Hi. As the world now knows, Hurricane Gustav paid a visit to Louisiana on Labor Day this year. While the national media focused on wanting to see if New Orleans’ levees held up, they missed the big picture. The coastal parishes were hit very hard by this Cat 2 or Cat 1 storm. Who knew that winds this small (relatively speaking, that is) could cause so much damage? Down in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes, there are downed power lines, poles, and transmission boxes everywhere. At some spots, the electric lines are dangling by the side of the road, making driving those roads a hazard. There are blue tarps everywhere, along with trees, limbs and debris scattered as far as you can see.
Here in Baton Rouge, the same thing, but on a smaller scale. And yet, most of the area is without power, and in some cases, without water. There are people in Baton Rouge and the surrounding parishes who will wait weeks for power to be restored! For those of you unfamiliar with Baton Rouge, it is an inland city, unaccustomed to being hit hard by hurricanes, and to be without power in this storm was unimaginable. While the utility companies are now making repairs, a few questions remain: 1) why wasn’t the infrastructure better maintained? 2) what did they do with all their profit, since it was not used to shore up the system or place lines underground? and 3) how much will their CEO’s receive as a bonus this year?
On the other hand, we have a superb governor in Bobby Jindal. He has been just great in handling the storm and its aftermath, keeping the citizens of this state well informed during a time of crisis. He has pushed and prodded other agencies to do their jobs (and I am including the utility companies, too), even though pushing FEMA has not resulted in much. Not his fault, though. While FEMA patted itself on the back for how well they prepared, they have not delivered on their promises of supplies. Instead of 100 trucks, they send 45. Instead of equipping the distribution sites with all manner of supplies, you can stand in line for ice just to learn your distribution site only has tarps. Who is the mastermind that came up with this stupid plan? And why can’t FEMA do a better job of staging? I will admit the response is better than it was after Katrina, but it is still inept and slow. There is no excuse for promising supplies and then failing to deliver them. Just as there is no excuse that we would lose power after a Cat 1 or Cat 2 storm. And to lose it for long, too. Completely unacceptable.
Now, here is the part that irks me. Some of the schools are planning to reopen on generator power and feed our children MRE’s (meals ready-to-eat), a high fat, high calorie (about 1200 calories per meal) meal that comes with a flameless heater and matches. The heater rises to a temperature of 100 degrees! Can you imagine kids with this heater? Plus, each kit comes with matches! What are the school boards thinking (or not thinking)? Is anyone else puzzled by this? Yes, I know kids need to be in school. So let them go in June, or take away many of the half-days and whole days they are going to be out of school already. Florida added in 11 hurricane days for the 2006 school year; why can’t Louisiana do the same?
Oh, and back to the power thing. Can’t pump gas or have perishables in the grocery stores without electricity. Florida requires certain gas stations and grocery stores in the Palm Beach County area to have generators in the event of extended power outages. Louisiana can do this, too. So, although I didn’t line up at the gas stations, or stand in line to get a bag of ice, I certainly sympathize with those who did. While you might be prepared for three days without power, more than that is not acceptable in this country. Hence, the lines everywhere.
This will be my only rant about Gustav, but Ike is coming, so I might have more to say then. On a last note, I do want to commend all the churches that helped out, along with various places like CVS. They managed to help people where FEMA did not. I know it’s not the government’s job to provide help like this, but if they are going to exist at all, they must be held accountable for their lack of preparation (again). But for Jindal, we would be in the same predicament as we were following Katrina. But for Jindal’s persistence and insistence, there would be no FEMA presence at all (at least not until next week!). Thank God for a governor who is bold enough to take the reins and insist that promises be kept. Too bad he isn’t running for president now.
I’ll post again in a few days. Until then, stay safe and God bless.
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: | baton rouge, damage, fema, God, gustav, hurricane, Jindal, Louisiana, MRE
Ummmm… I am an EBR teacher and I never heard any one mention feeding our kids MRE’s. In fact, our luch staff cleared out all of our food and took it to the closest school with power to save it. I can only imagine the pain that this was for them because we have almost 800 kids. I can assure you that my PRINCIPAL would never allow our students to have matches. And I don’t see the EBR School Board suggesting this. If you read the EBR Parish student handbook, you will find that “matches” are not allowed on campus by any student lit or UNLIT. This is grounds for possible suspension or expulsion. At my staff meeting yesterday, we were told that our children would not return to school without electricity, air conditioning, regular food service and a thorough inspection of the building by all teachers, staff, and principal. Then a company that was hired by EBR would also be inspecting the building t fix any problems. Children would not return on generator power, nor would they return until they could be properly and safely cared for. And the time lost will be made up for. And believe it or not, many teachers volunteered to work 30 minutes of overtime per day without pay from now until March so that our school can add 23 minutes to the school day (plus the extra teacher “duty” time). Just thought you might want to know the “real information”.