Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Katrina refrigerator 1

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was keep. Please defer merge discussion to article talk page. Can't sleep, clown will eat me 19:58, 23 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Katrina Refrigerator

Neologism, possible original research NMChico24 00:36, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

• Delete per it is WP:OR. Hello32020 01:32, 18 October 2006 (UTC)
• Strong Delete Sigh stuff like this shouldn't have to come up for AFD nominations. Burn it in hell and spit on its corpse.UberCryxic 01:37, 18 October 2006 (UTC)
• Keep and clean up the article. It seems to have (some) references, and with a little cleanup to conform to WP:V/WP:OR/WP:RS this could be one of the obscure topics that become great articles a la Exploding whale. --Daniel Olsen 02:11, 18 October 2006 (UTC)
• There's sourcing both for the name (the first source) and from a reputable source that reports frequently on Katrina (NPR). I understand the objection, but I disagree. With some wikifying and a little more sourced information, this will be a perfectly fine article. Keep. - Che Nuevara 02:37, 18 October 2006 (UTC)
• Keep due to references but rename. I don't see much evidence for the term "Katrina Refrigerator" (one source isn't enough IMO), let alone with a second capital letter (as with proper nouns). Perhaps just merge with an existing Katrina article? I really don't know what to do with this. N Shar 03:00, 18 October 2006 (UTC)
• Delete its OR ⇒ SWATJester ^Ready Aim _Fire! 03:26, 18 October 2006 (UTC)
• Keep Enough detail to merit its own article, but some supporting references from FEMA/relief organizations/periodicals would solidify its ground. Besides, I love the image... Grafitti disparaging Tom Benson++ Caknuck 03:53, 18 October 2006 (UTC)
• Weak Keep for now. The article needs more sources and citations for some of its more outrageous claims (spoiled food = corrosive toxic blobs?), but I'm inclined to give it a shot to be improved. If not, it can be merged into a broader article or brought up again for deletion in a month. --JaimeLesMaths 05:13, 18 October 2006 (UTC)
• Keep and add sources.

I wrote this article and the article on FEMA Trailers because I felt that Wikipedia had inadequate information on the ongoing recovery from the storm, of which, the collection of "Katrina Refrigerators" was a ubiquitous first step. This term was in widespread use in the immediate aftermath of the storm, but seldomn mentioned now because nearly all of the refrigerators were destroyed. The appearance of these refrigerators was a one-time event, and getting rid of them was part of the cleanup phase of the recovery effort. This is a real term, and the local new media did report it using this name. The local parish governments passed ordinances and posted instructions on their websites concerning these refrigerators. Understand that all this took place when the city was still in a state of emergency, and online information was updated frequently. I've been unable to relocate the original onilne city debris collection schedules.

It tried to emphasize the fact that debris collection was a major crisis throughout the disaster area. In New Orleans, every neighborhood looked like a landfill because of the volume of storm debris and flood-damaged appliances. Landfills outside the city were shutting down because they couldn't handle the volume of incoming debris. There were serious concerns of an outbreak of disease. In fact garbage collection is still a crisis in many parts of the city right now.

I understand why this article may need to be deleted, since "Katrina Refrigerator" is a recently coined word that only storm victims seem to use. I suppose what we really need are two new articles, Evacuation from Hurricane Katrina and Return after Hurricane Katrina, describing the month-long exile experienced by New Orleanians when our city was forcibly abandoned, and when we returned one month later to a city in ruins. These two articles would cover specific aspects of the disaster not already covered in Hurricane Katrina and Reconstruction of New Orleans. That way, this refrigerator business can be incorporated into a larger article. winstonho0805 (2006 Oct. 17). Metairie, Louisiana.

Keep for the present; merge with general katrina articles once the entire katrina topic has stabilised -- Simon Cursitor 13:10, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

• Delete. Oh, come on. This article is nothing more than a description written by a single person of a phenomenon that occurs after any major natural disaster. Where is the evidence that the term is in use beyond the author and the author's friends? None of the so-called sources make any mention. The article is clearly meant for something like Uncyclopedia, not Wikipedia. —Cuiviénen 14:17, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

Yes, I suspect that something like this happens every time several hundred thousand refrigrators, some of them opened by floodwaters, are left without power for several weeks in more than 90 F heat. By the way, how often does that happen? Cardamon 23:55, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

• Weak keep for now: It's an interesting and verifiable phenenomenon. However, the page definitely needs clean-up, and maybe should be merged and redirected into one of the post-Katrina articles. TheronJ 15:29, 18 October 2006 (UTC)
• Comment If this is deleted and not cleaned up, I for one would love to see it preserved in Bad Jokes and Other Deleted Nonsense for language like, "toxic gelatinous blobs of decomposing food. The decomposing blobs were so toxic that they melted plastic, corroded metal, and dissolved rubber refrigerator liners." and "Especially in Louisiana, a place that is famous for its cuisine, the mass-destruction of so much food was perceived as particularly ironic and appropriate." and the images! The images are priceless. ~ ONUnicorn (Talk / Contribs) 20:10, 18 October 2006 (UTC)
• Strong delete per Cuiviénen. This is also original research on a neologism. --Coredesat 20:26, 18 October 2006 (UTC)
• Delete for all the reasons above. If this belongs anywhere, it's at Urban Dictionary. - Corporal Tunnel 21:24, 18 October 2006 (UTC)
• Keep, and clean-up. Maybe eventually merge with something. The mass disposal of contaminated refrigerators after Katrina is a verified phenomenon, although I'm skeptical about some of the claims, such as melting plastic. It was significant for a population of hundreds of thousands of people. (The New Orleans metropolitan area had a pre-Katrina population of around a million.) Cardamon 23:55, 18 October 2006 (UTC)
• Keep, as the owner of a Katrina refrigerator myself. There was news coverage in the New Orleans and other newspapers specifically about discarded refrigerators and the graffiti on them. NawlinWiki 02:27, 19 October 2006 (UTC)
• Keep or Merge into more general article. It has been notable enough to have at least one book published on the subject (entitled "Spoiled") as well as various media and web attention. Actually, I think this would be better as a section of a broader article, something like Folk responses to Hurricane Katrina or something else covering the early months of people returning to the disaster area. Yes, this could be made more encyclopedic, and should (and I hope to participate in making it so). In the mean time, the article contains some informative information and is doing no harm that I can see. -- Infrogmation 22:51, 19 October 2006 (UTC)
• Delete Just not notable. Anomo 02:04, 21 October 2006 (UTC)
• Keep Interesting article, notable. Dave 16:17, 23 October 2006 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.