Southern Breeze 2007 Fall Issue

“ We are the only state that is losing land an acre an hour! We got to get the country to understand that.” how coastal erosion was the cause of the destruction. I was totally unprepared for the emotions in watching Hurricane on the Bayou. Sitting in the dark you could hear the entire room sobbing. Hopefully the movie will continue to educate people on If you noticed the people (on the roofs) were still smiling because it was only two days after the storm, on the rooftops in good spirits. Says a lot for people down here and that’s part of the problem. We can take a lot. Sometimes we’re a little too proud to ask for help and we need to stop that or we’re not going to be here. The movie was originally called Hurricane Warning and it was about what could happen if the big one hit. And in two months after they stopped filming it happened (Katrina hit). Disasters like this can happen anywhere in the country. I 56 If Homeland Security wouldn’t have come in, it would have been handled completely different. Everybody would have been out in a day. Everybody fed, clothed, together as a team and family. Homeland Security is what changed all of that. It kept everybody from helping each other. It split families apart. Gave nobody any information except you can’t come in and you can’t do anything except what we tell you to do. What do you think is the answer? started the Voice of the Wetlands (VOW), a non-profit, to go around government and get the word out that we need help. Voice of the Wetlands was meant to be the voice of the people that was missing. Have you noticed a more passionate response after Katrina? Now they see we have a major problem. I tell people it’s not about the hurricane, it’s the about the years of neglect that allowed us not to be able to handle a hurricane. It all came to a head in one month with two hurricanes, Katrina and Rita. And everybody sat there and watched people die on TV and there’s absolutely no good reason that anybody could give me why it took five days to rescue people. When we had miles of boats lined up on the interstate but nobody was allowed to rescue anybody. Rest of the country is not stupid, they see that. Everybody should be marching down to Washington to get this city protected before they start reinvesting their money. I talk to people all over the country…they don’t want to spend tax dollars on people who live below sea level. Those people don’t know how important this place is and how much they rely on us. New Orleans is a big port city. If you want real news, you have to listen to WWL. I talk to Garland (Robinette) a lot, he’s digging for answers and he’s interviewing everybody from the president on down and he can’t find the answers. What does that tell you? It’s all levels of government. s o u t h e r n b re e z e . c o m I do not judge progress by people rebuilding their houses. Until we see some change in going from erosion to building new land and new marshes, there’s really no progress being made, because we can’t live here. In the coastal parishes they gave us 10 years and then they’re dropping it. If we don’t come up with something, we’re done. Start moving. We have different rules from everybody else. We are the only state that is losing land an acre an hour! We got to get the country to understand that. The shrimper knows more about how to fix coastal erosion than any engineer. There are over 4000 rigs in the Gulf of Mexico and 3900 are in Louisiana. The federal government gets all our royalties. It’s a priority issue. It’s not a money issue. They made it a priority going to Iraq and we’re spending lots of money over there. I saw something the other day where we were spending $26 billion on three months in Iraq. I think people in this state need to be emailing congressman all around the country. Everyone in Louisiana is angry and for once it looks like the country has taken notice, just recently passing landmark legislation in granting Louisiana and the Gulf States royalties from offshore drilling. We’re getting $20 million a year for ten years and supposed to go up. It’s not a percentage. Louisiana needs to put our foot down and stop all the drilling. It’s going to take people. http://southernbreeze.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Southern Breeze 2007 Fall Issue

Editor's Letter Contributor Gumbo Words & Notes Accessories Coastal Calendar Storefronts: French Flair in Fairhope Sweet Dreams: Smooth Sailing Art of Living: The Colors of Hope Fixtures: Shake It Up! Live Here: Filled to the Brim Our Backyard: Just Add Water Make Yourself at Home: Open Invitation Pierless Pleasures Always Biloxi Spirited Away Reef Madness Louisiana Love Cheers: Fall Freeze Dish: Java Servers Reader Services Chef's Table: The Kid Inside Let's Eat: Cornbread, Catheads, and Calas Last Bite

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