Politicizing Tragedy

Scout at First Draft, among others, have noted the report covered in Michael Brown: Politics Played role in federal Katrina Response.

I would like to add my personal knowledge to this. After Katrina, locally, we concentrated on helping Mississippi because we had worked out a route to get there over the roads that were left and they absorbed the fury of the hurricane from the coast to well inland.

I live in a small town of less than 400 but we organized a trailer full of supplies and the truck and drivers to get it there. We were really upset when the governor of Mississippi, Hailey Barbour, would get on television and say that everything was wonderful and FEMA was great and Mississippi would be good as new in no time. The local officials and the drivers who returned said the area was a bomb zone, no supplies were being brought in, FEMA expected people to travel great distances, etc. – exact same conditions that they were complaining about in and around New Orleans.

The sheriff of a rural Mississippi county was charged by the Feds when, fed up with the lack of response, he took some of his people to a FEMA distribution point and “highjacked” a truckload of supplies for his county.

The progress in Mississippi is generally the result of the corporations that own the casinos rebuilding, not any action by the state or FEMA. With a much larger Federal grant for housing than Louisiana, Mississippi is barely moving forward, and the local governments are still dependent on donations from neighboring states for equipment and supplies.

The politics played by Hailey Barbour in talking about the response may have resulted in larger grants, but the rebuilding is just as hampered by the incompetent and inconsistent FEMA administration, and the lack of government resources that affect Louisiana.

Florida is still waiting for FEMA to make up its mind about the 2004 hurricanes so we can finish our recovery, but we aren’t holding our breath.