VOL. Issue 9I
After the Storm Part 5-The Relief
Effort-Sunday, September 4th
by Barnabas J. Nemec
Special to the Holabird Advocate
Saturday evening, when Syleta, a high school English teacher from Sugarland, TX called and mentioned she was going to the George R Brown Convention Center the following afternoon, I gave her a brief account of the experiences I'd had myself. I told her I wouldn't mind returning, as there seemed to be much left to do. We agreed that Sunday afternoon we'd meet and go to the convention center.
While making our way to the center, the topic of donations understandably came up. Syleta had with her various donations such as playing cards, snack foods, and a few children's board games such as Chutes and Ladders. We're close enough friends that I knew she wouldn't take it personally when I told her these gifts would likely go to better use if donated to any random thrift shop, homeless shelter, or church. After explaining the situation as I'd last seen it, she understood perfectly. Bags of potato chips by the gross were already donated, at least several hundred decks of playing cards were likely sitting idle in the activity room, and at my last count, around 30-40 copies of the game Chutes and Ladders were waiting for pieces to go missing in the toy section. She left her gifts in the car and we headed for the convention center.
As we approached, there was a line of volunteers snaking around the building waiting to go to work. It wasn't moving fast, and I led Syleta around to the front, and managed to get in right away by explaining I'd been there the day before, and was in the middle of a project at the activity center. The two of us were let in, and I was surprised by the changes that had transpired in the hours since I'd last been present.
The waiting volunteers were being taken in groups of 20-30 and given a training class of length IÂ?m not sure. Once completed with this, they were signed in and put to work doing menial tasks unless possessing some specialized skill. For instance, there was a small group of hair-stylists who had set up a functioning beauty salon. It was being patronized by a group of happy-looking refugees, composed of about a dozen women and one hippie. There was also a phone center set up, with about 100 free phones and people using nearly each one.
A new section of cots were assembled over part of the space where the staging area had been located the day before. Much of the donations present earlier were neatly packed in huge labelepalates on pallets. They were being dollied out of the building, by regular volunteers, most likely to places such as homeless shelters and thrift shops.
After bypassing the wait for the new volunteers, Syleta and I went to the third floor to see if any more work needed to be done in the activity center. By this time, a few dozen computers were aligned along one of the walls, the library section was filled to the brim with reading material, and about 15 tables were set up with various games, including Chutes and Ladders, for people to take advantage of. About 3-dozen people were present, mostly New Orleans residents and a handful of volunteers. We played dominoes and other games with a few of the people present, and then started to get to know one of the families.
The family we became acquainted with had been at the Superdome through the worst of the chaos. Though we weren't pressing for details, they told us they were there when a police officer had been murdered, and that their home was completely destroyed. One might think this family would've been in a complete psychological shambles, completely traumatized and horrified by what they'd been through in the previous week, but this wasn't the case. They seemed well adjusted to their sudden life changes, and in good spirits, all things considered. They were unsure of what their next move would be, but at that point they seemed content with the way things were. In similar situations, I'm sure a warm dry bed, decent food, and clean clothes are all that would make most any of us happy.
As you may have gathered, the relief effort on Sunday was more structured than it was the day before. People who were spending the most time volunteering, and people who were affiliated with professional organizations were gaining seniority over the "come as you are" volunteers. Predictions at this point stated evacuees might be living in the convention center, the Astrodome, and other major facilities over the next few months. Considering the changes occurring over one night, I was curious as to how things might change after a week. As we left, there was still a long line of waiting volunteers, including a friend of Syleta with an armful of gifts including the latest edition of Chutes and Ladders.
Thunderstorm Disturbs Power, Leaves Ponderosa Dry
The Weatherman promised a thunderstorm with raithunder was much thiunder and lightning but only about .07 of an inch of rain which soaked in quicker than melted bItter on a bagel. it did cause a few power hickups, which is hard on the computer here at the home office.
Rescuing the Data from the Morass
by H.J. Cummins of the Star Tribune
There's still mud as thick as gumbo roux in and around much of New Orleans. But as people begin thinking beyond survival to recovery, some are wading into their businesses to salvage the records they will need to start over.
Don't think muddy file cabinets. They're as outdated as the rotary phone.
Think computers -- specifically, the hard drives inside them whose spinning disks are now the repository of everything from employee pay scales to customer addresses to the secret formula to the company's success. Last week, the first of the drives pulled from the bayou muck started arriving at Kroll Ontrack, a data-recovery company based in Eden Prairie. Kroll Ontrack is a unit of Kroll Inc., which is part of risk consultant Marsh & McLennan Co., both based in New York.
A crescendo of phone calls started up, too, mostly from people asking, if they get their hard drives up to Kroll Ontrack, is there any hope of retrieving anything on them?
At least one business had the bad luck of Hurricane Katrina hitting both its headquarters and its backup storage site, said Jim Reinert, senior director of software and services at Kroll Ontrack.
"It was just such a huge storm," Reinert said.
When those calls come in, he is in fact very encouraging.
"Every case is different, but in general we expect those drives to be highly recoverable," he said. "Even if they're buried in nasty water, they are mostly recoverable."
The first thing Kroll Ontrack does is advise customers how to handle the drives: Don't try to turn on the computer. Package them like they were fine china. And don't let them dry out -- a sealed plastic bag usually does the trick.
At the Eden Prairie laboratories, the drives go through diagnostics to find out how many files have survived. Much of the cleaning needs to be done in a special "clean room," where air quality, temperature and humidity are hyper-controlled. A speck of dust can disable the disks.
The company manages to retrieve part or all of almost 90 percent of the drives that come through, said Jeff Pederson, manager of data recovery operations. Floods and fires often do less damage than internal problems, such as another part of the hard drive hitting the disks, Pederson said. The files under any scrape are gone, he said.
Kroll Ontrack retrieved 99 percent of the contents of two laptop drives from the space shuttle Columbia, which broke apart in its return to Earth in February 2003. The drives were found at the bottom of a lake, Reinert said. Some of the other requests coming from the Gulf region involve recorded tapes, still the most common form of backup, Pederson said.
One credit union got its tapes safely out of New Orleans, he said, but then had to bring them to Kroll because it didn't have the equipment to run them.
Kroll Ontrack transfers the recovered files to CDs, DVDs or external hard drives. For some idea of the volume of information involved, the company explained: The typical drive comes in with about 20 gigabytes of data. It would take more than 4 million sheets of paper to cover that much material. Those sheets, in a stack, would be taller than the Empire State Building. For a standard PC or laptop, the company charges about $100 for the diagnosis and $1,000 to recover files, Reinert said. Prices vary for more complicated drives and for batches of 20, 50 or more drives from a client company. The diagnosis usually takes a day or two. The whole process, start to finish, usually takes two to five days.
Kroll Ontrack is gearing up for a jump in business because of the hurricane, though Reinert said they really don't know yet what to expect.
"It could be hundreds of jobs, or thousands; it's too soon to know," he said. "But our business usually tracks with the recovery in cases like this, so we're looking at months, for sure."
Publisher's Notes
by Jerry Hinkle
Part 5 of Barney's story brings us that much closer to the end. From what he tells me, Part 6 may be the last one he squeezes out. The Highmore Herald may be running the story now too. I have submitted Parts 1-5 to Mary Ann Morford at The Paper. She will see where she can fit it in. Chances are it won't be all at once though. His collection of stories will look good on his resume, and even better if they are in a "real" newspaper.
Kroll Ontrack is a company that I have heard of before In fact, I see that someone from that company reads he Holabird Advocate. Good taste like that needs to be recognized. I've even signed up for their newsletter.
Speaking of a reward for good taste, I will look into having both Marsh and McLennan and Northrup-Grumann listed on the Hinkle Brothers Mutual Fund. Any company that allows their workers access to the Holabird Advocate deserves a salute.
In the meantime, pray for rain. Let's just keep it under 20 inches though. Maybe just 10 if it can be spared. Thanks in advance!