Currently I am in Cameron Parish, Louisiana and four monthes after Hurricane Rita hit, the area is still destroyed. Just last night the town counsil which is called the police jury (even though they have nothing to do with the police) lifted the evacuation order for the lower part of the Parish where most of the destruction happened. Cameron is directly on the coast and the town proper where I was just a couple of hours ago, was hit directly by the eye of the storm.
Unanimously every person who lives in the Parish wishes that FEMA had never come and they hate the checkpoints that until last night checked everybodies ID's before letting them back into the lower part of the parish. These checkpoints were manned by Blackwater contractors (the same people the US goverment uses in Iraq) and are one of the most insulting things to the people. Even though the storm is four monthes gone, its still insane here and if the police jury hadn't lifted the evacuation order, somebody would have been shot.
On another note, I'm staying in the unused FEMA trailer of one of the more wealthy members of the community. His house is in fine condition and through some fluke FEMA gave him the trailer. The pastor of the Sweetlake Methodist Church, Wayne Taylor, who is my host, is putting it to use. The photographs I am taking don't come close to giving an idea of the full nature of the destruction, but I hope to capture some of the mood of the people and this place.