Thanks, Canada

"I guess nobody knew we were here," said St. Bernard Parish Councilwoman Judy Hoffmeister, who on Wednesday recalled being trapped on the roof of a building, awaiting rescue, on the night of the storm. "Why wouldn't somebody say, 'Where's St. Bernard?' "

At first, the only rescuers on hand were the residents and officials of St. Bernard Parish. Two days after Katrina hit, a team of Canadian Mounties from Vancouver showed up to help, and a sprinkling of officials from neighboring parishes paid visits, but it would be days before there was any sign of assistance from the U.S. government.

"I'm saying, where's the Department of Defense?" said parish Sheriff Jack Stephens. "The Canadians can show up, but the Department of Defense can't get to St. Bernard Parish?"

The military eventually made food drops from helicopters, and locals insisted soldiers leave with a load of evacuees every time they landed. 

But 17 days after the storm, the resentment still runs deep.

This used to be Bush Country.  Used to be.

Those Mounties were from Vancouver to boot.  Thanks, eh?

Comments

[Brenda]

I sure love me some Canadians!!

[Kathy]

But I'm just so confused now, I thought it was blacks the feds didn't care about:

ST. BERNARD PARISH
(as of 2000)
Population: 67,229
Total households: 25,123
Ave. household income: $44,672
Race
White: 88.29%
Black or African American: 7.62%
Other races: 4.08%

After, I think maybe Louis Farrakhan said it best, " It [the levee] may have been blown up to destroy the black part of town and keep the white part dry".

[Houston]

It was the poor who were failed by all three branches of government. Blacks just happened to be disproportionately represented, as they are in all American cities and states. Martin Luther King, Jr. said it best: there can be no racial justice without economic justice.

[wanda]

"This used to be Bush Country."

Lets hope 'used to be' is exactly what it is.