(Also published in Madison’s Isthmus Weekly – DailyPage.com)
This is Maitri V-R, Wisconsin graduate and, until a few days ago, a resident of New Orleans. I lived in Madison between 1998 and 2003 in the capacity of a graduate student in geology and computational sciences. In fact, I am the current president of the New Orleans chapter of the Wisconsin Alumni Association and I was just beginning work on the fall alumni-football-watching schedule. With me is DE, born and raised in Door County and a former employee of the UW Division of Information Technology.
Right after Mayor Nagin called for a mandatory evacuation, D and I boarded up the windows of our 130-year-old Lower Garden District home, packed some valuables into our car and drove to sanctuary in the home of Houston friends. A 5-hour drive took us almost 16 hours due to the sheer volume of traffic and the simple fact that we couldn’t drive west on a gridlocked I-10W. Instead, our route took us north through Mississippi, back into Louisiana and south through Texas. We made it to Houston right before Katrina’s landfall; I slept fitfully that night to wake up to the hurricane destroying a portion of the city through which we had just evacuated.
New Orleans would be mostly fine right now, considering the Category-4 winds, but it was not to be. Owing to the failure of a part of our famous pump system that processes 29 billion gallons of water each day and the breach of key levees, much of New Orleans is now underwater. The longer the sewage- and chemical-laden waste resides in the city, the worse and more prolonged the cleanup. We found out through friends and reports that our home is fine but entry to the city will take a long while. The uncertainty is maddening. As someone who already lost one home in Kuwait to the Iraqi invasion of 1990, this is beyond heartbreaking.
Most frightening is that one of my friends is still in New Orleans. Mac Lee, a Tulane University law student, former resident of Milwaukee and sister of Tim Lee, former UW graduate student, is in the high, dry and safe Lower Garden District, staying with a friend’s family. When I finally got through to her on the phone this morning, she sounded calm and collected, but stresses the need for concentrated and widespread troops on the ground to curb the criminal element that has sprung up in the absence of law and order. Gangs have not invaded our neighborhood yet, but the longer the troops are delayed, the higher the potential for gang activity in previously unaffected neighborhoods. Mac and her friends attempted to leave yesterday, but reports of carjacking led to their staying at home and keeping a low profile. If you want to help us, please contact your congresspeople and urge them to help us with a strong and coordinated military presence before any progress can be made.
What of our friends? What of their homes across the city? What has become of our jobs? Where will our jobs go if relocated? Do we really have to stay away for two months or more? More immediately, when can we go back home to help clean up and rebuild? These are questions that run around in circles in the heads of frustrated evacuees who are sick of hearing increased sensationalization of the news out of New Orleans on the major networks. Also, the sheer impotence of being an evacuee is mind-numbing. For these two reasons, I’ve turned my blog into a Katrina resource full of neighborhood information, updates from the ground and opinion. If nothing, as someone who knows New Orleans well, I can help disseminate much-needed information, minus the disaster focus, to those who are dying for it.
New Orleans will grow back like the wild flower it is. Until then, please, please, please pray for us.
Sincerely,
Maitri
We’re here for you. Just let us know if you need anything.
Maitri,
You should be sending this letter to all the major newspapers! You have a way with words. I cannot imagine your frustration, and I feel deeply for you guys. Peace!
-Annie
I think of you every day.
The federal response so far is a disgrace.
And for those Wisconsonites who don’t know who their legislators are or how to contact them:
http://165.189.139.210/WAML/
Do it now!
I agree with Annie, please send this out. seriously. please. do. it. people don’t know what is happening and your letter, the personal touch, the political, everything is incorporated in the few paragraphs.
I think of you and Derick every single day. It absolutely breaks my heart to know that there are people still stranded in New Orleans and help is so slow in coming. Let us know if you need anything at all.
Maitri,
I’m sure you’ve seen this, but I wanted to make sure:
DATE: September 1, 2005
TO: Faculty and Staff
FROM: Peter D. Spear, Provost
RE: Help in the wake of Hurricane Katrina
By now you may have read that UW-Madison is taking steps to assist Wisconsin residents who are studying at colleges and universities closed by the catastrophic damage from Hurricane Katrina. The press release is attached below.
In addition, some members of the UW-Madison community may find their work at the university directly affected by the hurricane; for example, students and staff whose return to campus is delayed, or individuals who are among the members of the National Guard being deployed to assist in the wake of the storm.
What can you do to help?
Issues relating to UW-Madison students, staff, and faculty who are delayed in returning to campus:
* UW-Madison students who are delayed in their return by the effects of
the storm will need some consideration if they have missed class or assignments, have not received the materials or guidance they would have had if they arrived with the other students, or are still dealing with personal challenges created by the storm.
* Departments and programs should find ways to assist and cover the work
assignments of faculty, staff, or teaching assistants who are temporarily delayed in their return by the effects of the storm.
* The problems that may arise because of the delayed return of students,
staff, and faculty are very similar to those the campus has faced successfully in the case of international entry delays. Many helpful tips are available at the International Entry Delay website:
.
* Some of the National Guard units that have been mobilized to help
include UW-Madison staff and students. The Registrar provides advice to students who are mobilized for service at:
. Please make efforts to accommodate students and staff who are mobilized for service.
Issues relating to students, staff, and faculty from colleges and universities that have been closed due to storm damage:
* Wisconsin residents who were enrolled as undergraduates in colleges
and universities that have been shut down for the semester because of hurricane damage will be welcomed to UW-Madison as special or matriculated students. They will arrive after the start of the semester, but within the first three weeks. Faculty and instructional staff retain control over enrollment in their courses after the regular registration period, but we strongly urge you to give consideration to these students when they seek entry into your courses.
* We will make every effort to give these students the advising and
other services they need to settle in, but please remember that their lives have been disrupted, and they will be unfamiliar with the campus and our practices. Please extend whatever help you can offer. (A list of other sources of help is printed below.)
* Professional and graduate programs may be approached in the next
couple of weeks by students seeking a place to continue their studies while their universities are closed. Please be prepared to consider these requests and make a timely response. Note that UW-Madison and its programs must avoid “raiding” the programs that have suspended activity because that would cause long-term damage to those programs. But accepting these students as visiting scholars or special students on a temporary basis will help them carry on their work and contribute to our own community.
If you have questions, please contact Lois Beecham at 262-2433.
* Departments, programs, and research centers may be approached by
faculty and other scholars seeking a place to continue their work while their universities are closed, or you may wish to be proactive in extending invitations to colleagues in those universities. If you have the resources they need, you may, of course, welcome visiting scholars in the normal ways.
For more information on sources of help, please see:
.
All of us are shocked by the devastation that Hurricane Katrina left behind. We do not yet know how many UW-Madison community members are affected, or how many other people will seek assistance, but it is important that we respond as helpfully and compassionately as we can.
==================================================
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
8/31/05
UW-MADISON JOINS HURRICANE RELIEF EFFORTS
MADISON – The University of Wisconsin-Madison is taking steps to assist Wisconsin residents studying at colleges and universities closed by the catastrophic damage from Hurricane Katrina.
The university is also working with UW-Madison students from the damaged areas and those who have been called up to Wisconsin National Guard duty to join relief efforts.
“We want to do everything in our power to assist families-especially Wisconsin families – as they cope with the horrible damage caused by this natural disaster,” says Chancellor John D. Wiley, who adds that other Big Ten and national research universities are planning similar efforts.
The university will attempt to accommodate students from institutions that have been officially closed by hurricane damage, should they want to study in Madison. The university will assist students in several sets of distinct circumstances. Among them:
– Wisconsin residents who are freshmen at another institution (closed by storm damage) who had been previously accepted to UW-Madison.
A student in this situation would be enrolled as a UW-Madison undergraduate. The student would be encouraged to return to his or her original institution after the end of the semester, or whenever the original institution reopens.
– Wisconsin upperclassmen and freshman not previously admitted and attending another institution closed by hurricane damage. Students in this situation will be able to continue their education through the UW-Madison Division of Continuing Studies.
– Non-resident students. UW-Madison is working with other higher education associations such as the Association of American Universities (AAU) and the Committee for Institutional Cooperation (CIC) to facilitate options for non-resident students from closed institutions in the affected areas.
Students need to enroll as soon as possible, with a final deadline of Sept. 23.
Students or families interested in pursuing these options should contact Tom Reason in the Office of Admissions at (608) 262-3961, or reason@admissions.wisc.edu.
Once students make their way to Madison, the university will assist with their housing search through the services of University Housing, Private Residence Halls or Madison-area apartments.
The Offices of the Dean of Students (ODOS) has made an effort to contact the more than 60 UW-Madison students who list a Louisiana or Mississippi home address.
Any returning UW-Madison student affected by the hurricane and in need of any campus assistance should contact ODOS at (608) 263-5700, dos@bascom.wisc.edu. Among the services available are crisis loans, assistance with coursework and excused absences from classes.
The Registrar’s Office will facilitate the departure of any student called up by the Wisconsin National Guard in the wake of the storm. For more information, contact (608) 265-4628.
Faculty or staff members called to active duty should work with their dean or unit director.