ANd from another correspondent who grew up in the NO area:

>I am taking the time out to write this note to this group for a number of
>reasons. One, because I know that the collective intelligence of this group
>is such that you want to know what is really happening, not what is only
>making the news wires or CNN. Secondly, it helps me to organize my thoughts,
>which to tell you the truth are not working that well. Third, perhaps my
>writings will help you understand what is going on down here --not just in
>New Orleans -- but in my hometown, and in other cities that are not even
>making the nightly news reports or the screen tickers.
>
>First, the facts are clear -- FEMA has done an
>completely reprehensible job in terms of responding to this disaster.
>Absolutely embarrassing. Positively disgusting. When I went home Friday I
>did not even go to the hardest hit areas in Mississippi. I did not even go
>into New Orleans.
>
>But where I did go was where hard-working people live every day. And they
>pay their taxes. And they have nice homes. Or rather they HAD nice homes.
>
>And their homes now are pretty much destroyed by either water and/or
>horrific tree damage.
>
>But that is just the beginning.
>
>NOWHERE was there any National Guard presence. Or Army. Or Air Force. Or
>squat. Absolutely nothing. My father told me that no one had come to his
>house to make sure he was okay. He had no information about food or water.
>He had talked to NO ONE.
>
>Instead the only police presence I saw the entire time I was on the
>Northshore was at the checkpoint into the more heavily damaged area of
>Slidell. You had to show ID to local police to get in.
>
>Oh, and then there was the situation at the hospital and the nursing home
>where my mother is -- or was. But that is a story for a bit later.
>
>In my own neighborhood, which is (was) a lovely older development, heavy
>with trees, our neighbors who are still there have not seen one bit of
>police presence, military, anything. I have to say that the Parish did bring
>in bulldozers to clear the streets of trees -- and that is good. We also
>have water pressure. Both are good in that at least a fire truck can now get
>to a fire and they have water to fight it with.
>
>But my point is that NO locality has the resources to handle the aftermath
>of such a storm without federal help. The police are too busy trying to
>rescue people, and just get the Parish up and running again. There is no way
>the local law enforcement officials can deal with something like this.
>
>And again, I'm not talking about rescuing people off roofs. I'm talking
>basic rescue from areas behind downed trees. People who are sick and have to
>get to a hospital. Basic rescue demands. Street clearing. Whatever.
>
>Troops should have been in place to come in and man these areas on Saturday.
>At the very least -- Sunday -- after the Director of the National Hurricane
>center PERSONALLY called the mayors of New Orleans and the towns along the
>Mississipi Gulf Coast, along with the moron at FEMA, advising them that from
>what they now saw, Katrina had the potential to be worse than Camille.
>
>Heck Ft. Polk is only 3 hours away, and as far as I know, NO troops from
>there have been sent to South Louisiana.
>
>So, on top of having to worry about food, water, and whether or not your
>house is livable, the people there have to worry that their belongings are
>going to be stolen out from under them in the middle of the night -- or the
>middle of the day for that matter.
>
>The night before we got into Covington, one of the neighbors at the front of
>the subdivision (an ex-Marine who is afraid of no one) was in his yard,
>picking up branches when he saw a car full of what he called "rednecks" with
>Alabama license plates drive into Riverwood. He told our neighbor that he
>didn't' even think twice. He walked right in front of them, and asked them
>who they were here to see. They mumbled something about a friend..and he
>told them to turn around and leave. After a stare-down, they backed up and
>left.
>
>That same night, our neighbors, yes, the ones who ride the riding lawn
>mowers and go to Saints football games, and who live the life that we in the
>US have come to take for granted, put together a 24/7 patrol at the front
>gate. And all of them were armed. Visibly. Shotguns, hand guns. You name it.
>
>Oh, and let's talk about Friday, and President Bush's little trip to New
>Orleans. I have good friends in the press in New Orleans, and I can tell you
>that photo ops were set up Friday to make things appear to look better than
>they really were -- both at the airport and at a "temporary feeding station"
>which, suddenly disappeared Saturday. Yes, it was put up on Friday and taken
>down on Saturday. All the activity that was shown across the country at the
>break in the levee? To show that the Feds were now "tackling the situation"?
>Saturday morning, activity came to a screeching halt.
>
>I cannot tell you what thoughts ran through my mind this morning when I
>watched with my own eyes when the fucking HEAD of Homeland Security said on
>national television that well, you know, on Tuesday and Wednesday, the
>headlines in the newspapers seemed to indicate that New Orleans had "dodged
>the bullet."
>
>I was so stunned I could hardly breathe.
>
>Do you understand the significance of this statement? The head of Homeland
>Security is keeping up on the greatest natural disaster in our lifetime by
>reading the fucking headlines?
>
>I don't know what is worse. The fact that he apparently did this. Or the
>fact that he admitted his abject stupidity on national television.
>
>As for my mother, I don't know what has happened to her at this point. She
>made it through the storm. My father had seen her. But it was 100 degree
>plus in the nursing facility (no generator) and he saw her faint twice in
>front of him. They kept telling him they were going to get AC.
>
>When we arrived at his house Friday, he told us that when he was out there
>Friday morning -- they had finally received a generator and that there was
>A/C.
>
>But, when we left my father's house and made our way carefully out to the
>nursing home Friday afternoon, we drove up to a sight that NONE of us needs
>to see. In front of Northshore Hospital, behind which is the nursing home,
>were at least five local and state police cars. Then, standing in front of
>these were various law enforcement types all heavily armed. Standing
>immediately in front of my car was a huge beefy guy in shorts with a gun the
>size of my head strapped to his thigh.
>
>A nurse came over to the car and I explained who I was and that we needed to
>see my mother. She informed me that the hospital and the home were under a
>"lock-down" and that no family or friends could enter.
>
>Okay -- here's what goes through my head. First, that something has happened
>in one of the facilities and they don't want anyone to see what has
>happened.
>
>Secondly -- I then think, well, maybe not. Maybe it's just a preventative
>measure.
>
>Third -- I wanted to see my mother.
>
>I didn't see my mother. Nor has my father seen her since then either.
>
>The nurse, who was the one who verified my suspicion that the beefy guy in
>shorts was the FBI, offered to take a note to my mother. As I figured this
>was my best alternative -- that is what I did, shaking my head at how upset
>she would be to know that we had managed to get down there and then could
>not get in.
>
>That is how we left the situation.
>
>There is no communication between here and there. My father, who lives on a
>street that has a direct electrical line into the other hospital in town,
>said that he was optimistic that his power would be on by Sunday, because of
>his "favored" position. A crew from Omaha was out there working on the
>mangled mess of wires when we were there Friday, but I really thought my
>father's estimate was way too optimistic.
>
>Since he had, until then, been able to see Mom, I knew that scorching heat
>or no heat, stinking refrigerator of bad food or not, he would probably stay
>there, hoping that electricity would come on this weekend.
>
>But -- he agreed that if he did not get electricity by Monday, he would
>drive up to Monroe. Yes, he told me he has enough gas to do so.
>
>At that point, we had to leave.
>
>This morning, I ran to Target to stock up on things I ran off without and
>have not had a chance to even think about for a week. David and I talked
>about ordering an aero bed, or whether we need to go get a mattress here in
>town. (He is sleeping on the bare floor, I am on an old mattress and box
>spring that was his mothers and which has seen better days.)
>
>When I returned, he told me that my father had called from a neighbor who
>apparently has phone service. He was distraught. He had not been able to see
>my mother at all for the last two days, and today, they informed him that
>she was no longer there. But they could not tell him where she was. Well, I
>can only imagine how that went over with him. Finally, apparently, they tell
>him that she was taken to Opelousas. (Sits about halfway in the middle of
>LA.)
>
>Why was she taken there? Is there something wrong with her? They wouldn't
>tell him. They DID NOT EVEN KNOW WHERE SHE WAS. They can't tell him if she
>is in a shelter, in a nursing home. NOTHING.
>
>Thankfully, he just called again about a half an hour ago. They finally
>determined where she had been taken -- and so now he is off tomorrow to find
>her -- and then drive up here.
>
>Meanwhile, let's talk again about FEMA.
>
>Why is it that the Federal government has not done ANYTHING to alleviate the
>gasoline shortage here? Trucks cannot get in with supplies, people are
>running out of gasoline on the Interstate, we are now having difficulty
>getting any gas here in Monroe. Supply and relief efforts are being
>seriously hampered by a lack of gasoline.
>
>But I don't read about this in the New York Times.
>
>The Federal government could easily do any number of things to put more gas
>in this part of the country. You all are bright people. You can, I'm sure,
>figure out why they are not. Then again, maybe they are waiting for the New
>York Times to write about it, before they figure out it is a problem.
>
>Meanwhile, the gas situation here in all of Mississippi and Louisiana is
>very, very, dire.
>
>I agree with a suggestion Sunday morning that was sent to me from a friend
>of mine about what Bush *should* have done Wednesday that would have shown
>true leadership. I can send you transcripts of comments made by that
>worthless piece of shit who is head of FEMA about how 'conditions were
>improving" and how the levee situation was "under control" on Wednesday. I
>can tell you about verified reports I have from friends in the media about
>how FEMA told rescuers to stop going out in boats to rescue people, about
>how shipments from Wal-Mart were blocked by FEMA, about how ....it just goes
>on and on.
>
>For those of you who saw "Meet the Press" this morning -- the interview with
>Aaron Broussard, the President of Jefferson Parish was too much to watch.
>Especially, juxtaposed as it was, with a video of Michael Chertoff's (AKA
>the worthless head of Homeland Security) comments about how he had just not
>been aware of how bad things were in New Orleans -- because the headlines
>Wednesday had indicated the city was fine.
>
>To add salt to the wounds? He could not even pronounce "New Orleans"
>properly. He said, "New Orleeeans." What a complete and total idiot.
>
>Our status here? I've got to get some things together for my dad's arrival.
>We have no place to put him now, but our next-door neighbor here has offered
>the use of a bed they are not using. David left two hours ago to get
>gasoline and I have yet to see him return -- he is going to try and return
>to Covington tomorrow if he can get gas. Why? Because he feels a duty to go
>down and help. Be it by cutting down crap in the neighborhood, helping
>patrol the neighborhood, by taking gas so those with generators will have
>some more power, taking down ice. Whatever.
>
>Oh, and then there is the garage full of my beloved plants. I saved two
>Friday from the 100 plus degree heat in there, taking them inside for much
>needed water. Hopefully if he goes down Monday he can drag out the rest and
>water them. Maybe some will survive. Tomatoes? Sickening sight. The fall
>crop of tomatoes was just starting to come online. We had lots of tomatoes
>just starting to get ripe. We had to rip out the plants last Sunday morning,
>because we had to dismantle the trellis system before we left.
>
>I think he plans on staying there tomorrow night.
>..........


A