couple, she was a nurse

They were from Texas, and when the reporter asked them how the shelter conditions were he said the food was fine and the space was fine. She, however, appeared agitated and said the food was lousy, and the quarters were cramped and that it wasn't adequate.
I heared there was lots of fighting going on inside shelters. People staking out floor space, etc.

[Eloriel]

2. And that's Miami-Dade, where it wasn't so bad?

Or at least most of the cable coverage has been up the coast a bit.

Good for you. Wish I could join you. I have a feeling this isn't going to play very well for Jeb. Sure wish this was an election year for him.

[Mika]

4. No security either

Some people were involved in drunken fistfights and heated disputes at some shelters.

One of the fights was over a citizen refusing to leave his guns at home or in their car. Guns and booze are not allowed in shelters - but the rules are different here.

Calls to the police and 911 did no good.


Goddamn frightening.

Don't get sick, get old, or get in the way of any kind of disaster in Fla., its not fit for decent humans.

[Warpy]

8. This storm took its own sweet time getting there

and now seems disinclined to leave. My pop (near the cape) said the worst thing about this one is the way it's lasting forever, with no sign of letup. He's been without power since 9AM yesterday, and everything in that house is electric.

When people are confined and frustrated, they're going to lash out at anyone or anything nearby. They really need couselors at those shelters, people who can set up activities for young and old alike, in cases like this one.

Of course, for Bushes, stuff like that would come under the heading "unnecessary frills" and be dumped from any budget.

[manic expression]

5. That's horrible

People need to hear about this. Is there any press there? What kind of country are we when we can't adequately protect people from a common threat?

[Mika]

6. Hotels shipped tourists to "shelters" where they learned a LOT about Fla..

I talked with some Brits, Canadians, French, and German tourists who had been dropped off at a "shelter" to find that THERE ARE NO SUPPLIES. NOTHING. They were aghast at how the richest most bravado country in the world has NO infrastructure for emergency response. No way to protect its guests, let alone the working poor. They just could not comprehend it.

I felt true shame to be a citizen here.



Lesson learned by the tourists I talked to - don't EVER go to Florida again.

[Blue Wally]

7. Strange

They showed Broward and Palm Beach shelters and they were serving cafeteria style institutional meals (chicken, mashed potatoes, and peas). The people were siting on the floor or sitting at the school cafeteria benches playing cards with the kids climbing all over everything. Some of the Broward shelters filled up early, but others still had vacancies. Ground rules for shelters is no guns, no booze, and no pets. Fortunately we were south of the eye and had no storm surge so we didn't have to evacuate and could ride it out at home.

During the TV breifings that he gave, Mayor Alex Pinellas of Miami-Dade seemed to be on top of things and gave updates on the shelters.

[Mika]

10. Strange that the few that did have supplies made it to TV?

The majority of "shelters" in Miami-Dade have nothing.

None of those made it to TV.
None of the drunken cretins terrorizing the peaceful evacuees made it to TV.
None of the unanswered 911 calls made it to TV.



Pure repuke network affiliate PR bullshit.

Reckless and dangerous PR BS.

[Blue Wally]

12. Isn't Mayor Pinellas a Democrat??

At least he was on the ballot when I voted for him in the Senate primary last Tuesday. All four TV statiopns (channels 4, 6, 7, and 10 kept interviewing him on progress in the storm. Every time I tried to find out the technical aspects of the storm and where it was going, the local new channels were also interviewing either him or the Broward County mayor. So certainly the Democratic office holders had plenty of chance to get out their side of the story.

Mika, it has been over forty years since I took a couple of semesters of Sanitary Engineering, but unless the water supply itself is flooded out, the water in the drinking fountains (and the restroom lavatories) should be potable

[kittykitty]

17. CNN made shelters look nice and comfy. People had bedding

and pillows and blankets, although it looked like they brought their own. One lady with triplets and 2 other kids, brought a little fridge and a TV. Also had other relatives with her, and a plan for everyone to grab a kid and go to the safest spot in the gym in case something happened to the gym. It all looked to safe and clean and nice.

I forgot about all the drunks and perverts who would also be in shelters. There should be some interesting stories coming out of these shelters.

[Blue Wally]

9. Since Miami-Dade' s water supply was not affected by Frances

Were not the school drinking fountains working??

[Mika]

11. They are restricted to the gyms

Not enough fountains for so many, no pure water for those in need of pure water (due to age or medically related immunodefiencies).

Miami-Dade is 3rd world level.

[Judi Lynn]

15. Mika, it would probably be impossible for you to stay home

looking out for yourself. It's good these stranded people have someone out there trying to do something to help however possible.

It's not surprising their reserves are a bad joke. Bad government in Miami has kept it as the country's "Poorest Large City" year after year. I heard they just moved off the top of the list and up to 15th poorest this year!

I've read enough articles on corruption of the worst kind within the City Commission, etc., etc. to recognize the money needed to fund these things was always there: it's just been misappropriated.

You can be sure that of the sober people you've aided, there will be so many who see you as an angel in their time of desperation.

Thank you for your will to make your presence count so much. Your acts of kindness will be remembered long after the hurricane has passed.

[kodi]

13. i worked for what became the defense preparedness agency in the 70s

no one in government wanted to provide the funds for the supplies, i inspected 100's of shelter sites throughout the country, most of the supplies had been stolen, especially the drugs... did you know that stockpiled in many of these shelters were large supplies of anphetamines and morphine?

[DoYouEverWonder]

14. If they are having these kinds of problems in Miami Dade

then the rest of the state, that is the direct path of this storm, must be in terrible shape.

I knew we were headed for big problems, when we started to run out of gas on Thursday. Jeb & Co don't seem to have the ways and means to even address half of the issues we will be facing down here for the next few days. This is going to be one royal mess.

[Maddy McCall]

16. kick