- Hi Jeff - This commentary below was forwarded to me today
by a friend who saw it posted on a group. It is written by
a woman in Luisiana who is a nurse and animal rescuer, and it is about the
smaller communities in Luisiana no one's ever heard of, and which are not
making the "news." These are devastated communities following
Katrina and they have received no help from FEMA or the Red Cross.
In some places, it's difficult to even establish communication with
the victims, and when the animal rescuers went in, they were stunned to
find that the humans there are in such deplorable conditions, they are
begging for blankets that have been donated for animals. I
contacted this woman today, and she has given me permission to send the
info below to you...
-
- Written by Jeannette Ferro
-
- "All the news is about New Orleans. I have
a love/hate relation with New Orleans. I grew up there. I'm
almost 60 now. But New Orleans, with all it's destruction, actually
faired better than most communities. Granted, New Orleans was heavier
populated, but we can't overlook the many other areas simply because no
one has heard of them and because they're not tourist attractions.
The other people count, too.
-
- As a nurse and an animal rescuer, having cared for and
knowing so many of these people and animals, I have been trying to do everything
I can for both humans and nonhumans since Katrina hit. I will live
with stories that will haunt me until the day I die. One of the most
recent that has come to my attention is also one of the worst.
-
- The coastal areas of Louisiana, in Vermilion Parish,
are/were inhabited with generations of Acadian/Cajun people. This
is where the dying language of Cajun French is spoken. The majority
of the population are animal and crop farmers. Being closer to the
Gulf, the tides and storm surges completely wiped out most of everything
that was there. Crops were destroyed. Large herds of cattle,
horses, pigs, and every other living animal known to those areas were either
swept out into the Gulf, or were left stranded on tiny islands of slightly
higher ground. The very most southern part, below HWY 82, looks like
it was never inhabited by any living beings. Wells that provided
water are now ruined from the salty Gulf and ocean waters. The land
is a white/grayish color, completely dead, and rendered totally useless
by the salt water. Animals who weren't washed out into the Gulf,
and who have tried to survive on the remaining salt saturated water and
grass, have either died from dehydration from the salt or are now very
sick. These people are begging for the basic needs for themselves,
but are also desperately asking for the basic needs to try and keep their
animals alive as well.
-
- Many of the people who lived in the area would not leave
their family homesteads, homesteads that have been passed down from several
generations before them. They wouldn't leave their animals or their
crops as these were their only means of survival, because of the love of
their animals (not all are raised to be slaughtered), and because their
homes represent generations of their families and culture.
-
- Two days ago, I heard about an animal rescuer in one
such little town called Abbeville. Near Abbeville is another small,
and just as unknown town called Erath. I'm told there is an estimated
3,000 people there, many now living in tents, without power and water,
and who have not had any relief from FEMA and little to none from the Red
Cross. The news that upset me so badly, coming from a fellow animal
rescuer, is the fact that many of these people are actually coming to this
animal rescuer asking for water and blankets that have been donated for
the animals. As an avid animal lover and nurse, I can't begin to
explain to you how upsetting this is to me. What kind of society
lets it's own people go without the most basic needs to cause them to have
to beg for water and blankets that were donated for animals?!?
-
- The animal rescuer I learned about normally aids smaller
domestic animals, but she's now forced to do what she can to provide water
and blankets for humans, as well as hay and feed for all kinds of livestock.
Fencing, like everything else, is now gone and badly needed. Vaccinations
and medications are badly needed. I would bet that the majority of
the people who might read this have never heard of any of this or even
know there are places like Abbeville and Erath, Louisiana. I live
in Louisiana and I've never seen or heard about any of this on our local
news. How can that be? How can the governments and the news
forget or overlook thousands of US citizens living in total despair?!?
-
- I just saw on the news that the big CEO of Pfister pharmaceutical
company donated millions in dollars and medications to earthquake victims
in another country, and was quoted as saying something to the effect that
it was an opportunity for him to give back to those who had nothing.
Hello! What about thousands of Americans from Texas to Alabama who now
have nothing?!?
-
- Thousands of families who are trying their best to get
back on their feet and rebuild or go on with their lives elsewhere are
in limbo thanks to the federal government. FEMA is out of money until
the federal government refills their bank account so FEMA can pay the millions
of people who have paid for flood insurance protection for years.
The federal government is holding up funding FEMA because they are to involved
in arguing on the rights to drill for damnable oil in the protected Arctic
Wildlife Refuge in Alaska and won't pass the budget bill without the provision
allowing them those drilling rights. That should tell you a LOT about
the priorities and the alliances of our federal government! Where
is the aid from these rich and powerful oil companies that we recently
heard about making record breaking third quarter profits for 2005, and
that are responsible for destroying the marshes and wetlands that used
to protect all of our Gulf coast states? Those marshes and wetlands,
had they not been destroyed by oil drilling, would have prevented most
of the destruction and would have saved many of the thousands of lives
taken by hurricanes Katrina and Rita and hurricanes yet to come.
-
- Americans have been hit and hit as hard as any people
could be hit by the worst disaster in the history of our nation, and federal
aid is no where to be found. Just as bad, there is no public outcry
because there has been no news coverage about these people.
-
- How can this happen in the largest, richest, most powerful
country..... or was.....in the world?
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