Hurricane Gustav evacuees, the rest of the story.

Well Hurricane Gustav rolled through Louisiana like Sherman through Atlanta. New Orleans seems to be everyone’s concern and they faired better than expected, but folks there is a lot more to Louisiana than New Orleans. Houma and the extreme southern parishes got hammered, and central Louisiana got run over pretty good too. Up here in northeastern Louisiana we got some wind damage, but the biggest problem was the rain. Ten to twenty inches of rain depending on which parish you were in. I live in the country, and we get a little water when it rains hard, but I’ve never seen it this bad where I’m living now. Oh yeah, and we all had to suffer through the evacuees.

I’ll hand it to Governor Jindal and the government, they had this one prepared for. Evacuations went well, centers went up around the state for the influx. We take care of our neighbors up here, so the volunteers showed up to help. Then the rain hit. We had to fight flooding from the biblical rains as well as care for our evacuees. The centers were set up in civic centers, sports coliseums, churches, and abandoned stores (Wal Marts, etc). Cots, televisions, and porta potties were set up. Showers were brought into many locations. And people donated the food, as well as local restaurants.

And the complaints started.

We have to go outside to use the bathroom, the food isn’t New Orleans food, there is no food variety, no showers (ok, I’d be upset if I stunk too), we’re sleeping on cots, etc. Now don’t get me wrong, there were a lot of folks that drove up here in their own cars and stayed quietly and thanked the volunteers. A lot were grateful for the response in their time of need. But a lot were not.

The evacuees started arriving in buses on Saturday. By Thursday the volunteers were shell shocked and tired of the griping. Maybe that’s because by Thursday the nice evacuees that arrived in their own cars were gone. They went home as soon as possible to check their property. The officials in New Orleans wanted everyone to stay in shelters until the majority of the power and utilities were back on. I’m sure a lot of these “bus people” are fine too, but man the others are really making a name for themselves.

And the lovely media found out and went to town about how awful it was. One brain surgeon went on tv and proclaimed “They had 3 years to get ready for this and just look. We’re sleeping on cots, and using porta johns set up outside!” Well we residents of north Louisiana are just so sorry we didn’t install shelters built by Hilton so they could sit and wait for you idiots to be bussed up here for all the free food and shelter. One lady in the small town of Winnsboro griped the food was bad and she’d rather eat fast food. The local paper even responded to her thanking her for the tax support buying something locally. Winnsboro was also fighting flooding it had never seen before. Roads were covered, farms destroyed, and houses lost to the water. One evacuee angrily stated “just turn the pumps on!” Believe me Einstein, if there were pumps and levees there, they would have. One center had food donated by the Piccadilly Cafeteria, 3 times a day. I know this doesn’t sound great, but our Piccadilly has fantastic food unlike some others. Volunteers were stunned on the third day when evacuees griped the food wasn’t piping hot and it was chicken again. And this is the place we pay $10 a plate to eat. I say give them MRE’s. It was good enough for me during Katrina, and for my son now when he’s in the field with the military.

What makes people act this way? Sure they want to go home too, but to what? An apartment where there is no power or utilities? Of course they would be out in the streets crying about all the racism and government ineptness. In Shreveport, the Coalition of something or other was formed to voice complaints about the centers. Any time any group is formed with the word “coalition” in it, you can book it’s against the government or how they live. These people were displaced for their own safety. I haven’t forgotten Katrina/Rita. It was bad for months. The people were brought north and given free food and shelter. It’s not great, and it’s extremely basic living. But try to set up a place 100-200 people can live for a week or so in 12 hours and you begin to see the problem. Then while you’re setting it up, begin 2 more across town. Could Americans be getting too soft? Or is this another statement against the welfare state of New Orleans? Americans used to stand together in times of need. We toughed out the tragedy we faced. We don’t mean for you to stay here forever, just for a brief time and go home. Sorry you were put out, but it’s better than where you would have been.

They are leaving now, and from north Louisiana good riddance. Those of you who came up and stayed with us without complaint are welcome back. You worked with a bad situation and had the fortitude to live through it. Our prayers and thoughts are with you. For the idiots who made life hell here, just stay down there next time. We have problems too here, and don’t need you making more. I’ll close with this one insight story about the evacuees. A guy I know lives near one of the evacuation centers. His neighborhood was very hard hit with flooding, but he only got water in one room of his home. He said the centers did not allow alcohol (for obvious reasons) and after dark, the neighborhood would fill with evacuees drinking liquor from a liquor store out by the highway. They would hang out at bus stop benches (no bus service) and walk the neighborhood getting drunk. He was coming home with his young daughter one evening when he heard his daughter say “Eww Daddy!” He looked over to see an evacuee standing by a bench 10 feet from his daughter, beer in one hand, and you know what in the other urinating on the side of the road.

Yeah, have a nice trip home.