[title change] your response needed - tragedy unfolding in florida now.

[update 9:35am est: more storms are spinning in the same area! if you are in florida, may you be safe!]
[update 2: charity resources below the fold]

counties affected: volusia, lake, sumpter and seminole...preliminary death toll stands at 14, 22,000 households without power

right now, in central florida (lake, volusia and sumpter counties), a series of tornadoes have ravaged the lives of americans who worked their entire lives for their dream - a home, retirement, peace until the end of their lives.  this is an area known for "the villages" in lake sumpter area, an area known for its retirement communities.  

this now, is gone.  along with the wreckage of these manufactured homes that have little hope of withstanding the winds of a tornado, complete brick and mortar structures are down, including a church in one central florida neighborhood.  from the gulf to the atlantic, the path of these storms has created another disaster for yet another group of helpless americans.  

please join me in prayers offered beneath the fold...

the new governor has held a news conference and declared the region a disaster area, paving the way to applying for federal aid.  now, the ball is in washington's court.

did anyone wake george?  has he learned from katrina?  is he having breakfast right now - or perhaps taking a bike ride to restore his "vigor"?  what will he do to help rebuild this community (as opposed to the communities along the gulf)?

will george finally realize that weather IS important?  that communities are filled with voters?  are THESE voters more important because they are in a swing state that supports republicans?  

what WILL george do?

i cannot help but watch this tragedy unfold on cnn and be struck by the lack of presence of "official" spokespersons - offering immediate aid and assistence to these families who have, in the last years of their lives, lost their entire world.  

will the insurance companies claim that this was NOT tornado damage in an attempt to cheat the policy holders (in hopes that they die before a settlement can be reached)?  will the deadly politics of greed once again unfold to leave good, decent americans left standing in the wilderness that american has now become.

the people interviewed are in their later years - 70's and older - and they are left with nothing - their entire life savings and retirements wrapped among the debris that was their lives.

please turn this on - please watch the days to come to see how FEMA (now under the "guise" of Homeland Security offers security to THESE american citizens.

has america become a nation where the old, weak, unemployed, poor are disposable - an america letting nature take its course to protect profits?

watch.

wait.

listen.

remember.

the get up off your chair and DO something!  CALL your congress representatives and DEMAND that they start action NOW to demand that FEMA step in - not just here in florida, but in new orleans.  DEMAND that government not stand silently by while people wither and die from neglect.

FIGHT BACK - for if we DON'T do that - there will be nothing left to fight for - american will be just another wasteland devestated by the whirlwind of politics driven by madmen and ignored by those huddled in fear.

[UPDATE: CHARITY REFERENCES:]

to verify the donations are going where you intend, please use this website:

Charity navigator

American Red Cross of Central Florida

DirectRelief

NOLA fund (for technology - read site interesting!
please add your suggestions below.