What the NOLA Blogs are Saying: Return

(9 am. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

The bloggers I am about to quote — and there are so many more in this group equally as good — have emerged as sort of a blogging coalition since Katrina hit.  They have, working together (even when they violently disagree with each other), gotten the real story out on what’s been going on in New Orleans, from housing to the recovery to the colorful politics that they are working hard to change from within and without.  I believe they are an excellent example of citizen journalists and activists.

From Adrastos, the first NOLA blog I ever read, his post The Tiers of A Clown, on Mayor Nagin’s “return” plan:

There’s rampant confusion about re-entry. Nagin has been nattering on and on (it’s the only thing he does well) about a four tiered scheme. LINK. Supposedly, some sort of placard exists that would help people re-enter. Unfortunately, C Ray and his inept minions neglected to tell us how to obtain said placards either before Gustav or subsequently. As a business owner, I should in theory be in the third tier and be able to return tomorrow. BUT all I have is my occupational license. And I don’t feel like waving that at some burly guardsman with an automatic weapon. I suppose the info about the re-entry placards is another state secret like C Ray’s schedule.

We’re used to incompetent and high-handed government in New Orleans. Most of the time, it doesn’t effect our daily lives but right now it does. Our city is “led” by a fool who couldn’t find a bathroom without a GPS and we’re supposed to believe that he knows what’s best for ordinary citizens. This is the same mook who screwed the pooch in 2005 and has given us the glories of the Jack-o-Lantern recovery. And we’re now supposed to trust in C Ray and in a Governor who is out to make himself look good to aid and abet his ambition.

Over at Your RIght Hand Thief, oyster has both an opinion and a lot of links to his fellow NOLA bloggers on the subject, in “Tier One” Companies? :

They need to be let in early to check on their “stocks”, see.

First of all, what constitutes a “Tier One” company in New Orleans? I didn’t know we had any. Secondly, just the concept of this pisses me off, and is like an invitation to infiltrate. If they stop me at one of the designated roadblocks, perhaps I’ll just flash my (homemade) “badge” which I fashioned out of an old school ID and my Sears charge card. I’ll say: “I’m going in to check the vital ‘stocks’ of Toughskins at our Metairie store. A police escort is not necessary.”

I didn’t come up with the comparison, and I don’t recall who made it, but I agree that Oyster is sort of the Atrios of the NOLA blogs and linky goodness is only part of it.

From dangerblond, a post entitled exile in georgia:

Still in Atlanta  getting mixed messages about when we can return. Stories of people being kept out of St. Tammany parish. Horror stories from Baton Rouge. Major issues with electricity. We are very grateful for this nice place to stay. People who are paying for hotel rooms must be very stressed out right now.

Question from B: If all of us is a “diaspora,” is one of us a “diasporum?”

From Toulouse, a blog I have now started reading since Gustav came to town, Flotsam and Jetsam No. 2:

The blogger embeds are out checking areas of town. Mid-City’s own Michael Homan has power on the riverside of Carrollton, but those of us who are on the grid that powers Old Metairie, Lakeview, etc. are still out.

If we all think the peak days of the evacuation was a cluster, wait until 2 million people all try to go home on the same day. I’ve been told to expect bumper-to-bumper from Jackson, MS south. Looking at my Mississippi map for alternate routes.

Over at Maitri’s VatulBlog, Matri posts Day 1102: Still In Birmingham:

D and I have decided to stay in Birmingham for another day since City Hall has decided, in its infinite wisdom, that we cannot enter Orleans Parish until Thursday.  Many friends say that they had better not keep us out for too long because this will keep people from leaving for the next hurricane evacuation.  St. Charles Parish will tentatively re-open tomorrow with Jefferson Parish’s Aaron Broussard hinting that Jefferson Parish will open sooner than later.  Those of us who have left wait for various press conferences which will tell us when we can go home.  What a pain.

Maitri is one of the bloggers who was interviewed by ABCNews.com and she speaks in that post of how technology, and especially twitter, factored in to the experience of a lot of folks.

Jeffrey over at Library Chronicles, which I believe was to be a sports blog about the Saints (but not absolutely sure), has something to say about the Mayor’s re-entry plan in his post entitled “Piss on Ya”:

As good a way as any to sum up the reentry strategy for Unnecessary Evac 2008

Authorities are strictly monitoring re-entry into Jefferson Parish, stopping all vehicles to ask for drivers’ identifications and parish-authorized placards that were distributed before the storm.

The parish reopened today at noon for first responders, emergency medical staff and local business people who registered and received Tier 1 and Tier 2 placards.

About 20 cars and their hot, increasingly frustrated drivers waited on the shoulder of U.S. 90, hoping they would get into the parish today even though they don’t have official passes. Many had been waiting since early Tuesday morning, and several had strong words for Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard.

“Broussard wants you to jump when he says evacuate, but to come back, it’s ‘piss on ya!” said a frustrated Rodney Ory, who lives in Harvey.

I hope everyone on the Coast who was badly affected by Gustav will have a good recovery and not be forgotten, and especially those who live on our imperiled bayous.