New Orleans -- Here We Go Again!

As hurricane Gustav is bearing down on the Gulf Coast, Texas, Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans and Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, has been ordered.

People are scared and are fleeing inland. Rightly so, Gustav has been called the storm of the century.

But, but, but...

There's a problem that pretty much no one has focused on.

It's the end of the month. Many people don't get paid until the first and it being a holiday, won't get their checks until Tuesday, the day AFTER Gustav is supposed to hit land. In addition, the people on public assistance won't start getting their automatic deposits until the first. And I'm not sure how Louisiana has worked their public assistance program, but if they were in Cali, those deposits are staggered over three days, the first, second and third of the month.

Yes, there was a mile long line of people for buses that will take them out of town. But many people are afraid to leave. They don't have any money right now, no money for gas, no money for food, no money for a hotel and after the Super Dome fiasco, some are afraid to go to a shelter. If they have pets, what will they do with their animals? Are the animals allowed on the buses? (I don't know, but I doubt it.)

And bluntly, as the workers in the link (below) say, if they leave, they'll lose their jobs.

I know, you're saying, "No way, they can't get fired for evacuating!"

Oh yes they can!

Don't underestimate the hard-heartedness of the tourist industry. As long as there's one tourist in town that might spend a nickel, there will be places open for business. And those bosses, all too many of them, will expect their staff to be at work getting that last nickel.

Yes, that's horrible. But that's the reality of being a low-income worker.

I just hope and pray that the people who are staying behind are aware of what areas stayed dry during Katrina and can make their way to those places if the levees fail again. That they've stockpiled supplies and have an emergency plan, just in case.

I pray that the white communities around New Orleans, the ones that turned back fleeing residents at gunpoint, have been SHAMED into helping their Brothers and Sisters of every ethnicity, color, race, if Gustav turns out to be as bad as Katrina.

I pray that our politicians stop politicking and get their behinds in gear to help the residents of affected areas, wherever that may be, providing food, water, shelter within hours, not days and weeks, of Gustav hitting the Gulf Coast.

I pray that anyone who has a vehicle big enough to tow a trailer, even a Katrina trailer (that they aren't supposed to move), has that trailer hitched up and moving it and the family to safety. Better to ask forgiveness later than to let that family lose everything. Again.

I pray that somebody up in the Louisiana Welfare department wakes up this morning, realizes what's going on and gets some overtime going on, releasing the EBT benefits early, so that the participants who are still in New Orleans and Jefferson Parish can buy food and gas and evacuate before Gustav hits the coast. Again, despite the rules and regulations being broken by releasing funds early, better to ask forgiveness later.

And I pray that all these precautions become unnecessary and that somehow Gustav loses some of its strength before it hits land.

In the meantime, New Orleans, here we go again!!

Hang on and people, keep praying for our Brothers and Sisters!!

Link:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/08/30/new.orleans/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/08/31/gustav/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/08/30/gustav.prepare/index.html?iref=mpstoryview