Thread: Louisiana Officials Indicted Before Katrina Hit

www.latimes.com

Louisiana Officials Indicted Before Katrina Hit
Federal audits found dubious expenditures by the state's emergency preparedness agency, which will administer FEMA hurricane aid.
By Ken Silverstein and Josh Meyer
Times Staff Writers

September 17, 2005

WASHINGTON â€â€

What was it that somebody said? Half of the officials are under water the other half are under indictment. The stench from Louisiana is not only from the hurricane.
If the Louisiana officials do their jobs before Katrina hit, fewer people would have lost their lives.

How many people died in Mississippi and Alabama??????????????????????

'Government money' seems to stick to people's hands and pockets as if it were covered with super glue. Where do they think the 'government' gets money? One thing for sure, they aren't going to return it from the citizens pockets from whom they stole it in the first place.

RR

Maybe I am wrong and maybe it is happening, but I have not heard all this whining and gimme, gimme from the citizens of Alabama and Mississippi. People are to busy trying to pick themselves up and preserve their dignity. There is a story that was forwarded to me that I will give you more of an idea of what I am talking about. I am getting permission from the person that sent it to me to make sure it is ok,

Here is a copy of the email that was sent to me.

WELCOME TO MISSISSIPPI

O.K. I'll make an attempt to tell what's going on down here right now.
It's hard to do for several reasons. First, because there is so
much, it's hard to talk about. Let's try to focus on the positive.

You're right to be sick about New Orleans. They've turned into a bunch
of animals over there. The idiots are shooting at the people who
are trying to help them???? I think for the most part it's due to the
frustration caused by the lack of response by their State Government....I
mean, an SOS call? Give me a break.
Everybody is so focused on what's going on in the Superdome, the Mississippi story is going un-reported.
It's one of the bright things that are happening here now.
We are NOT leaving our people to wallow and starve in their own filth, and the cadavers of loved ones. Were finding the live ones and getting them north as fast a possible. Most of the hundreds showing up here have at least had a meal, and a bath.
Haley Barbour the Governor and his administration will come out as true
heroes in this disaster once the total story is told. The differences between the Louisiana and Mississippi responses are truly startling. Haley and MEMA had already had Mississippi declared disaster areas TWO DAYS before Katrina hit......What does that mean? A lot........ It means we had a two day head start on recovery. It means we had pre-positioned response teams...FULLY EQUIPPED! It means we already had supplies being loaded on trucks to go to the coast while the hurricane was still going on. It means Federal representatives from FEMA were already IN State when it hit. Which means somebody on the satellite Phone moving troops and aid our way while Louisiana was still trying to get it.
We have been dealing with looters a little differently on the coast. Once you shoot a few and leave their bodies laying in front of the store with their arms full of booty, the rest get the idea pretty quickly. Hasn't been a big problem. In the case of breaking in to get survival supplies...food and water. The police have shot the locks off the doors and helped take the stuff to distribution points.


School buses to haul refuges to shelters north, an idea Louisiana JUST
figured out by the way, have been running shuttle since Wednesday
morning.

They are pouring in here by the hundreds. Red Cross has been doing a GREAT
job on setting up relief shelters in our area.
The local Governments have opened all of the convention centers and
school auditoriums to them. I know it's hard to believe, but the
local Friday night Football games have ALL been canceled this week. Our
efforts are going elsewhere this weekend.

My daughter is the editor for the local University newspaper. She asked
me what she could do for these folks, and I told her, "The main thing they
need right now is bottled water". So she made a few phone
calls and set it up with her newspaper and the local T.V. stations....in 24
hours they had collected over 600 gallons. This story is typical and is
happening all over this part of the state.

Pulpwood haulers (lumberjacks to you Yankees) who showed up at
Interstates and main feeder hi-ways heading south; started cutting up the downed trees with their own chainsaws, and loading them up with their hydraulic boom hauling trucks. Opening the way south for our relief
effort...nobody called them....they just showed up and
started doing what had to be done. Welcome to Mississippi
The local churches are jumping in too. Emmanuel Baptist has been
cooking and serving three meals a day for 1500 people at the shelter there
since Wednesday. Where is the food coming from? Strangers are just showing
up at the convention center and dropping it off. Red
Cross is providing some of it, but the majority is just showing up....from
people who aren't seeking and never will be recognized. It's happening all
over the state. again and again. Welcome to Mississippi.
Our local hotels are full of people here from New Orleans.....most are
starting to run out of money, so we have begun collecting for their hotel
bills and providing them with meals at the shelters. Quite a few in town
have taken them in to their own homes...knowing they may
be there for months. I filled up one guy's tank at the gas station Tuesday
because he only had enough money for a few gallons. Welcome to Mississippi.


Just stopped and put an antenna on one of our E.O.C. Trucks
headed south to Ocean Springs. Their headed down to do a fuel supply run.
While here, my daughter came in with another 300 gallons of bottled
water, asking where she could store it. I said" How 'bout the back of this
truck?" ))
This is how it works, over and over and over ..........
Sorry if this E-mail seems a little jumpy, I've been adding to it all
day. As I get a minute and as thoughts occur to me. Things are happening
all around me, and it's hard to sort it all out while "in the moment". I
think that's the way this story will be told.....later
It's going to take a while.
While I'm thinking about it.....BIG thank you to Motorola. I'm almost as
proud of being a Motorolan as I am a Mississippian.
You guys may not know about it yet, but Motorola has put on a Herculean
support effort. I was involved on the fringes for a while, but the effort
to send radios and infrastructure has been nothing short of phenomenal!
My guys on the coast called with a SEVERE need for repeaters and W.T's.
They had a few towers and antennas still standing, but the
repeaters were in about three feet of water. After a few phone
calls around the campus there in Schaumburg, I was given the Bridge call
number for the emergency request line. Made a call back to my guys and
passed it on.
I'll be sheep dipped if Motorola didn't have equipment THERE the NEXT
DAY!!!!!! HOT DANG!!! That's the way you do it.))


Mississippians have loooong memories. This one will NOT be forgotten.
Anybody see Jim Geary up there....kiss him for me. Lord knows I
won't.)) And anybody else that you know was involved in Motorola's
support effort. Tell them Mississippi gives a heartfelt "God Bless You"'
Most of us cry at least once a day. You can't deal with the hundreds
we have coming in here everyday and not be affected. I've seen big bears break
down and just fall apart. Mostly blaming themselves for not getting out in
time. That choice cost him a wife, child or in some cases both. They all
usually say the same things. "I didn't think it would get that bad." All
you can do is listen and try to comfort. Sometimes
you see guys just staring into the sunset....not saying anything....but you
see those jaw muscles working hard to hold it in.
I had one tell me yesterday "We had to choose, Stay in the attic and
drown, or climb on the roof into a 150 mile an hour wind. She was screaming
my name as she flew away." How do you respond to that?
You don't.....you just cry with him and listen....
Lost children who don't know where Mamma or Daddy are, or even
if their alive. Ten year olds, trying to be "mama" or "daddy" to a little
sister or brother......it will tear your heart out.
Most also know there is NOTHING to go home to. The house is
gone, and in most cases the job too. They show up here with the clothes on
their back, and that's it. It's all they have left.
It's hard, just too hard for words.................you do what you
can,but..........


FORGET about Mississippi burning. That was our dark, distant past.
Watch us NOW. This is Mississippi today.
We've opened our Homes, Hearts and wallets to strangers in need.
We don't care if their White, Black, Brown or Polka -dot.
Were going to be O.K., It will take years, but we're dealing with it. We
will deal with it the way only a true southerner can...one day at a time.
Were out of gasoline today. All the local stations have run
out.


My phones are still acting squirrelly on out of state calls and my
cell phone has been a paper weight since Tuesday. But I did sleep in
my own bed last night, and took a hot shower this morning. There is food in
my house, and I know where all my family is. You take these things
for granted, until their gone.......