A deadly, Category 3 vortex of hell is headed for the Gulf region. Hurricane Gustav ravaged the tiny island of Haiti; killing around 60 people and displacing thousands. Just like Katrina in 2005, an impending doom approached the end of August.
Most of New Orleans’ residents are nervous. Those living among FEMA trailers and still destroyed areas of projects and ghettos are extremely nervous. Their meager and oppressed lives are endangered again. The residents who live on higher ground and in the suburbs have little to deal with. They don’t live on the lower ground and the ghettos. They don’t reside anywhere close to those cursed levees. To them, Katrina was just a gusty deluge.
Residents in Calliope and Mangolia housing projects are prepared to die. They lived through their state’s delayed evacuation, the National Guard’s delayed rescues, President Bush’s lack of apathy and FEMA’s incompetent response to their suffering.
Black and Hispanic New Orleans’ did what they did to survive. Homeowners broke into abandoned stores to feed their trapped families. Criminals took over their devestated neighborhoods. They turned avenues into labyrinths of death. People got shot down while treading in high water. Poor whites also suffered. They committed thefts and break-ins to do what was necessary. Media outlets applauded their “heroic efforts”, and condemned black residents as “hoodlums and criminals” in the same stories.
Anyone would be scared if Mother Nature was coming to kill them. Over 1,300 Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas residents died from both Katrina and Rita. Even today, trailer parks and low-lying areas are wearing the scars of 2005.
After Katrina, the government dished out thousands of $2,000 VISA cards. Each evacuee received one on the journey to somewhere. There are some living in Iowa. They started new lives among the cornfields and hog confinements. They have those VISA cards. They’re maxed out. But, they have them as keepsakes for a life long since gone.
Louisiana’s governor is prepared for the worst. Today’s LSU and Appalachian State game started at 11am eastern, instead of 4 pm. Residents are enjoying their football and getting back home to leave that home. Buses are ready to take thousands more out. Those unable to leave won’t be left to die this time. Bush promised a much quicker response. Whether he deserves another bite at the apple, is debatable.
Engineers said New Orleans’ levees are stronger. The Category 3 storm is expected to rise. Three years ago, those levees failed. America, as a nation, failed. Three years later, America must do better.
