c/Net news publishes this article, Bloggers record Katrina destruction. It was good to see Kaye Trammel’s name in the article. She gives us an up close and personal account on Kay’s Hurricane Katrina Blog. Check her post on How to help and the one on Lessons learned.
I still find it
amazing to follow the conversations and be a part of these first-hand
accounts. The article has numerous links to blogs and many other
resources. What a top-notch resource all these first-hand accounts, photo galleries,
and discussion forums will be for classroom teaching now and in the
future.
This storm has had devastating effects for Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The remnants of Hurricane Katrina crashed into Georgia last night. The
western part of our state seemed to get the worst of it.I read on Wikipedia that 80% of New Orleans is now said to be under water, which in some places is 25 feet deep.Some experts predict a million people could become homeless as a result of the storm. What a devastating event this is! It will have far reaching effects for quite some time. My heart goes
out to all the people who have been in Katrina’s path. FEMA has a list of voluntary organizations who are seeking cash donations to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina in Gulf Coast states.
A couple of things I noticed about Kaye’s blog that is of interest from a blogging perspective.
Here’s her About blurb:
Looks like I’m not going anywhere for this hurricane, so if you want to
know what is going on in Southern Louisiana then just stop by here for
my little dispatches from the front lines. As long as I have power,
I’ll post updates to the blog. After that if you are still interested
in me, you can check me out at my normal blog so this is mass communication?.
I
wanted to point out the ‘about’ space as I think this is so important
on blogs. I have been reading numerous blogs over the past few days,
both Katrina related and educationally related. It is incredibly
frustrating not to know who is behind the blog. It really makes a
difference and let’s you understand the author’s perspective.
This post gives her take on how she feels LSU is missing the boat in being a part of the coverage on Katrina. It’s her view as a public relations professor
Then her response to a national media reporter who said “in storms like these we see the limits of technology”
We had 2 days notice to evacuate. Time to pay at the pump to fill the
gas tank. Time to charge the mobile devices we knew would keep us
company if the power went out. Blogs that let is talk to people in
Germany or those 5 blocks away. Power restored within the same day it
was knocked out by the hurricane.
Lest we forget I’m still typing these posts from my BlackBerry.
So don’t tell me we learned the limits of technology in the last 24 hours. I say we’ve pushed them.
You can tell Kaye is a
“true educational blogger” because in the midst of this devasting event
she is continuing to teach and learn.
Here’s her post on what the blog has done for her:
I’m
not done posting but I’m sure now that the event seems to be passing
some of you will resume your normally scheduled lives. So before I lose
you I wanted to say thank you for reading the updates, caring about the
people of Southern Louisiana & the Gulf Coast & helping keep me
sane.
From Israel, to Florida, to NYC, to Germany, to Indiana,
and back to Baton Rouge - it has been great to have something
constructive to do during the hurricane.
Being alone in an
apartment while your husband is in another state during a hurricane is
not the most fun thing I’ve done. The past few hours I have been
fighting boredom & restlessness. Especially given that the power,
cable & Internet are out. Having you all comment, give advice &
just generally “be there” really helped manage the situation.
I’ll keep updating this thing mainly because I know my family is still worried, but I did want to say thank you for reading.
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Read Paul’s blog to get all the details and enjoy a very creative post. He must have seen “My Fair Lady” recently as I did at the Fox in Atlanta. So to Paul I say…
