When will the victims of Katrina stop being victims??
82804
When they decide to be.  They also -- just like the girls who were raped -- have the option to instead call themselves "survivors."  As in, "I survived Hurricane Katrina."\n\nIt's an individual's choice, and it says a lot about the individual.
486282
Finally a republican among the mob of idiots! Viva Bush! \nThey just need someone to blame for everything...like hurricane katrina for example.
997363
I can't take anymore of this stuff today. You people have a real big need to either find someplace else to do this or just shut the hell up!\nthis is terrible of you to make fun of folks who have done you no wrong , and should make you ashamed because you have enough to eat and they don't. \ngo ahead and make fun of them with your full belly in your air conditioned house in front of your computer that cost more than they will ever see in their lives.\nYou disgust me more than the guy telling the racist jokes a minute ago.\nthese peoples  only crime is they are in need and have been in the spotlight for too many years. this should have never been allowed to go on more than a few months by the rest of the world,\nWhy don't you go all out and slam a few Katrina victims why don't you , or maybe stoop down and insult the babies are born addicted to crack because of the female who bore them was an animal and not a mother!\nLets get down and really get good and funny why don';t we. You started it and I am not going to stay on this site any more today until sombody has an opportunity to weed you jokers out of here. \nGrow up children, I hope you never are hungry, but it would serve you what you are due.
755703
AS A VICTIM OF FEMA AND THE RED CROSS AS WELL AS KATRINA THE BEST THING THATS HAPPENED IS THE PRIVATE VOLUNTEER GROUPS!  HERE ON THE MISSISSIPPI GULF COAST THEY ARE DOING MIRACLES!  WE STILL HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO!  BUT WITHOUT JUST THE DONATED HELP WE WOULD BE DEAD!\n\nFORGET ANY FORMAL HELP!  THE GOVERNMENT HELP IS REBUILDING THE ROADS AND BRIDGES AND INTRASTRUCTURE!  BUT PERSONAL HOMES ARE FROM VOLUNTEER HELP ALONE!\n\nON THE MISSISSIPPI GULF COAST RIGHT NOW THERE IS A YAHOO GROUP COORDINATING ALL THE DISTRIBUTION OF SUPPLIES, IT IS LISTED BELOW!\n\nTHEY NEED ANY HELP YOU CAN FURNISH CONTACT THEM!\n\n\nAPS\n\nKatrinaVolunteersHancockCounty@yahoogroups.com
1074777
It's not entirely about politicians, though I agree that they do play a role. First of all, the majority of people affected by hurricane Katrina were poor and black. What is the race and economic status of most of the flood victims? Many of the people in New Orleans could not afford or didn't have opportunity to leave town. It is much easier to escape a flood than 100+ winds, flying debris, combined with flooding. I agree that Mayor Nagin should have done more to help people evacuate, but hindsight is always 20/20. I don't think he had any malacious plans, but he certainly didn't handle the situation properly. It is not a north vs. south thing so let's not make it about that. We are all citizens of the same country. Let's focus on helping those in need and not making controversy and comparisons where they are not needed.
852229
help hurricane victims it will be very worth while
958199
Yup I do agree! If they aren't gone, they are very limited! I mean look at the news, everyday you hear someone harming someone over the most pointless things, I think the respect for others is going out the window, nowadays it's "get what's yours and forget about everyone else"
650864
I guess it is tough to be on their best behavior when they have lost their homes, possessions, everything they own, possibly even family, and they have to depend on the kindness and hospitality of others for everything.  They don't how or when their lives will be put back together.\n\nYour position isn't easy either of course, because we all know how tedious it can be to have long term guests in your home.  I'd try to take a deep breath and try to put yourself in their shoes.\n\nAs hard as it might be, remember, "God grant that I not criticize my neighbor until I have walked a mile in his shoes."  \n\nOur society will be remembered for how it treated those who are most unfortunate and most need help.\n\nGod bless you all who are helping the people of New Orleans.
640312
True Story:   I stayed at home in New Orleans for Hurricane Katrina, had plenty of supplies, food, water, cat food, etc.  There were 6 other people in my apartment building who also stayed.  3 of them were just as prepared as I, the other 3 had decided at the last minute to ride out the storm and thus had very little supplies.  When the flooding began, and we realized we were going to be stuck for a while, the 3 with no supplies immediately ate and drank all they had.  The other 3 kept to themselves and didn't share anything.  I took a hard look at what I had and decided it would be in my best interest to at least appear social, in case things got nasty later (these people were drug addicts with no drugs and becoming irate) so I gave them some of what I had and I pretended it was ALL I had.  I saw how they had been so wasteful with their own stuff.  I hoarded most of my food and water and never let them know just how much I did have.  Two days into the flood, they looted a bed and breakfast down the street, and they looted a pharmacy for drugs.  They shared the food from the B&B with me, because they thought I had shared my last with them.   After a week, I was forcibly evacuated onto a bus.  I carried with me the food I thought would be portable, crackers and tuna fish.  The other people on the bus had been removed from a hospital and hadn't eaten in three days.  I gave them everything I had, walked up and down the bus aisle in the dark, handing out crackers and holding out cans of tuna for people to dip into.  I'll never forget that trip.  So, to answer your question, the idea of charging money never entered my head.  My only concern was how long my supply would last.
561377
Yes it seems they have a victim's mentality and are needy and the people that abuse others seem to sense this in others.  You have to look at how you act strong or weak. Go to a counselor and work on the trauma. Don't think it will go away because it doesn't
798544
it's all about federal money.  the feds are giving your city money for taking in victims of hurricane Katrina.\n\nAlthough your city does get money from the federal government for the homeless, it isn't anywhere near the amount of funds for the Katrina victims.
461287
They were WARNED that they MUST evacuate.  Busses were running full time to get people out, yet so many refused to leave.  Some were on the news dancing in the streets of the French Quarter as the storm approached.  After the storm, they all ran for the Superdome, and there were not enough supplies for the additional people, so that screwed the people who originally went to be sheltered there.  Something else angers me: The National Guard gets blamed for not responding, but the storm was over Tuesday, and TV cameras broadcast National Guard at the airport on Thursday.  This pretty enlisted female told the reporter that they arrived Wednesday, and were setting up relief.\n\nThen cops are out there looting Wal Mart (caught on video).  It would have been one thing if they were getting food, but, well you know the rest of the story.  \n\nPeople cry for the idiots in New Orleans (no, the ones who evacuated are NOT idiots), while Rita pretty much levelled some towns in Southwest Louisiana.  Places where there were towns were now just a bunch of cement foundations.  One person found their house a few miles away.  Nobody even talks about these people--Mississippi gets more attention.
499086
There is no assurance that New Orleans will be hit by another hurricane, just as there is no assurance they won't be.  While I'm not a psychic, from previous years and studies of hurricanes, it's very unlikely that another hurricane will hit them this year and even more unlikely that a large hurricane will hit.\n\nMany younger adults, mostly people in their twenties, are taking advantage of the large amount of homes available for sale.  While the homes need much repair, a recent college graduate who was looking at a small house in another large city can afford to buy a big house in New Orleans and then renovate it for the same price.  While home insurance is expensive in the city, the price of the home, repair, and insurance still doesn't meet what you'd pay somewhere like California.\n\nThere's also the fact that many people don't have a choice to live somewhere else.  While many people have moved out of the city, most of the people that were displaced by the storm are extremely poor.  They didn't own their homes, many didn't have insurance, and Fema has drastically cut the amount of aid they are giving to people.  However, many of the cities they have been living with are also cutting off aid and so they are forced to return to their broken homes, the only thing they own, and attempt to rebuild (they certainly can't sell their homes in the state in which they are in). \n\nFinally, New Orleans is still a major shipping and oil port and people are needed to work the jobs to get things on and off ships.  My mother's oil company has actually offered large amounts of money and incentives to get people from her KY office to move down there and work.  Hope this helps explain things.
1145528
Coming from Florida, I hereby tell you and all those like you to shove your critical statements up your rear end.  People are not always at their best when everything they've ever had... their homes... there loved ones... there god damn family dog is buried under ten feet of water, muck and sewage.  When you're left on top of your rooftop for a week.  When your home town turns into a war zone.  When you and whats left of your family is crammed into a stadium and left without food or water for days.  When your child is ripped from your arms and sent five states away, and it's six or seven months before you find them again.\n\n...When this happens to HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE... \n\nI'll be more than happy to pay for your god damn 900 phone sex calls for a while.  If that's what you want, you got it.  \n\nBut as an American who is not embarrassed, I refuse to stand by and let you BLAME THE VICTIMS.
966574
I was pleased to see your question mentioned the "areas" affected and not just New Orleans.  New Orleans damage was not inflicted by the hurricane, but the levy breach.  The Mississippi Gulf Coast was decimated.  There are still residents who do not yet have a FEMA trailer, and its 14 months plus after the fact.  There are many insurance companies who are not paying because the damage was "flood" damage, and not covered.  HELLO!  The "flood" was caused by a hurricane!!!!!\n\nNo, the government has not done enough.  They have spent far too much time worrying about how to go about it and too little time getting their proverbial hands dirty and actually doing the work.  Church and college groups in this area are continuing to go down and help with demolition and rebuilding - weekly.  There are still mountains of debris that has not been removed.  \n\nThis Thanksgiving and Christmas season, there are thousands of families who are facing their second holiday season without a real home, and still with no answers from the federal government, state government or their insurance companies.  And the national media continues to focus on "New Orleans".  Our nation lost National Historic Sites on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, "Beauvoir", the home of Jefferson Davis being one of them.  Major damage in the state of Mississippi extended as far inland as Jackson, Meridian and even as far north as Tupelo and New Albany.  The scope of this was diminished in the national media, and has largely been relegated to history by many American citizens.  It is not history to the residents who are living in FEMA trailers, or tents, still fighting insurance companies, still have no jobs because the companies are not back up and running - I could go on and on.\n\nSo, no, I think the government has done a grave disservice to those citizens who were left homeless, jobless, and in many cases only with the clothing on their backs by Katrina.  And these "celebrities" keep showing how they have built this house or that house - there is still tons to do.  This problem is not fixed - not by a long shot.
939631
You have a good point. I just returned from a trip to the Mississippi coast. There is still a lot of storm damage yet to be fixed. Insurance companies have refused to pay settlements claiming the storm surge flooding caused all the damage. People are still living in campers in the driveways of their destroyed homes. More than half of the businesses haven't reopened, and lots of people are without jobs.\nIt was hard for me to believe I was still in America.
45077
katrina support, huh. i was in hancock county, ms. when it hit. i have to say that if it were not for the private sector, things would have been alot worse than they were. the first morning after, there was no law, there was no government. it was the second day after the storm when we first saw the busses and trucks loaded down with water and supplies. not one the the supply trucks we saw in the first days were government. now it's 4 months later and there are still people living in tents. my personal experience with fema has been a complete joke. i don't want to take anything away from the people who drove hours on end to deliver the needed supplies or the thousands of people who donated their time and money to help people pick up the pieces of their shattered lives. but i am damn mad at my government. i have had to relocate to another state. the only assistance my family has gotten was the initial $2000 check from fema. past that we have been made to feel like charity cases. we are not begging. these are our tax dollars. since i have been in nc, i have paid in more taxes than i recieved from fema since this whole nightmare began. when i got to nc, so i didn't have to sleep on someones floor, i got a job to provide for my family and because i got that job, was told that i didn't qualify for any public assistance. so no, i don't consider it support, no, it wasn't soon enough, racial bias, i'm white. thanks for letting me vent. and by the way, have any of you asked yourself where all the money you gave went?........