Katrina victims evacuate FEMA park - This is Outrageous!

[Sydnie]

HAMMOND, La. - Dozens of families evacuated from a FEMA trailer park that had been plagued by sewage leaks and power outages were in temporary homes Monday, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency said it had requested work permits to dismantle the site this week.

Many of the residents were moved to other FEMA locations in the Hammond area, agency spokesman Manuel Broussard said.

"Some families were concerned about schooling for their children, and we have found housing for them close to their schools," Broussard said. Likewise, he said, the agency has kept people who had jobs in Hammond close to town

<snip>

"They know how to put me out, but they don't know how to help me out. That's how I look at it," said Tobias, who lost his New Orleans home in Katrina's flooding and then was told to leave his Hammond trailer over the weekend. He and about 20 relatives, including 10 children, lived in four trailers, and were anxious about being split up.

"Pack and pray. That's what they told us," he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070305/ap_on_re_us/katrina_fema_trailers

Emphasis MINE. This is outrageous!

[ixion]

1. pack and pray, the new 'Murikan way.

:-(

[catnhatnh]

2. So, our premier emergency preparedness agency....

...doesn't know how to order up honey wagons (sewer pumping trucks) and generators...I feel SOOOOO safe.....

[Rosa Luxemburg]

16. God help us?

since we can't rely on FEMA

[babylonsister]

3. I don't understand the outrage. If the FEMA trailers were

plagued by sewage leaks and power outages, I'd want to move, too. And they found alternate housing for the people, per the article.

[Sydnie]

6. It says that they have been having these problems

for over a year. I find that outrageous, don't you Sis? :hug:

Yes, they should be moved, but they should have been given more help by now then they have been.

edited to add - From the article

Its displaced residents said they questioned the genuineness of the sudden concern for their health because the stink of sewage has been a nuisance for about a year.

"It's very unhealthy. The question is why did it take a year?" said Ron Harrell.

He lived next to the site's sewage treatment system with his family, and the stink of sewage filled the air as he spoke. He said his two sons have repeatedly complained of health problems, which he said could be related to the sewage.

[babylonsister]

7. I agree, they should have been moved when the problems first

surfaced. And the whole FEMA situation in general IS outrageous.

I have an ongoing outrage towards FEMA, but I hadn't realized they are only just acting after a year of these problems.

:hi:

[uppityperson]

8. After a yr of these problems,a re given 48 hrs to help move.

On the plus side, the FEMA people who are at the trailer park were, according to varied articles, quite helpful in looking for other places for these people to move and in the physical moving them process.

Why let it go on a yr? Why not fix it right away? A sewaged park may have been better than a sludged moldy house, but there was the option of a non-weaged park it seems.

[MadMaddie]

20. Well you see that would have cost money...and this administration

isn't going to take money from the rich with their tax cuts and all...and he certainly isn't going to use his war money to help Americans:mad:

[yellerpup]

4. Yes Sydnie, an outrage that has gone on too long.

More letters, more calls, more demands for accountability. We pay taxes so we can help each other in situations like this. Put John Edwards in charge, he's been effective in this situation.:kick:

Edited to add kick.

[VegasWolf]

5. Bush motto, we turn cities into trailer parks. nt

[Sydnie]

9. As long as they retain ownership of that trailer!

They are vile and should be forced to live WITH these people, just like some judges have forced slumlords to live with their tenants!

[OneBlueSky]

10. it's become pretty obvious that BushCo can't do ANYTHING right . . .

and yet impeachment is "off the table" . . . :banghead:

[Sydnie]

11. There was a second story that has now made it down the memory hole

completely. It was there when I posted the first story and gone when I went back to get it to post it too. This was a shooting at a different park (as near as I can remember), but it could have been the same park as I skimmed this article before posting the one that I did orginally. Just gone. POOF. Gone!

Off the Wires
Guard killed in New Orleans FEMA park AP, 56 minutes ago

[Theres-a]

13. Found it.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070305/ap_on_re_us/new_orleans_shootings_3;_ylt=AhBg_zPFi07VZOYm3vpGQ_5H2ocA

[Sydnie]

15. Thank you! n/t

[pitohui]

17. gentilly is in new orleans proper, hammond is close to 90 minutes away

these are separate stories in separate areas and indicative of the poor quality of these so-called "parks"

no one should have to be around raw shit for a YEAR

nor should policing be so inadequate that if one security guard goes to the can, he comes back and finds his partner shot dead in the face

[Catherine Vincent]

12. That explains the smell of the water from the pipes.

A DUer had a link to a video of Katrina victims talking about their fema trailer and I remember one lady said the water from her faucet smelled real bad. It was so bad that she never turned it on.

[Doctor_J]

14. It must have been determined that the people are mostly Dems

If this were a GOP stronghold our tax dollars would have bought them all new single-family homes.

[pitohui]

18. new orleans is overwhelmingly democratic and voted for kerry EOM

,

[Forkboy]

19. It's hard to keep track of all the outrages

It's like trying to count cars on a busy freeway.

[sarcasmo]

21. A sad but true reminder of what our Government has become under King ASSHAT.

[stillcool]

22. I can't imagine these people's lives...

and what's worse, is that I generally don't have to. It's one thing not to know what's going on in Iraq, but really creepy to not know what's going on down the road a ways.

[lonestarnot]

23. Sucks!

[truedelphi]

24. B* was just visiting New Orleans a few days ago

The man gave a press conference talking about how the money for N.O. was "in the pipeline"
and that although there is much remaining to be done - it is certainly not the Federal Government's fault but the fault of the local county and state governments

He directly contradicted interviews that CNN had on one of their Sunday Morning shows in which they interviewed entire communities - including various city and county officials. Many of the local officials, mayors, county supervisors, etc are doing just as badly as John Q public in terms of getting money from insurance companies or loans from the government

What troubled me most about the Bush meister's speeches on N.O. is that the smirk was under control, he really seemed to believe what he was saying. He has lying down. He can do it with warmth and sincerity these days.

[Kurovski]

25. K&R.(nt)

[intheflow]

26. K&R n/t

[SeattleGirl]

27. How much more do these people have to take???????

This is absolutely disgusting and immoral. I am sick over this. The treatment of the Katrina survivors by this government is the gift that keeps on taking: taking away a stable place to live, taking away any sense of security, taking away a person's dignity.... and it keeps on giving, too: giving humiliation, degredation, stress, anxiety, pain, and on and on.

It is shameful, absolutely shameful that people who went through such an awful experience continue to be treated in such a horrific way.