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Temporal Temporal : Hurricane Irene Hits VivirLatino HQ

8:29 am By Maegan La Mala · New York City|Weather · Comments Off

28 Aug 2011

As I write this, Hurricane Irene has been downgraded to a tropical storm, leaving a path of destruction behind her. Here at VivirLatino headquarters, in lovely Queens, NYC, there has been lots of wind, lots of rain, and lots of leaking but we have power and are grateful for our safety. We are hoping that all of you readers who have dealt with, are dealing with, or will be dealing with the storm, are also safe and have what you need.

Adding to the NYC Snowgasm Complaints

11:55 am By Maegan La Mala · New York City|Weather · 3 Comments

29 Dec 2010

It’s been 3 days since about two feet of snow fell on VivirLatino headquarters and the rest of my beloved NYC, and three 3 days later, I’m shaking my fist at the city and Mayor Bloomberg too.

I’ve seen my share of snowstorms in the big mango, I have been stranded at the airport because of them but this is by far the worse response I have seen by NYC in my 33 years of vida. I don’t know if this can be blamed on budget cuts, poor management or Bloomie just not giving a flying fuck in his third term.

Yesterday afternoon, I watched my vecinos in Corona carry baby strollers over their heads just to get across unplowed streets and a NYC bus (#23) seemed frozen in the same spot it had been since the storm began over the weekend.

It’s raining oil…

8:46 am By la Macha · Environment|Health|Weather · 3 Comments

2 Jul 2010

This is just about the most enraging thing I’ve seen in a while.

National Weather Service Science and Operations Officer Charlie Paxton says while it’s always possible a water spout could pick up some oil and carry it a short distance, the notion of black rain is just not possible. Paxton says that’s because oil does not evaporate. As a result, talk of black rain is just a myth.
Jalapnik.com mentions, however that “under normal environmental temperatures, oil does not evaporate, however with the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the effects of seawater emulsification and the introduction of BP’s dispersant of choice, Corexit 9500, may be allowing some degree of evaporation into the water cycle.”

Now, yes yes, of course, black rain isn’t possible, or it might be, who the hell knows. And this video may be video of the oil from somebody’s car mixing with rain. But maybe it’s not. Who knows.

The infuriating enraging part is that nobody knows. That we have to all sit and think now, what the hell are the implications of this massive oil spill that nobody anywhere seems to have any damn clue on how to stop. Is it possible to rain oil? Do you know? Do scientists to know? Does Jesus know?

The Aftermath of Hurricanes in the Caribbean and Hwo to Help

10:53 am By Maegan La Mala · Cuba|Haiti|Weather · Comments Off

9 Sep 2008

Yesterday, we wrote about the rising death toll in Caribbean island nations, as they bear the brunt of a series of hurricanes and tropical storms. Some images from Haiti:

Read after the jump to find out how you can help.

Ike’s Unwated Visit to Caribbean

10:01 am By Maegan La Mala · Cuba|Dominican Republic|Haiti|Weather · 1 Comment

8 Sep 2008

Hurricane Ike plows it’s way through the Caribbean today, with Havana, the capital of Cuba in it’s path.

Ike already went through Haiti and the Dominican Republic as a category 3 hurricane, killing at least 58 people in Haiti alone and one reported death in the Dominican Republic. Ike has since been downgraded to a category 2 storm, with 105 mile-per-hour winds.

Haiti has been hit particularly hard, with a death toll of at least 319 people from an unrelenting four storms in a row.

”With the others we lost houses, we lost animals and we lost plantations. Never bodies,” said Lisemene Ferry Raphael, 46, standing across from her dead 12-year-old god daughter.

There are bodies on almost every other corner inside the town, where two rivers and the torrential rain of Ike swallowed houses and swept children and old women downstream, according to The Miami Herald, which has the only international reporter at the town along Route 1 on the road to the city Gonaives.

Franzt Samedi’s 5-year-old adopted daughter, Tamesha Jean, was among the dead.

”I’m the one who she calls Papa. I’m the one who is responsible for her. If she were with me she would not have died,” Samedi said.

Via / Citizen Orange

Homeland Security Says Immigrants Have Nothing to Worry About As They Escape Gustav

4:54 am By Maegan La Mala · New Orleans|Politics|Weather · 1 Comment

1 Sep 2008

Hurricane Dolly, earlier this year, raised fears of just how far the Department of Homeland Security would go in terms of it’s mistreatment of immigrants.

Hurricane Gustav is raising those same fears as it heads into the Gulf Region and a mandatory evacuation order is in place.

According to the New Orleans Worker Center for Racial Justice:

We have won an important assurance from DHS. Immigrants evacuating the path of Gustav will not be targeted by immigration checkpoints.

Read more…

Urgent Community Action Needed in the Gulf in the Face of Gustav

5:18 pm By Maegan La Mala · Activism|housing|Justice|States|Weather · Comments Off

30 Aug 2008

One of the lessons of Hurricane Katrina was that people of color can not trust that government will protect and take care of our communities. So while we must demand that they do, we also have to prepare.

Hurricane Gustav is building strength and headed to the Gulf Region. Already, thousands are evacuating the area.

From an email :

In the attempt to learn from preparedness shortcomings of Hurricane Katrina, a network of New Orleans activists, some whom have evacuated already and others whom are intent on staying are in the process of creating a support network which is in need of all our help.

How you can help (outside of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast):

1. Serve as a point of contact in your area for evacuees.

2. Help create safe and accessible relief networks and stations in your city/region. This is particularly going to be crucial for allies in Northern Louisiana, Jackson, and Memphis, where it appears most of the evacuees are going to be stationed. We hope to have identified the rest of the specific cities by this evening.

3. Serve as a media liaison for the support network and the forces staying in New Orleans.

If you or your organization can serve in one or more of these capacities please contact one of the following individuals and send your name, cell phone, land line, email address and relevant address information for relief stations.

Kali Akuno 510.593.3956 (please text if no answer if possible) or kaliakuno@gmail. com

Lydia 314-537-0537 (C) 770-559-1461 land line

Molly 510-847-6101 (C)

Opening this Weekend in NYC & LA : Trouble the Water

8:38 am By Maegan La Mala · housing|Los Angeles|Movies|New York City|Weather · Comments Off

22 Aug 2008

This weekend, Trouble the Water, a film that follows a New Orleans couple through and after Hurricane Katrina, opens in New York City and Los Angeles. It won the Grand Jury prize for Best Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival and serves to remind us all that Hurrican Katrina was one horror, how the U.S. government treated its own in the aftermath was another.

Aftermath of Hurricane Dolly

2:08 pm By Maegan La Mala · houston|mexico|Weather · Comments Off

24 Jul 2008

Hurricane Dolly has calmed down into a tropical storm, but this doesn’t mean Texas residents are in the all clear zone. The Houston Chronicle is reporting that thunderstorms are expected all day today, and that over 200,000 residents are without power.

Communities outside of Texas are also dealing with the after affects: Mexican residents faced mass evacuations and several people enjoying at a day at the beach in Florida almost drowned due to waves caused by Dolly.

Hurricane Dolly : Those Left Behind

23 Jul 2008

Yesterday la Macha brought up some unresolved issues in terms of Hurricane Dolly, currently hitting the Mexico/Texas border.

One of the questions that many people asked in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was why did people not evacuate. For many, the answer was simple: there was no place to go. Noemi over at Hermana Resist reminds us:

Who was left behind? Who couldn’t afford to evacuate? Let’s see you need money, car, transportation. And coming from a person who lives in a place where 3-4 months out of the year is hurricane season, I could not afford to leave. I could not afford to drive off (if my car made it more than 50 miles), I could not afford hotel stays, I could not afford buying gas and food for the family of 3-5 that I support. I could not afford to leave my job everytime there was a hurricane heading to the valley, that would be 3-4 days without pay and that is half a bill, 1/8 of the rent. I never have been able to cough up the money to board up the windows, tape the windows down, go on a spending spree buying canned food, bottled water, butane, batteries. I know all the precautions of a hurricane and all the things I should buy and should. Do you know how expensive that is? People blame the parents who stayed behind in NOLA, who put their kids at risk. And I’ll tell you, they don’t know what the fuck they are talking about.

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