Adrian writes

Playing Down Rita

Things are a mess here in Texas and Lousiana. Yes, Houston was generaly spared, but the little towns all around Port Arthur and Lake Charles were hit very, very hard. Things are bad and almost a repeat of what went down in New Orleans.


Poor folks that did not evacuate are left to fend for themselves unless they mobilize for up to ten miles on their own to be taken out of the region without any information as to where they are going or for how long. Folks choosing not to evacuate are not being brought supplies by FEMA or state and local authorities.
The red cross is sending a truck around making people cheese sandwiches and crackers and giving them water. To make matters worse folks are not being allowed to cross from one county to another, once they are out they can't get back in, even if they can't get to the main rescue centers. Supposedly they are doing this for their own safety, but there is little difference from one county to the other in terms of damage and folks are being unnecessarily prevented from inspecting their houses, checking on relatives left behind, removing personal items, further securing their homes for a possible lengthy absence or actually use them as safe haven given that no local shelters are being set up.

People are violating some of these police check points and driving through. The "authorities" want people to leave the area somehow, rather than bringing them aid locally. Water is gone, so is electricity. They say water might be up and running already though electricity might take up to a month.

What I am finding strange is how little effort is being put into bringing aid directly to the affected communities. They have set up "operation centers" and want folks to gather there instead of them mobilizing to bring assistance to people of these parishes and counties. Poor white folks and poor black folk is the bulk of who we are talking about. They say this is soooo much better that Katrina. Its a hype and a lie. This is bullshit.

If a real emergency had occured, such as a chemical attack, the evacuation from Houston would've resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. The sides of the highways all across houston looked like one of those "morning after" movies. Cars ran out of gas and were left abandoned on the side of the road in the hundreds as traffic slowed to a crawl and gasoline stations ran out of gas to sell. I am sure they will also try to cover up the $$$ amount of the damage, that is part of why they are wanting people to concentrate on the little damage of Houston and all the attention is focused here, so the stock market doesn't freak out over yet another multibillion dollar disaster all across east Texas and wetern Lousiana for which we have no money to pay cos we are spending it all ocupppying other people's countries and blowing meteorites to smithereens in outer space to see what's in them. Fuck these bastards!