Katrina Relief
A coworker of mine bought supplies and filled up his SUV and drove out to hurricane ravaged areas on the Mississippi and Louisiana coast. He’s planning on driving out every other week for three or four days at a time. He’s doing all he can but he needs help. He gave me a list of items that they’re going to need over there. If you can get it to him or to the damaged areas of the gulf coast, I’m sure the people out there would appreciate it. If you want to contribute, just let me know and we’ll try to get things going. Here’s what he sent me:
Eric,
At least in the Lakeshore, Waveland, Bay St Louis areas of Mississippi, quite a few people are going to be living in tents for the next 6-12 months. So consider what you would want to have if you were on an extended camping trip.
I found that, in general, it was better to buy small containers of things like spices because the same amount will service more people/families. Or you can do what I did which was to buy in bulk and distribute the spices into individual baggies to make them stretch further.
Centralized relief sites are available in the area that provide the basics for survival (water, ice, MRE’s). I’ve tried to only list items that are in short supply or are not being provided by the bigger relief sites. Another problem in this area is that the residents don’t really trust people with uniforms much (army, national guard, police) and they don’t have money to buy gasoline to get to the relief center. So the smaller, closer relief sites generate a lot more traffic since the locals can walk to them and they trust them more.
Here is a list of supplies needed as of Sep 19, 2005 for the area that I delivered supplies to:
– Linens –
Undershirts, Mens
Underwear, Women / Men
Socks
Towels
Sheets
Pillows
Sewing kits
Clotheslines
Clothespins
– Food/cooking –
Gatorade (electolytes)
Fruit Juices (only ones that keep without refrigeration - bottled orange juice will spoil)
Cooking spices (MRE’s will keep you alive but they get a little old after a while)
Pots and pans
Propane camping stoves
Small propane fuel cans (can’t ship these either)
plastic plates/cups (reusable, can be cleaned)
cooking utensils (metal, maybe bbq type)
eating utensils
can openers
freeze-dried ice cream (doesn’t need special storage, not really a need, just a treat in hard times)
– Hygiene –
Feminine Products
Paper Towels
Toilet Paper
– Cleaning –
camp soap (cleans everything, dishes, clothes, people, etc)
Laundry detergent
Dish detergent (Dawn, Palmolive, etc)
Chlorox (can’t ship this via US Mail or UPS) and/or anything that kills mold spores
Mops
Buckets
Sponges
Scouring pads
Knee high boots (wading through muck to do clean up)
Surgical / dust masks
Vapor rub (rub on upper lip to help with the smell while cleaning up)
Garbage bags (heavy duty)
Strong work gloves
Shovels
– Medical –
Over-the-counter drugs (Antacid, Headache, Allergy, Cough, etc)
First aid stuff (gauze, neosporin, surgical tape, etc)
Hand sanitizer
Hydrogen Peroxide
Rubbing Alcohol
– Camping –
Tarps
Rope
Duct tape (this is big)
Insect Repellent
Camp showers (SunShower is one brand)
Batteries
Battery-powered lanterns
Air mattresses (don’t forget the pumps - that kind of stuff got washed or blown away)
hatchet
bow saw
extra blades
spikes (for tarp or tent)
water purification tablets?
mosquito netting
lighters/matches
– Boredom Reduction –
– A lot of people are just sitting around during the day since they can’t afford gas to put in their car, they don’t have jobs because their employer’s business got destroyed, there is no TV or radio –
Crossword puzzles
Magazines
Books (children, adult, etc)
plain white paper
pencils
pens
pencil sharpener
– other –
ziplock bags
