No one talks about...

[Lindaloo]

Buras, Boothville or Grand Isle, Louisiana. I sent one of my wreckers down to Buras today to recover an 18ft. box truck. The wrecker driver (Eddie) told me that there was nothing down there, totally destroyed. The police are still down there keeping people out. Also there is still a dusk to dawn curfew. He said that most of the trailers and homes were totally submerged in water or blown apart or off their foundations. No stores left, no fuel, no grocery stores, nothing.

[Jagno]

No, it's not on the national news or the Major newspapers but here in Louisiana we talk about it every single day as we all join together to rebuild our lives. Our most treasured memory of this Thanksgiving was eating a meal off of a breakable plate with real silverwear instead of a foam box with a hinged lid. Linda, some of us have a damaged home to rebuild, some of us fared much better with a few shingles missing and others had no hope of recovering anything. The bottom line is, we are here and we are helping one another rebuild, relocate and either way it's home as long as we are all together. Keep all of those affected by the hurricaine in your hearts this Christmas but remember, it's the smaller and more simple things in life that will bring the greatest joys this Christmas. We couldn't help but chuckle this past weekend.....the largest shopping weekend of the season........as you overheard most foks explaining how they were getting new cabinets this year or a living room suit or will be getting a real bed instead of a matress or cot. They were overjoyed with these simple amenities. My goal is to have running water so that we don't have to drive 3 miles to use the bathroom at the convenience store. LOL Never thought in a million years something so simple could bring so much joy.

[Lindaloo]

Which area are you in Jagno? My heart definitely goes out to all of you. It just amazes me that no one has even reported what those people are STILL having to endure down there.

Eddie told me that there was a cow in a tree. I asked him not to provide further details. He said you could definitely tell that was a cow.

[TSmith274]

Which area are you in Jagno? My heart definitely goes out to all of you. It just amazes me that no one has even reported what those people are STILL having to endure down there.

Eddie told me that there was a cow in a tree. I asked him not to provide further details. He said you could definitely tell that was a cow.

He is correct. I know that not everyone will want to see this picture, but the following link is a picture of that cow in a tree...

http://photos.plaqueminesparish.com/albums/userpics/10001/normal_100_3392.jpg

[f5]

i would expect those structures to be destroyed afterall she was a very strong 4 with a CAT 5 surge.deadly combination

[vbhoutex]

What I want to know is why is nothing of this being shown? There was a little of it shown right after Katrina, but not much at all. To me the total destruction of a way of life, of even a small town is big news, yet as you said Linda no one is talking about it. The appearance is being given that no one cares about those that weren't in the big cities or easily accessible for news bytes.

[Lindaloo]

What I want to know is why is nothing of this being shown? There was a little of it shown right after Katrina, but not much at all. To me the total destruction of a way of life, of even a small town is big news, yet as you said Linda no one is talking about it. The appearance is being given that no one cares about those that weren't in the big cities or easily accessible for news bytes.

I wish I knew, David. Eddie said that it was basically destroyed down there. He said he was humbled by what he saw and if you knew him that says ALOT.


Here are more photos.


http://photos.plaqueminesparish.com/thu ... =16&page=1

[HurryKane]

What I want to know is why is nothing of this being shown? There was a little of it shown right after Katrina, but not much at all. To me the total destruction of a way of life, of even a small town is big news, yet as you said Linda no one is talking about it. The appearance is being given that no one cares about those that weren't in the big cities or easily accessible for news bytes.

Because, New Orleans is sexier. The media outlets are either

1) too lazy to report on the outlying Louisiana areas/smaller populations/MS Gulf Coast, or
2) of the mind that the rest of the US would only identify with New Orleans because it
is familiar/more widely known/more well known.


I will say this: I spent a week and a half in Seattle in early November, and everytime I met someone and was asked where I was from and answered Mississippi, they immediately asked if I was affected by Katrina. And these were people from all over the US and world. So non-storm-fanatics elsewhere do know a little about it, but not a lot.

Granted, the story of a large city losing such a tremendous chunk of its population is an attention-getter and possibly a fear of people in other large cities. It's just not the only story.

[southerngale]

Granted, the story of a large city losing such a tremendous chunk of its population is an attention-getter and possibly a fear of people in other large cities. It's just not the only story.

Bingo. When Katrina first hit, I wasn't home and had no internet access...had to rely on TV for my information until the Thursday after Katrina hit. I was worried about my friends in Mississippi and there just wasn't much being said. I knew that Linda and Mary (MSRobi911) were in Pascagoula and didn't know much about it until Mary called me one morning letting me know her house was gone.

It's the same thing with every hurricane/disaster. The big cities get the most attention and the people in smaller cities just don't seem to matter as much. And if the big city was spared, it seems the whole state was!

I think I'll send some emails to the media about these forgotten areas. I know it won't do any good, but they should know how some people feel about it.

[f5]

the eye did not go to the west of N.O. as the media wanted also Brian Williams from NBC news is going to be in N.O tomorrow why not go to waveland or Buras where they took a direct hit with a Catastrophic storm surge.those towns don't exist no more Buras is somewhere out in the GOM.the town of waveland is a pile of debris lined up along the railroad tracks

[Jagno]

I'm located on the opposite side of the state in SW Louisiana. My home (is/was/will be again by next hurricaine season hopefully) actually at the Calcasieu-Cameron line. Like Katrina, the eye hit Cameron and all we saw on the news was Beaumont, TX. Beaumont was not hit directly but they played on it so much that most folks still don't realize that it came ashore in Louisiana. Don't get me wrong, Beaumont did receive a significant amount of its own damage from wind and tornadoes and my heart goes out to those. It really doesn't matter which hurricaine or who got hit but what does matter is that we know people still care and we are taking care of one another the best way we know how.

[MGC]

The media wants big headlines. Sorry but New Orleans, a well know city in the world will get first billing against smaller towns. What is there to report on from towns totally gone from the face of the earth? At least with New Orleans they can show a broken levee or a house standing with a water mark on it. TV news viewers can relate to that. A slab they can not. Also, they are still finding bodies in New Orleans......MGC

[f5]

if Katrina went slightly west of N.O they would not be talking about rebuilding instead all we would hear is N.O is lost the same way the lost city of Atlantis was

[Derek Ortt]

Nobody also seems to be talking about what happened to Miami and Lauderdale from Wilma. What most of the nation does not know is that Wilma is likely to be the 3rd most expensive hurricane in history, with damage approaching 20 billion total, just slightly less than Andrew. In MIa, we talk a lot about Wilma, but in other parts of the country, nothing at all. Shows just how bad Katrina really was

[terstorm1012]

Nobody also seems to be talking about what happened to Miami and Lauderdale from Wilma. What most of the nation does not know is that Wilma is likely to be the 3rd most expensive hurricane in history, with damage approaching 20 billion total, just slightly less than Andrew. In MIa, we talk a lot about Wilma, but in other parts of the country, nothing at all. Shows just how bad Katrina really was

How bad is it in Miami? My dad's family, who probably isn't too far from where you are Derek, described it as more inconvienence then catastrophe. I am only curious because I haven't heard much of anything.

[Derek Ortt]

the high rises were hit VERY hard with amny windows being blown out, also causing interior damage

Broward county is FAR worse, along with Palm Beach

Worse yet is the lake Okeechobee area on the west side where the tidal surge came in, DEVASTATION. I posted some photos from there in the talkin tropics thread before

[f5]

if a CAT 2 can do 20 billion dollars in damage imagine what an Andrew type storm would do

[southerngale]

I'm located on the opposite side of the state in SW Louisiana. My home (is/was/will be again by next hurricaine season hopefully) actually at the Calcasieu-Cameron line. Like Katrina, the eye hit Cameron and all we saw on the news was Beaumont, TX. Beaumont was not hit directly but they played on it so much that most folks still don't realize that it came ashore in Louisiana. Don't get me wrong, Beaumont did receive a significant amount of its own damage from wind and tornadoes and my heart goes out to those. It really doesn't matter which hurricaine or who got hit but what does matter is that we know people still care and we are taking care of one another the best way we know how.

I wasn't able to see news right after but when I could, I didn't see a whole lot about Beaumont or anywhere around here really. (at least not nationally and there was no local news - the whole area was shut down without any services) Where I evacuated to further inland was also hit (who knew? ) and by the time I got to where there was electricity several days later, the focus was mostly back to Katrina on national news, with some coverage of SE Tx and SW La.
But a hurricane isn't a direct point and Beaumont did get the western eyewall, although I know how bad it is in Cameron, Sabine Pass, etc. as well and the damage here is incredible. Whatever you saw, I guess it's that population thing again.....kinda like Texas was spared since Houston wasn't hit, ya know.

Anyway, best wishes with your recovery. A local Holiday Inn put up a sign that many around here say pretty often: TODAY WE'RE ONE DAY CLOSER TO NORMAL.
It's a financial and emotional toll that nobody can understand unless they go through it. I'm sure of that.
*hugs across the border*