Hurricane Katrina was a day after my aunt (Strina Radojka) died suddenly on August 28. Radojka was a real nice lady and my favorite aunt on my Dad's side. Since she died in Europe, my cousins argued whether to bury her Upstate next to my uncle Dragan or in Europe. I reached out to a Chicago funeral home to bring her back to the States but they decided to bury her in Europe.
The photos and video from New Orleans and the Gulf Region were devastating. People were housed in the New Orleans SuperDome where the Saints play in the NFL.
I had three friends from the 2005 Antarctica Marathon and wanted to do something to help them and others in the region. I emailed friends and colleagues at work to raise money and clothes. Since the law firm I worked for was raising money for the Red Cross, I got called down to Human Resources. I was told that I could do fundraising and clothes collection on my own but nothing through the daily intra-firm email newsletter. I didn't have much choice and went back to work.
My friends and colleagues at work were great. We collected boxes of clothes. The Mail Room sent the boxes to Sadat's (a summer intern's) fraternity house north of New Orleans in Lafayette. Using GoogleEarth, we mapped out a way to use back roads to get the clothes to New Orleans. Marilyn bought three separate knapsacks and packed them full of toiletries and other supplies. Gil, Medford Bob, and others chipped in. It was really uplifting especially after my HR meeting.
I divided the money collected into in 3 US Postal Service (USPS) Money Orders. I know the Post Office gets criticized often but Money Orders is the best way to really send money especially when physical addresses are flooded out. They are inexpensive to insure (less than $1 each) and you can cash them at any Post Office in the country. No need to worry about out of state checks which take days or longer to clear. I sent the Money Orders to Lisa in Houston. She met up with Rudy outside of New Orleans and he distributed the clothes, knapsacks, and USPS Money Orders to Bill and John. John barely escaped the flooding in St. Bernard Parish. John was able to relocate through his job to North Carolina. Bill stayed with family in Indiana. Rudy stayed with family near New Orleans.
Lessons Learned : Each catastrophe requires action but adaptability to the circumstances at hand. USPS Money Orders worked best in New Orleans. When Aunt Radojka traveled from NYC to the former Yugoslavia during the 1990s civil wars and NATO Bombing, we used to give her cash money with x amount this cousin, y amount for that uncle, and so. When earthquakes hit Nepal, I went to the nearby bank branch and spoke with a banker there. He said the fees would be high (16 percent) for Ngima plus bank wire fees of $45. He recommended Western Union. I checked Western Union's website to send money to Nepal. If there are issues with that link, this is Western Union's homepage. Since that time, our mutual friend Steve has organized a separate GoFundMe fundraiser to rebuild Ngima's home as he has been living in tents for the last few months.
When Hurricanes Irena and Sandy hit NYC in 2011 and 2012, I had my own gear ready extended periods of loss of electricity. Batteries, water, first aid kits, and flashlights come to mind. Communication is also key. I have had different ShortWave radios ever since I was a kid. I fondly remember a boom box with 2 tape decks, AM/FM, and ShortWave in the mid 1980s. I now have a C.Crane SkyWave AM, FM, Shortwave, Weather and AirBand Portable Travel Radio. I can put it in my pocket and carry it onto the Subway when I go to work. It is better for listening than two way transmission.
After the Haiti Earthquakes in 2010, I received this important shortwave radio information from my friend Liz in Canada.
"Radio amateurs are requested to keep 7.045MHz and 3.720MHz clear for any emergency traffic resulting from the Earthquake which struck Haiti on 12th January 2010 in case any Haitian hams manage to get on the air, and in case of other related events in surrounding areas, including aftershocks. ...
"... Following the advice of the geophysicists, we are keeping the 7045 and 3720 kiloHertz frequencies active until further notice. ..."
I am grateful to my friend Lila for passing along the shortwave information to International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) and others on the ground in Haiti. After being trapped for 50 hours, two aid workers were rescued by shortwave radio operators.
Regarding Haiti, I am appalled by the Red Cross collected USD $500 million (Half a Billion Dollars) but only built 6 houses in the last 5+ years. That's an average of about $83 million per home. Did they build "Papa Doc" and "Baby Doc" Duvalier style mansions?
Bottom Line : That's why I prefer to donate direct whenever disaster strikes, e.g. relatives in the former Yugoslavia, Ngima in Nepal, and elsewhere. My friend Fiona is a nurse and has gone on medical missions to Haiti which were sponsored by a Florida Church. If you don't know anyone directly affected by a disaster but want to help, go to the closest Rotary and see if they directly know a family or village in need.
ShortWave Radio Information
My friend Sam is a long time member of ham radio community and this is his advice.
"For
portable gear in that same form-factor I would be tempted to use the same radio
or if you want something a little better the Sony ICF-SW7600GR is a very good, well known, well respected radio. I bought my parents an
earlier version of this radio (ICF-SW7600) back in the late 80’s. They
still have it, it works as good as new and when I’m visiting with my
folks I use it for general shortwave listening and listening to European long wave
broadcasts. There is a page here that describes the different variations of the 7600.
"The
7600 is also useful for 'sideband' reception. There are few broadcast
stations that use sideband but the majority of amateur radio voice transmissions
are on sideband. Also on sideband are military and aircraft transmissions and
when you listen to sideband on a receiver without sideband capabilities you
just hear a 'Donald Duck' sort of voice. If you tune your C.Crane
radio to some amateur voice frequencies. E.g. 3600-4000 kHz, 7100-7200 kHz,
14150 – 14350 kHz you will hear this activity but without a receiver that
receives sideband you can’t tell what is being said. The
7600GR also has a 'synchronous detector' which helps eliminate some
of the audio distortion that invariably occurs when a shortwave broadcast signal
fades.
"The
ICF-SW7600GR would also be good for use at home but if you listen on a regular
basis some people find the smaller radios a little frustrating to operate since
there is little weight to them and the controls aren’t as nice as a
desktop model. You typically get much better sound out of a desktop
unit. A desktop unit that’s been around for a while is the ICOMIC-R75. Icom also makes amateur radio and business radio gear.
"There
are also wideband 'black box' receivers that are very interesting
and that plug into your computer and you operate the receiver from the computer
– the black box doesn’t have much more than an on-off switch.
Here’s an example : http://www.universal-radio.
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