Central Florida Hurricane Center 2012

It has been over 100 days since and the federal aid package, for which Congress had set itself a Nov 17th deadline to complete, has not been passed.

Work has had to stop on building new bridges to connect the main coast thoroughfare, Hwy 90, between Jackson and Harrison Counties, over Biloxi Bay, and to connect Harrison and Hancock Counties, over St Louis Bay. School districts are bankrupt. Without federal money decisions cannot be made on many state and county projects.

Aid that was targeted to help homeowners whose homes were wiped out by floods, that did not have flood insurance, because the federal gov't (FEMA) told them it wasn't required because they weren't in a flood plain, have passed the 90-day deferrment of their mortgage payments and now something like 30,000 people stand to lose their homes.

After 9/11, an aid package was passed after 44 days.

The money that is being requested in only by comparison a couple months worth of $ we are currently spending on the Iraq war.

Governor Barbour, Gene Taylor, and Trent Lott continue to work tirelessly and have spent last week and will spend this week in Washington to try to get this critical aid package passed. Gene Taylor is erecting tents on the lawn to remind lawmakers of the over 1000 families still living on their slabs in tents as winter approaches.

Basically, Congress is treating Iraqi citizens better than its own. There is little support in Congress to supply the federal aid, and it appears they only want to fund about half of what is needed.

Sadly, and, again, rather unbelieveably, this has not made headlines in any major news media outlet: not last week, and not this week. It is really an abomination how the federal government has turned its back on MS.

All those people that have no jobs and can't pay their mortgages will leave the state. If the aid package had been passed in October, people would have been able to get back on their feet by now, and businesses would be rebuilding, and everything would have been on track. Instead it is now a disaster. Already major businesses are considering not rebuilding as everything grinds to a standstill waiting for the outcome of the money that is stalled in Congress. The MS coastline that was destroyed was the main income base of the state, and if that falls apart and cannot be reestablished, then the state will slide into poverty, the coast will not be able to rebuild, and many people will have to leave the state to find employment elsewhere.

http://www.governorbarbour.com/BarbourRemarks.htm

http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/13394664.htm

http://lott.senate.gov/index.cfm?Cerberu...2&Year=2005

http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/13394665.htm

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Katrina's Surge: http://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/Katrinas_surge_contents.asp

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