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Blizzard in NYC is not Katrina

Late last night as I was going through Twitter, I noticed a mention of the NYC blizzard being Katrina. Given the amount of coverage by the MSM one might think it was in the same category as Katrina but allow me to say, it is\was not. I speak as someone who has been in blizzards in NY and Montreal and lived to tell my tale after Katrina.

I live in Mississippi. In fact I lived in southern Mississippi at the time of Katrina. I fled to my mother’s house, 4.5 hours from where Katrina came ashore. The problem with my fleeing was I stayed in Mississippi, although in the northeastern part. In that area of Mississippi Katrina still had winds that topped out at 85 mph. Katrina caused residents of Mississippi, 4.5 hours away from where she hit land, to be without electricity for a minimum of two weeks in the hot and humid Mississippi climate. Katrina was a bad chic.

George Bush in his infinite wisdom thought 1) Mississippi was some part of the world “ ..this part of the world.” 2) Katrina hit New Orleans 3) Katrina only damaged the Mississippi Coast. I give thanks that Trent Lott became so upset, his hair moved. Senator Lott forced George Bush to return to Mississippi to see the true extent of the damage. Katrina laid waste to over half the state. During my 3.5 hour return trip home two weeks later, I gave thanks that my young son was asleep during the trip. The damaged increased the further south I drove. Timber, houses, animal carcasses from the chicken and hog farms were still littering the highway. Tears fell from my eyes as I thought of the loss of income to a people barely getting by before Katrina. I was viewing damage far away from the affluent Gulf Coast. I understood the impact Katrina would have financially and mentally on Mississippians. Katrina marked the first time that we could not help ourselves after a storm because she destroyed over 85% of the state. The only part of Mississippi not damaged by the storm was Memphis, TN (yes it is an inside joke).

When I returned to my apartment, it appeared normal. The house next door had a tree through it. My elderly neighbor, whose daughter I thought was coming to get her, had sat out the storm alone. Downed power and phone lines blocked the doorway to my home. My neighbors came to tell me how the roof lifted on my home, the roof! Not shingles. I was confused for my apartment on the outside appeared normal. Animal feces and a water logged carpet greeted me when I opened the door. Yes, Katrina raised the roof. My pricey high heeled shoes from another life were ruined by water. The books that I had placed high off the floor on my son’s bunk bed were in good condition. The food I had purchased was unfit to be eaten, a big issue for a full-time and single mother college student. Because my son is an asthmatic and I have a connective tissue disorder, I knew I could not wait for my landlady to remove the carpet. She was barricaded in her home by downed trees. I ripped the carpet myself, from my home to reduce the chance of respiratory illnesses. We became ill anyway for I was doing the work alone. Wet carpet removal is not an easy task.

When I hear of someone comparing the blizzard that hit NYC to Katrina it is a slap in the face. The two are no where close. I have driven from Toronto to NY during a blizzard. At the time I did not realize it was a freaking life killing blizzard but I know the stress a blizzard can bring. I have lived in Quebec during a blizzard and did not prepare by having enough food on hand. I had to walk to a local bar, Birdies, to get food to wait out the blizzard in my hotel room. I have lived in a blizzard and in a hurricane. Katrina destroyed sound structures. Living in the North sound structures are designed to hold the weight of heavy snow. In all honesty I am one of the Mississippians who cringed each time I hear New Orleans automatically associated with Katrina. New Orleans was on the good side (I did not know about good sides of hurricanes) of Katrina. I and many others maintain that the U.S. government under Dick Cheney’s direction broke the levees in New Orleans. I say all the time Katrina hit Mississippi and the government hit New Orleans. The levees broke in such a way that only the poor areas were underwater. The French Quarter, which floods during a drizzle, was bone dry after Katrina. K. West was on to something when he sounded off about racism. There is much about Katrina that has not been told. However, I sense myself about to climb a soap box about reparations to the families of New Orleans during Katrina and MSM being not under liberal control. I shall end by saying the NYC blizzard is not Katrina.


A little reading on blizzard. I enjoy reading the readers comments.

http://gawker.com/5721326/this-is-how-a-snowstorm-became-bloombergs-katrina
http://www.businessinsider.com/krugman-blizzard-bloomberg-2010-12
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2648312/posts

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