Jimmy Johnson, the artist who draws the incredibly funny (and all too real-life) Arlo & Janis comic strip, has been a resident of Pass Christian, MS — one of the small coastal towns flattened by Katrina. Fortunately, he left well ahead of the storm and even managed to keep his website updated (much to the relief of his fans).
He and other residents were allowed to return this week and pick up some of the pieces. Fortunately for Jimmy and his neighbors, they were behind a low ridge that spared their houses of all but severe flooding (many houses in the area were floated off their foundations) and he is one of the lucky few who has been able to at least camp out in his own house. Instead of posting comics, he has been bicycling around what's left of the town and taking pictures of local landmarks, relief stations, and neighbors salvaging their belongings. Nothing I've seen in the media or the blogosphere has really brought home the devastation on a personal level like this photo gallery.
The most poignant picture in the gallery is this one of a memorial to local victims of Hurricane Camille in 1969.
Just go check it out. And if your local paper doesn't carry Arlo & Janis, you can at least read it online.
Friday, September 23, 2005
1 comment:
Comments are welcome, and they don't have to be complimentary. I delete spam on sight, but that's pretty much it for moderation. Long off-topic rants or unconstructive flamage are also candidates for deletion but I haven’t seen any of that so far.
I have comment moderation on for posts over a week old, but that’s so I’ll see them.
Include your Twitter handle if you want a shout-out.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
LinkWithin
I saw your post on a blog about your efforts to help in the hurricane areas. We are a group that has partnered with several hundred organizations and thousands of churches to bring a very coordinated faith-based effort to the task. In the very early days of Katrina we set up 21 relief centers in churches throughout the affected area. Our blog www.axiom.typepad.com/katrinarelief can fill you in on where they are all at, but many are the ones that you have seen repeatedly on the news.
ReplyDeleteOur purpose has been to empower those churches to be the church by bringing in all the supplies and set them up to minister to their community. When all the dust clears we want that church to shine and be in a position to be known better and for us all to have shown Jesus in a very real way.
Many of the groups that are involved together have worked around the world on these types of disasters and are very strategic in our partnerships to be the most effective. We are equally focused on ministry and relief in the area. We want people to know we are Christians and we love them. We have had tremendous favor with the local, state, and Federal government in all our efforts.
We would love to know you and see how we can help you in your endeavors to help in the relief efforts. We have a good army of rotating volunteers but definitely need more. We have been granted access to New Orleans proper in the next day and will need many to help with those efforts. We have had a good location in Gretna on the West Bank of New Orleans where we have two ships (Friendships) docked. We are housing and feeding volunteers from there in those efforts.
Yes we are also very involved in Rita with relief centers in Beaumont, Houma, Lake Chas, Bridge City, and many more with a staging center in Porter.
We can help volunteers get ready to come, provide them with insurance, get them clearance (if needed), and engage them with a team. We can also coordinate supplies into the areas that need them most. I hope we can work together.
Scott Michael Ringo
s.m.ringo@cox.net
757-748-4747 cell
757-282-2561 fax
www.axiom.typepad.com/katrinarelief
Partnering with the Katrina Relief Initiative