Thanks To The Internet

I have to give the Internet a "plug" today for the way it has been so useful to all of the victims of the two hurricanes that have hit and mostly destroyed my city. Since the first storm on August 28th and the second of September 23rd millions have relied on the internet.
In fact, after the electricity is restored in a home a working computer is a godsend. Those cell phones I hate so much have been a disaster, more often unusable as cell towers were destroyed and lines are clogged. But the internet has been reliable and comprehensive. We have used the internet to access information, find missing relatives and loved ones, file for insurance claims and government help, read local and state message boards, stay in touch with friends (that's you) to let them know how we have coped and are coping.
The Internet has given us a sense of normality too, a chance to forget the flooded homes and torn roofs, the uncomfortable environment we have suddenly been forced to cope with, and the daily, no hourly, frustrations we have due to the limitations imposed by the storm. There is even a local web support group called "Neighborhoods of New Orleans" that sent me an E mail asking me to join so that we might share information and sorrow.
The locator search sites have reunited thousands of people who were separated during rescue operations as Hurricane Katrina roared through. This is because one can narrow a search and be both precise and quick when using the net. Having to rely on humans to locate others is more cumbersome and less likely to be successful.
When I evacuated my home and was away for almost 2 weeks, I did not "miss the Internet" because I knew it was not a tool that was available. But when I returned and saw so many E mails, from so many people I care about it and be feel much less injured by the storm. So I salute both the Internet.
A bizarre Hurricane Katrina story to relate that would be funny if not so scurrilous. My local Kenner police department got a search warrant the other day to arrest the city Chief Administrative Officer, Cedric Floyd, on a charge of malfeasance in office for stealing four truckloads of hurricane relief supplies and diverting them to his home!
That's right. The second in command in my city stole the very bread from the mouths of those devastated by the storm. Police said they retrieved the trucks of donated supplies that included new clothes, tools, food, bottled water and medicine. One would think "Hurricane Cedric" would not need to steal from the needed. his salary as the Kenner CAO is $83,000 per year. Military workers who had been assisting Cedric in handing out the supplies had complained and said they saw Cedric stealing boxes of it.
They issued the complaint to police that resulted in his arrest. Cedric says he was "securing the supplies at his home" and was intending to give them away later (but policy Cedric himself is sworn to uphold says that is illegal). Anyone who would accept that excuse would have to have had hurricane damage to the brain. Maybe the judge who sentences Cedric should require that he live off those supplies while he serves his time in jail.