Salvage Me
Published September 02, 2005
There are all races displaced in the Superdome but there is no doubt the majority is black, and again I must ask why the delay? No, everything isn't about race. The old-heads know Dew is the last one to pull the race card, but when Bill O'Reilly makes the statement that 'we know why they are there, these people live hour by hour', I have to wonder exactly who 'these people' are. After 9/11 I did not think I would see something so devastating occur and so close to home. Times are changing, signs are showing themselves as the domino effect begins. All it took for me to get back to 'normal' was having my power back. Having to wait for gas is annoying but nothing I can't deal with. I am one of the lucky few. I have a home and a full tank of gas. Soon, though, gas will not be available for regular citizens but only emergency vehicles and utility trucks. I still have a job to go to and bills to pay. I do not live in the city limits therefore I use quite a bit of gas in my daily commute. Its easy to say don't go anywhere unnecessary but I was already doing that. Today gas is at $3.29/gallon, for us that is beyond exorbitant.
Hurricane Katrina created more than wreckage, she created lost souls. People who only had a little now have even less. Families have been literally ripped apart. People were forced to decide between their spouses or their children. Throughout the state, people are rationing everyday items we take for granted. Where gleaming casino lights once draped Biloxi's ports there remains only despair. No, Jackson never gets weather as bad as they say, but we still share the aftermath.
My testimony is a soft one. Although affected, I am not the one who needs relief or telethons but I am close enough to the problem to see how bleak the solution really is. Casinos can be rebuilt and water can be drained, but what donation or celebrity outcry can salvage lost souls?
Ed:LM
- Salvage Me
- Published: September 02, 2005
- Type: News
- Section: Culture
- Filed Under: Culture: Family and Relationships, Culture: Society
- Writer: Dew
- Dew's BC Writer page
- Dew's personal site
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I can also understand a bit of sensitivity here on some of the racial issues. There's been quite a bit of varied political and social foolishness from various sides shoehorned into this terrible situation. I will note, however, that such foolishness comes not just from one side of the political aisle, as per this Blogcritics post.
Also, please do not hold Bill O'Reilly's nonsense against President Bush. He's certainly no spokesman for the administration.
I note that you answered my previous question about distance in the first sentence of your column. My only defense is that I was so excited to see you back that I read too quickly.
I'm glad you're safe and wish you continued safety.
Thank you for providing us a look into your experiences.
Dew! So glad to see your prose again, though sad to hear of your trials. Please stay safe and stay in touch. BC is a sadder, colder, lonelier place without your presence.
Very well-written. It could be professional. You should publish that in a newpaper or magazine.
Thank you all for the well wishes. Things here are improving. Power is being restored faster and further south working its way to the coast. I have no idea how they will begin to tackle the problem there or in New Orleans. News of Mobile, Alabama has been scarce but they were just as devastated. The mayor of Jackson is working with the city council to get evacuees enrolled in area schools hopefully there are efforts such as these going on in all relief areas.
Shame on Carnival Cruise. What a bunch of hipocrates. I just heard they were going to offer the HOLIDAY ship to shelter the homeless- meanwhile they just marooned me and my wife and all the other HOLIDAY passengers in Tampa refusing to return us to mobile where we shipped out from on thier cruise and now they are offering to "shelter" the homeless? They didn't even shelter thier own cruise clients and FORCED everyone off of thir ship in Tampa instead of Mobile where we shipped out from! I am so mad at this hipocrisy! They boarded up all the windows on the cruise during the hurricane. They were too cheap to stay in port in cozemel so forced all of us to float around in the gulf instead of staying ported in cozemel. Then, instead of returning us to Mobile where we shipped out of they forced us all out of the boat in Tampa NO REFUND! And many of us are still trying to get our cars which are still in mobile! What a joke. SHAME ON CARNIVAL.
Thanks for also raising the point that it is not only New Orleans that is devastated. This disaster hit three states, not just the Big Easy...
Five, actually: Georgia and Kentucky saw damage too, though not on the same scale as the others.
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(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/35350)
Miss Dew! Glad to see you back in print, and especially with a strong and timely report from the affected area. Obviously New Orleans has gotten the worst of this, but this goes out a long ways. How far is Jackson from New Orleans, anyway?