New Orleans was devastated by this hurricane. But now, fear and worries escalate as FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) funds flow has been squeezed by Trump admin in a recent move.
Darren McKinney was a young lad at the Lower Ninth Ward, in New Orleans, full of charm and spirits but as hurricane Katrina caused havoc in his state, he could only but see his neighbourhood wash away.
He was horrified when his 2nd floor apartment almost touched the water level as it rose.
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Rainy days take his memory backwards when he confronted the worst ordeal, and he says, “I had no food at all, no water, no electricity”.
Nowadays, Mr McKinney works in the home restoration effort in the surrounding areas.
His Rescue….: “You Had To Fend For Yourself”
He was rescued from his apartment during the rescue efforts, and later he was assured of an army truck that would haul him to a safe point, but that vehicle never materialized in reality.
Being compelled, he had to trudge to the evacuation centre located at some distance.
“You had to fend for yourself”, he later lamented. Environment news updates in India.
Post rescue, Mr McKinney was whisked away to Houston, Texas, and after some months, as he returned to his place, he was astonished to see his home in a “real bad condition”.
Luckily, FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) arranged a trailer for him, which became his abode for some time.
Trailers Replete With Formaldehyde: Environment News Updates in India
As he stayed at the trailer, he got to know about the concentration of Formaldehyde inside such trailers, a chemical harmful.
As the circumstances were not favourable to him, he mustered the courage to ignore such reports.
He was rendered utterly helpless as he asked himself, “What could you do?”
FEMA Response Was Doubted TOO:
FEMA itself was shrouded in doubts, and in the wake of the hurricane, residents reflected their anguish through slogans printed on T-shirts.
For instance, the slogans like “FEMA: Federal Employees Missing In Action”.
In addition to this, some cuss words and curses were also spray-painted on the house facades.
Some even voiced to drop off the agency or even to abrogate it.
In recent months, we have seen the Trump admin responding to such curses by limiting the support to key FEMA programs and which has resulted in hundreds of staffers hanging up their boots.
As they have become so disgruntled, they even threaten to disassemble the department completely.
Even Mr McKinney is not so hopeful of admin’s ways to look at things.
As funds have been diminished, this is like adding insult to an injury.
“You don’t know when you’re gonna have another disaster like that,” he said. “For people that don’t have money, without FEMA, how are you going to help them out?”
To cut it short, the admin would be worst prepared for any natural calamity or national emergency.
Donald Trump has reneged on pledges to outlaw FEMA in recent weeks.
However, experts in disaster management worry that despite adjustments, the US will still be as unprepared to handle a hurricane like Katrina as it was in 2005.
Samantha Montano, a disaster response specialist at Massachusetts Maritime Academy and author of the book Disasterology, opined, “It has been so demoralizing to realize how closely aligned we have become again to what FEMA looked like pre-Katrina, and how quickly we’ve backslid on the progress of the last 20 years.”
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