where do you start?

A couple of weeks ago I traveled to Plaquemines Parish in southern Louisiana to view the effects of Katrina. There is nothing left. 99 percent of the buildings I saw was either destroyed completely, or damaged beyond repair. Literally 99 percent. The number is actually probably higher than that, as I wasn't able to count all the buildings that have disappeared.

As we drove through the devastation, one of my colleagues kept asking the question, "where do you start?" Though he was speaking specifically about the cleanup process, the question holds true in the broader sense as well. So complete is the destruction, with debris littering the landscape that the recovery process will take years.

It isn't really possible to convey the scope of the disaster, its magnitude. These four pictures are not aberrations, but the norm. I have dozens just like them, and could have had hundreds more, but at some point, I stopped shooting. I had become inured to the damage, and it is now impossible to conceive of what the vibrant communities must have looked like just three months ago.

Thanksgiving Eve

Over the past month, the day before a staffer leaves for a rotation home, or to return home for good, I observe behavior bordering on giddiness. Today at the Joint Field Office a muted version of this permeated the building. Though many of us are only getting a day off (Thanksgiving), and the rest of us three or four, it was obvious how jubilant everyone was at the opportunity to spend a little time with families heretofore ignored, and to relax.

The 'work hard/play hard' mentality dominates here, though unlike at The Daily, the hours are so long play is put off for weeks or months. While I have been working here for only a month, and have not experienced many high stress moments myself, the quarters in which we work are so close that we are all affected by the moods of each other. The mood was lighter, people cheerier, and the day progressed if not faster, then more enjoyably.

Today I also realized how close we have become. Obviously spending eleven hours a day, six days a week with the same people builds bonds, but as people headed home today, the goodbyes were surprisingly meaningful. This despite the fact that we will all reunite in just a few days. I attribute these ties to our shared experiences. Not only are we all working together on these disasters, but many of us are far from home, friends and family. Many the local hires have been severely impacted by the hurricanes themselves, homes destroyed, family scattered.

With all the criticism FEMA continues to face (which we watch daily on CNN), we are also bonded by an 'us against the world' attitude. The more criticism we face, the more we stand with one another, growing closer.

new server

I've got a new server. The blog may be a bit off for the next few days, and some of the archives may be screwed up because of the different directory hierarchy, but long-term, this should be an improvement. Hopefully this will also resolve the myriad problems I've been having with my e-mail.

and then don king arrived

Myriad political leaders have been through the Baton Rouge Joint Field Office, from the President to Jesse Jackson. Today, who should show up? Don King.

Yes, Don King, the boxing promoter, one-time manager of Mike Tyson, and one of those people who is famous more because he's good at being famous than anything else. I'm not sure why he was there, but it certainly had the JFO buzzing. Best comment of the day:

I thought he was still in jail.

good times

Overheard tonight:

I keep losing my beer. I must have left it in the car again.

Louisiana anyone?

slow and steady

Now three full weeks into my work for FEMA, the biggest obstacle to a speedy recovery is one for which I cannot conceive of an answer. The task is so complex, and involves so many disparate parties. There are a multitude of federal agencies working on this disaster. Add to that a number of state agencies, as well as parish leadership, city governance, and nonprofit volunteer agencies. Getting these organizations to move in unison simply can not be done swiftly.

This 'problem' is not a failure of leadership, but instead a fundamental component of a democracy. Unfortunately, democracies, particularly ones with decentralized power, are incapable of making big decisions rapidly. Contrast this with China, as Tom Friedman does in his column in today's New York Times:

Leaders can, and do, just order that problems be solved. For instance, Shanghai's deputy mayor told me that as his city became more polluted, the government simply moved thousands of small manufacturers out of Shanghai to clean up the air.

This entire experience gives me a glimmer of understanding at how difficult the task of coordinating our intelligence agencies must be. At least with this task, to recover and rebuilt from devastating hurricanes, all the players are in general agreement about the goals and methods by which to attain them. And still progress is made slowly. At least, though, it is being made.

The best indicator I have of how conditions have improved in the Louisiana is the state of traffic in Baton Rouge. The city's population doubled to 400,000 when Katrina hit. Many of those people still have not left, because they have nowhere to return. As FEMA and other agencies have gotten trailers and other semi-permanent housing set up in New Orleans and elsewhere, Baton Rouge evacuees are slowly draining out of the city, and each day traffic flows a bit smoother.

election day

Tomorrow is election day. Certainly not as exciting as last year (though regardless of the outcomes in Virginia, Ohio and California, it won't be as disappointing), every election day is worth noting. The race for to be the next governor of Virginia is coming down to the wire, with Republican Jerry Kilgore's campaign pulling out all the dirty tricks.

If I were still in Washington, I'd probably be more juiced up about this, and I'd likely be volunteering tomorrow. It is refreshing not to care so much, though. Because while I believe Jerry Kilgore would be a disastrous governor for Virginia, and Tim Kaine a good one, the world will keep spinning regardless of the outcome. And I've grown so weary of relying on elections to vindicate my own political worldview, (especially considering the election results since I have been of voting age) that it's nice to sit this one out.

y'all ain't so bad

Two weeks in Baton Rouge, and I have already begun adopt speech patterns of the southerners. Most notably, I've embraced the wonderful pronoun that is y'all. Though generally plural, it can be used in the singular, it is easily possessive (y'all's), and is non-gender specific. It can also be converted a verb as in y'aller. (usage: Y'aller going to the store? Y’all’s beer is gone, get some more.)

That said, it has been described to me that South Louisiana is not the south, not in the Deliverance sense, anyway. There isn't very much overt racism (though I did hear someone use the term "Chinaman" for the first time in years), and the vast majority of people have all their teeth.

The state can be split in half, the northern half dominated by the Baptists, the southern by Catholics. There is a strong French influence, not only in New Orleans, but in Baton Rouge as well. There is a sizeable gay community here, something met with indifference by most people in the state. Certainly not what I would have expected. If I’d been sent to Mississippi, I suspect my experiences would be very different.