(Vanity) Political class warfare impact of Katrina

September 5, 2005

[newcat2]

Arron Brousard, President of Jefferson Parish, claimed that the Emergency Management Director for his area mother was trapped in a building for 5 days, calling her son every day until she drowned on last Friday.

[Tijeras_Slim]

I don't think a cell phone battery lasts that long without recharging.

She had to use her pacemaker battery instead!!! < /s>

[The_Victor]

Here is some official coverage of the Parish Presidents statements from the Dallas Morning News via the Seattle Times.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/hurricanekatrina/2002472762_katbrou051.html?syndication=rss&source=seattletimes.xml&items=96

Weeping on national television, Jefferson Parish, La., President Aaron Broussard told yesterday of a woman who pleaded for help but drowned before it came.

It was a single tale from a weeklong series of tragedies, and focusing on her quickly changed Broussard's tone from angry accusation to uncontrollable tears.

On NBC's "Meet the Press," Broussard complained bitterly about the slow federal response to the New Orleans flood, demanding investigations and resignations. He particularly criticized the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Broussard said FEMA turned away three trailer trucks of water sent to New Orleans before the hurricane, refused to allow the Coast Guard to deliver diesel fuel to his parish and cut off emergency communication lines "without notice."

There was no immediate response from FEMA to the criticism.

Broussard said the man who runs the building where he is based spoke every day last week to his mother, who was trapped in a nursing home near the city.

"Every day she called him and said, 'Are you coming, son? Is somebody coming?'

"And he said, 'Yeah, Mama, somebody's coming to get you. Somebody's coming to get you on Tuesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Wednesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Thursday. Somebody's coming to get you on Friday.' "

Breaking into sobs, Broussard said, "And she drowned Friday night. She drowned Friday night."

I don't have a way to prove or disprove his assertion though. Given the propensity of democRATs to "embellished" the truth, ala Bubba Clinton, I'm suspicious.

[liberty2004]

Some of this is from post I made on the hurricane thread. I live in Jefferson and I can tell you that Brousard is a liar and is likely now insane.

My brother, his boss and I stayed through the storm and a few days after. I heard Brousard with my own ears the day after the hurricane. He stated that he sent the pump workers across the lake before Katrina hit. THERE WAS NO ONE TO MAN THE PUMPS WHEN THE WINDS DIED DOWN!! Because of that idiot's decision my sister's house had two feet of water. Not including the breach, ALL the flooding in Jefferson parish is SOLELY the fault of Brousard. All the flooding of Kenner is solely the fault of that idiot. He could have easily staged the workers at the Galleria (it is the big building you see near the interchange in Jefferson where the people were placed after removing them from Orleans).

If he would have staged the workers in the Galleria, they could have easily made it to the pumps and kept the water out of Kenner and in Metairie. None of the Jefferson pumps were underwater or inoperative after the storm. They had diesel backup. Almost everyone from Jefferson that I spoke to, upon learning about this idiot's decision, wants him hung. That man should be locked up. It is idiots like him, who compound the problem.

Again, he is most likely lying his ass off about that story.

[liberty2004]

It was widely reported that the power needed to operate cell phone towers was out in the initial stages

we stayed through the storm in Jefferson. Must communication was indeed down. However, we were able to communicate through my brothers boss's Nextel. We talked with other's stuck in the storm who had Nextel.

[shuckmaster]

If anyonw knows the truth, please log in.

Why is the government taking so long to log me in?

[staytrue]

It would be good to find the nursing home in question and then check to see if the phones were working or if the cell phones were working.

I suspect that they were not.

[staytrue]

She, according to Broussard, drowned there on the 5th day. I confess some suspicion.

The lady may have died, but not from drowning as the waters had begun to recede by day 4 with maximum height by Weds. The Lake had its maximum ht. on Tuesday. They are actually breaching a level to drain water from NO into the lake.

[Adrastus]

Man! You gys are hard. This was such a stellar performance. I give him 9.5 on delivery and 8.5 on degree of difficulty. More tears needed. Good lyrics but the rhythm was poor and you couldn't dance to it.

[JennysCool]

Broussard appears to be just another corrupt LA politico in CYA mode -- or more particularly BOB (Blame On Bush) mode.

[perchprism]

Here's a link to a story about the Feds investigating Broussard.

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1124345510247860.xml

[liberty2004]

Being local and knowing the players as you do, maybe you can verify some of this and ping us all if you learn anything.

I trust nothing Brousard states. He has been a political hack all his life. Since I am from Metairie, I will try and comment on relevant matters. We even went into the city yesterday from New Iberia. Nextel was a lifesave for us. We were able to tell our family that we were safe.

[silverleaf]

Very informative post. Thank You. You have surpassed any press effort to find the true facts on this man and the local situation.

[Balding_Eagle]

Thanks

[Adrastus]

I admit to a certain nostalgia.

[tiki]

If you read the original article you'd find that the supposed mother was the mother of a friend. I haven't seen any proof. Broussard is up for indictment.

OBTW, ZOT.