Engulfed in Change

On the Sunday preceding Hurricane Gustav I received a text message from an old friend from high school. It was a mass text that instructed people to use text messages to communicate so as to not tie up the cellular towers during Gustav's commencement and aftermath. Aside from being amazed at how technology has altered and improved disaster relief, the text struck me as odd because my friend lives in Baton Rouge. Prior to this text, I like many others had made the far too common mistake of relegating all things gulf coast to merely the city of new Orleans. Not to take anything away from the danger New Orleans consistently faces during hurricane season, but it is only one of many cities, towns and municipalities in Louisiana, as well as the entire South, that faces the threat of devastation.

After checking with my friend as to her safety, I was informed that she'd evacuated to our hometown, Tallulah, which is in north Louisiana a couple hundred miles from the actual Gulf. From there, I proceeded to inquire about the state of things in Tallulah and was happy to hear that all was well. I was so pleased with the news that I didn't feel compelled to check with my parents to verify. They didn't call and I didn't call; no news was good news. I proceeded to enjoy the rest of labor day weekend by overeating and debating whether Sarah Palin was the Anti-Christ or Eve with a barrel of apples. (I did finally call my mother after the storm had passed to make sure that things were as I'd hoped they were.)

It would be unfair and inappropriate for me to criticize "the government" for choosing to err on the side of avoiding catastrophe by requesting all citizens to evacuate. However, although the storms themselves have caused great damage, it seems that preexisting "weak" infrastructure, both physical and administrative, has caused the most substantial and sustaining damage to the region. It wasn't just Hurricane Katrina but also the weak levees and inadequacies of FEMA that lead to the moment in time that we will never forget but pray that we won't revisit. Further, although Hurricane Gustav has come and gone, there are still hundreds of thousands of gulf coast residents living without power, in part due to Entergy’s regional monopoly of the power industry. While the thought of citizens being without power may not shock your senses in the same manner as seeing thousands stranded in front of the Morial Convention Center, trust me when I say “Hell is probably less hot and humid than Louisiana is right now”; throw in the mosquitoes who thrive in those conditions and you have something straight out of Dante's inferno.

I don't want to cop out here and go on a Kanye-esque the government doesn't like Gulf Coast people diatribe. I could easily spew out statistics about the Gulf Coast being the most impoverished and undereducated region of the country; I could easily talk about the high crime rates in cities like New Orleans and Mobile; I could easily say that President Bush once again flew over the devastated areas to observe the damage but didn't come up with a practical and sustainable plan of action once he was back on the ground. However, doing so would only place this amongst the already thunderous chorus of op-eds, articles and essays that chronicle the post hurricane state of affairs. What I would rather do is challenge us all to use this as an example of why it's important for citizens to serve as a check on government. We must elect officials who can articulate an understanding of and a plan of action for the needs in the community they seek to serve. We must form citizen groups to counter the influence wielded by corporate special interests. We must use the advancements in technology and communication to modernize citizen activism.

We must use the tools at our disposal to incite change.