CenterPoint Energy reports more progress on restoring power to the area - as of 8:00 a.m., only 36% of their customers were dark. Unfortunately, that's still 819,000 customers. I hope that those restored include more of our friends and co-workers.
Meanwhile, non-profits who are trying to help with disaster relief are coming up short on financial support needed to do their good works.
The "disaster fatigue" that President Bush warned about earlier this week has become a major concern. [...]As Ike was approaching last week, the Red Cross launched a national campaign to raise $100 million for its empty disaster relief fund. The organization said it would have to borrow money to cover the costs of the 2008 hurricanes.
Since Labor Day, Southern Baptist volunteers have prepared more than 1.3 million meals in response to Gustav and Ike, with the federal government paying for the food. The organization also would like to help with longer-term relief efforts.
But so far, only $29,000 has been donated, said Mike Ebert, public information officer for Southern Baptist Disaster Relief's home office in Atlanta.
The deep disconnect between truth and dark fantasy in and near any public catastrophe continues unabated as well.
[F]or some, the real story of the lives lost to Hurricane Ike remains untold.Thousands of bodies are floating in the Gulf of Mexico, dangling from trees or otherwise obscured by debris and unaccounted for, these people insist in online forums and posted reader comments. A government conspiracy and media blackout are afoot, they say, which explains why those images remain unseen.
Coast Guard rescuers, law enforcement agencies and government officials all say otherwise, but they're part of the conspiracy, right?
The rumors are 99% untrue and ungrounded in any reality, but just read the comments in that article to see how many believe otherwise. As if the ugly reality isn't tough enough.