* Betty Harvey <harvey@e...> [2005-09-01 23:27]:
>
> Alan:
>
> Anything I can do to help let me know.  I have family in Slidell and
> Picayune that "THANK GOD" will be in my home tomorrow! Phones and cell
> phones failed but text messages did work.  Homes and jobs lost but
> thankfully no loss of life - we are some of the fortunate ones! 
>
> I have been reading http://www.nola.com/forums/sttamtownhall/index.ssf/
> for information. 
>
> There isn't much that we can do for information for people left in the
> affected area.  They are cut off - no phones, no radio, no TV.  The one
> time I did get through to my brother-in-law and tried to tell him about
> the situation in New Orleans (he worked at Tulane University Hospital)
> he didn't believe me - thought I was exagerating.  I am really worried
> about his reaction when he gets to a hotel tonight and sees CNN news!

    People are holed up, but some information is still getting
    through. Last I checked, text messaging was working.

> However, for those who evacuated and left that is where the help can
> come from but I don't know where to start to help answer all the
> questions they may have:

    I'm going to sound really flip in my soultions, I know you guys
    are thurough, but here's what I'm working on.

> 1.  I have a loved one - I haven't heard from them? What happened to
>     my neighbor?
   
    http://www.familymessages.org/index.php

    We are talking about new features, designing them, and knocking
    them out, right here:

    http://thinknola.com/wiki/index.php?title=Family_Messages#Adding_Tags

    You can help Dan Chaney by giving him ideas on how to implement
    that new tagging feature. I think it is a key feature for this
    application.

> 2.  What happened to my home? Pictures of specific neighborhoods are
>     coveted.  My brother-in-law will have pictures of his house in
>     Eagle Point in Slidell tomorrow.  Reading The Times Picayune forums,
>     pictures of neighborhoods of people who can't get home are coveted.

    I'm using Wiki for that, but I need more editors. It's a loose
    format that allows people to gather information based on block,
    aparatment complex, neighborhood, church, business, etc.

    http://thinknola.com/wiki/


> 3.  Help me with my pet.  I have read where people left their pets
>     behind and are looking for someone to breakin and feed them - they
>     thought they would be gone overnight.

    That's a new one. There's a think called Noah's Ark.

> If they need ice, water, food they can't get to the internet.  I heard
> that a temporary cell tower was being installed in Mandeville but it isn't
> working yet.  I haven't been able to reach phones in Baton Rouge, Slidell,
> Picayune, Hattiesburg or Tylertown.

    I think there's an information crsis. There is a lot of
    information out there, but it is poorly organized.

    I'm gather information about the Xavier exacuation. People are
    starting to count on it, so I can't stop, but I can't take on
    any more info-gathering tasks.

    If you watch the forums, the candidates for a Wiki page are
    OBVIOUS, but there's only one of me.

    That just became a Wiki entry.

    http://thinknola.com/wiki/index.php?title=Wiki_Editors#What_to_Wiki

--
Alan Gutierrez - alan@e...
    - http://engrm.com/blogometer/index.html
    - http://engrm.com/blogometer/rss.2.0.xml

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