New Orleans Relief Not Enough

The disaster response for Hurricane Katrina has been very unacceptable as you know, but I'd still like to put into perspective what has still not taken place. A fellow blogger Nancy has certainly put that into perspective.

If you look at past history, the hurricane of 1900 in Galveston Texas which devastated more than 8,000 lives is much like Hurricane Katrina. Galveston is still the worst weather disaster in American history, as measured in lost lives. However, I think with the aftermath of Katrina, we might be up for a new record.

There are more than 600 Swiss expatriates living in the three states worst affected by hurricane Katrina. Of course there is a deeper question for most, once they are safe in a shelter or with friends, will they ever be able to return home.

The Swiss Expat Andi Hoffman was fortunate enough to get out safely. He has actually been able to post on his website and has left emergency numbers where friends and family can actually contact him. I know he isn't alone on posting on websites to find people. Some people who aren't as fortunate are holding up signs or putting up post ups for people to read.

According to the International Energy Agency, 26 member countries, including Switzerland, would make a total of 60 million barrels of oil available to the market for a period of 30 days. That is some relief for the US. But will it really help with costs???

According to the IEA's news release:

"The IEA countries plus the European Union Commission unanimously support the measure to make available to the market the equivalent of two million barrels per day of oil for an initial period of 30 days"

There are two great links for finding relatives from Hurricane Katrina.

Go to MSNBC and find the "Safe lists" or the "looking for" lists and they can help point you in the right direction.