Will this be repeated umpteen times?
From the Hattiesburg American:Michael Gannon
McLAIN - Marlene Freeman struggled to carry the box of donated canned goods across this parking lot in rural Mississippi, offering nary a protest to a stranger's help to load them in her car. Freeman, 49, was exhausted after more than a week of caring for her husband, a diabetic with heart problems, in a home with telephone and electric service knocked out by Hurricane Katrina..."It's been horrible," Freeman said, weeping. "Our phones are out. Nobody cares and no one's telling you nothing." Destitute residents of the rural Pine Belt continue to suffer more than 10 days after Katrina's winds wreaked havoc on the area outside the media spotlight on the shocking ruins of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. They are isolated from less devastated areas to the north like Hattiesburg, where stores are reopening, and food and commodities are becoming more available again.In McLain, gasoline supply is still sporadic and many lights remain dark. Residents desperate for help, however, have not cast blame on the Federal Emergency Management Agency...They instead blame their local and county officials for failing to keep them apprised of opportunities to gather much-needed items like food, water and ice."It has nothing to do with FEMA. They're doing a great job," said Martha Hendricks, who with her husband, Joe, called the Salvation Army when no local officials seemed willing to help. Martha Hendricks said a promise from a Greene County official... proved unkept to this point."He... said he knows about our situation and he'd get us help," she said. "We haven't seen him again."(italics and bold mine)
Now, I'm not going to say FEMA's response has been perfect, but surely these folks' opinion is just as valid, as say, those who we've seen every night on the News saying the Federal Government doesn't care and wanted them to die...
Hmm.
Still waiting for a "civil rights" leader like Al Sharpton to jump to McClain residents' defense.
posted by Rebekah @ 1:09 PM
