While the decades-long rejection of global warming to advance economic policy likely contributed, in some part, to the string of recent hurricanes culminating in the devastating Katrina, I, of course, recognize that there were hurricanes and typhoons and other natural disasters long before the SUV became the top-selling car in America.

Yet where is the Louisiana National Guard?

In Iraq.

Where is the Corps of Engineers?

In Iraq.

It is impossible to accept the proposition that military ships, helicopters, amphibious vehicles, and other resources that were not available to rescue people, or to evacuate people, or to secure the levees, or to provide food and water and medical supplies, or to protect people from lawless street gangs; are put to better use securing and rebuilding the Nation of Iraq.

I don't know if I will forgive, and will not soon forget, the men on tv in their pin-striped suits quantifying the economic losses to insurers and questioning whether the American taxpayers should be forced to subsidize people who choose to live in a tropical paradise.

I don't think too many of the people who are born and live all their lives and die in the Ninth Ward necessarily “choose” to live there in the ordinary sense of the word, nor do I think that too many people would call it a “paradise”. (Although it was, of course, their Home.)

But I am pretty sure that my tax dollars have been subsidizing the oil companies lately. I am pretty sure that my tax dollars, and the insurance premiums I have paid over the years, have subsidized the victims of numerous other natural disasters, in other states, and all over the world. I am pretty sure that my tax dollars have enriched companies like Halliburton, who have profited from the War in Iraq. My tax dollars have also subsedized the airline industry, which itself was partly responsible for the tragedies of September 11th. And I am pretty sure that my tax dollars, insurance premiums and unnecessary price inflations have paid for the effects of companies like Enron, and Halliburton, Exxon, Johns Manville, United Airlines, Pfizer, Philip Morris, Merck, and Dow, who have killed people, poisoned the environment, were negligent, or committed fraud, denying all responsibility, declaring bankruptcy, or otherwise leaving others to pick up the tab.

I am pretty sure that the People of Louisiana went to New York after 9/11 and set up a round-the-clock "Gumbo Crew" to feed the rescue workers, and provided New York with new fire engines to replace some of those that had been destroyed by the terrorists.

It is my understanding that dollars (including my tax dollars) previously ear-marked for coastal restoration in the recent subsidize-big-oil Energy Bill were cut and diverted to the War in Iraq.

And certainly additional flood protections, which the State and Federal Governments knew would be necessary, yielded to other priorities.

Then the NRA fanatics champion the fact that thousands of guns are readily available on the shelves of every WalMart, unprotected, and ripe for the picking.

While the “personal responsibility” mongers like Dennis Hastert – who are supposed to be our “leaders” – disavow all responsibility.

It is easy for the pin-stripes in Washington and New York to let themselves off the hook by saying "It's their own fault, because they didn't heed the warnings and evacuate." But the truth is that, if everyone had attempted to evacuate, they wouldn't have been able to. Many tried to leave and couldn't get out in time. It's a matter of physics: You can only put so many cars on a limited amount of roadway in a limited amount of time. And that doesn't even include the people, like doctors and police officers, who stayed to help others. Or the countless thousands who could not have left, even if they had wanted to, (and many of them did), because of health problems, or the lack of any vehicle or other mode of transport, and lack of other resources.

If our goal is to make Iraq a place where, if you're poor, and without the means to evacuate, you starve to death on your rooftop, or suffocate in your attic, or rot without medication in your own sewerage, because the people who were democratically elected to protect you have other priorities, we might as well throw in the towel.



[Note - The views expressed on this political blog and law blog are the personal views of Steve Herman and are not intended to represent the views of Herman Herman Katz & Cotlar, LTLA, TLPJ, the Civil Justice Foundation, or any other organization.]

How can you expect "mandatory evacuation" to help when people have no transportation or money?

I guess we only tried to save the white Republicans.

Knowing what happened in Camille and knowing this was worse should have made the State and Federal Government mobilize the Guard BEFORE it hit and have them placed about 50 miles inland ready to move "just in case". It would have been infinitely cheaper than what this is going to cost.

Can you imagine what would have happened if they had those LNG terminals in Gulfport and Biloxi?

While some creditors have been very reasonable in accommodating Hurricane Katrina victims, (Citi, for example, said they were waiving all interest and late fees for three months, while Hibernia National Bank is apparently deferring all mortgage payments until January 2006), Capital One, Bank of America and other credit card issuers have been suprisingly unsympathetic - not to mention unreasonable and unrealistic - with respect to the satisfaction of credit card obligations by people with no homes, no checks, and no access to funds. Customers, who had to explain that they would not be receiving mail for a while, were instructed to go on-line to find out what they were expected to pay. After being confronted with the absurdity of that policy, the banks afforded a 30-day payment "holiday" to some, on a case-by-case basis. This type of response is particularly ironic coming from an industry that just cashed in on their considerable campaign contributions in the form of a Bankruptcy Reform Act that prevents borrowers from getting a second-chance, (as provided under Biblical Law), necessitated in large part by the credit card companies themselves, who climbed (and continue to climb) all over each other to extend and over-extend credit to people whom they knew could not afford the interest payments.

Yesterday, on the radio, a couple of insurance companies were running ads telling people with claims to call a certain number, but if you have a "flood claim," you are to call another number. Clearly, to me, the reason is that these insurance corporations are going to deny flood, wind, "Acts of God" claims as excluded, unless, for instance, you actually have flood insurance.

Today, the Insurance Commissioner of the State of Mississippi had the audacity to appear on TV and say that most of the losses are flood losses, and therefore, they won't be covered, unless a person has flood coverage.

What many do not understand is that having a tree stuck in your roof IS covered, and people may be misled into making the wrong claim, so that these carriers do not pay their claim.

Clearly, the insurance companies that have collected premiums for years from my fellow Mississippians should not get off the hook by having the government pick up the tab.

Also, friends, please give to the Red Cross or the Salvation Army. They're the ones truly making a difference. I could go on for days about the obvious incompetence of the government, especially the feds. But, the acts of humanity giving to humanity is just as obvious. My family has been blessed and spared. My thoughts are prayers are with my friends, colleagues and the people of the Mississippi Coast and New Orleans.

December 12, 2005

Dear Family and Friends,

We have heard from so many of you over the past few months, and it has touched our hearts to know so many are thinking about us. You have asked, “what can I do?” Now we have the answer. You can be a part of a grassroots effort to wake up the President and the US Congress to the urgent need for more action, and very soon, in order to save the City of New Orleans. TV can't begin to capture the destruction and despair that is our beloved hometown. (We would be happy to host and entertain any of you who would like to visit New Orleans and see the city for yourself) Whole sections of the city are still dark and the houses that still stand are like skeletons...windows, doors and roofs gone, and vegetation that is the color of death. New Orleans has NO MONEY, and no way to raise any. There is minimal sales tax collection, and it is impossible to depend on property tax assessments, when so many properties are gutted shells and still uninhabitable.

Imagine your city with diminished police and fire departments, over half of its employees laid off, limited garbage collection in the face of thousands of tons of debris, no gas, phone, cable or internet connections in many areas, your District Attorney saying he can't prosecute criminals because he has no staff, and garbage dumps 6 stories high in the middle of the city. Imagine your utility company that is charged with reenergizing your city in bankruptcy, your local universities and hospitals laying off most of their staff, your businesses failing for lack of immediate loans to keep them going, your residents unable to come home because the temporary housing is still not arriving – over 3 months later.

Then imagine reading day after day that the flooding of this beautiful city was a man-made failure, precipitated by Katrina, but flooded because of improper design and oversight of the flood protection levee system, primarily by the US Corps of Engineers. Imagine reading that your fellow citizens across the country have doubts that your city should even continue to be.

New Orleans is not asking for a handout. New Orleans is asking that the federal government live up to its responsibilities. There are 450,000 US citizens who have been displaced, hundreds of thousands who cannot come home yet, untold numbers who have lost everything they have ever owned. And the city is in danger of dying because the help that was promised has not yet been forthcoming. We are a part of this country and if we can send aid to tsunami victims and earthquake victims and spend billions to try to rebuild Iraq, we can certainly afford the billions to rebuild the flood protection of New Orleans and to restore the coastline of Louisiana.

Louisiana provides 25% of the natural gas that heats your home, and the gas that drives your car. We provide about 40% of the seafood that comes to your table. We had the busiest port, in tonnage, in the nation, without which the farmers of the Midwest could not get their grain to market. Think also about the culture we developed...jazz, great cuisine, Mardi Gras, the Jazz Festival, unique architecture...a truly vibrant and exciting city.

How can anyone even begin to contemplate the US losing one its greatest cities? But it can happen if we do not get help immediately. New Orleans cannot recover without the aid of the federal government. The development of better levees is the essential piece needed to encourage citizens to return and businesses to rebuild.

New Orleans can't be reborn and made to flourish without your thinking that we are worthwhile and sending that message to our government in numbers large enough to make them listen. We must help the President and Congress find the political will to provide all financial aid necessary.

THE NUMBER ONE MESSAGE IS THAT NEW ORLEANS NEEDS A COMMITMENT THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WILL ENSURE WE HAVE LEVEES THAT WILL FULLY PROTECT US AND THAT COASTAL RESTORATION WILL BEGIN AS SOON AS POSSIBLE SO THAT THE NATURAL PROTECTIONS PROVIDED BY BARRIER ISLANDS AND WETLANDS WILL BE REESTABLISHED.

Each of you is a voice to your Congresspersons and Senators and to the President. PLEASE, write or email or call your representatives and the White House to let them know that we are worth saving. The comment line at the White House is 202 456-1111 and the switchboard number for the Senate and House is 202 224-3121. The following Website has a letter already written that can be emailed from the site or can be copied for your own letter or emails; and be sure to send copies to Senator Frist and to Congressman Hastert:

http://www.democracyinaction.org/GRN/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=1521

Accrding to an editorial that was published yesterday in the New York Times, the price tag for protection against a Category 5 hurricane might run to over $32 billion. That is a lot of money. But it represents just 1.2 percent of this year's estimated $2.6 trillion in federal spending, which actually overstates the case, since the cost would be spread over many years. It is barely one-third the cost of the $95 billion in tax cuts passed just last week by the House of Representatives. And a lot less than the more than $300 billion we have already spent in Afghanistan and Iraq.

We need you to write and to call often. As important, we need you send this on to as many people as you can and then ask them to send it on to as many others as they can.

We know how busy you are, but please take the time to contact the President and your Senators and Congressmen. Our very survival depends on it.

Thank you.

Barbara Herman
Ann Leyens
Edie Rosenblum

Republican Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi has sued his insurance company because it refused to pay for the loss of Lott’s waterfront home during Hurricane Katrina. The former Senate Republican leader and his wife, Tricia, are suing State Farm Insurance Co. because “it will not honor my policy nor those of thousands of other South Mississippians for coverage against wind damage due to Hurricane Katrina.”

U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor has joined Trent Lott in his lawsuit against State Farm after the insurer refused to cover property owners for hurricane damage. Most of the state's insurers have denied claims for property loss, attributing damage to flood waters.


[See Bob Kemper, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Dec. 16, 2005, and, Biloxi Sun Herald, Jan. 10, 2006.]