Well, President Obama finally did arrive for a tour. But of course,
despite charges that he was tardy in rushing to the scene, his
detractors did not appear to be digging deep into their off shore
accounts to help those whose homes had been destroyed without the
benefit of flood insurance. What was missing in the President's
comments was how swiftly resources will be available and to what
extent. Can the USA do for it's own citizens what it is so quick to
do for certain foreign governments?
Carl Jarvis
By Molly Hennessy-Fiske and Christi Parsons
AUGUST 23, 2016, 1:15 PMAUGUST 23, 2016, 1:15 PM |REPORTING FROM ZACHARY, LA.
President Obama tried to set aside politics Tuesday in favor of
pointing to the plight of victims of the devastating floods in
Louisiana as he underscored
the importance of an effective and quick federal disaster response.
Obama toured ravaged homes and talked with relatives of some of the 13
people killed by flooding from severe rains of the last two weeks.
With Republican
and Democratic officials at his side, he dismissed criticism that he
ignored the unfolding disaster while he was on vacation and instead
urged Americans
to help.
"Nobody on this block, none of those first responders — nobody gives a
hoot whether you're a Democrat or a Republican,” Obama said during his
tour. “What
they care about is making sure they're getting the drywall out, the
carpet out, there's not any mold building, they get some contractors
in here and they
start rebuilding as quick as possible."
Obama bragged about the speed with which his Federal Emergency
Management Agency is dispatching aid to the region, and White House
aides noted that more
than $127 million for rental assistance and flood insurance payments
has already been disbursed. More than 100,000 people have applied for
federal assistance.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican, did caution that it was too early to
judge the FEMA response.
But the bipartisan array of officials touring with Obama made for an
image that stood out for its contrast from the partisan accusations
lobbed in recent
days. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump visited the area
last week and complained that Democratic rival Hillary Clinton had not
done likewise.
Clinton countered that she would travel to Louisiana “at a time when
the presence of a political campaign will not disrupt the response.”
Trump charged Tuesday that the president should have gone to Louisiana
instead of golfing on vacation. “Too little, too late!” he
tweeted
as Obama was en route to Baton Rouge.
On 8/23/16, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Truthdig
Jill Stein Speaks With Victims of Louisiana's Catastrophic Flood-and Those
Trying to Help Them
http://www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/jill_stein_is_bringing_attention_to_vic
tims_of_flooding_in_20160822/
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Posted on Aug 22, 2016
Jill Stein, left, with resident Le'Kedra Robertson. (Jill 2016)
Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein was in Denham Springs, La.,
on
Monday to speak with people(https://www.facebook.com/drjillstein/) forced
from their homes by historic flooding-and to the volunteers trying to help
them.
Some of the groups working on the scene were the Louisiana Environmental
Action Network(https://leanweb.org) , Together Baton
Rouge(http://www.togetherbr.org) , North Baton Rouge Disaster
Relief(https://www.gofundme.com/northbatonrouge) and Mutual Aid Disaster
Relief(https://www.facebook.com/MutualAidDisasterRelief/) .
In one clip (viewed 42,000 times within three hours of appearing on
Facebook), Stein spoke with some of the displaced residents and volunteer
relief workers from Louisiana's Green Party.
Anika Ofori, a representative of the black caucus of the Louisiana Greens,
pointed out the racialized neglect of residents in the form of
slow-arriving
support from the federal government. "We know from Hurricane Katrina that
when the resources come, they don't always, and most often, do not get to
the poorest or the blackest communities," she said. "So I am part of the
Green Party because the Green Party platform encompasses issues that affect
me, that affect the black community, that affect the poor community, that
affect other minority communities. And so I thank Jill for getting in
contact with us."
Another woman expressed gratitude for her experience at the shelter, saying
that despite flood victims' losses, "we're still gaining because we have
each other to lean on."
Stein added that "it's a crisis like this that really brings out the
strength of a community. And we're here to help enlarge that community."
In another clip, Stein described what she saw while walking around a
formerly submerged neighborhood. "We basically saw drenched floors where
the
floors were buckling. We saw walls that were beginning to be covered with
mold. ... We saw basically muck on the floor, on the furniture, on the
cabinets; the doors being taken down.
"All these emotional mementos and trophies," she continued. "The sports
trophies that were earned by the parents and also by the kids who are now
adults. . Grown children, their life's treasures, their childhood treasures
were basically all out on the front lawn.
"And we saw a crew of wonderful people, neighbors and many people who came
from New Orleans, who had been victimized by the floods."
In a concluding clip, Stein thanked everyone who had shown up to help the
people of Denham Springs recover. Local activist Le'Kedra Robertson said
local children won't be able to return to school until December and invited
viewers to come to Denham Springs and contribute physical labor to help
residents get back on their feet.
"If you walk through these streets of Denham Springs, where I grew up,
there
aren't any FEMA or other resources that are coming except for people who
have compassionate hearts who are fixing lunches and putting boots on the
ground."
Anyone interested in financially contributing to the community's recovery
can do so via a GoFundMe
campaign(https://www.gofundme.com/510DenhamSprings)
.
-Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly(http://www.truthdig.com/alexander_kelly) .
