People from Galveston create their own media networks

[Mari3333]

http://www.khou.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=29164&sid=8c15e99faa2ecaeabcb6cb26f661eb5f

[SammyWinstonJack]

1. Good for them!

[supernova]

2. Awesome!

One guy says the Look & Leave is tomorrow and (?? I thought it was today) will video all he can for MySpace and YouTube.

:woohoo: for citizen journalism. Hee FEMA won't like it. :-)

[RoyGBiv]

10. Look and Leave ...

It was supposed to be for the remainder of the week, but the Galveston mayor shut it down after today, apparently due to the massive traffic jam it created.

Not that Houston isn't accustomed to massive traffic jams. (What I saw looked like a normal day, actually.) But, they need the roads more open than that for those doing work down there.

[malaise]

3. I've been following here as well

Bravo!!

[blue cat]

4. Thanks for posting.

My coworker lost her investment property at Crystal beach. I sent her the above link because she was talking about how the media isn't covering what is going on after the hurricane.

[Mari3333]

5. i am going to keep an eye on the galveston youtube and

their myspace page. i think we will see a lot that isnt being shown now. so many people just need to know how their homes are and no one is telling them anything. i am glad this will help your friend.

[MadrasT]

6. That's really awesome, but...

the mayor changed her mind about giving them access after today.

GALVESTON, Texas — Hours after deciding people can briefly return to their hurricane-stricken homes in Galveston, the city's mayor said they can't come back after all.

Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas on Tuesday afternoon announced a "look and leave" re-entry advisory on the island between the hours of 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Then, Tuesday night, she announced the program was suspended indefinitely.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6005620.html

[Mari3333]

9. oh brother

there will be a lot of angry people tonight...!!!!

[rainbow4321]

7. Very interesting and informative forum

http://www.khou.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=29082

I have family that stayed at the forts on Bolivar, I spoke with him this morning and the government officials told him that as of this morning if you do not leave on your own you will be taking off the island in hand cuffs.

As much as I believe that you should be allowed to get youself to the island and do a look and leave, I don't want to see anyone taken off in hand cuffs.

The word is, they are trying to build a temporary bridge and it should be done in three weeks. Residents will then be able to go and get their things.

Hang in there. If we all band together, family and friends, they can't keep us out forever!

[annabanana]

8. CorpoMedia had damn well better take note!

If they don't start giving the people NEWS.. The people will just go get it themselves.. and the next thing you know

CorpoMedia out of a job...

[ColbertWatcher]

11. Good point. Video killed the radio star? Well YouTube will kill the corp media star. n/t

[tbyg52]

14. Yeah, but.... This *is* on KHOU's website..... ;->

[uppityperson]

12. Good for them. k&r

[Beregond2]

13. I can't imagine why anyone woulds want to go back to Galveston until a massive clean-up is done.

It is an incredibly toxic environment right now. You can be sure that these same morons would be suing the state if they picked-up some disease while they are there.

Come on, people. The government isn't always wrong, you know. It's called protecting people from their own stupidity.

[tbyg52]

15. Illogical, I know, but if my house was there I'd want to go at least look. nt

[RoyGBiv]

16. Question ...

Have you ever been forced to pack up and leave your entire life behind on 24 hours notice because something is coming to kill you?

If so, have you then been in the position of being told you may not be able to go back to where you left everything for a month or more?

If so, you can go ahead and call them morons if it makes you feel better. If not, you have no basis to form a judgment.

[tnlefty]

20. No I haven't.

But there is a part of me that knows that if water and food were available, I would want to be part of the clean up and to begin doing what I could to try to rebuild my community.

[RoyGBiv]

23. Yup ...

I've been through an ice storm before that essentially removed me from my home for three weeks. No real warning for that. It just comes, and there you are ... tree through the roof, no power, no nothing.

I removed to a warm place with power and food, and all I wanted to do was go back and try to salvage what was left and see about rebuilding. My brain knew I couldn't do that just then, but it didn't stop the wanting.

[Beregond2]

21. I've never been in a situation where

I had to choose between my life and having a look at my "stuff" no, but I still would have enough sense to make the only rational decision.

[RoyGBiv]

22. Ah, but that's not the question ...

We're talking about going back. You do know you've got tens of thousands of people out there with nothing but what they could pile in the car who have been living on money they don't have, completely unaware if they have anything left at all or if they have to start over? You do know that a number of the people who lived in Galveston were elderly retirees who had a lifetime of memories in their homes, that they dropped them to save their lives, and now just want to see if they have anything left at all?

Regardless, it's really easy to say what you'd do. It's something else again to experience it, and I've noticed a lot of those who call people in Galveston who either stayed or want to go back "morons" have little to no experience with this.

OnEdit: Removed personal bit.

[Beregond2]

24. Look, I understand the feelings involved.

But do you understand the massive calamity it would be if all those people were allowed back in there right now? It just irritates the hell out of me how people on this board invariably assume the worst about government workers, when they are doing their damndest to prevent this turning into another avoidable catastrophe. My best friend is down there right now slaving away for the Texans, after they haughtily turned their noses up at outside help that was offered before the hurricane hit. So I'm not inclined to feel too charitable toward them.

I might also point out that the people in Galveston knew the risks when they chose to live on the site of the worst natural disaster in our nation's history. They also had many days warning, and could certainly have gotten all their valuables, money and other necessities out in plenty of time if they had used their heads.

I live below sea level in a town that only exists becuase of dikes that hold back the Columbia River. I am also about an hour from Mount Saint Helens, and in a major earthquake zone. In the vent of a catastrophic event, I could be in a safe place with everything I value in about an hour, and would be. If one is going to live in a dangerous spot, one has to be prepared to handle the risks.

[RoyGBiv]

26. I don't think you do get it ...

You're listening to a story people want you to hear.

And, once again, I'm not talking right now about people who didn't leave, although I'd be glad to get into that if you'd like. The "many days warning" canard repeated over and over again is about to cause me to pop my very last circuit.

In any case, no, it's not a wonderful idea to let all those people clog the roads trying to get back to their homes. That, again, is not the question. You called these people morons for wanting to do so.

Come on over. I'll introduce you to some morons. You can call them morons to their face while they sit here unable to stop crying.

Just so you know, I'm really trying to contain myself here, and I get the intellectual argument you're presenting. But you see these people as idiots. They aren't idiots, which is precisely what those in positions of power want you to perceive them as, just as those very same people wanted you to perceive the victims of Katrina as idiots who deserved to die.

They're people, just like you and me. They're terrified. Yeah, the storm is gone, but they are more terrified now than they were before because their LIVES ARE GONE.

If your compassion for these people extends only to calling them morons, so be it.

[jberryhill]

19. I run a law practice from my home...

I'm sure if you had a pending case, you'd be happy to learn I couldn't access your files among the hundreds kept here in weather-proof file cabinets.

There are countless reasons why people need to access their homes.

[supernova]

28. You especially should think about

Disaster recovery and offsite backup storage for all your legal and business documents. It doesn't cost very much at all to do backups once a month and put a backup disk at a separate location.

[jberryhill]

29. For electronic stuff, yes...

Believe me... one of my main clients is in Cayman and was wiped out by Ivan.

There is some paper stuff that is irreplaceable, though.

The larger point being that some folks need to get at stuff in houses.

[babydollhead]

17. posted this link on Galveston's craigslist

[Sweet Freedom]

18. Good idea, but

unfortunately for them, "look and leave" has been discontinued. They will not be allowed back for at least a week, if not longer. (The roads to Galveston were so overwhelmed with residents trying to get back that the responders could not get through, so the idea was abandoned today.)

Edited to add: I just came across a link about this--
http://www.khou.com/news/local/stories/khou080916_mp_galveston_residents_return.8148ab03.html?npc

[babydollhead]

25. people become communities.

that is number one in my disaster preparedness kit. On my block, we have had meeting. The first meeting, we all picked one thing to be in charge of and research to bring to the next meeting.one home was chosen for the generator and to become the meeting and surviving place. Someone said if the liquor store is closed, she doesn't want to live. we decided her skinny husband might be good for something, if not soup stock, at least kindling. I was put in charge of water. I forgot to do my research and was thus moved to "distraction" preparedness.

[Sweet Freedom]

27. That's a great idea. /nt