Man Bites Hurricane

By Michael Graham

They were poor. They lived in homes that, to some Americans, would appear no more than shacks. They've suffered discrimination at the hands of their fellow Americans. And when the hurricane came, it seemed to veer out of its way, just to hit them.

So why didn't hundreds of Cajuns from western Louisiana appear on my TV screen this week, complaining that George W. Bush doesn't like them, demanding $200 billion of my tax dollars or blaming the bad weather on Halliburton?

Hurricane Rita may have hit western Louisiana harder than Katrina hit New Orleans, but Rita across folks made of sterner stuff then you'll find in the Ninth Ward. Here's how one Washington Post story described the scene just hours after Rita made landfall near Intracoastal City, a "city" that in many senses barely exists:

"The only people who can get here are the sturdiest of sorts, a small armada of Cajuns with pretty French names and sunburned skin and don't-mess-with-me bravado. The bayous were full of them Saturday, gliding high and quick in airboats, and so was the Vermilion River, where they were spinning steering wheels on fast Boston Whalers and kicking up wakes in flat-bottomed, aluminum boats. They did not wait for the president or FEMA or anyone else to tell them that there were people out there — out there and desperate, on rooftops...

'I got out of the sheriff's office in about 20 seconds,' said Steve Artee, as his son, Chris, made a hard, boat-tilting turn on the swollen Vermilion. 'They just took my cell phone number, and I was gone. That's because Kathleen Blanco wasn't involved.'"

Now, anyone who hates Blanco and bureaucrats can't be all bad. But I don't agree with Mr. Artee that the people of Vermilion Parish behaved more responsibly or showed more strength of character because Gov. Blanco didn't have their parish on her speed dial. I believe the people of western Louisiana behaved better because they are, in fact, better people.

The failure revealed by Hurricane Katrina was not a failure of government, at least, not any more than government always fails. The failure in New Orleans was a failure of character. Corrupt people electing corrupt politicians who gave millions in tax dollars to corrupt cronies to either mis-construct vital levees or to spend the money on entirely useless pork projects. Then, when disaster struck, these same people—living a Faustian deal of votes for tax-funded handouts— were utterly lost when those corrupt government officials headed for high ground without them.

As John Fund of the Wall Street Journal wrote: "In just the past generation, the Pelican State has had a governor, an attorney general, three successive insurance commissioners, a congressman, a federal judge, a state Senate president and a swarm of local officials convicted. Last year, three top officials at Louisiana's Office of Emergency Preparedness were indicted…. Just this summer, associates of former [New Orleans] mayor Marc Morial were indicted for alleged kickbacks involving public contracts. Last month the FBI raided the home and car of Rep. William Jefferson as part of a probe into allegations he had misused his office."

Not to mention the widespread looting by the citizens of New Orleans themselves, which included televised looting by police officers, too. The chief administrative officer for Kenner, LA, was just busted for pilfering food, drinks, chainsaws and roof tarps from New Orleans and stashing them in his suburban home.

Hey -- Stay classy, New Orleans!

Then came Hurricane Rita, Katrina's ugly sister, to wreak similar havoc just a few hundred miles to the west. The communities affected were, on the surface, similar as well: Abbeville or Cameron, LA were "low income" communities. The education levels were similar to the Ninth Ward, too. And you won't find many branches of the Aryan Nations meeting among the dark-skinned natives of Cajun country, whose heritage is a genetic gumbo of Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and American Indians.

But while the people of New Orleans were panicking and complaining (not to mention stealing, shooting and stabbing) days after the storm, the Cajuns of western Louisiana were out in their boats, looking for lost neighbors and rescuing strangers off rooftops.

It wasn't just because Gov. Blanco wasn't involved—it was because almost NO government is involved in these folks' daily lives. The people of rural Louisiana grow up with the assumption that their survival in this world of woe is their responsibility. Unlike far too many people in New Orleans, "low income" isn't an excuse to the working families in rural Louisiana. It's just a condition to be dealt with. They live their lives as though they own them, unlike those government-dependent "victims" who live as though life is something the state provides for them and is responsible to maintain.

Randy Gary, a fisherman from Cameron, LA, was asked about his future after his boats were destroyed and flooding poisoned the oyster beds he fished.

He didn't blame FEMA or accuse President Bush of stealing his lunch money. He wasn't spotted kicking in the door of the local Wal-Mart to snag a plasma-screen TV "for survival purposes." He has yet to join the Cajun Action Committee to investigate why so many of Rita's victims spoke French.

Instead, as the AP reports, he smiled.

"What else we gonna do?" he said, pledging to rebuild his shattered home and work. "It's my life. It's what I do."

Hurricane Rita, you've met your match.

Hot and Dark

Well, today is Tuesday, and post storm day number 3. In Crowley, we are still out of electricity. That means that out in the country we have no water either. Water wells run on electricity. It's hot! Oh, and for the main part, the house is still in tact. Just a few shingles got knocked off.

Thursday night, Kevin and his ex-before-last girlfriend slept in MY BED. I haven't been staying at home much, so I have not looked for stains yet. I'm going to explode once the juice is in the wires again.

So, out in Ebenezer, we now have 2 generators, and we are borrowing a window unit air conditioner that is temporarily installed in the living room. You know because a tiny window until will use less energy than the big central unit cooling off the entire house. This unit keeps the front of the house a chill 85 degrees Fahrenheit.

We have 6 people staying in our living room. Thank God I am not there. Hot, and a bunch of people that I do not care to be around.

Crowley is on a "Boil Order." This means that anyone one in the city needs to boil their water before using it. The shitty company that I work for gave us bottled water to drink, what a shocker. Unfortunately, they are ignorant. We have well water at work. Suprisingly enough, we have electricity, as well. Since the salt water, from the Gulf of Mexico, did not come this far north there is no danger from that. The water beneath the ground, in the water table, is naturaly filtered by the soil. So that means....it is as clean now as it was before the storm. Wow...idiots run this company. However, I never said that the water was safe. We do dump all our chemicals down the drain.

"Dilution is not the solution to pollution." Thanks Erin, you could not be more right.

MargaRITAville

Ok guys...it appears that the hurricane is coming this way. So far, it doesn't look like the absolute worst part is going to hit here, in Crowley. Although, the mandatory evacuation extends all the way to LA HWY 92, which is about 2-3 miles south of my house. OK...I'm convinced! I was here for Hurricane Lili, and I do not want to see a repeat with the bigger bitch, Rita.

I'm on my way to Shreveport, if I can't get in touch with my friends there, I have a friend in Kansas.

I hope all the gas isn't gone yet! Hopefully I will have a house to come back to. Wish me luck.

Beware of Rita

Well, Katrina did not strike the southwestern part of Louisiana, but Rita may take care of that for us. Things may not be looking good for Acadiana as we are on the bad side of the storm.

I'm going pack my hurricane survival bag, and put it in my trunk.

Jim, please don't come to my town!

Marc Opening for Bon Jovi

Marc Broussard To Support Bon Jovi Tonight - Special Broadcast...

Bon Jovi who will perform tonight (09/19/2005) at the grand opening of The Nokia Theatre Times Square on the eve of the band's US album release, have invited Marc to open the show for them. Bon Jovi are using the show as a way to further help generate revenue and awareness for the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. This event will be broadcast in approximately 100 Regal Cinemas around the country (as well as on AOL and XM - for more info go to bigscreenconcerts.com or bonjovi.com) and a small portion of Marc's set will be a part of the broadcast. Marc's segment is scheduled to air live around 8:45pm EST.

Things I have learned from watching the news on TV during the last two weeks:

1. White folks don't make good news stories.
2. The hurricane only hit black families' property.
3. New Orleans was devastated and no other city was affected by the hurricane.
4. Mississippi is reported to have a tree blown down.
5. New Orleans has no white people.
6. The hurricane blew a limb off a tree in the yard of an Alabama resident.
7. When you are hungry after a hurricane, steal a big screen TV.
8. The hurricane did 23 billion dollars in improvements to New Orleans. Now the city is welfare, looters and gang free and they are in your city.
9. Don't give thanks to the thousands that came to help rescue you, instead bitch because the government hasn't given you a debit card yet.
10. Only black family members got separated in the hurricane rescue efforts.
11. Ignore warnings to evacuate and the white folks will come get you and give you money for being stupid

No More Reruns

Tonight I watched the season premiere of House M.D. It was great; however, I won't get into it. Also I am anxiously awaiting to see the second episode of Reunion, which plays on Fox, Thursdays at 8pm.

Now I'm waiting for the new episodes of Desparate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy. Gotta love the fall!

Not My Fault

While dealing with the aftermath of Katrina, everyone is quick to point fingers. The hurricane was not a surprise, and unfortunately, natural disasters do occur. For all of those blaming the governor and the mayor, I propose this: If your neighbor's house is on fire, are you going to call him at work and ask for his permission to call the fire department, or are you just going to go right ahead and call the fire department? Yeah, that is what I thought. The Federal government and the National Guard knew exactly what was coming, and they could have made a decision then.

The only thing that I blame Blanco for is not having big enough balls to tell people where to go. Although, Mary Landreau is a little firecracker. I stand by Louisiana officials.

This Isn't the Last Dance

Riboflavin

Alternative names: Vitamin B-2 (riboflavin)

Definition: Riboflavin is a water-soluble vitamin in the B-complex group.

Function: Riboflavin (vitamin B-2) works with the other B vitamins. It is important for body growth and red blood cell production and helps in releasing energy from carbohydrates.

Food Sources: Lean meats, eggs, legumes, nuts, green leafy vegetables, dairy products, and milk provide riboflavin in the diet. Breads and cereals are often fortified with riboflavin.
Because riboflavin is destroyed by exposure to light, foods with riboflavin should not be stored in glass containers that are exposed to light.

Side Effects: Deficiency of riboflavin is not common in the U.S. because this vitamin is plentiful in the food supply. Significant deficiency syndromes are characterized by sore throat, swelling of mucous membranes, mouth and/or lip sores, anemia, and skin disorders.

There is no known toxicity to riboflavin. Because riboflavin is a water-soluble vitamin, excess amounts are easily excreted by the body in the urine.

Recommendations: Recommended daily allowances (RDAs) are defined as the levels of intake of essential nutrients that the Food and Nutrition Board judges to be adequate to meet the known nutrient needs of almost all healthy people.

The best way to get the daily requirement of essential vitamins is to eat a balanced diet that contains a variety of foods from the food guide pyramid.

Specific recommendations for each nutrient depend on age, gender, and other factors (such as pregnancy). The U.S. Department of Agriculture has a PDF file that lists these recommendations.

Hurricane Katrina

It has been over a week since Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Louisiana-Mississippi Gulf Coast. I was in Lafayette, LA the weekend before Katrina caused the devastation. Beginning on Friday, I was glued to The Weather Channel, ready to make an evacuation myself. Friday, New Orleans was advised to make an evacuation, and Saturday the evacuation became mandatory.

Friday night, I did not notice much of a change in traffic; however Saturday, and mostly Sunday, I-10 was bumper to bumper with traffic. Unfortunately, not everyone could escape. Some chose not to escape. Some had no choice because of lack of transportation. Airports were closed, and rental cars were all taken. As a secondary measure, the mayor of New Orleans and Governor of Louisiana offered the Superdome as a shelter from the storm.

Mass chaos had already begun. A contra-flow system was created on I-10 from New Orleans to Baton Rouge. This reserved all lanes of the interstate to be directed out of the city, all in one direction. Its purpose was well served, and the city had advanced warning to escape from this, category 5, natural disaster.

Monday morning, Katrina made landfall. Here in Crowley, it was cloudy and breezy. We did not even get a drop of rain. However, not everyone was so lucky. New Orleans was hit hard, immediately. Those in the Superdome were safe from the storm. When the electricity first went out, reporters say that they were actually applause and fanfare. They were happy! These are people with no sense. After the storm passed the levees surrounding the city were breached. Causing the waters from Lake Pontchatrain to spill into and flood the city. Several levees gave way and followed suit. The media broadcasted that alligators, sharks, and snakes filled the city.

The days following the storm will go down in the history books. The Federal Government responded later than expected. Blame is being given everywhere. The residents of New Orleans begin to loot. There is no food, water, electricity, shelter, or hope. They become desperate and most of the act the same way you are I would, given the same situation.

I feel bad for the ones would could not escape. On the other hand, the ones that chose to stay because they wanted to, and they did not think they would be affected...I would rather not hear them bitch and moan about being trapped on television.

As seen on TV, people were trapped in their attacks, on top of buildings, and countless other places. They have been stranded for days deprived with the basic life needs. Again, it took much longer for the US Government to respond to their own tax paying citizens, than it took for the victims of the Tsunami.

Most are trying to make the latent response a factor of race. New Orleans has now almost been completely evacuated. New Orleans is predominantly black. St. Benard, on the other hand, is mostly white. People are still trapped in this city because most of the rescue efforts have been focused on New Orleans. That is how it goes, bigger cities yields bigger news. Even Oprah was leaning to the race factor.

No one can prevent a natural disaster. The Superdome is a man-made structure. It was a shelter, but no structure is weather proof. Also, nothing can completely withstand flood waters.

Emergency workers are struggling around the clock to save lives. Unfortunately, more than just nature is making this a difficult process. Thugs are shooting at the workers because they think they have been held down too long, and now it is their time to come up. In addition to civilian deaths, New Orleans emergency service agencies have had to deal with some suicides among their ranks, Mayor Ray Nagin stated: "I've got some firefighters and police officers that have been pretty much traumatized, and we've already had a couple of suicides so I am cycling them out as we speak, but we have a problem. I can get them to Baton Rouge, but once I get them to Baton Rouge there's no hospitals. They need physical and psychological evaluations."

A total coliform test was performed on a sample of the flood waters in New Orleans, it showed that the coliforms were 450,000x what should exist in normal pond water. Translation: That's some bad shit! It can easily lead to an epidemic. Yet another wave of tragedy.

Sunday morning, a woman's body remained lying at the corner of Jackson Avenue and Magazine Street - a business area in the lower Garden District with antique shops on the edge of blighted housing. The body had been there since at least Wednesday. As days passed, people covered her with blankets or plastic. By Sunday, a short wall of bricks had been built around her body, holding down a plastic tarpaulin. On it, someone had spray-painted a cross and the words, "Here lies Vera. God help us."

Baton Rouge has now become the most populated city in Louisiana. Lafayette has grown dramatically as well. It is estimated that they city will grow by 40,000 people, permanently. That is a large growth for such a small city. There are not enough homes, apartments, stores, gas, schools, or jobs for all of these people.

This morning, I heard news that the Canal Street levee breech has been repaired. It seems the city is on the up and up, but it will be at least 6 months before a sense of normality will return to the Big Easy. Here is a captured shot of the flooded Canal Street.

Now shelters are holding tens of thoughs of evacuees. More than anything they need monetary donations to the Red Cross. Volunteers helping out are good, but most of those people are just like you and me, except they just lost everything they own. They can do for themselves, and they can do for others, physically.

At the mall this weekend, I saw people grabbing loved ones and just breaking down in tears. It was a hard sight to see. It's sureal to see something of this calibar occuring so near. I have family that was trapped in the flood water's in St. Benard. To anyone who may come across this, Randy and Faye Blanchard are safe, and they are staying in Lafayette, LA. They are here with only the clothes on their back, and no home to return to.

David and Laura Hoffpauir are safe as well. They are still staying in their home.

www.dateline.msnbc.com

www.redcross.org

www.katrina.petfinder.com