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Dear Kendra: Louisiana Writes From Mississippi (WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE!) by Karen Lynn Vidra, The Texas Tornado
Wednesday, September 7, 2005
Rated "PG" by the Author.
Louisiana is delighted to have heard from her friend in Soulsbysville, California, but she is not in a very good mood at the present time: she is helping out with relief efforts from Hurricane Katrina; she is helping taking care of people who were most affected by the hurricane's deadly winds. She is currently in Biloxi, Mississippi, one of the areas most hard hit by the hurricane. She is past the point of exhaustion, and her mood has soured considerably since witnessing the horror and devastation that has struck the Southland.
Thank you so much for writing to me; I am so glad that things are going well for you; but I am not doing all that well: I am currently in Biloxi, Mississippi, helping out with relief efforts. I am taking care of many victims of Hurricane Katrina, and there is so much in the way of devastation, so much in the way of heartbreak, so much in the way of death and the threat of disease here; and I am physically and mentally exhausted. I and my fellow workers have had maybe six/seven hours of sleep since we got here early Sunday morning, and we are about to fall over.
I felt that it was my Christian duty to help out in this disaster, but it is so hard to see so many people who have lost just about everything they had: their homes, their jobs, their vehicles, their family or friends; and they are walking about as if in a daze; and it is so hard to try to offer comfort: you don't really know what to say or do to try to help these desperate people (many of them are poor, black, elderly, or disabled or are sick), and it is enough to make me (and others who are trying to help) break down and cry--or just walk away, altogether.
But as bad as it is here in the once-beautiful city of Biloxi, Mississippi, this is nothing compared to the travesty and tragedy that is New Orleans, Louisiana: it will be weeks before the floodwaters recede, and there may be as many as over one thousand dead--and that number is surely to rise as more bodies are uncovered and discovered. They say the air is thick with the smell of death and disease, and there are many who refuse to leave their homes; and it is a really dire situation there. The waters are finally beginning to recede (the flooding was made worse by several levee breaks), and it is a scene of chaos there. There have been many historical attractions lost, and New Orleans, Louisiana (let alone, the cities of Biloxi and Gulfport here in Mississippi) will never be the same once they DO decide to rebuild. It will be YEARS before the damage is taken care of, and it just makes me cry as I look about me.
Now, this may sound quite callous or unkind, but maybe this is the wakeup call our nation needed: there are so many desperately poor people here in the American South, and very little (or nothing) was done to try to help those most in need. It seemed that a lot of them are elderly, black or some other minority, have kids, or are sick or disabled in some way; and it is as though society has thrown them out and let them fend for themselves when they already had very little in the first place. It is a travesty, and this is something that should NOT be happening here in AMERICA, one of the richest nations in the world! You expect to see scenes such as I am witnessing in third-world countries like Africa or Sri Lanka, but certainly NOT here in AMERICA. It is as though I am back in Sri Lanka all over again, and it is at once mind blowing and shocking. Maybe this will make our government try to help those who need it the most and try to provide jobs, better housing, better health care, or better schooling for those people who need our help the most: the elderly, the poor, or the sick and disabled. Maybe this will help with race relations and try to help our minority brothers and sisters.
Something like this should have never happened, but it was inevitable; and now we are facing one of the worst possible disasters our country has faced since the horrors of September 11, 2001. While it was not a terrorist attack, it just goes to show you just how vulnerable our country really is, and we need to help our OWN people first before sending money overseas and helping those abroad. There are people here in AMERICA who are starving or are living on the streets in unbelievable conditions, and there are those selfish, rich people who are livin' high on the hog and complaining that they "can't live on over $100,000 a YEAR". COME ON, PEOPLE! There are people DYING and STARVING on our streets, and there isn't a GODDAMN thing that is not being done to help them!! We need to get our priorities straightened out and take care of our own first instead of policing the rest of the world! Take care of our OWN PEOPLE FIRST and worry about the rest of the goddamn world LATER!!
I am sorry for going off like this, but what I see sickens me to the core, and to hear of the news that people in New Orleans are living in filth or in harsh, dangerous conditions is shocking and mind-numbing. I heard of the horrors happening at the SuperDome, and I am at once repulsed and nauseated to think that people there were being RAPED or MURDERED, some being just little BABIES or CHILDREN, and all the police could do was stand back and WATCH--and not do ANYTHING to stop it!!
Well, Kendra, I am sorry for talking like this, but right now I am so fed up and so angry I can't see (or think) straight. I want to leave this godforsaken place RIGHT NOW, but I can't, and I am just sick at the injustice that Katrina has brought upon the American South! Please keep me in your prayers; I am ready to snap, and I just may not be responsible for what I may do! Please pray that I get through this hell, and pray that God gives me strength, mercy, and wisdom for me to get through the next several days before I head on back! I would write more, but right now I am crying too goddamn hard, and I am shaking like a leaf, I am so mad!!
Please take care of yourselves, and know that y'all are in my heart and prayers! I do hope to hear from you soon!
(((HUGS))) and much love, your (weary and brokenhearted) Tennessee friend, Louisiana Mayrah Sandusky. :( >tears<
Your feelings come through powerfully, Karen; and they give an outlet for those who cannot vent through words as you can. Thank you. Love and peace. Ton ami de la C-B, Canada. Régis
Karen the frustration is so thick and disturbing in the people who have seen first hand what is happening, that there is no way an honest complete assessment can be made. Blame is only a way for self expression and anger to be assuaged. However it doesn't help a damn thing. What is needed now are level heads with common sense to get to the TRUTH not play politics with it. .......Most people don't understand what parts the State plays and which ones the Federal Government does. People who are hurting don't want to know they just want help. ...However, it is everyones responsiblity to know these things for ourselves so we should also learn this lesson. Government is not our Parents. Those who think they have to take care of us to such degrees make huge mistakes by not understanding our government. Many come here illegally across borders and get on welfare draining the system dry. They have even seen people bringing Mexicans in here that have diseases and are disabled just to get them on welfare and disability,so they don't have to care for them in their own country.This has been allowed to happen for so long we are getting stretched to the limits and we need honest debate about it, which people don't want to do. they want to push a political agenda and just bitch and moan, so nothing ever gets accomplished. I'm sorry but I think I'm stressed out by the ignorance of people who do not choose to know the facts but just continuously bitch to feel better.
We need calm lever heads with common sense to get this present nightmare solved. Eileen
A page-turning novel about a relationship between best friends that is interrupted because of betrayal , deceit, sexual promiscuity and pregnancy happens!
Rovella is a beautiful woman with a cold heart whom blames herself for an unfortunate old family secret that is literally ruining her life. This secret impedes a gorgeous woman from having happiness in her childhood, and throughout her life. Dark sec
Weds., September 7, 2005, 10:42 a.m., C.D.T., Biloxi, Mississippi ("Ground Zero")~
