Report and thoughts from deep in Cajun Country:
I can tell you chose an name very unlike your essential being! I live where everything was devastated by Hurricane Rita, just west of New Orleans. We had 10 schools in my rural parish that were under water and unusable after the storm. Many people in my parish (Vermilion Parish) are still living in FEMA trailers, with relatives, or have moved away. I think that by the time school starts next year, the schools will all be operable, with temporary buildings put up in the school yards, or there will be brand new schools.
The following link is a slide show of pics taken in my parish a few days after Rita left us.
http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Site=DG&Date=20050926&Category=HURRICANE&ArtNo=509260810&Ref=PH&Params=Itemnr=1This is kinda what happened to our parish: (Note that I live 12-13 miles inland, and the storm surge came 10 miles inland. I had many friends that lost their homes:
Vermilion Parish--What Happened
At approximately 2 a.m., Sept. 24, the center of the eastern quadrant of Hurricane Rita blew over Vermilion Parish. Buffeted by wind speeds between 70 and 100 mph, an initial storm surge of approximately 20 feet flooded the southernmost coastal areas of the parish. However, as southerly winds persisted over Vermilion in the southeast, a second storm surge of 10 to 13 feet pushed seawater (and sea life) 8 to 10 miles north upland, inundating the parish floodplain south of Abbeville. Devastated communities in the southern two-thirds of the parish included the incorporated towns of Erath and Delcambre, as well as the unincorporated marsh island communities known collectively as Les Iles Des Acadians.
Approximately 16,000 residents fled the parish prior to the storm under a mandatory evacuation order for all homes south of Louisiana Highway 14. Nevertheless, up to 1,000 people returned after the first storm surge retreated (and before the hurricane evacuation order was rescinded) and became stranded when the second storm surge struck. Over the following days all were rescued, and although no one was reported killed or injured in Vermilion Parish, an estimated 10,000 cattle, horses and other livestock perished.
Access to the floodplain was restricted to boats until Sept. 27 when floodwaters retreated. Besides water and wind damage to buildings, secondary impacts included: saltwater contamination of fields, soil and animal feed; mold contamination of houses, public buildings, and hay; fire damage; crop devastation; housing and employment shortages; coastal erosion; habitat loss; canal/drain blockage and debris; increased population of mosquitoes from standing water; and economic uncertainty in rice and seafood industries. Oil and gas production were largely unaffected.
http://www.louisianaspeaks-parishplans.org/IndParishHomepage_BaselineWhatHappened.cfm?EntID=18This is going to sound sorta strange to say since I live in one of the devastated areas, but the folks that need the most help are the New Orleans citizens who are having a hard time getting back "home." Any place to rent in N.O. has had the price jacked up so high that most people can't afford to return and rent. The state has a "Road Home" program for displaced people to receive the funds to return to N.O. (or wherever) and start up life again. But, New Orleans is such an expensive place to live right now, that even a new "stake" isn't going to help in the short run. I hope the pencil-pushers see to public, affordable housing so people can afford to return. I hope they see to the rebuilding of all of the schools, libraries, and the public transportation....the poor people depended primarily on public transportation, of course.
Please keep up the pressure on your congress critters to fulfill the promises of aid that pres bush promised when he stood in Jackson Square lying his ass off. We Cajuns around here in S. Central La. will be fine, we bounce high and back. It's the city of New Orleans that I am worried about....the repub plans for N.O. obviously do not include allowing N.O. to remain the only large "blue" spot in Louisiana. They are working to see that the "blue" voters don't return to LA....I sound cynical, I am, I see and hear that N.O. is being turned red deliberately.
Keep watching NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams...he does an update about New Orleans every week if possible. By watching these, you can see where there is still a need. The main need of course, is to to hound your representatives about not forgetting about the aid that was promised, but seems to be stuck in the governmental pipeline.
Thanks for being concerned, Uppity Person....I shall now call you Uppity Compassionate Person.
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
