Hope it doesn't have to get to that, Robert.

Thanks for everyone who's trying to keep calm. This is time for assistance. When a house is on fire you don't shout at the contractors or anyone else. One tries to assist in anyway one can and at the very least offer moral support.

This house is still on fire and will burn for at least another week. Now is the time to start helping. We at the HZ can forward any good ideas to local officials and even Federal officials.

Disease will be a major problem in the weeks and months ahead. There will be a run on antibiotics, cough syrups and all sorts of medicines. No one needs to hoard but production should increase around the world and global stocks should already start being purchased.

The disease will spread as sick people and infected people carry the newly forming sickness to surrounding areas. The pestilence will spread to the vermin. As a matter of fact, they will likely be the first carriers. Mosquitos biting corpses and then rats will all be subject to disease transmission in surrounding states.

Securing trash barrels and bins as well as setting mouse & rat traps in neighboring regions (your region) will help a LOT to prevent the spread of disease.

Hand to hand contact will spread disease among humans. Purchasing products like germ-X (an alcohol based disinfectant which can be used without water) and using it liberally over the next weeks will help slow disease transmission.

Food preparation. Forget salads for awhile. Cook your meat extra thorougly. Nuke stuff in the microwave if handy. In this day and age people move quickly. Refugees will be in all fifty states within a week.
Birds (carrion feeders) feeding on diseased flesh will spread disease between states within one and two weeks.

Sewage contamination will turn the waters of the region into bacteria factories. Many fish will be contaminated and it will be advisable to avoid eating fish from the region. (and since one often doesn't know where fish come from it may be a good idea to avoid fish for a a few weeks altogether)

On a larger scale, the tens of thousands displaced folks with no relatives to turn to, will need shelter. A federal temporary housing program should already be looked into - a place where folks can stay for six months until they re-establish some sort of normalcy in the region. Motels and hotels are a logical source of quick temporary housing, and the government should reimburse the costs of housing people for a few weeks. A sports arena just isn't feasible for more than a few days.

Hospitals. Hospital space will be at a premium over the next two months. Private institutions should already be approached by the Federal government and a special reimbursement program set up for relief of Katrina's victims. Military hospitals should be used as space allows and to provide treatment.

All the states are going to have to carry their weight, if the nation wishes to minimize the reverberations.

And some HZ members are going to have to realize this is the time to extend out your hand...not just your middle finger.

Let's use our heads...every idea might just save some lives.

SDAI-Tech1