Do They Know It's Christmas? Hurricane Katrina is not over.

[IndyOp]

Run time: 03:46 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmdhQNCASvw   Posted on YouTube: December 18, 2006 By YouTube Member: IndyOp Views on YouTube: 902   Posted on DU: December 19, 2006 By DU Member: IndyOp Views on DU: 852

 
Hurricane Katrina displaced 1,100,000 people. Even though this video was made last year, the same sights can still be seen on the Gulf Coast today. Homes - entire neighborhoods - still need gutting. People who want to rebuild can't afford to because insurance rates are, in many cases, more than monthly payments. People are living behind fences in FEMA trailer camps. The city is siding with wealthy developers by closing public housing that had been rehabilitated by Common Ground citizen collective. Violent crime is high, police protection low.

6.4 million Americans requested emergency food assistance from America's Second Harvest in impacted states following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita - and as of June 12, 2006, Second Harvest had served 65.2 million meals. The need for meals is now still 50% higher than it had been in August 2005. More on Second Harvest's response to Katrina and Rita...

Quotes from DU members on a thread just yesterday...

Suich: When my son called from St. Bernard Parish this week, he said, "Mom, do people know how bad it is here? Is there anything on the news or in the papers?" I had to tell him "no."

frustrated_lefty: Ya know, the generosity and the open-hearted good will displayed by the people, the citizens of the US, to Katrina survivors has been a humbling thing for many. Where the government dropped the ball, the people did not. One of the hardest things, for me at least, has been not being able to do everything for my kids. I suspect that's a common problem, and is just one of the hard facts of life which comes with getting back on your feet. We were fortunate. I got a good job. Things are tight, but improving. Of course, my wife and I are divorcing, but that seems to be pretty common among Katrina survivors... If you have the time and the means, though, find a kid on the gulf coast and send a card, maybe a small present, something to let them know they haven't been forgotten. The children who went through that felt abandoned, betrayed. Something to let them know they remain in your thoughts would be an act of great generosity. Relief organizations on the coast should be able to provide you with contacts.

Jacobin: In New Orleans. Rates are unregulated and through the roof, in many cases more than the monthly payments. This is a knee jerk reaction from kleptocratic insurance companies whose profits in 2005 were higher than they have ever been, even considering the Katrina/Rita losses. Some form of federal intervention to subsidize the insurance costs until the companies stop panicking would be of enormous benefit.

More about the Common Ground Collective. If you haven't seen it, Greg Palast's "Big Easy to Big Empty" looks really good and is available through the Common Ground website here.

ACORN

Grassroots People-Led Relief

This video was created by the AMAZING DU member SOUP for merh, SwampRat, HeeBGBz, and all Hurricane Survivors.

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

[aaronbees]

1. Thank you ... that imagery feels like it was just yesterday...

:dem:

[IndyOp]

2. Thanks for your reply aaronbees...

Yours is the first reply I've gotten and I posted this last night at 7:25 p.m.

Maybe people really don't know how bad it still is?

Maybe it is just not the right emotional tone right now - a year-and-a-half "after" Katrina? But the hurricanes aren't over. We haven't come close to restoring the lives impacted.

In any case, I hope the video gets a few people to remember and reminds others that lots of us still care.

:hug:

[aaronbees]

6. People need to be reminded

I think it's hard for people to visualize unless they really pay attention or see it for themselves. I think the media has done a piss poor job, too, of keeping the restoration of New Orleans at the forefront. Most news reports from most mainstream media now seem to be focused on crime, not the realities of living in NOLA. Honestly, I wish I knew how to correct that, except to get our Dem leaders more involved on calling for action on the national stage.

Thank you for posting this. I hope to come down to New Orleans again come Mardi Gras time!

:hug: :hi:

[mogster]

3. And on to the greatest!

:grouphug: :-)

[Suich]

4. Thanks for posting this, IndyOp...

The stories I hear from my son, about what's really going on, blow me away...it's unreal.

:hi:

[frustrated_lefty]

5. Oh, there you did it.

Got me crying like a baby :(

[Sapphire Blue]

7. Kicked & Recommended (even though I technically can't 'R'it ;)

:kick: :hug: :loveya:

[Jcrowley]

8. To the top

Yes. Still waiting.