My wife and me came back from our house in Arabi, St Bernard
Louisiana today. The water line was three inches from the
ceiling. We brought a u-haul 5x8 trailer with us but went back
to where we are staying with it ninety percent empty…there was
nothing to save.
I wrote a very positive article about the responses to Katrina
for
http://ezinearticles.com Entitled “New Orleans My Home -
Katrina My Nightmare” and another article “Katrina What It Is
Like To Be An Evacuee” In both articles I endeavored to stay on
the upside and we aren’t complaining to anyone but today was the
straw that broke…etc
Everyone it seems, has an answer for who is to blame or who to
call for help or how to deal with your insurance company. But I
wonder if anybody is really asking the right questions! As
evacuees, as victims of Katrina we have our own set of
questions. They are not a product of bitterness but of pure
frustration and at times exhaustion. Anyone may answer these
questions since the people or agencies we are dealing with have
not…so far.
Here is just a short list of our questions. The long list would
overwhelm you.
Why has my wife been dialing Red Cross for five days only to
hear someone say she should keep trying but all the lines are
busy. Then a recording says we are going to hang up now, and
they do!
Where are the 40,000 volunteers said to be helping the Red Cross
when we call them?
What does Red Cross do exactly with the billions of dollars it
collects in times like these? Have they thought of contacting
some of the giant telecommunications companies that boast so
often about their ability to connect the whole world? But would
these giant companies actually answer the phone?
Has anyone of the agencies helping people in shelters considered
that giving people food, water and a blow up mattress for the
next few months contributes nothing to their starting a new life.
Do insurance companies that are already trying to find ways out
of paying for losses have a legal right to do this? Is it
decent? Is it moral? If they file for bankruptcy do they know
that under the new bankruptcy laws they must still pay after
they re-organize? Would they, or the banks let us pay after we
re-organize or would the insurance cancellation warnings come in
the mail as usual?
Do the national guard soldiers that were standing by as we
entered our neighborhood assuring us that all was safe and
secure realize that it is a little to late for safe and secure?
Does a pile of rubble need to be secured?
Have all the warnings about those who are committing fraud when
it pertains to being a legitimate Red Cross site or collection
point sufficiently scared away what might amount to thousands of
donors. Whatever happened to check it, then give. Is “it might
be fraudulent” the new excuse for indifference.
Is there something wrong with helping an individual or a family.
Is it just as conscience soothing to dump big checks into big
organizations as to actually help a real person, one with a name
and not just a social security number.
Does FEMA really expect people to return from places they have
gone to for refuge, some that are hundreds or thousands of miles
away from the Gulf coast area to keep an appointment with them
to see their house? Is there even a child in America that
doesn’t know that these houses have been photographed sitting in
ten feet of water for the past ten days? Could one of these
children please call FEMA and let them know? Oh, I forgot it
took my wife over five hundred attempts to reach FEMA before she
got through. The result is now the familiar “hurry up and wait.”
Will America with its worldwide reputation for its short
attention span and its penchant for the pop culture, hottest
item, latest news mentality really carry this thing through.
Will interest wane before the water is dry?
President Bush said, “New Orleans will rise again.” But
infrastructure and Superdomes do not a city make. A city is
people. How can we help people? How do you help people?
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