What about the little guy?

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

My husband addressed many of my thoughts perfectly so there is no need for me to regurgitate what he has so eloquently penned below. I do however have some thoughts that I must get out or else I feel like my head will explode.

I was born and raised in one of the poorest counties in the United States. A county that is close to the Rio Grande River and the Gulf Coast. We grew up with the threat of hurricanes and knew the drill well. First you tape the windows, fill up the cars with gas, buy the water and groceries then get ready for it. What, evacuate you say? Not an option.

My father was a hard working man who worked well over 40 hours to make sure we had food on the table and clothes on our back. My parents never received public assistance even though we were a large family of 11, and both he and my mother made sure we were good citizens.

We would not have been able to leave because you need money to leave, you need a reliable car to travel and then you need to spend quite a bit of money to buy the tape, the plywood, the nails to secure the only possessions you have. Then after all that, you need money for hotel rooms and food for several days if not weeks.

Had the big one hit, and we were left stranded, should we be judged because we did not evacuate even though we knew better? Should we just accept that we would have no food or water for days and days until FEMA came around to check on the small towns after they got dealing with the big ones? Do citizens who live in small cities matter less than the ones in the big cities? How bad are these areas that that according to the Mayor of New Orleans, those people are being brought into NO for aid? Let me tell you something, it is a totally different animal to be poor in a small rural community than being poor in a large city.

Large cities get all the attention in these natural disasters. I understand why that is–the loss of life is higher, the damage more costly and the recuperation more extensive. I get that. But I must admit that I got a chill down my spine when I heard that almost 1000 miles spread throughout different states had been devastated by Katrina.

Reporters are now talking about the other parishes and the level of destruction found in those areas. I remind myself that parishes are counties with many square miles, not neighborhoods with many square blocks. Counties full of citizens, many of whom had less than the people in New Orleans before this disaster. These people go to New Orleans to find the jobs that are non-existent in their rural town. It is mind boggling when you think about it.

In Houston I worked with many, many Louisianans. I wonder how their families are. These people’s brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers were residents of Louisiana–many from small towns. I grew to adore these people because I recognized the close relationship they had with Texas, especially Houston. They were so much like us and yet so wonderfully different from their accents to their celebrations. They were so full of life, vibrant and always lending a kind word to me and never rude nor abrasive.

How much lost life will be discovered in the next few weeks when the news from these small towns starts to get reported? Yes, the mayor of New Orleans was correct when he said thousands will die, and he was only talking about New Orleans.

Look at the map of the devastation in the gulf coast and imagine tons of small towns with populations between 5 to 25 thousand people that peppers the affected area from Louisiana to Mississippi.

Right now, the people in the bigger areas feel abandoned by the government. They feel forgotten, discarded. Imagine being from small town and knowing that your area is so low on the priority list that not even the reporters are paying you any attention.

Is their hunger not the same, is their thirst not the same, and is their devastation not the same? It took the President 5 days to get to the major areas, 5 days for the National Guard to start arriving to New Orleans. How long is it going to be before the rural areas get help?

Who is looking out for them?