About this blog
From Sept. 22-27, the posts in this blog about Rita's evacuation and devastation were reported and photographed by Bob Sullivan and Andrew Locke. Sullivan, 37, is MSNBC.com's technology and consumer fraud reporter. Locke, 34, in charge of MSNBC.com's editorial strategy, was on his second hurricane blog tour.
From Sept. 18-22, the posts in this blog, examining Katrina's impact on the environment, were reported and photographed by Miguel Llanos and David Friedman. Llanos, 45, is MSNBC.com's environmental reporter. Photojournalist Friedman, 35, is a multimedia producer at MSNBC.com.
From Sept. 10-16, the posts in this blog were reported and photographed by Kari Huus and Jim Seida. Huus, 43, has been a journalist for 20 years and a reporter with MSNBC.com since 1996. Seida, 39, has been a media editor with the Web site since 1996.
From Sept. 2-9, the posts in this blog were reported and photographed by Mike Brunker, left, and Andrew Locke. A journalist for 25 years, Brunker, 49, is MSNBC.com's West Coast news editor. Locke, 34, has been a journalist for 17 years and is currently in charge of MSNBC.com's editorial media strategy.


Gas pains are easing
TRACKBACKS
I saw on their website that Noah's Wish has set up a disaster center for animals/pets in conjunction with Slidell Animal Control at the address below:
1325 Bayou Lane, Slidell, LA - (Located next to Heritage Park) - I read the story about Bill Harris' "miracle cat", Miss Kitty -- I hope that Noah's Wish is the organization that can find her and return her to Bill -- my heart goes out to him and all the other victims --
Val Sanders (Sent Sep 7, 2005 10:44:18 AM)
Are the people from pascagoula are being evacuated also. since yo are talking about them, I want to know if the people from Moss point are also in that category?
I am concerned about the Haynes family who I know for many year since I lived there from 1993- 1996, and have been trying to reach out to see if they are ok, but could not hear if they are OK.
It is so desvastating to know how the people all over from the gulf have been distroyed by Katrina and have lost everything. My heart goes out to them all.
Nilca Billow (Sent Sep 7, 2005 10:48:40 AM)
In the description of this blog, the survivors are being refered to as refugees. I think that it would be appropriate to change. If you'd like to email me, my address is brandymeans@sbcglobal.net. Thank you.
B. Means (Sent Sep 7, 2005 10:56:18 AM)
thank you, thank you. Pets are family too. I have been so very, very worried about Miss Kitty, thank you
Patti D. Glendale, AZ (Sent Sep 7, 2005 10:58:35 AM)
My heart goes out to all the people that are in this predicament at this time. May The Lord Bless you and keep you in good health.
EDILIA PEREZ (Sent Sep 7, 2005 11:06:37 AM)
The word "refugee" means a person who flees to a foreign country or power to escape danger or persecution.
The survivors of Hurricane Katrina certainly have "escaped" danger but they have not fled to a foreign country. Please change your designation of "our" people from "refugee" to a more suitable term.
They have enough to be concerned about; please don't add to their plight.
Thank you. Looking for Marie (Susie) Dunomes from New Orleans, LA. Please call me at 414 / 355-1453.
Estelle
Estelle, Milwaukee, WI (Sent Sep 7, 2005 11:16:41 AM)
Time should be spent to help those with cats or dogs leave New Orleans with their living friends. For Christ sake, our government didnt care earlier about lives in New Orleans so why should we now decide to forget those small souls of cats and dogs who are alive and with the living. MAYOR, FIND A WAY FOR THOSE WHO HAVE PETS TO COME WITH THEIR "owners". Some of us elsewhere would be more than willing to help with compensation. The lady with the Siamese cat in New Orleans on a recent newscast Monday evening wont leave without her cat. WE DIDNT EITHER IN HURRICANE ANDREW. SO WE PACKED BOTH CARS AND LEFT WITH EIGHT CATS, OUR FAMILY.
Our pets have souls. They are living. St Francis didnt die in vain.
SOMEONE SHOW THEY CARE IN NEW ORLEANS. LET THOSE WHO WANT TO BRING ALONG THEIR CATS AND DOGS IN THE EVACUATION DO SO. ITS BAD AND PATHETIC ENOUGH TO LET PEOPLE DIE IN THE STREETS..SO NOW WE RESORT TO ALLOWING CATS AND DOGS TO DIE SLOWLY. IF THAT IS THE CASE, THIS SOCIETY DESERVES THE WORST SCENARIO. LIFE IS PRECIOUS.
MICHAEL, WEST PALM BEACH (Sent Sep 7, 2005 11:18:14 AM)
Posting again, miss Kitty could be in a Slidell shelter. I ran a search for her on www.petfinder.com and found a miss Kitty at the following address:
Animal Assistance League of Slidell
2700 Terrace Ave.
City of Slidell
Slidell, LA 70458
985-646-4267
GrumpyMcGrath@aol.com
I e-mailed them to tell them that this might be Bill Harris´ cat. Hope you can get in touch with Bill and check on that. I have the cat´s picture in my computer, if this helps.
my e-mail is celina_cook@mindspring.com, if any of you wants the pictures, e-mail me. have a nice day, you all!
PS now I think will run a search somewhere to try to find mrs. Jane Harris, to see if she might be anywhere around
Celina Cook, Fredericksburg, VA (Sent Sep 7, 2005 11:20:56 AM)
I would like to hear more coverage from the media about the Mississippi Gulf Coast. They, afterall, took a direct hit from Katrina and have absolutely nothing left in some parts of the coast. I feel sorry for everyone, in Louisiana and Mississippi, who have lost everything, but it seems all you hear on the television is New Orleans. Why is that?
LFaulkner, Pearl, Mississippi (Sent Sep 7, 2005 11:42:50 AM)
It blows my mind what type of fluff MSNBC if focusing on. Not only has our government failed us, but US news has failed us.
If you want to hear real stories from real journalist, I suggest going to the BBC News. The Reports' logs are amazing. That is what I had hoped to find at this site. Not 'looking for kitty.'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4211404.stm
Dawn Dobson, Ann Arbor, MI (Sent Sep 7, 2005 11:45:48 AM)
I would like to know how the clothing for the evacuees are being handled.When the clothes are in need of being laundered how is that done or are the clothes discarded?
Sandra Simpson (Sent Sep 7, 2005 11:47:57 AM)
looking for any Ros's (1 s ros)and or information about them along the Mississippi gulf coast, pascagoula etc. to pass along to other relatives
Jeanne Ros, Mobile, Alabama (Sent Sep 7, 2005 11:52:41 AM)
My family and I are helping the best we can, sending out prayers for the survivors and their pets. Our city is receiving up to 1500 survivors this week and the response to help is wonderful. Please keep those on the Coast in your prayers and please donate whatever you can and however you can, ie: supplies, clothes, a room. or money. Anything will help.
L Garrison, Lex, KY (Sent Sep 7, 2005 11:55:33 AM)
I am looking for the Mcelvoys from Pascagoula. If you know of their whereabouts please email me at sweetlexy75@aol.com. Thanks
patty, bolton, ms (Sent Sep 7, 2005 11:56:14 AM)
Pets are family too and I feel it's not fair to make evacuees leave their pets behind, especially since that be all that they have left. I pray that someone can be kind to help these people keep their pets.
Tina Pelesky (Sent Sep 7, 2005 11:58:46 AM)
My heart goes out to all those who help people who help themselves. It is okay to leave for the sake of your life, and take all the memories you can. Matierial possessions are meaningless, but keepsakes and photos cannot be replaced. I have never lost anything in a disaster like this but I have lost everything and all my possessions just the same by other means. Including a home I loved so much, by those who were my superiors. So, to hear that these folks are losing everything, makes me want to assure them that they have not really lost anything if they have kept their self respect and priorities straight. Life will improove for most if they are patient and let time take it's course. Even if it is a few years. Life will be good or better again.
Maria Shannon, San Fernando, California (Sent Sep 7, 2005 11:59:26 AM)
As an animal lover and owner, I don't know what I would do in that situation. I truly believe it would be almost unbearable to leave my dog behind. Please find a way for the pets to be evacuated WITH their owners. We are praying for you all.
Victoria Pettus, Hopkinsville KY (Sent Sep 7, 2005 12:06:22 PM)
This comment is for Dawn Dobson.
Dawn, while I realize that it is of the utmost importance to keep updated on what is happening to the evacuees and doing our best to help them, pets are of the utmost importance as well!!! They are living, breathing creatures whose lives should be valued as well! I commend Michael from West Palm Beach for his posting as I couldn't have said it any better.
I found your comment very hard and callous. You are right that there is plenty of other coverage on this event that people can read. But there are loving and caring people, like those who have posted here today, that value an animal's life just as much as a human life, and who value pets as an actual member of the family. Your comment was unnecessary, and I found it very offensive. Please feel free to search other sites for updated news, and if you see something like "kitty" that you don't like, just move on to another source. Save the space for those who are genuinely concerned about the animals.
Christine
Christine Hill, Binghamton, NY (Sent Sep 7, 2005 12:08:26 PM)
Thank you Celina Cook for caring enough to make that search for "Miss Kitty." My husband and I are pet lovers too and would never consider leaving anywhere for any length of time without our "family" of 3 dogs and 4 cats. Our coastal citizens have lost enough without being forced to give up what is left of their families. The story about the little boy who boarded a bus and had his little dog stripped from his arms broke my heart. I hope it's been found and returned to him...SnowBall, I believe. I agree also that our citizens are not "refugees"..they are displaced citizens, and they us! God Bless everyone who is trying to help!
Frieda McDonald (Sent Sep 7, 2005 12:13:00 PM)
On Sept.6 slide show titled chaotic recovery a man Davi Webster left his two dogs Tazz & Trouble in his house. Maybe the Photographer or through other sources you could find out where he lived & get an animal rescue organization in to rescue them. Thank you for listening
Gerald Shapiro (Sent Sep 7, 2005 12:17:31 PM)
Great blog... I just wish more attention had been paid to Biloxi and Gulfport and other MS towns rather than LA, since the MS guys were hit much worse. But too late now, next time please do something no other news orgs care to do: focus on the real tragedies. Still, thanks for the good, hard work.
Chris Lee, Boston, Mass. (Sent Sep 7, 2005 12:20:01 PM)
This blog is aobut searching for Miss Kitty. I second the motion. My cat saved us from a gas leak explosion years ago. Pets reward us for our good behavior. Now it is our turn to do the same for this precious cat and all the other helpless and dependent creatures affected by the disaster.
B. Miller (Sent Sep 7, 2005 12:23:06 PM)
I cannot express how awful i feel for all who have been affected by katrina! Not only the humans but also the animals, too. i work in a vet clinic and i saw on the news where a rescue boat steered around a dog swimmin in the road tryin to find a place to get out of the water and it broke my heart. thats an image i cannot get out of my mind. hopefully, everyone is stayin strong, and maybe we will soon see not only the Americans (not refugees) being brought to safer ground, but also those who are unable to ask for it, the pets! GOD BLESS YOU ALL AND GOOD LUCK! YOUR IN OUR PRAYERS! OHIO
H.D. (Sent Sep 7, 2005 12:23:15 PM)
I think that more should be done to keep pets and owners together. At least allow the pets to be rescued and then put them up in a kennel, or see if someone could foster the pets until owners get back on their feet. I do not think they should be left behind. Especially for the sake of the children and the ederly. Their pets are going to be a huge part of what gets them through this. They don't need the added burden of wandering if their pets are going to survive. And leaving them means leaving a part of your family. My heart goes out to everybody affected .God bless you all.
Kim Corona Chesapeake, Va (Sent Sep 7, 2005 12:24:37 PM)
If you run across someone in need who is willing to start a new life in southern California, my husband and I have a small spare bedroom we'd like to offer. We can take up to two people and a small pet or two. We have 3 indoor cats and a fenced backyard. Mr. Harris and Miss Kitty, or anyone else (non-smokers) you recommend, would become welcome family members here. We lost our own home years ago to a rock slide following a heavy rainstorm, so we know what it feels like to have to suddenly start over. The help we recieved then made a huge difference in our lives.
Ann Humke (Sent Sep 7, 2005 12:24:51 PM)
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