chaz wrote:

What are YOU doing for the victims of Katrina?

I'm doing nothing. During 9-10 January, record-breaking rains hit
southern California, resulting in a Presidential disaster
declaration. The hill in my backyard decided to become part of my
lawn.

The cost to repair will be about 1.5 times what I originally paid
for my house, if I could only get a grading contractor to return my
phone calls. This is a loss for which there is no insurance and
never was. It's not a flood or earthquake; it's a landslide. And
when it is finally repaired, there is no guantantee that it won't
slide again.

No one had a fund-raising to provide me with any disaster relief.
While I have secured a federal disaster loan to pay for the repair,
I will have to repay the loan -- from my Social Security and
pension since I'm retired.

The rains may return in two months and make the slide worse,
endangering two homes on the street above me. But no grading
contractor will talk to me.

In the meantime, the Los Angeles Times today reported that the Army
Corps of Engineers repeatedly asked for more funds to renovate and
strengthen the levies around New Orleans. But President Bush and
Congress repeatedly cut the funding to half or less than what the
Army requested.

--

David E. Ross