Today I am going to stand just a bit on my soapbox. If you can't handle it, it's time for you to go surf the Web for something more palatable.
So... it's a beautiful Sunday afternoon here in SW Louisiana. I decided to take a little drive while others napped. I was cruising some of the back roads I knew as a young'un. Note I had already noticed quite some time ago a plethora (really!) of FEMA trailers parked row upon row upon row in an area I will not mention. (Like no one in this town has happened to see them or knows they are there!)
Thinking this FEMA trailer refuge might make an interesting blog post, I pulled up and took a few photos from the back of the area. (This "area" is a substantial number of acres.) You will see those shots below. I drove a bit further and turned northbound along a dirt road that ran alongside this same area. As I reached pavement, I noticed an entry-like area with a couple of little "huts" but the drive was blocked off with those attractive orange plastic cones. What I could see were many more of the FEMA trailers parked row after row after row. I pulled up into the drive, rolled down the passenger window, and pointed my camera toward the trailers. At that time, a RATHER large individual appeared upon the little porch of one of the "huts", waving his arms at me. I waved back. I'm a friendly kinda' gal. He yelled (which was necessary since we were probably at least 50 yards apart if not more) "You ain't supposed to be takin' no pitchas!" (I am trying to get his rather interesting local speech pattern across to you.) I yelled "Why?" (Note there were no signs posted or anything that made me think there would be a problem with a photo or two.) His sad little government brain apparently did not understand a question of such magnitude and so he responded with "You ain't supposed to be takin' no pitchas!" I am laughing at this point because of the ridiculousness of the situation. Those trailers, folks, belong to US... YOU and ME!! We own them. WE are the government. But I "ain't supposed to be takin' no pitchas" of my property. I won't even start on who is likely paying this person's salary. At that point, this individual begins waving at me and yelling "Bye-bye" as if I am some small child. Rather than risk this person going into cardiac arrest by making an attempt to chase me down, I drove off knowing there were at least 3 more areas where I could get the photos I wanted to show you all the HUGE amount of waste here in Louisiana. I'm sure it is all over Mississippi, also.
Without further ado, I submit to you what some of your tax dollars are currently doing:
1) From the back side, before my close encounter of the government kind. Note the long line of white in the background. Those are FEMA trailers.
2) Further along the same road as #1 above, we find more long rows of white trailers.
3) This is from the front of the area in question. Note the rows of white in the background in front of the tree line.
Folks, I can't even begin to put numbers to this. You are seeing a VERY small quantity of what is out there. To get a better idea of actual size, take a peek at this:
I can assure you there are THOUSANDS of these trailers placed in rows all over this property. I would almost venture to say there are TENS of thousands of them. I know I cannot see the entire area. I have no clue what is out there, unseen from any public street.
For those less informed, the government apparently had to back pedal on its handing out of FEMA trailers when many (if not all?) were found to contain asbestos. Pesky asbestos. So, the potential for damage to young or elderly lungs, etc., created a bit of a problem. I honestly don't know what the government did to "replace" these delightful little trailers when they removed them from use by folks who had no place to go. You might could read up on that elsewhere.
*** Clarification: Just an update. I may have misstated the recall issue for these FEMA wonders. It may have been formaldehyde that was the issue... not asbestos. While it doesn't really matter, since they were recalled to sit and rot, I felt I should let you know you should follow up on the reason if you are that interested.
I'm just offended that I am dismissed like a child by someone who is paid (by me) to hang out in a little "hut" on a lovely Sunday afternoon to "protect" a bunch of molding, mildewing FEMA trailers that will likely eventually rot in the fields where they lay. I can think of a lot of other things I would prefer to have my tax dollars cover. In our current environment, I begin to believe my tax dollars are simply being used to light Million-Dollar-Bonus cigars. Guess the FEMA debacle is no better, no worse.
Pray for your America, folks. She really needs you now.
Until a lighter note...
1 comment:
Just an update. I may have misstated the recall issue for these FEMA wonders. It may have been formaldehyde that was the issue... not asbestos. While it doesn't really matter, since they were recalled to sit and rot, I felt I should let you know you should follow up on the reason if you are that interested.
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