Thank you Peace.

What seems to have been lost in the shuffle is that there are times when first responders CAN'T GET A PHONE LINE OUT. And yes, I think FEMA should have had a plan for such an eventuality, not Tickfaw County, Louisiana. Nobody's local Plan said "whenever all land lines and satellite towers are out for a radius of 200 miles, then we'll go to the closet and get 50 satellite phones out and drive them across timber-strewn roads, so each litttle burgs with destruction can call Washington". Because no, one call from the governor doesn't do it. Then FEMA still hangs fire and says, well, if you tell us in detail exactly what you need, and exactly where, we'll see what we can do. Mississippi at least had a MEMA that had half a clue and directed aid as best it could, but the system is still screwy.

We have an national emergency response agency that we pay for. When a CAT 5 is headed for our shores, that agency needs to know what to do and mobilize massive help regardless of how corrupt the local governments are. IF IT CAN'T, then it should get out of the federal budget and leave us to our own local devices. Spontaneous response from local heroes and merciful people and organizations went a LONG way to handling this crisis. We need to stop letting Homeland Security suck up these dollars to misdirect help.

Passed through Gulfport this week, so much damage, yet the Corps and jillions of volunteers and workers have cleared the streets of a mountain range of debris. Plenty of misery but plenty of contractor crews working their butts off rehanging walls and doing roofs. Stretches where every roof that is not gone is blue. Guys camping out in car lots, truck stops, biker bar yards. National Guard guarding access to every block of the worst zones with miles of looped razor wire to keep looters from roaming around.

Lots of people trying to reclaim their busted frame houses, doing what they can. It looks more like a miner's camp than a war zone now. Lots of work in the air, lots of work ahead. Hope and pray.