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H:\!DOCS\MSOFFICE\WINWORD\TEMPLATE\NORMAL.DOT LETTERS FROM THE EDGE Charles V. Balch Charles V. Balch Cruzan Breeze Charles Balch Completely Unofficial St. Croix News Tuesday, September 26 Doing better than yesterday! Helping each other. Pass info along. Stay positive. Eat. --- Blatant Editorial --- News holds us together. We need to know about our environment, community and friends. Today, listening to the Official Disaster Network radio, you would think that nothing is happening. They were doing Happy Birthdays during the official news period of 15 minutes past the hour. It’s nice to have some normalcy but I believe the community has larger interests. We need statistics on power and phones for all islands; Relief Center openings and closing; etc. We just got slammed by a major hurricane that snuck up fast. To ease our fears, people need complete weather reports. Not the usual “Partly sunny and light breezes today and tomorrow.” I still sweat when I think about the very believable but false stories of hurricane Noel that were circulating days after Marilyn. It’s a reasonable concern, in the days before Marilyn,we got just the usual weather recording. It is utter crap to explain news is being limited so as not to panic others. Some of the facts from suppressed stories (like the overflowing STT morgue) will get out. Distorted news is the worst. I’m tired of hearing commentary. That’s fluff. Give us facts. Repeat the facts. We continue to hear tales of backdoor distribution to relief workers. We hope, if true, the recipients were as needy as the persons in line being denied or delayed. If not, this is the worst form of looting and should be treated as such. Come on, bust some people. I don’t care how nice the item is, it does no one any good in a garage. Relief worker or not, if you took it and you don’t need it, bring it back for someone who does. Certainly there should only be major shame not joy of ownership in using a stolen item. Yes, an item taken under false pretenses is stolen. --- Bulletin Board --- There is a memorial service for Earl, a well loved member of our marine community who died while protecting his boat, at Salt River. The service is today (Tuesday) at 5 PM. Earl, you are missed. Margot at Gone Tropical says she has full facilities. She offers cellular phone owners a place to charge their batteries. The good folks at the Wreck bar offer an emergency bulletin board. Post info on persons you want to hear from, let people know you’re OK, find a place to live, offer a pace to live, etc. Thanks Mark and Robin. --- We heard --- The Daily News reports government estimates 3 billion dollars in damages which will probably rise. This figure is twice Hugo’s. We have heard so many tales of stores and businesses opening for business as usual that it seems that almost all must be back. The few spots that lack power are pressing on. A STT Red Cross Center was having real problems with lines this morning. A Red Cross representative was on the radio asking for increased police presence. The biggest problem seems to be friend and family letting others join them mid-line. Another issue seems to be non-residents are applying for aid. I don’t understand this one. Are people moving on island to stand in line? How are they getting here? I hope American disaster relief is not just for Americans. It should be for anyone who needs it. But there was news from California about thousands of people coming across the boarder to claim emergency rent. Often more than once. It could be lucrative; 2,200 a shot adds up. You should get a tetanus shot or booster if you need one. There may be other appropriate shots. Tend to your wounds even the minor ones. We hope to hear more on this issue. Distribution is still a problem on both islands. We don’t think anybody is going hungry for lack of food. We do hear many tales of bad behavior in other lines. It’s worse in STT. The amount of relief supplies coming into the islands is staggering. We have every FEMA tarp from the states. Coleman’s entire output of generators is coming our way. Roofs are being covering neighborhood by neighborhood. We have also heard that you can sign up at Distribution Centers; but the stories vary. Someone who lives at the house must be present to authorize the repair (renters OK but neighbors are not). The first FEMA center opens on Monday at United Shopping Plaza in Sion Farm. We have not heard about problems but be careful what you sign from adjusters and insurance companies. About 200 people died on St. Martin. Over 220 boats destroyed Some huge with helicopter pads and such. We are so sorry to hear. We have not heard of any problems yet but many stores in Christiansted are operated by a single woman clerks. Some have mentioned concerns for there safety. “Strange folks are walking around.” An increased police presence in this area would make sense. --- A Conversation with Mom --- Mom is a survivor of Camille where we lost everything. In addition to my Camille experience, I survived Hugo (with total loss) and Marylin/Louis (where I have been fortunate). Mom and I talked about the spiritual importance of hurricanes. The disorientation and loss of reference that people experience after a major loss can bring about primitive reactions. This is normal. Particularly for persons who have been putting all their energy into material acquisition, along with your possessions the wind can take your spirit, your vital force. Don’t identify self with anything less than your soul. Look to rebuild your spirit. Some never recover from a devastating experience others grow. We can decide to grow back better both physically and spiritually. Think about those promises you made to God during the storm. Mom and I discussed how our hurricane experiences have made us better. Our focus is now on friends and community not material goods. The wind can’t blow that away. We must individually rise to the occasion and make the decision to save ourselves. Unfortunately many relief programs give the impression that they are going to pull you out of the problems you are in. They wave flashy and needed material goods around till that is all we can see. Few relief programs give the soul the focus it deserves. You are not exerting your personal power if you sit around (or stand in line) waiting for someone else to make you better. Not that we do it completely alone but help must start with the individual at your center to grow. Focus on your spirit first. Mom says it was either Emerson or Thoreau who wrote “We lay waste our powers getting and spending.” If a person (or institution) keeps an open mind and tries to work on the task of renewing and revitalizing in a new environment instead of focusing on the destruction of old structures and resources, disasters can be beneficial. No one enjoys destructive events, but the catharsis and new possibilities inherent in destruction may outweigh the extent of the destruction. Thanks for the focus Mom. Always good to talk to you. --- Current Weather --- Weather is from my parents in the states who take notes off the weather channel. This morning’s Dad report is “At the moment there is nothing threatening but a storm could develop. If there is anything, it’s days away.” Thanks Dad (John Balch)! Mom (our color commentator) says “There is a big upper low that should keep things cloudy but expect rain when it moves out. There are two main players out there. One near the Yucatan may become a depression by the time it enters the Gulf. We don’t have to worry about that one. There is a healthy Tropical Wave off Africa that has a chance to further develop. Weather radar shows a lot of blue, no red and some frothy white. We will be watching this one close.” Thanks Mom (Rita Breath)! As a sailor looking through the roof (just kidding Tabby ( ), I think that today is going to be hazy with some small showers. Very little wind. My intuition is that nothing bad is coming. --- Irie Ideas --- DPNR requests Naval chain be lain down for the marine community. Create a boat dump site (<60’) as a dive attraction.. Getting the word out to national media that STX is alive, well and ready for your tourist dollar. Let’s use the more durable concrete telephone poles as we rebuild. Better yet, put everything underground. FEMA would probably help pay for them. --- Hall of Fame --- All a we. The Virgin Island community is hanging together and responding heroically. Mom and Dad, thanks for all the help you’ve given your budding journalist. Governor Roy you’re doing an incredible job. Vic, our congressman, was a major source of information for stateside friends and relatives. The Police Department. Senators are finally justifying those major staffs. We’re going to ignore all those newspaper articles from now on (at least a couple of months). The ice cream folks at five corners who gave it all a way. Gotta love those HAM radio operators. They provided communication when no one else could. Trey Parnell and Addy Ottley are staying positive and keeping us informed. --- How ting? --- STT still has major problems. But things have settled somewhat. Troops keep rolling in, there is a major presence from the VI Police, US Army, Federal Marshals, National Guard, FBI, Forest Service, Corp. of Engineers, Charleston Police Department and the Border Patrol. We’re talking road blocks and roving patrols. I may have missed a group, it sounds like we’ll be seeing the Ninja Turtles and Rescue Rangers soon. All are very welcome. Troops, you are and have been doing a great job. Thanks! Road blocks work! Reports are that of about 11,000 telephone poles, 3 to 4 thousand are down. On STX things are very good (considering). We guess about 40% destruction. Like STT, curfew is 8 PM to 6 AM and even that may be a bit much. Out of respect to a government that is doing so well, people are pretty much keeping to it. Reported high theft rates in Frederiksted are not unusual. Current stats for power (?%), phones (65%). Airport is open. Reports are that all VITELCO and WAPA restoration efforts focus on STX. A preliminary WAPA crew came by the Fortress a couple days ago and we are big time remote. Most private and parochial schools are open. Lots of raw sewage was released on all islands, stay out of the ocean. Swimming is banned. Sort your debris. Metal, non-biodegradable (lumber and such), and Biodegradable (bush) are handled differently. Don’t touch wires. Don’t allow mosquitoes to breed. Homes that lost roofs or electrical connection must be certified by WAPA before power is re-attached. When you get power, be careful before turning breakers on. --- Eyewitness STT Reports --- Talked to my friend Debs from STT yesterday morning. God it was great to finally hear her voice! I was pretty sure that she was OK but She run ting at Tutu mall and reports that the mall is open and in pretty good shape. The mall was not looted - thanks to mall security who did a super human job. The food court started serving Monday after the storm. That’s fast! K-Mart says they plan sell off their inventory then rebuild bigger and better. Plaza Extra is damaged. She reports that the body count is as big a mystery as the actual looting that occurred. --- Talk About de Money --- Oh boy do we have news! You can dial the Teleregistration from a land line if you first dial ATT at 102880. Ask for the FEMA teleregistration desk at (800) 462-9029. There hour are 7 to 7 Central standard time. That’s a Breeze exclusive that we hope will be quickly passed on! Here is what happened when we registered. It took about 1/2 an hour. They are going to want to know your: Name, SS#, time of the disaster (Friday, Sept. 15, Evening), physical and mailing address including zip, damages to your auto, roof, electrical power, Heating/AC, plumbing, access to your home, foundation, windows/doors, floor/ceiling, clothing, furniture, if you own, is it livable, what money you have already spent on repairs, if you’re in immediate danger (including medical needs - don’t forget eye glasses, dentures etc.), insurance status, who was living there at the time of the storm, your source(s) of income, how much you make and whether you own a business that was affected (if that answer is yes it probably starts another set of similar questions including number of employees, loss of income, damage to inventory, rent etc). Be sure to ask for your control number right away (before they start with all the questions) as you may get cut off and you will need the number to complete or follow your application. Also ask the name of the person you are working with and their number. Be friendly - they are. You will be informed of what other programs are applicable to you like DHA (Disaster Housing Assistance) and SBA (Small Business Administration). Later you will need to provide physical proof of home ownership, pictures, receipts and such. We are not sure how we are going to get the physical forms. Mondo cool would be for FEMA to connect with their stateside computers and locally print out the forms with our names and responses. This is not rocket scientist technology (your author routinely does similar things). At that time, they could inform us of when we are going to see an adjuster. Lines would be ultra short if we were only picking up a pre-filled form. I hate to fill out forms twice. And the data gets corrupted. The forms may get mailed which would be OK but slower. Why not do both? --- Who dat mon? --- Isle 95 (95.6 on FM) is doing a great job focusing on STX. Lucky 13 (AM 1340) is the official disaster coverage station. The focus is on STT. Post Office is now bringing in first class or better mail. Red Cross is good for food, shelter and messages to the outside world. They focus on STT. Cellular systems are pretty much completely back. It helps to be independent of telephone poles. ATT is offering free calls to anywhere in the world - if you get to one of their offices. Call 102880 to work with them to get access to 800 numbers. Call VITEMA at 773-2244 for central assistance. They coordinate everything and will remove roadside debris. Red Cross is providing food, clothing, rental vouchers, ice chests etc. --- Who de Cruzan Possé dem? --- Charles Balch, is our primary author, publisher etc. He is assisted by friends Kevin Moran and Eileen Foran. Victoria Prehn gets the Brenda Star award for heroic coverage of STT. My dad really appreciates her personal visit to his mostly intact home. She is also the president of PC Paradise who has provided the Breeze with printers and such. We are not official in any way. --- Breeze Info --- This is a fact sheet. Not a paper. The Breeze is completely rewritten everyday. What needs to be repeated is repeated. Many people only see one copy. If you paid anything, I want to hear about it. The Breeze is a labor of love and free. The many thankyous from persons who have said this is the best (only!) information they have received are ample payment. Physically, we are dug in on the East end of STX. PC Paradise is acting as our center of communication. Voice is 773-9227, fax 773-9228. Our purpose is to help the community. Many people and relief agencies do not have time to monitor all the news. We hope the Breeze answers pressing questions. We do our best to be accurate but the facts are changing by the hour. Call with corrections. Please copy and redistribute. To allow for photocopying and refaxing we no longer include graphics. Our resources limit us to about 150 copies and 25 faxes a day. We guess that about 1,500 people a day are reading us locally. Distribution is national and international. We hear some news services are reprinting parts of the Breeze. Thanks, that helps get the information out! This is not copyrighted but I would appreciate being indicated as the source. Love to all! Normal Heading 1 Heading 2 Heading 3 Heading 4 Heading 5 Heading 6 Default Paragraph Font Header Footnote Text List Table Footnote Reference Bibliography Example Quote Question Answer wfxRecipient wfxFaxNum Heading UVZc0 Telecom_Out Telecom_In Page_Heading wfxDate Title_Heading wfxTime wfxSubject Footer Charles V. Balch H:\!DOCS\BREEZE8.DOC Charles V. Balch H:\!DOCS\BREEZE8.DOC Charles V. Balch H:\!DOCS\BREEZE8.DOC Charles V. Balch H:\!DOCS\BREEZE9.DOC Charles V. Balch H:\!DOCS\BREEZE9.DOC Charles V. Balch H:\!DOCS\BREEZE9.DOC Charles V. Balch H:\!DOCS\BREEZE9.DOC Charles V. Balch H:\!DOCS\BREEZE9.DOC Charles V. Balch H:\!DOCS\BREEZE9.DOC Charles V. Balch H:\!DOCS\BREEZE9.DOCÿ@HP LaserJet 4/4M LPT1: HPPCL5E HP LaserJet 4/4M HP LaserJet 4/4M Symbol Wingdings Palatino Book Antiqua Courier Courier New LETTERS FROM THE EDGE Charles V. Balch Charles V. Balch