Gov. Blanco also worried about her wardrobe/image during Katrina crisis!

[kgeaux]

How is it in your local area now?

My friends are going to a horse show in West Monroe at the end of December...was it affected much? We used to go to a show in Baton Rouge, but they've now moved it to W. Monroe.

West Monroe is absolutely fine! I hope your friends have fun on their trip. Lafayette wasn't affected by the hurricanes, just the aftermath. We've got congested streets and crowded classrooms with not enough books for all the students, and not enough funding for anything. We've got evacuees living in hotels while FEMA trailers sit empty because no one thought of how to handle the sewage problem......and they are STILL working on that little problem, all these months later. We've got a state government who seems to be saying "gimmee, gimmee, gimmee" in unison.

But there are as many good stories as there are bad:

My sister "adopted" an evacuee who had to have emergency surgery and when he was released from the hospital, his shelter had been closed down and he had no where to go.......she's got him living in a little house she owns and is trying to get him into the local vo-tech college.

The people of the state seem to have pulled together and hopefully we will get each other and our government cleaned up, straightend up and on the road to recovery.

But most of the state is not OK. It is pretty deplorable like lots of DNA that has not been identified. So many bodies and no answers. So many homes destroyed and no flood insurance. There is no shining light here. It is still devastation...just check CNN who IMO is really covering this. I want it to be rosy but it isn't. Just think what you want but it isn't a reality. This is a natural happening that has overreaching conditions and the conditions are devastating. No matter how far reaching the politicos are it affects the average person. This is where the line are going to be drawn. Someone is going to suffer and I think it is political now.

The coroner's office is horribly overwhelmed right now. There are many that will never be identified. There are bodies that show signs of trauma such as bashed in heads and apparent gunshot wounds, and these murders will never be solved, the victims may never be identified. It is a sad, sad situation and gets sadder by the day. Every once in awhile, there's an obit in the paper, with a death date corresponding to Katrina, and we say "they identified another one." Families know at this point that missing loved ones aren't going to be found alive, but are wanting that body to be able to bury them.

To Blanco, it was political from the beginning. I listened to her radio interviews/news conferences, and she tried to deflect all criticism. She accepted very little, if any. Her need to be viewed as a good Governor was more important than the needs of the people of her State. She indeed had her priorities mixed up, and people suffered because of it.

Toby, you are So Right! This was all about a power struggle between the two political parties and she could not accept the help that the whole world could see she needed. She is on her way out, she'll never hold office again. I HOPE. The people of LA have a very poor track record at punishing stupid politicians.

 

[kato]

Granted I don't live in LA but I have always thought she held the most responsibility for what happened before, during and after the storm.

 

[Toby]

Granted I don't live in LA but I have always thought she held the most responsibility for what happened before, during and after the storm.

You're absolutely right. Also, she should have been removed from office because of it.

 

[Dark Knight]

You're absolutely right. Also, she should have been removed from office because of it.

Since it's his city, Nagan should also have been removed. He has a lot of blood on his hands, in my opinion.