Well Said Rheta!

Katrina aftermath carries over to the new year

By RHETA GRIMSLEY JOHNSON

HENDERSON, La.

Our friend in the FEMA trailer in the churchyard behind us doesn't know how long into 2007 she'll get to keep the little rig she calls home.

Everyone in authority she asks gives her a different answer.

Meanwhile, Louella works regular hours at a nearby Piggly Wiggly, plus all the overtime she can get. She lost her apartment in Cameron, La., when Hurricane Rita hit. Her daughter and grandsons lost their Cameron home, too. Louella's mother lost her home there as well.

Cameron, for all practical purposes, was destroyed. Louella isn't going back. She's planted flowers around the trailer and likes her job. She'd like to keep the trailer until she saves enough money for more- permanent housing. She'd like to stay near her daughter and help with the child care.

You have to wonder what the government will do with all the used travel trailers when it takes them up like so many overdue library books. You have to doubt that the same stooges who brought us the messed-up distribution of FEMA trailers will perform efficiently and wisely.

A few days before Christmas I dropped by to see my sister-in-law in Pascagoula. Her little house, located about six blocks from the beach, has been gutted and restored. She was lucky. She had some flood insurance, and her church helped with the reconstruction.