[StBernard] EDITORIAL: Don't Give In to Katrina Fatigue

[Westley Annis]

EDITORIAL: Don't Give In to Katrina Fatigue 
There are still millions of Gulf Coast Americans who need our help

By DONNA BRAZILE  


>From Time Magazine 

Posted Sunday, Nov. 20, 2005
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1132809,00.html

This week my Louisiana family will be giving thanks to all the Americans who
opened their hearts, their homes and their wallets to help the hundreds of
thousands of citizens who fled the wrath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. We
will always be grateful for that generous outpouring of the American spirit.

Yet for all our blessings, we are dismayed to hear news from Washington
about Katrina fatigue in Congress and the decision by the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) to disband its emergency-housing program on Dec. 1
for those still scattered to the four winds. Members of Congress appear to
be tired of hearing about the needs of evacuees, the lives lost and the
vestiges of formerly thriving communities along the devastated Gulf Coast.
Legislators are beginning to turn their attention elsewhere, while hurricane
exiles wait for a sign that it is safe to go home again. But we are all
suffering from Katrina fatigue. Everyone in my family and my hometown of New
Orleans is living it.

My roots in Louisiana go back generations. Growing up in New Orleans,
listening to people converse and watching them interact are what formed me.
During his retirement, my father Lionel, a former construction worker turned
short-order cook and janitor, would sit on his front porch on the corner of
South Jefferson Davis Parkway and Baudin Street in the midcity section of
New Orleans. There he could watch people leave early for work and children
play across the street at Comiskey Playground. He greeted everyone who
passed by. "Where ya at?" or "What's going on?" he would ask.

He loved his neighbors. Today, in Katrina-imposed exile, he misses his old
community. The 75-year-old father of nine has left New Orleans only two
times in his life. The first was to serve his country in Korea. The second
was when FEMA evacuated him to San Antonio, Texas, during the catastrophic
flood that followed Katrina. As he jokes to his friends, both times the
government picked up the tab. Now he waits daily for FEMA to give him hope
as our family members try to rebuild and reconnect with our roots.

The Thanksgiving holiday has taken on new meaning for my family and me. Gone
is our tradition of gathering at my parents' home, where we cooked
everything in the refrigerator, turning out mouthwatering dishes like Creole
seafood gumbo, stuffed bell peppers and oyster dressing. Although my
grandmothers and mother passed away years ago, their spirits continued to
preside over the preparation of holiday feasts. Their pots, pans and humble
cooking utensils were precious symbols of their legacies as our family
matriarchs. Their love was profoundly expressed through the rich, spicy
delicacies delivered to all who came to visit during the holidays. Sadly,
their kitchens and the dinners that graced them are no more. All the
tangible memorabilia that represented our family's history perished in the
flood, including my mother's beloved big gumbo pot.

The disaster has provided us with a deep appreciation for the fact that,
despite all challenges, my family will never surrender. Katrina has left us
strewn across the U.S. I have displaced siblings, aunts, uncles and first
cousins in 14 cities in eight states. But they are survivors. They are
battered, and they are exhausted, but for the most part they are determined
to go home. We will never walk away from our hometown.

It's hard to comprehend the loss, and as I've come to realize after numerous
trips home, television doesn't do it justice. Katrina was no ordinary
hurricane, and it will take much more than an ordinary response. According
to the American Red Cross, Katrina alone destroyed an estimated 275,000
housing units, nearly 10 times as many as Hurricane Andrew. Five of those
homes belonged to my family members.

A few weeks ago Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco called upon me to serve
on the Louisiana Recovery Authority. I accepted. We are now working urgently
with President George W. Bush, the Louisiana congressional delegation, state
and local leaders, Mayor Ray Nagin and parish officials to rebuild the Gulf
Coast communities in a way that will give people the confidence to return.
That will require a strong hurricane-protection system of safe levees and
coastal wetlands, updated building codes so people can reconstruct with a
sense of security, business incentives that will create opportunity, and
school reforms that will draw people home.

We simply can't afford Katrina fatigue. There's too much work to do.

I am sending something back home this week, something I took years ago when
I first moved to Washington. My grandmother's gumbo pot will return to
Louisiana, where it belongs. This Thanksgiving I'll be thinking about the
people who don't have a Thanksgiving table or a large seasoned pot in which
to stir up some delicious gumbo.

I know I speak for the millions of Americans from Louisiana, Mississippi and
the other Gulf Coast states when I say we are determined to rebuild our
coastal communities down home. We are good people. We add a lot to the life
of the nation. We are counting on you not to forget us now that the cameras
have moved on.

A native of New Orleans, Donna Brazile is a veteran Democratic political
strategist and a regular political commentator on CNN. In October, Governor
Kathleen Babineaux Blanco appointed her to the Board of Directors of the
Louisiana Recovery Authority.

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The Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation (LDRF), Louisiana's fund for
Louisiana's people, has been established by Governor Kathleen Babineaux
Blanco in order to support long-term family restoration and recovery and
help provide assistance to our citizens in need through a network of
Louisiana charities and non-profit agencies. 

1-877-HELPLA1 (877-435-7521) www.louisianahelp.org