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Hurricane Katrina


WH

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So, a couple hundred dead, thousands homeless, and bllions in damage isn't at least worthy of a mention on the front page.

 

I don't know why, but the word heartless comes to mind. :D

Edited by WH
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Yeah, sorry all of the extremely large disasters can't occur in locations where the water wipes out mud huts without warning...it's inexcusable that geocachers as a group might be given a quick method for helping out in the case of a different large disaster.

 

In other words, the South Asia Tsunami is hardly a gold standard that should need to be met in order to spur a listing of relief agencies in need of donations on the front page of this company's website.

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If you have the time donate some time to the American Red Cross. Three days of training and then 3 weeks in the field. Sissy starts next week. She has the vacation time to do it. Me, I probably wouldn't have a job to come back to.

 

You'll probably have to Google you local chapter as the redcross.org server looks to be down at the moment.

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I think that is a great idea. Since someone has already mentioned the ARC. I'll put my plug in for Feed The Children. $1 gets Feed The Children 7lbs of food and supplies. Both ARC and FTC are working in the devastated areas are will make sure your donations get to those who need it now.

 

I also encurage you seek out an local organisation, like a church, in the devastated area and help by continuing your support during the months/years it will taken the cities to rebuild.

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I wanted to say something about comparing 70 death to 200,000, but then I changed my mind, considering that all this (including the OP) would rather fit into the OT forum...

This is a request for a change on the website. TPTB don't monitor the Off Topic forum. Regardless of whether one agrees with the request, I fail to see how asking for a change to the website's front page is off topic in a forum section dedicated to website feature requests.

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Yeah, the world is bad and so are we.  :D

Seriously: my heart is with those that suffer in this or similar situations; but where (at which size of disaster) does Groundspeak start to take part in relief actions?

We'll see (as this is a US problem, rather earlier than later, I'd suppose).

The difference is this disaster has happen to us and our people.

 

I have been involved in a few humanitarian relief efforts and I can say, by first hand knowledge, that our country is very generous. We help out when other countries can't or refuse to help.

 

Unfortunately for us there is no United States of America to come running to our aid when we need it. It is very important that we not forget our fellow citizens, our neighbors, our family in their time of great need.

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There are many other websites dedicated to disaster aid and relief. Groundspeak isn't about that, and shouldn't feel obligated to even mention it on their website. I come here to find Tupperware in the woods, not read about some poor souls that want help. Keep the appeals for aid where they belong.

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Would it be possible to put a message on the front page encouraging people to help aid the Vitims of Hurricane Katrina. Similar to what was posted in the aftermath of the tsunami disaster?

I think the original post can only be answered by the web site. We will have to see what they think.

 

Many of these posts are getting pretty far off topic. There is an off topic section of the forums for these discussions. I would request that this topic stay on topic and comments should be made in regards to an opinion of the original post, which I have quoted.

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I thought this was all hashed out with all of the unnecessary BS over the Tsunami.

 

While the deathtoll will not approach that one - it's going to be high. The numbers of people homeless are huge. New Orleans is under water and most of the Mississippi GulfCoast is just GONE.

 

Yea, let's argue over how big something has to be. If your house was on fire, you'd want help. It'd be a dadgum shame if they said "WEll, your house was only a 1 story house.... so we're not gonna bother bringing out the fire truck".

 

Hell... they won't even let a post asking for lodging and assistance with HAM radio emergency efforts stay in the "General" forum where it will get maximum exposure.

 

Hundreds (and it's going to go up drastically I am afraid) are dead and hundreds of thousands are homeless..... yea - but lets not do ANYTHING to help in anyway til we discuss it.

 

Jody Perkins

Rolling Fork, MISSISSIPPI

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If you want to help, go to the appropriate sites and help.

 

Why rely on Groundspeak to do it for you?

 

I agree with Lil Devil's post (although the wording may be a bit harsh).

Don't expect them to lead you there; if they don't will you not help because it's not on the site?

 

Do your part - plain and simple.

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If you want to help, go to the appropriate sites and help.

 

Why rely on Groundspeak to do it for you?

 

I agree with Lil Devil's post (although the wording may be a bit harsh).

Don't expect them to lead you there; if they don't will you not help because it's not on the site?

 

Do your part - plain and simple.

I am doing my part. Don't talk down to me or anybody else that is trying to spread the word. My hometown/county is becoming a refugee camp now.

 

TheAlabamaRambler tried to use the forums to spread the word about some Ham efforts. He knows that many geocachers are HAM operators. He knows many live in and near the areas affected. He was requesting help from these people. Instead of pinning it... or if you HAVE to move something to another forum because helping people is off topic - it could have been moved to the HAM forum.

 

Not sure what other site you'd go for if you're looking for help from geocachers - but I'll look for that.

 

sd

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I think what WH is asking for is a gentle reminder and jumping off point for avenues to help. Would anyone know they could volunteer for the ARC if they were not told? It prompted us.

 

Gc.com has advertisments on the home page for various things in the shops. By some folks measure that shouldn't happen because anyone interested would already be going there. See, the logic just doesn't work.

 

I survived Hugo. Charleston remembers. With all due respect to those who loss family and friends, but that was child's play compared to Katrina. Even living through Hugo, Katrina boggles the mind. The word "surreal" on barely covers the situation these folks are in. How about "post apocalyptic" or "Stephen King-esque?" Granted it is "limited" to a region, but to anyone there, it might as well be the whole world.

 

I see absolutely nothing wrong with a jumping off point on the front page of gc.com if they choose to do so. Nothing at all.

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Unfortunately for us there is no United States of America to come running to our aid when we need it. It is very important that we not forget our fellow citizens, our neighbors, our family in their time of great need.

If you need help and ask it I am sure you will get it.

 

This little akward question at this moment, but what is an estimate how many caches are lost due the hurricane?

Edited by TeamMH
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Katrina hit on the 50th anniversary of another disaster that I personally lived through--Hurricane Diane in 1955. My childhood memories of that event are very faint, but I grew up on stories of how my parents and others who were lucky enough to live on a hill listened to their neighbors screaming for help across the creek. The bridge was out and nobody could get to them. Most of their bodies were never found.

 

As a young man, I survived the flooding from Hurricane Agnes--48 square miles of city flooded, 17,000 families with nowhere to live--river 40 feet above flood stage--no electricity for months--1500 corpses washed out of the cemetery and deposited in trees and on roofs--several city blocks burned to the ground. It was horrible.

 

When I see the coverage of Katrina, I remember, and my heart goes out to those people. But you know what? Putting an appeal for relief on the front page of the GC.com site is probably a futile gesture. Everyone already knows about it, and everyone knows what to do if they want to help. And to make matters worse, there are apprently people who would be offended by such an appeal--amazing.

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I'm sorry, but when did we stop making gestures even if they are not necessary?

 

There are GEOCACHERS having troubles on the Gulf Coast right now. It's not unreasonable for the primary company making its money from geocachers to suggest to any geocachers able to get online right now (aka not part of the 2-3 million without power) that they should be thinking about how they can help other geocachers via relief agencies.

 

Putting up a front page news item linking to relief agencies like the Red Cross, Salvation Army, Americares, and others isn't because site visitors here wouldn't have a clue how to get to these sites otherwise. It's not because this is the equivalent of the South Asia Tsunami. It is because geocachers should be reminded when they come here that other geocachers need their help. Acting like this site is somehow unrelated to the major problems there and should therefore be absent of any acknowledgement of the problem on the front page or continue operations as normal and pidgeon-hole certain posts on the topic into the off-topic forum is very disconnected from the community nature of our hobby.

 

Hopefully a list of links can be posted to the front page.

 

I doubt we'll see T.A.R.'s post put back in the general forum (or at least moved to the South forum).

 

But to advocate that we, as a community, should remain somehow sterile of this disaster is very callous. If a post on the front page and leeway for some forum posts gets even one more person some aid or another person motivated to help, then where's the downside? Where's the harm in culling some of the more US-centric aid organizations from the Tsunami list? What's the hassle in a few topics about geocachers helping out in the disaster area in a geocaching forum?

 

It's not life-as-normal in the US right now (even as far as New England, we're starting to feel the effects of the weather *AND* the fuel costs), why should this site continue on as if it were?

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Here, I'll even help Groundspeak put together the link list for the front page:

 

http://www.redcross.org/

http://www.americares.org/

http://www1.salvationarmy.org/

 

(following taken from the FEMA pages)

 

Donate Money

 

American Red Cross

1-800-HELP NOW (435-7669) English,

1-800-257-7575 Spanish

 

Operation Blessing

1-800-436-6348

 

America’s Second Harvest

1-800-344-8070

 

Donate Cash to and Volunteer

 

Adventist Community Services

1-800-381-7171

 

Catholic Charities, USA

1-800-919-9338

 

Christian Disaster Response

941-956-5183 or 941-551-9554

 

Christian Reformed World Relief Committee

1-800-848-5818

 

Church World Service

1-800-297-1516

 

Convoy of Hope

417-823-8998

 

Lutheran Disaster Response

800-638-3522

 

Mennonite Disaster Service

717-859-2210

 

Nazarene Disaster Response

888-256-5886

 

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance

800-872-3283

 

Salvation Army

1-800-SAL-ARMY (725-2769)

 

Southern Baptist Convention -- Disaster Relief

1-800-462-8657, ext. 6440

 

United Methodist Committee on Relief

1-800-554-8583

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This particular link is really cool. The money goes to Americares via Writerscafe (with *no* fees deducted).

 

The point is that it is a Paypal-available link. Maybe you have a few spare dollars kicking around in your Paypal account that you even forgot about. Maybe you're a big online buyer/seller and you can afford to donate some of your latest sale..but didn't want to trouble with depositing it and then calling in the donation.

 

Whatever the reason, if you want to use Paypal to get your donation in, here's the link:

 

http://writerscafe.net/donations.html

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Katrina hit on the 50th anniversary of another disaster that I personally lived through--Hurricane Diane in 1955. My childhood memories of that event are very faint, but I grew up on stories of how my parents and others who were lucky enough to live on a hill listened to their neighbors screaming for help across the creek. The bridge was out and nobody could get to them. Most of their bodies were never found.

 

As a young man, I survived the flooding from Hurricane Agnes--48 square miles of city flooded, 17,000 families with nowhere to live--river 40 feet above flood stage--no electricity for months--1500 corpses washed out of the cemetery and deposited in trees and on roofs--several city blocks burned to the ground. It was horrible.

With a history like that, why do people continue to insist on living there? :ph34r:

 

Sorry, my compassion was used up last time. There's none left for this time :D

 

Call me callous if you want. I don't care. I've been called worse :lol:

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With a history like that, why do people continue to insist on living there? :ph34r:

 

Sorry, my compassion was used up last time. There's none left for this time :D

 

Call me callous if you want. I don't care. I've been called worse :lol:

For the same reasons that people continue to live between two active fault lines in California, I would assume.

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I wanted to say something about comparing 70 death to 200,000, but then I changed my mind, considering that all this (including the OP) would rather fit into the OT forum...

I think this comment was a bit premature considering we don't have a death toll yet and cant even get into many many areas to determine it. Not to mention the deaths that will occur from hospitals not being able to operate properly, dehydration, disease from the infested waters, etc. MS alone has 110 deaths and still have areas they have not entered.

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Are they going to move New Orleans or re-build it in place? One option costs one heck of a lot more, while the other we get to repeat every now and then as the city keeps sinking and the river keeps wanting to reclaim it.

Actually this does not happen as often as those who don't live in the area are led to believe. Many of those buildings in New Orleans were hundreds of years old, attesting to the fact that this is a very rare event. The same goes for Gulfpor/Mississippi which had already withstood Camille and Betsy in the 60's.

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Katrina hit on the 50th anniversary of another disaster that I personally lived through--Hurricane Diane in 1955.  My childhood memories of that event are very faint, but I grew up on stories of how my parents and others who were lucky enough to live on a hill listened to their neighbors screaming for help across the creek.  The bridge was out and nobody could get to them.  Most of their bodies were never found.

 

As a young man, I survived the flooding from Hurricane Agnes--48 square miles of city flooded, 17,000 families with nowhere to live--river 40 feet above flood stage--no electricity for months--1500 corpses washed out of the cemetery and deposited in trees and on roofs--several city blocks burned to the ground.  It was horrible.

With a history like that, why do people continue to insist on living there? :ph34r:

 

Sorry, my compassion was used up last time. There's none left for this time :D

 

Call me callous if you want. I don't care. I've been called worse :lol:

This is just a ridiculous post. Do you realize how many people live there that can barely afford to feed their children because they work for places that pay minimum wage (not a living wage)! They couldn't get out of the city because of a lack of money - how are they expected to move? In addition see my above posts regarding the acutally history...1955 was a long time ago and not even near the devastation of this one...the same with Camille in 69...no where near the devastation. A natural disaster like this is unheard of, what history are you talking about?

 

I apologize for three OT posts but I feel a need to defend those who are unable to defend themselves at this point. I lived in Mississippi for 6 years - I know how the economic status of people in this state keep them in this state and my heart has been crying out for them since Sunday - as I wait to hear from my friends (whom I still have not heard from!)

 

Moderators - I promise I will hold my further comments

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ohgrl you hit the "nail on the head" as we say in louisiana. the people of new orleans and all over south la. miss. need help. they lost jobs, homes and everything else you can think of. i live in north louisiana and we have people staying who did get out. but now have nothing to go back to! they have lost everything so at least help them keep hope....

stay home this weekend and send the money you would have spent on gas and hotel rooms to someone who may need it. who knows you might be next!

 

i think this saying goes a long way

 

play it forward :D

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stay home this weekend and send the money you would have spent on gas and hotel rooms to someone who may need it. who knows you might be next!

 

i think this saying goes a long way

 

play it forward :D

Jcell, I totally agree with you. I have already sent money but plan to send more. Since GC doesn't seem to think their southern CUSTOMERS are important enough to warrant better consideration than an off-topic posting in the forums, I think I can see where my $30 premium membership would be better spent.

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stay home this weekend and send the money you would have spent on gas and hotel rooms to someone who may need it. who knows you might be next!

 

i think this saying goes a long way

 

                                play it forward :D

Jcell, I totally agree with you. I have already sent money but plan to send more. Since GC doesn't seem to think their southern CUSTOMERS are important enough to warrant better consideration than an off-topic posting in the forums, I think I can see where my $30 premium membership would be better spent.

I buy beer, does my favorite brand's website have a collection site?

 

If they don't, I'll spend my beer money on relief. That'll teach those bastards.

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stay home this weekend and send the money you would have spent on gas and hotel rooms to someone who may need it. who knows you might be next!

 

i think this saying goes a long way

 

                                play it forward :D

Jcell, I totally agree with you. I have already sent money but plan to send more. Since GC doesn't seem to think their southern CUSTOMERS are important enough to warrant better consideration than an off-topic posting in the forums, I think I can see where my $30 premium membership would be better spent.

I had all these witty things to say about the above quote but its not worth it. Nice to know that LSU can read minds. :D:P

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I buy beer, does my favorite brand's website have a collection site?

 

If they don't, I'll spend my beer money on relief. That'll teach those bastards.

Actually if you drink Anheiser-Busch brands, then the answer is YES, they do have something about disaster relief on their website.

 

http://www.anheuser-busch.com/Citizenship/MakingFriends.pdf

 

Make sure to check out page 6 of it. They tell how they started out from the San Francisco Earthquake in 1906 of doing this and have kept on.They also supply fresh drinking water to disaster victims. So keep on chugging it down brother, you're helping us all.

Edited by LSUFan
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I buy beer, does my favorite brand's website have a collection site?

 

If they don't, I'll spend my beer money on relief. That'll teach those bastards.

Actually if you drink Anheiser-Busch brands, then the answer is YES, they do have something about disaster relief on their website.

 

http://www.anheuser-busch.com/Citizenship/MakingFriends.pdf

 

Make sure to check out page 6 of it. They tell how they started out from the San Francisco Earthquake in 1906 of doing this and have kept on.They also supply fresh drinking water to disaster victims. So keep on chugging it down brother, you're helping us all.

Cool! I guess I'll spend my money on beer.

 

hense my point. :D

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...

This little akward question at this moment, but what is an estimate how many caches are lost due the hurricane?

Yeah, a little awkward. I asked the same question in this topic, but nobody responded.

I too wondered about this on this topic. Discussing what happened, what's happening, and how this storm will affect geocaching in that area of the country is a geocaching subject. I know people are going to have to rebuilt their lives, homes and towns. But at some point they will resume their normal life styles. Part of that for me would be to go geocaching. But in order to do that one must have caches to go find. I did a search on New Orlenes and was presented with a list of over 600 caches. I'd be interested in which caches survived. I pray that the survival rate of the geocachers is 100%.

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If you want to help, go to the appropriate sites and help.

 

Why rely on Groundspeak to do it for you?

 

I agree with Lil Devil's post (although the wording may be a bit harsh).

Don't expect them to lead you there; if they don't will you not help because it's not on the site?

 

Do your part - plain and simple.

I am doing my part. Don't talk down to me or anybody else that is trying to spread the word. My hometown/county is becoming a refugee camp now.

 

TheAlabamaRambler tried to use the forums to spread the word about some Ham efforts. He knows that many geocachers are HAM operators. He knows many live in and near the areas affected. He was requesting help from these people. Instead of pinning it... or if you HAVE to move something to another forum because helping people is off topic - it could have been moved to the HAM forum.

 

Not sure what other site you'd go for if you're looking for help from geocachers - but I'll look for that.

 

sd

Whoa! Nobody was talking down to anybody.

 

I'm not without compassion. I'm simply saying that time would be better spent donating, etc. rather than worrying about whether or not GC has links on thier home page.

 

Will it bring in more dontations? Maybe.

It just seems that there are better places to focus the energy to help than here, that's all.

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I can't see any harm in asking GC to place a link to a relief appeal of their choice on the front page. They can but refuse.

 

Having read the comments, this isn't just about geocachers needing help though. And I would be disappointed if any appeal was given more publicity because cachers may be involved. We had really bad bushfires in country South Australia back in January and at least one caching team lost their house and all their belongings (luckily they weren't some of the victims who didn't make it). But that didn't make the fires any worse.

 

Are we that insular that we will look at disaster relief if it involves people who share our hobby and not otherwise? If that is how some people think then start your own appeal for geocachers on the OT forums. For the vast majority of us who want to help everyone - then donate to a regular charity. I am sure most of the poor black people I saw getting pulled out of their roof cavities on the news in Australia tonight aren't cachers.

 

That said, if a charity cache gets approved for the Katrina Relief Appeal there will be a lot of very annoyed people from over here :D

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I can't see any harm in asking GC to place a link to a relief appeal of their choice on the front page. They can but refuse.

 

Having read the comments, this isn't just about geocachers needing help though. And I would be disappointed if any appeal was given more publicity because cachers may be involved. We had really bad bushfires in country South Australia back in January and at least one caching team lost their house and all their belongings (luckily they weren't some of the victims who didn't make it). But that didn't make the fires any worse.

 

Are we that insular that we will look at disaster relief if it involves people who share our hobby and not otherwise? If that is how some people think then start your own appeal for geocachers on the OT forums. For the vast majority of us who want to help everyone - then donate to a regular charity. I am sure most of the poor black people I saw getting pulled out of their roof cavities on the news in Australia tonight aren't cachers.

 

That said, if a charity cache gets approved for the Katrina Relief Appeal there will be a lot of very annoyed people from over here :P

Historically, Amreicans are great givers. A disaster happens somewhere in the world and our purses and wallets fly open. I feel for your and the others tragedies around the world. But, Groundspeak as a private company can pick and choose what disaster they want to help raise awareness and relief funds for and those it wants to ignore. If they choose to help raise awareness and funds for the Hurricane Katrina disaster is see nothing wrong with this as Groundspeal is after all an American company, run by Americans. It is only natural that they should want to help and support fellow Americans. In fact it would unAmerican for an American not to want to help fellow Americans.

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I wonder how quick the appeal would go out if the city of Seattle was the one what was nearly wiped from the face of the Earth?

What difference would that make? Who says that everything HAS to be equal for everyone on everything? That's just too PC for me.

 

If the owners of a Seattle based site don't wish to put any links on their page for relief for a New Orleans disaster, but decide to for a Seattle disaster, why is that bad? They're not allowed because someone who lives in South Carolina, or Germany, might be offended?

 

Give me a break. People need to realize that they come visit this site, not the other way around. If you don't like it - lump it. They don't have to pander to the wishes of anyone.

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With a history like that, why do people continue to insist on living there? :P

 

Sorry, my compassion was used up last time. There's none left for this time :P

 

Call me callous if you want. I don't care. I've been called worse :P

For the same reasons that people continue to live between two active fault lines in California, I would assume.

Yet another reason I left California :)

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