Bring me your huddled masses.... 


This is the end?  



After a day of trying to solve a problem with the camera's second channel of audio, we find ourselves on the way to pick up Collum, the AP for Irish Television.



Michael, the producer/reporter for Irish TV has been delayed due to immigration issues. He will join us tomorrow. So off we go, our target: The Houston Astrodome. As most of you know, this is the site where many thousands of people from New Orleans has been relocated.



The above picture was taken from the ninth floor of the dome. How sad it was to see all these people, so many with stories of loss and despair. Every cot a different story. You can't leave here without both feeling joy for those who have lived and sad for where they now live.



I often find myself hating what I do. Like I am invading peoples lives for the sake of tv. But this is one of those stories that is SO big and so public, you have no other choice then to get in peoples face and get the shot. The above picture was taken on our first of two visits to the Astrodome. The lady in the white shirt (bottom left corner) has just told us about her family getting out of New Orleans on a rescue boat. Her 80 year old mother was left behind and she hasn't been able to get in touch with her. Is she alive? Safe? She doesn't know and may never know.




The view of these 20 - 30,000 people all living in one space is humbling. I think we all forget how great we have it. This place really put that in perspective for me.





It's always amazing to me that Jesse Jackson shows up for the human tragedy events. And as usual, he rips the media and tells us what to do and say. ::Rolls eyes:: Maybe I'm just not keyed into his whole persona, but I'll be damned if I know what he does in a regular day.




We drove into New Orleans proper and was able to find an area where citizen's were launching boats for rescue and media. So for $100, a guy named Jeff takes Sergio, the producer, a N.O. resident and I to his now submerged home. Granted the homeowner put on the manly front, but you could really feel his pain as he realized his home was a complete loss. While we were out on the boat, I noticed a couple of times that the smell of death would overtake the boat, briefly. Thankfully we didn't see any bodies, though they were surely there. Sergio did spot a dog floating by however. The water is just disgusting, vile. I can't imagine walking in that water for miles and not getting deathly ill.




So as look back at what we have seen and done, I feel really lucky to have my family and home to go home to. We managed to drive over 2700-3000 miles in 7 days and see most every affected area. For better or worse....? I will add photos as we go, but now I'm ready for vacation, time to forget.



 

Posted: Mon - September 5, 2005 at 08:53 PM          

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