New Orleans, LA – Dozens of protesters rallied at the statue of Benito Juarez on August 27 to demand hurricane relief funds for all immigrants, regardless of legal status. The rally also came in response to national call to action by the Legalization for All Network to defend DACA against legal attacks and to commemorate the Chicano Moratorium.

The rally was planned to coincide with the anniversaries of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Ida, which both made landfall in Louisiana on August 29. Although it was largely the labor of immigrant workers that rebuilt New Orleans after both disasters, many immigrants face legal barriers to disaster relief funds.

Sebastian Miscenich of New Orleans Immigrant Rights Action said, “migrant workers rebuild this town time and time again after hurricanes, so immigrants need to become a priority for city government. People deserve access to funds to rebuild their homes and support themselves and their families regardless of legal status.”

Members of New Orleans Immigrant Rights Action circulated a petition at the rally demanding that the city of New Orleans establish an immigrants’ fund in the city budget. The fund would provide for disaster relief for all immigrants regardless of status, comprehensive legal defense for immigrants facing deportation proceedings, and full translation equality for city resources.

Speakers also brought attention to the threat that the Supreme Court poses to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which allows undocumented people who arrived to the United States as children to work and live in the country legally.

Miscenich said, “the unelected, right-wing Supreme Court wants to overturn DACA. This would not only strip people who have committed no crime of their legal status but leave the government with a list of who they are and where they live.”

Antonia Mar of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization spoke in commemoration of the Chicano Moratorium, saying “the Chicano Moratorium demanded an end to the imperialist war in Vietnam and an end to discrimination against Chicanos. We’re here showing that the struggle for self-determination and dignity continues!”

Bilingual interpretation and banners were provided by Unión Migrante, an immigrant workers group in New Orleans. The rally overcame technical issues with the sound system, amplifying the speakers with the people’s mic. Protesters chanted “Disaster relief, it can’t wait! The next hurricane is too late!” and held signs reading “Disaster relief regardless of status now!” and “Defend DACA!”

#NewOrleansLA #PeoplesStruggles #hurricane #DACA #NOIRA

New Orleans, LA – On August 29, at 11:55 a.m., Hurricane Ida made landfall on the Louisiana coast. The storm arrived on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Like then, working class, Black, and indigenous Louisianans are least able to evacuate and suffer the most damages.

Storm surges reached up to 16 feet. Affected parishes include Lake Charles, an industrial city that already suffered from Hurricane Laura last year.

The poorest neighborhoods of the coastline are predominantly Black and indigenous. Many more of their residents had no choice but to stay, compared to wealthier and whiter areas. All suffer from dilapidating infrastructure. Even before landfall, thousands of Louisianans lost power.

Dorothy Williams, a Black evacuee and retired housekeeper, told Fight Back!, “I have a niece and nephew that stayed for financial and transportation reasons. We almost didn’t make it either.” Williams’ niece is a healthcare worker.

For Black workers who could leave, many will likely face unemployment and discrimination when they return. Tulane University sociologists James R. Elliott and Jeremy Pais found that that Black workers were seven times more likely to have lost their job after Katrina than white ones.

Meanwhile, corporations selling basic necessities took advantage to increase their bottom lines.

Williams remembered that a friend of hers “figured that their rooms went for double the price.”

Charlette Becnel, a retired flight attendant and journalist who evacuated from New Orleans, said: “Before I had left, on Wednesday night, gas was $2.48 a gallon. The day everyone evacuated, gas went from $2.62 that morning to $2.98.”

She noticed that prices even went up for food and other basic necessities that stores already had in stock. Becnel pointed out that her motel is “not a five-star place. Prices here are what five stars would’ve been before.”

Louisiana is also among the states that suffered the worst outbreaks of the COVID-19 Delta variant. The state’s ICU units were almost full before the storm, and at least one Thibodeaux city hospital has already lost power. The hurricane will probably trigger another spike in cases. All Baton Rouge city hospitals are in the southern white areas.

Southeast Louisiana’s mutual aid organizations are making preparations for relief efforts. Time will tell if federal, state and parish governments will do the same.

This is a developing story. Fight Back! will provide ongoing reports from the ground.

#NewOrleansLA #CapitalismAndEconomy #PoorPeoplesMovements #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #IndigenousPeoples #hurricane #EnvironmentalJustice #Antiracism #HurricaneIda

Utuado, Puerto Rico — On Oct. 21, a large volunteer work brigade of over 50 people went to Utuado, 65 miles west of San Juan near the middle of the island. They did basic post-hurricane relief work that still hasn't been done by the U.S. government or any other official body a month after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico.

The brigade focused on clearing roads and bringing basic supplies like food, medicine, diapers and water filters to isolated families whose homes were mostly still not reachable by vehicle. The hurricane left trees and massive piles of dirt and other objects strewn across roads. While roads had been cleared in parts of Utuado, in other parts this had still not been done.

Under a punishingly hot sun, the volunteers worked all day with shovels, pickaxes, and chainsaws to dislodge trees and move large amounts of dirt that fell from surrounding hillsides blocking roads. In the zone they focused on, they succeeded in clearing the way to all homes except one. For that home, they brought supplies on foot and cleared several of the barriers blocking the road, but didn’t have time to clear them all.

This work brigade was one of many composed of everyday people who want to help their fellow Puerto Ricans that are living through a grave injustice.

These volunteer work brigades expose the inadequacy of the official response to the hurricane. They also stand as a pointed refutation of President Trump’s insulting statement on Sept. 30 when he tweeted, “[Puerto Ricans] want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort. 10,000 Federal workers now on Island doing a fantastic job.”

The reality is that Puerto Ricans are engaged in community efforts to help themselves and their neighbors, but they aren't getting the large-scale help they need like getting electricity and water working for the majority of people who are still living without either a month after the hurricane.

#UtuadoPuertoRico #UtuadoPR #PuertoRico #hurricane

Those who were ordered to evacuate live in areas that are particularly prone to flooding and will likely experience fatal storm surges. They left with only what they could carry in backpacks and duffle bags, pillows and blankets in hand, children being pushed in strollers. Some left in cars, some on bikes, most in buses.

But when they arrived at the designated evacuation spots, most were turned away because the shelters were already filled to capacity. This happened time and time again to thousands of Floridians seeking refuge from what may be the deadliest storm to ever make landfall in the state. They were bounced from one shelter to the next, being told that there was no room.

This chaotic scene played out all day and night Friday, Sept. 8, and it demonstrates the complete lack of concern and preparedness by the U.S. government for its most vulnerable residents. Those who couldn’t afford to buy overpriced flights out of state or without friends and family who live outside of their evacuation zones were left without safe places to stay. They stood in long, hot lines with their belongings in hand as they were shuffled around the region.

So while government officials instilled fear and terror in the people of South Florida, demanding they leave their homes, that same government was unable to provide shelter for them. In fact, as of Friday afternoon, the emergency evacuation shelters set up in Miami-Dade and Broward counties were only able to house 100,000 people (one-sixth of those required to leave).

Hundreds of flights from Fort Lauderdale and Miami airports were cancelled, highways were at a standstill, and shelters were filled to the brim leaving South Floridians with nowhere to turn and no place to hide from the oncoming storm.

#FortLauderdaleFL #US #PeoplesStruggles #hurricane #EnvironmentalJustice #Florida #Irma

Tampa, FL – Hurricanes are a common experience to most Floridians, especially to residents of the Tampa Bay area, where hurricanes and tropical storms hit or brush by about every two years. However, Category 4 Hurricane Irma, which is now projected to move up the center of the state, is making some of the most seasoned Floridians panic.

Hurricane Irma, which at its peak reached wind speeds of up to 185 miles per hour, could cause four to eight inches of rainfall. For residents on Florida’s west coast this could mean flooding and road closures. This risk is especially high for the poorest areas of Tampa, where drainage is inadequate and most homes are only five to 20 feet above sea level.

A few residents were able to prepare beforehand and are in a better position to face Irma.

“My family started getting things like water, food, flashlights, batteries and stuff like that early. We didn’t have to struggle that much,” said Brandon resident, Genesis De Gracia.

Many Tampa residents do not share this position though. On its own Irma could be catastrophic for central Florida but the threat Irma poses grows far greater as the local, state and federal governments fail to address proper preparation for the rest of its residents.

While helping on a Hurricane hotline yesterday, Jenna Ferreira, a pharmacy technician who works at a critical care hospital in Pasco County, commented, “Hillsborough County’s information on preparedness was much more readily available online than Pasco or Pinellas. People from those counties were calling us to get information. But one of biggest problems in Florida, especially Tampa, is that there's no infrastructure. We don't have much besides the HART buses, which are limited, for public transportation.”

While volunteers have been called upon, there are still a lack of resources available for these volunteers.

“I wish there was more information and training on how to volunteer. For example, the USF Sundome is the largest special needs shelter in Tampa. Its physical capacity is 10,000 but they have a limit of 1000 sheltered people. I assume this is because of a lack of trained staff. You need people who know ventilators and oxygen tanks.” Ferreira continued, “I’ve talked to a lot of elderly and disabled people who were scared. Several hadn't been to the store yet. I wish there was a way they could register and either government employees or volunteers could help them prepare. It breaks my heart, it’s not a fair playing field for them.”

The police of central Florida have proven to be equally unhelpful, and even more harmful. One of the communities that is the most heavily affected by the local government is that of undocumented immigrants.

When emergency centers began opening to dispense sandbags, a precondition was created that demanded residents prove their citizenship before being able to attain the sandbags. Likewise, only U.S. citizens will be allowed to take refuge in the shelters around Tampa.

Nearby Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd stated on his public Twitter account, “If you go to a shelter for Irma, be advised: sworn LEOs will be at every shelter, checking IDs. Sex offenders/predators will not be allowed.” In another tweet he said, “If you go to a shelter for Irma and you have a warrant, we'll gladly escort you to the safe and secure shelter called the Polk County Jail.”

While claiming these identification checks pertain to sex offenders and sexual predators, the recent dissolution of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and increased attacks on undocumented people all over the country point to these checks being concerned with finding and expelling undocumented people, not protecting other residents. These tweets also indicate a carefree attitude on the part of the police towards the lives of residents, as a sheriff jokes about the Polk County Jail being a shelter.

This is the nature of disaster under our current system. The state and federal governments have proven this by their relative inaction and their priority of arresting people instead of protecting them. After the devastation in Houston by Hurricane Harvey, a lack of preparation is inexcusable on the part of the government.

Unlike the wealthy of Tampa, many people in poor communities have had no choice but to sit and wait as the highways fill, and gas and airline prices are gouged. Due to material shortages, these same people often do not have access to the materials necessary to fortify their homes or stock up before the hurricane. This situation serves as a reminder that under the current system groups like undocumented, low-income, African-American, elderly and disabled people, will never be safe. Rather, the people united can end that system and create a new one that ensures the safety and protection of all.

#TampaFlorida #CapitalismAndEconomy #PoorPeoplesMovements #OppressedNationalities #hurricane #EnvironmentalJustice #Florida #TampaBay #HurricaneIrma #Irma

Dear Friends,

Warm greetings of solidarity!

The Philippines has been struck by the devastating tropical storm Ondoy/Ketsana last 26 September 2009. The storm, the worst in 40 years, brought catastrophic damage to the Filipino people. As of 29 September the death toll was 240 with a big number of people reported still missing and 329,000 families or 1,872,036 people affected.

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) expressed its deepest sympathy with the millions of people displaced by widespread flooding and landslides in many places in Metro Manila and 23 provinces.

In the face of the Arroyo government's utter negligence and inability to mobilize enough resources with dispatch for the necessary rescue and rehabilitation efforts, millions of Filipinos are now voluntarily contributing various amounts and other forms of assistance to help alleviate the sufferings of the calamity victims.

In unity with these efforts, the revolutionary movement has called on its forces to exert all possible effort in helping the victims of the devastation. Thus, revolutionary mass organizations and other progressive forces are mobilizing all available forces to set up relief and rehabilitation efforts in aid of the victims.

Red fighters of the New People's Army (NPA), particularly in the Southern Tagalog and Central Luzon provinces, are being tasked to carry out efforts to assist the peasant masses in coping with the destruction of their homes and livelihood and rebuilding from their losses. Tactical offensives in the affected areas are to be held off for the next few days as local NPA units concentrate on relief and rehabilitation and in supporting the resumption of people' production and livelihood.

In line with this call, the NDFP International Office is asking your support to help the victims of the calamity especially in the affected NDFP areas. Food, clothing, medical, and construction materials and other supplies are very much needed. But due to the difficulty of sending materials to the Philippines, we are requesting you instead to give donations in cash. You can send your donations to:

Account Holder: NDF

Account No. 3945.70.642

t.a.v. Ondoy Victims Fund

IBAN:    NL70 RABO 0394 5706 42

Rabobank

Utrecht, The Netherlands

We thank you for your continuing support to the Filipino people.

Luis G. Jalandoni

Chief International Representative

National Democratic Front of the Philippines

#Philippines #NationalDemocraticFrontOfThePhilippines #NewPeoplesArmy #hurricane #TropicalStormOndoyKetsana #Asia