Bump!
***....."There will be neighborhoods where people can't get back to their homes for weeks, if not months," Michael Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said in the Louisiana capital.
Officials will assess the housing needs for victims.
"We're going to be working with the state of Louisiana to see what those needs are and how best to meet those needs," said Earl Armstrong, a spokesman for FEMA in Denton, home of the agency's regional office.
Officials said options include tents, mobile homes or financially troubled hotels and apartments.
For the next week, most evacuees will have to rely for housing on friends, family or the American Red Cross.
Hotels in Baton Rouge and as far away as Lafayette are full, and power is out in many parts of southern Louisiana.
The Red Cross reported Tuesday that 31,000 people are in its hurricane shelters in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
Gov. Rick Perry approved sending doctors, nurses and support personnel from the Texas National Guard to help in Louisiana.
The Southern Baptist Association, in conjunction with FEMA, has sent 25 portable kitchens.
They can feed 500,000 people per day.
And the Salvation Army is sending 72 mobile canteens and two larger feeding units.*** Source
A friend of mine works in the claims department for FEMA, here in Atlanta. He said last night that the claims from this storm alone will take up to three years to take care of.
I'm glad to read that.
But I have to say that Governor Blanco is the blankest, dead-head of a governor I have ever seen appear on television.
Haley Barbour was quite impressive on the other hand -- almost a tragic Roman nobility about him facing this disaster.
Thank you for all your work keeping us updated on this. My heart is so sad for the suffering these people are enduring.
This part is troubling, "Officials said options include tents, mobile homes or financially troubled hotels and apartments"..please, do this far enough from the danger zone with so much of hurricane season still to come.
Most are living on crdeit cards ... And the wonderful new federal bankruptcy laws go into effect in seven weeks. October 17th. A triple whammy.