Project Katrina » Site Announcement

The Tragedy In The Gulf Of Mexico

Tommy — Sun, 30 May 2010 02:53:26 +0000

By now, everyone has heard of the environmental nightmare that is currently unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico. The Deepwater Horizon oil platform was owned and ran by Transocean, on behalf of BP, one of the largest energy companies on earth. On April 20 it exploded, about 20 hours after Halliburton cemented the well head into place, killing eleven crew members. Since then it has left at least 5,000 barrels of oil a day spewing from the blown-out well underneath into the Gulf.

Slight Posting Pause

Tommy — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 11:06:19 +0000

Almost a year ago I started working for myself as a marketing and technology consultant. For far too many months I wanted more work. Well, be careful what you wish for. I now have more work then I can handle, but don’t want to turn away any new clients that can refer future business and/or need additional services at a later date. So for awhile I won’t be posting much of any here. Hope to be back-up and “in the game” around early December. Peace!

On Vaction @ The Glades In TN Until 12/7

Tommy — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 18:10:00 +0000

Stale Content

Tommy — Sat, 31 Dec 2005 20:56:00 +0000

The next week or so I’ll be swamped at work on several projects for …. well work. You know the poeple that pay the bills. So posts will be few and far between until the 13th or 14th of January. Since this blog is my blog, a journal of Katrina, I will back date a few items for historical sake. I don’t like to do this, but there is just not enough hours in the day for me to post them in a more timely fashion.

Happy Holidays

Tommy — Sun, 25 Dec 2005 16:54:51 +0000

IMPORTANT!! Search Engine Traffic

Tommy — Wed, 07 Sep 2005 01:25:00 +0000

I am getting thousands of hits from people searching for "Katrina and Housing." In many instances they are searching for specific locations. The results they are getting don’t appear to be very helpful!

I am actually UNHAPPY my site is coming up in the top ranking in many instances. I am just a guy sitting in my home office. I can’t even begin to keep up. So PLEASE try this workaround to get the information you are looking for:

1. Go to Google News and do a search for Katrina and refugees and the state or city you are looking for. This should pull news reports that will contain specific information like the location and the name of center where the people are being moved.

2. Then go to any Zip Code locator on the Internet and type in the town and state.

3. Then go to this Red Cross page and enter the zip code. You’ll get contact information for the local chapter that should be helping in the efforts.

Please email me or leave a comment if you gather this information on any location.

There are many sites and thousands of people offering up their homes. Links to a few are below. I would prefer not to post others, because things are getting fragmented. SOMEBODY HAS GOT TO GET THESE SITES COMPLIED INTO ONE DATABASE NOW!

NOLA Forums
Maybe the largest site I’ve found to date. It is tough to navigate, but
a wealth of information. They also verify your email to post

Hurricane Housing
A site put together by MoveOn.org. The search functionality is robust. For those of you looking for other people in your area, pool your resources, search by your Zip code.

Katrina Housing
Created
and organized by a tech company. I don’t have much information on them,
but they are trying like we all are. Click the "Printable Lists" link
on the lefthand side and choose the state.

Share Your Home
An organized site with verification of your email to post. Very profession. You can learn more about the background here.

There are other resources of course, but I have not had time to
review them. Please post any other URLs or suggestions in the comment
section.

What Must Be Done

Tommy — Fri, 02 Sep 2005 05:33:00 +0000

Let me attempt to explain my thought process in more detail. Thousands of Americans are willing to open their houses, apartments, and condos to complete strangers. Many more Americans want to help in other ways. Well here is your chance. We don’t have to, nor should we be powerless.

I’m not a dreamer, my glass is usually half empty, not half full. In situations like this America wants to help. But as days and weeks go by our memory fades, we go back to the "rat race" that is our day-to-day lives. We forget that burning desire we had just a few days or weeks ago.

Well I want to capture that intense desire before it fades.

Get the word out to anyone and everyone you know that wants to help. Tell them for a few hours they can help to move a family from Baton Rouge to Vicksburg. From Memphis to St. Louis. From Nashville to Louisville. And as each city connects to another we move people closer to a place where they can sleep in a home.

Leave me comments with more information. Thoughts. Suggestions. Next steps.

Footnote: There are MANY issues I still don’t understand, and with your help we can work through them here. I am still getting my mind around them all, so look to a future post tomorrow after I can speak with a few government agencies.

Blog Overview

Tommy — Fri, 02 Sep 2005 01:51:00 +0000

The purpose of this blog is simple. Thousands of Americans are offering up their homes to those hit by Katrina. Amazing! It shows yet again that my fellow Americans are the most giving people in the world.

But there is a big problem, how do they get to our homes? These people don’t have water in many instances, much less Internet access. And if they had access to a car, they’d have already left.

I am sure the Red Cross and other organizations will get to this. But alas, they have more massive and immediate problems right now. In the short-term I see no other solution to this problem other then you, me, and others coming together to figure something out. Even if we can just help a handful of people, then we have done something important.

I will maintain this site close to 24/7. The objective is to connection families that need housing, families that are willing to offer up a spare room, and then locate people that can get those people to us. I envision a pony express type operation. It is all about planning to make this work!

If I don’t have a family in my house in the next week I will feel like a failure.