Haiti a tragdey
- Thread starter eggd1ver
- Start date
greg334
Veteran Expediter
I feel for the people who have suffered in this tragedy and did what I could to help by providing the only thing I could provide - sending money to the Red Cross and a local church group here in the area who support Haitians who live there.
With the international community behind the effort, the people will be well taken care of and the country will be rebuilt BUT it will take time.
I was going to post something with links for donations to the local church group and to the Red Cross but my past experience with negativity by a few EO members on asking for their participation has caused me to hesitate posting any links but I changed my mind.
Red Cross
America Cares
CARE
Operation USA
The Red Cross is in need of supplies and funds as of this morning.
What happened in N.O. is not our Federal Governments fault but the fault of the state and local elected officials who failed the people. Since that time, the people themselves are to blame for the mess they still have. While other places have been rebuilt (Charleston for one) in record time with a lot less money, N.O. is still having 'issues' because of the same elected officials who were in office when it happened were reelected and the the corruption and political way of life is still intact.
With the international community behind the effort, the people will be well taken care of and the country will be rebuilt BUT it will take time.
I was going to post something with links for donations to the local church group and to the Red Cross but my past experience with negativity by a few EO members on asking for their participation has caused me to hesitate posting any links but I changed my mind.
Red Cross
America Cares
CARE
Operation USA
The Red Cross is in need of supplies and funds as of this morning.
What happened in N.O. is not our Federal Governments fault but the fault of the state and local elected officials who failed the people. Since that time, the people themselves are to blame for the mess they still have. While other places have been rebuilt (Charleston for one) in record time with a lot less money, N.O. is still having 'issues' because of the same elected officials who were in office when it happened were reelected and the the corruption and political way of life is still intact.
Last edited:
There is no question that the U.S. government has improved its disaster response time. Diane and I happened to be in Homestead Florida (south of Miami) this morning on a load not related to Haiti. We were surprised to see a large convoy of FEMA and Homeland Security trucks entering the Air Force base here. At least a dozen went by us before we were able to move on. More streamed in over the next hour. We were told they are hauling relief supplies and equipment for Haiti and that trucks had streamed in yesterday too.
What surprised me, and what I wish to ask about here, was all of the trucks were government-owned trucks, as indicated by their FEMA and Homeland Security graphics. Most were brand new, as in show-room shiny with "tag applied for" signs where the license plate goes.
The portion of the convoy we saw close up consisted half of SUVs pulling box and flat-bed trailers and half big-rigs with most of them pulling 53-foot reefer trailers. The reefers were not running on the trucks we saw. The flat-bed trailers were loaded with equipment (forklifts and such). All trucks were driven by uniformed personnel, presumably government employees. Most of the SUVs had uniformed passengers in the front and back seats. The big rigs displayed FEMA graphics. The SUVs displayed Homeland Security graphics.
I did not know that FEMA owned and operated big-rig reefer trucks in such numbers. Does anyone know if this is something new or has FEMA owned such trucks all along and I was simply unaware of it?
Last edited:
Police-like uniforms, blue in color with insignia on the shoulders. I did not get a good look as all were seated in vehicles as they drove by and it was in the first light of the day, before sunrise. These people were not in military uniform.
Related news from the area
Last edited:
Talking to fellow expediters who are more familiar with disaster relief work than me, it seems that FEMA ownership of reefer trailers is not new. Expediters have seen them used as temporary morgues.
A quick search of the FEMA web site does not answer the question "How many reefer trailers and tractors does FEMA own and for what are they used?"
A quick search of the FEMA web site does not answer the question "How many reefer trailers and tractors does FEMA own and for what are they used?"
Last edited:
greg334
Veteran Expediter
This is nothing new. FEMA has trailers coming out of Georgia and Texas among a couple of other places.
Actually this proves nothing because this is a disaster in a foreign country and have been practiced a lot more than the public knows. The Red Cross and other organization are more organized and bringing in help than the US government. When a disaster strikes in the US, then let's see what we have. The Feds can't step on the states when they need to "do something".
Actually this proves nothing because this is a disaster in a foreign country and have been practiced a lot more than the public knows. The Red Cross and other organization are more organized and bringing in help than the US government. When a disaster strikes in the US, then let's see what we have. The Feds can't step on the states when they need to "do something".