The Gulf Coast 18 months later

Well, I was able to go home to Mississippi this past weekend. My HoneyBear and I traveled to New Orleans for the day to attend the NBA game between the Hornets and the Lakers, where he had to work. We left early that morning so that we could take our time getting down there (which is only a 2.5 hour drive) and spend some time together. I also was VERY nervous about the trip as I had not been south of Jackson since Hurricane Katrina hit the area.

As we traveled south on Hwy 49 and I-59, my anger and sadness from Hurricane Katrina just boiled back up, again. Leaning trees, uprooted trees, debris being gathered to be disposed of, etc., along with trucks traveling up and down the highway. There were other things that made my blood boil……you know, like my taxpayer dollars CONTINUING to be WASTED on these 1000’s of FEMA trailers, NEVER USED and just sitting on ACRES and ACRES of land. Oh, yeah…..didn’t FEMA just kick folks OUT the trailers in Louisiana and Mississippi a couple of weeks ago? So, what are they doing with THESE trailers, since they’ve NEVER been used?! The FLEECING OF AMERICA continues……

Wanna know what FEMA stands for? This sums it up, WELL….

As we got closer to New Orleans, my sadness and anger turned me silent. I think that it’s SICK that this country can deliver food, water, shelter, bridges, etc., in countries 1000s of miles away, in a day’s notice, but PUNKED OUT when it came to delivering goods and services to New Orleans during a MAJOR disaster that was caused by NATURE.

It sickens me to see that New Orleans East and the lower 9th look like a third world country with it’s dilapidated houses (if standing at all), silent streets, and little sign of clean-up or repair. This is something that we should NEVER see in America, but we did as we rode through the streets. You heard a few saws and saw a few backhoes working, but not enough.

But here is a kicker for you, WHY, 18 months after the storm, aren’t these homes rebuilt and WHY are FEMA trailers still needed? Oh yeah, forgot…..the whack insurance industry PUNKED OUT, too, and won’t grant the people who have paid insurance money to them for YEARS their FULL CLAIM money. Like Chris Rock said, insurance is some “just in case” money that we may every month for crap that never happens. Well, crap happened and the full-pocket insurance companies that have fleeced America all of these years need to MAN UP and PAY UP, IN FULL!!!

I was told that pictures and the news served NO justice to the conditions that Hurricane Katrina left behind. With all of the technology with digital images, digital camera feeds, etc., I thought that I had a clear picture of what happened from the web and news. I was wrong. Click here to view my pictures.

When Hurricane Katrina hit, I was GLUED to the television and computer every day. I have NEVER, in all the days of my life, cried as much as I did that single week. It was to the point that my Mom told me that I need to shut the television off or I was going to drive myself crazy. But that’s just it, I am in my right mind and wasn’t in New Orleans or Mississippi (my home state) when Katrina hit. But those that were in those locations are probably going to need mental therapy for years to come. From what I saw with my own eyes last week, 18 months AFTER the storm hit, there is much work to be done, physically and mentally.

I felt bad that I had nothing to physically deliver to help out when I went down. I was able to collect over $3000 from friends the week that the storm hit. I was able to purchase NEW items for all ages and sizes (clothing, toiletries, business attire, etc.) as well as send clothing that I owned. The items were shipped to Dallas, Tupelo, Jackson, Galveston and Birmingham. This past week, I was empty handed and felt really bad about that, especially since I see that little to NOTHING has been done.

Maybe my pictures will give another view/eye of what is still needed in the areas of the gulf coast, including my HOME STATE of Mississippi, which was even MORE devastated by the storm. I still plan on going back home to the gulf coast area and helping out. I think that with continued communication and individual support, the affected families may be able to get back on their feet…..I pray daily that that is the case…