Oprah and Katrina Today's Show

[eeyore45]

I was moved to tears again watching the families, the stories, the need for hugs!

Oprah had Lisa Ling and Nate go into New Orleans.. as well as a Doctor that went to the Louis Armstrong temporary "hospital" The doctor was also moved to tears. One mans hand was so infected, but his response "I dont care if I do lose my hand, I have to find my family" So again, one wonders why its taking so long to get those patients evacuated to a Medical facility somewhere in this country.

The most heartwrenching for me was when he realized the people that were near death, and there was no hope, they put them in the makeshift morgue to "die in peace' "No family members, no one there in their last moments on this earth" This is America.

Nate struggled when a man was told he couldnt take his dog on the bus, (from the highway) the father said he's had that dog for 14 years, the boys now 24, I cant make him leave his dog, I dont know what to do... Nate said "I dont give a **** about the cameras", and Hugged the man and promised to take the dog with him to the house they were staying at... and the sobs from the both of them were so moving... they did show them reunited at the home Nate mentioned.

Some were still wandering the streets having "escaped the horror at the SuperDome" same clothes for 6 or 7 days now???

http://www2.oprah.com/index.jhtml

[mamaprincess]

My love, we are a wounded family. That is why we must remain compassionate. It is such a tragedy it boggles the mind. Stay strong, pray and do what you can to help our familyheal.

[abacobaby]

I watched the Oprah show today and I think I cried the whole entire time. There are so many things I just couldn't get over. One of them was the makeshift morgue. Why are these people not being flown out to a real hospital? Don't you think some of them could actually be saved in a real hospital? Yesterday on the news they had the stories of hundreds of babies/children who are missing their parents. Today, watching the Oprah show, I thought, "What if some of their parents are laying in that morgue, dying and nobody even knows who they are?" It is just so heartbreaking.

I cried so much when they showed Nate talking about how some people managed to rescue their animals, but now they are not allowed to take them with them. That made me think of all those people still sitting in/on their houses unwilling to be rescued because they don't want to leave their pets. A part of me knows how they must feel. I mean, some of them have lost everything, including some of their family and some of them only have their pets left and now someone is telling them they have to give them up too? What may not be so important to one person, may be the whole world to another person.

I can't help thinking about the children,the elderly, the sick, and the pets, that are basically more helpless than most. They have no say in any of this at all.

It just breaks my heart....

[eeyore45]

In Sunday's paper they said the USS Bataan was located right there with 6 operating rooms, and 600 patient beds, all EMPTY... a navy ship capable of making "100,000 gallons of water a day" helicopter pilots flying from the decks, but the hospital beds are empty... 1,200 sailors as of Sunday were waiting to go ashore to help, but they werent asked, and had to wait.

[Free4Life11]

I DVR'ed it and look forward to seeing the episode. I know Oprah is very charitable so I can only assume she will give a lot to help.

[vettechick99]

Ugh the Nate-Dog scene was so sad! I wouldn't leave without my dog either, I don't care how starved or thirsty I was. :(

[goin2disneyagain]

I just turned it on after reading this post. I will watch what is left.

[RyMickey]

I debated watching it because I knew that a lot of it would be focusing on "if this were a more affluent neighborhood, would this have happened?" Well, I watched it anyway, and while the suffering is horrible, I get so irritated with the blame game...Thousands upon thousands of people affected, and we're still making this about race. Aargh....

[goin2disneyagain]

Ugh the Nate-Dog scene was so sad! I wouldn't leave without my dog either, I don't care how starved or thirsty I was. :(
I missed that but I keep seeing and hearing stories about people not leaving without their pets and I would be one of them. Either my dog goes too or I won't go. :paw: :paw: These people should not have to suffer anymore by leaving their beloved pets behind. That's just cruel.

[jonestavern]

Horrible sights & situations.
If I were the ship's commander,I'd be courtmarshalled for sending the crews in. Maybe those folks are terminal, but I would hope they could die made as comfortable as possible, surrounded by those who care & know how to care for their needs.
By the by, wouldn't leave my dogs, either. I am older though. I have a duty to my best furry children who have protected me here in 'the woods' & are a part of DS16's life.
we pray for all those in distress--
Jean

[miste76]

I am watching and crying right this very second... but I agree, the blame game needs to be put aside for now. Stop blaming someone else and everyone just step up to the plate.

Every second spent talking about who is at fault is a second wasted that could have been spent saving another person in need!!!


ETA: I wouldn't leave without my dogs either (I have 5 dogs here!)

[staci]

oh that was so sad! I was BAWLING like a baby the whole time.

[Robinrs]

I think her closing statements about calling these people "refugees" was so wonderful... everytime I heard that word the hair on the back of my neck stood up.

She said we should NOT call them "refugees", but SURVIVORS. They are not refugees, they are Americans."Man, I LOVED that!

[crazyforgoofy]

I think her closing statements about calling these people "refugees" was so wonderful... everytime I heard that word the hair on the back of my neck stood up.

She said we should NOT call them "refugees", but SURVIVORS. They are not refugees, they are Americans."Man, I LOVED that!


Me too Robin. I was so happy to hear her say it. It did my heart good.

[CheshireVal]

I don't really see anything so wrong with the word refugee. :confused3 It's usually used to describe someone who has fled something horrible and is seeking a safe place to stay (refuge), and I think we can all agree that Katrina was something horrible.

[mamalle]

I was glued to the TV this afternoon. there were so many heartbreaking stories.. the one with the police chief breaking down about babies being raped in the superdome really tore at me and the lady that was laying dead on the sidewalk, holding a bottle of OJ- all I can think of her being a diabetic and not getting enough sugar in time..

[karebear1]

OMG .... the poor guy and his doggie! :sad: :sad: :sad: :sad: I bawled my eyes out! Then, I found myself crying because of Nate's reaction. This whole thing is just so, so sad.

[WaltD4Me]

I'm sorry I don't quite understand the thing about the animals.

Now, BEFORE you go flaming me, I definitely understand that alot of people think of their pets as part of the family and that pets are very important. I am by no means an animal hater, but people had to come first in this situation. If leaving the animals off the buses would allow for more people on the buses, how can you be upset with that decision? :confused3

[BavarianPrincess]

I thought the show was very touching, and I teared up many times. I felt Oprah and her team were truly compassionate, and they brought home the terrible inhumanity of the situation.

[lbgraves]

This was the first that anyone has shown the dead bodies along the road and in the water. Knowing it is happening & seeing it are two totally different things. :(

[Robinrs]

I don't really see anything so wrong with the word refugee. :confused3 It's usually used to describe someone who has fled something horrible and is seeking a safe place to stay (refuge), and I think we can all agree that Katrina was something horrible.

Denotatively the word means somewhat of what you've written. CONnotatively it has a sadder, more derogative meaning. Just as denotatively a certain word is a female dog, you just don't want to be called it CONnotatively.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2004-01,GGLD:en&oi=defmore&q=define:refugee

The Princeton.edu website describes a refugee as an "exile who flees for safety". Under international law, a refugee is a person who is outside his/her country of nationality or habitual residence; has a well-founded fear of persecution because of his/her race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion; and is unable or unwilling to avail himself/herself of the protection of that country, or to return there, for fear of persecution. They are subgroup of the broader category of displaced persons.

Most descriptions point out the words "persecution" or "movement to a foreign country". These people are moving within their own country and are fleeing not persecution but a natural phenomena. I somewhat prefer the term used more appropriately of late, "evacuee". It's way more descriptive of the situation these people are in.

[ADisneygirl]

I found Oprah's show today so heartbreaking. Never have I spent so much time crying as I have this past week. This is the first time I have seen coverage of the dead in the streets and let me tell you that it really brings it all home.

I was most disturbed by the tour the heart surgeon was leading us on. My burning question is how can there be no means to transport these very ill people to hospitals and allow some of them to live?? How can they be put into a "morgue" area and left to die? Can you even imagine a moment of clarity in there and realizing you are laying among the dead and dying? That you have been abandoned? I am without words for this horror. Yes, there are too few medical personnel and supplies in that makeshift airport triage, but why not have planes on the ground to wisk them off somewhere else where there is some help? Why not take them out to that naval ship sitting idle and allow them to work on these people?

Instead it is going to be one of those things people look back at and say, we should have done it differently, much as they are remarking about loading all those people into the Superdome and not returning with help for days.

God help them and I pray that those in that "morgue" have few if any lucid moments in there.

[Free4Life11]

I gotta say I'm a guy and don't watch Oprah, but I DVR'ed this episode. Wow some of those images were horrendous. I was crying a few times, especially seeing the dead bodies on the street. So heartbreaking. And seeing bodies floating in water. :(

[Free4Life11]

This was the first that anyone has shown the dead bodies along the road and in the water. Knowing it is happening & seeing it are two totally different things. :(

I agree. Even the images we saw on MSNBC and the like which were awful....didn't even compare to see the actual bodies, floating in the water, lying dead on the street.

[Jpgirl]

I'm responding to the post about the morgue at the airport and the section about the dying. This is the explanation given to me by my dh who used to be an EMT and a MP. Triage is this: people come in and you do a quick assessment and divide them into 3 groups 1) the ones who will live no matter what 2)the ones that will die no matter what 3) the ones you can help. As sad as it is to think people are left to die ( and it is horryfying) the medical people there are saving as many as they can. The man on the show was dying and would not have been saved even if they had moved him at that second-he looked like he was actively dying based on what I've seen with my mom. This triage set up is not new and my sister HAD to take a course in it so she could continue her job in a school district after 9/11. It broke her heart to take the course and she's a nurse. I really believe everyone involved is doing everything they can.

[MaryAnnDVC]

I debated watching it because I knew that a lot of it would be focusing on "if this were a more affluent neighborhood, would this have happened?" Well, I watched it anyway, and while the suffering is horrible, I get so irritated with the blame game...Thousands upon thousands of people affected, and we're still making this about race. Aargh....I was TIVO'ing it, while I watched, and pressed "stop" at that point and turned it off. I don't want to replace my compassion for these people with anger over the racist blame game.

[LauraR]

Originally posted by RobinRS: Most descriptions point out the words "persecution" or "movement to a foreign country". These people are moving within their own country and are fleeing not persecution but a natural phenomena. I somewhat prefer the term used more appropriately of late, "evacuee". It's way more descriptive of the situation these people are in.

I agree that evacuee is the more accurate term, but I don't understand why people see the term "refugee" as pejorative. The people who are refugees in Africa and Asia are just that, people, no better or worse than the people in this country, and just as deserving of help.

[mom2boys]

I think her closing statements about calling these people "refugees" was so wonderful... everytime I heard that word the hair on the back of my neck stood up.

She said we should NOT call them "refugees", but SURVIVORS. They are not refugees, they are Americans."Man, I LOVED that!
Oprah gives people hope, no matter what. The difference between the words "refugee" & "survivor" is enormous. "Refugee" implies helpless and total lack of control. "Survivor" acknowledges what these people went through just to remain alive. It is uplifiting.

[Regina]

I don't get the whole "refugee" hang up either. Some of us have family members who were refugees. I'm very proud of that heritage.

[GoldenGate]

I debated watching it because I knew that a lot of it would be focusing on "if this were a more affluent neighborhood, would this have happened?" Well, I watched it anyway, and while the suffering is horrible, I get so irritated with the blame game...Thousands upon thousands of people affected, and we're still making this about race. Aargh....

It is more of a have and have not situation. Most that had the means to leave, did. The poor always get screwed in situations like this. Especially in Bush's United States :sad2:

[karebear1]

According to the City of New Orleans Emergency Preparedness Plans- they (the city) acknowledged there were at least 100,000 citizens that did not have the personal means to leave the city. They supposedly "planned" to have means of evacuation for these citizens 8-12 hours before any forecasted storm would hit. Of course, the "plans" appear as though they were never finished, along with "plans" for Shelters, etc. An incomplete Emergency Prep. plan is to blame for a huge portion of this tradegy in New Orleans.

[M:SteveO]

It is more of a have and have not situation. Most that had the means to leave, did. The poor always get screwed in situations like this. Especially in Bush's United States :sad2:

So in Clinton's United States, there were no poor people, poverty was completely wiped out, and if a hurricane this powerful struck in the same spot with the same results, none of this would have happened. I understand now, everything is Bush's fault. Bush is the root of all evil in the world. I understand now.

[halestrm]

Oprah gives people hope, no matter what. The difference between the words "refugee" & "survivor" is enormous. "Refugee" implies helpless and total lack of control. "Survivor" acknowledges what these people went through just to remain alive. It is uplifiting.

I have multiple friends who are survivors of the horrors of Sudan, but are in the states as refuges. One wrote a book about being a slave. Another traveled across Africa multiple times, watching other CHILDREN being eaten alive by animals, looking for an opportunity to be safe. To them, being in the States is an honor and a privileged. They do not have to fight a war against their tribes, they are not slaves, and life here is a wonder, full of turmoil yes, but mostly full of JOY. Read one of their books; "Escape from Slavery: The True Story of My Ten Years in Captivity and My Journey to Freedom in America" by Francis Bok (Amazon.com if you care to research it) if you want to tell me that refugee is a bad or demeaning word. Or read about one young man who is the first Lost Boy to go to college. http://cronkitezine.asu.edu/spring2004/sudan.html. PBS featured another of the men, his writings are here; http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2004/lostboysofsudan/special_oneday.html.

As I teenager, I had surgery at Shriner’s Hospital for CRIPPLED children. When we asked about the word crippled because we thought is was demeaning, we were told that we were crippled, and the word crippled better portrayed our situation. I didn’t like it as a 17 year old, but I now see the logic.

I have changed the way I talk from 'refugee" to evacuee" in order to make sure I do not in any way hurt the people I am working for and with, but please, lets not fuel any fires. Words are meant to be rich in their meaning. A refuge is a survivor. When I have used the word, based on my experiences, I meant it to mean someone who has overcome incredible odds to make it to a new opportunity. I meant someone strong, courageous and admirable.

[Mrs. Squirrel]

I debated watching it because I knew that a lot of it would be focusing on "if this were a more affluent neighborhood, would this have happened?" Well, I watched it anyway, and while the suffering is horrible, I get so irritated with the blame game...Thousands upon thousands of people affected, and we're still making this about race. Aargh....

My mom called me after the episode aired. She is a huge Oprah fan, yet she was very upset and put off that Oprah went there with the race issue. She thought it was very un-Oprah like.