There Is A Humanitarian Crisis In Louisiana & No One Is Talking About It
Five days ago, a Category 4 hurricane tore through South Louisiana. It wiped out an entire town and leveled Lake Charles. Already, the mainstream media has moved on — almost as fast as the storm did. Friends in my hometown of Shreveport, which is in the northwest corner of Louisiana, have just had their power restored. I was one of the lucky ones in Baton Rouge who didn’t lose power. The storm did take out my neighbor’s banana tree, which had crops on it.
Louisiana is facing a humanitarian crisis and no one is talking about it! There is no running water or electricity. Entire neighborhoods are leveled. PLEASE STOP SCROLLING! A simple retweet or donation could mean everything! #helplakecharles #helplouisiana pic.twitter.com/Epvi0cdjMw
— ⋆ ゚‧͙ ⋆゚☾ ⋆ ゚‧͙ ⋆゚ (@tori_self6) August 30, 2020
But in comparison to the devastation in Lake Charles, that’s nothing. What’s worse, unlike Katrina which remained in the news for several days after the storm had left, Hurricane Laura’s devastation has faded into the background in the midst of Trump’s ongoing drama, celebrity drama over OnlyFans, and Trump supporters rioting in Portland and starting gunfights.
Hurricane Laura did this to the banana tree pic.twitter.com/u3TotbxlRN
— GettingStoned.eth (@_GettingStoned) August 29, 2020
I saw Victoria’s tweet show up in my feed. It reminded me, a native Louisianan who had the storm pass through my own neighborhood, just how fortunate I was that we were not in the direct path of the storm. Yesterday, Ebay was trending on Twitter because our joke of a president came to Louisiana, put his signature on some pieces of paper for a few people, and told them the pieces of paper would sell on Ebay for $10,000.
We expect more from our leaders. We expect more from our entertainers, for that matter. At this FEMA briefing, yet again we have the President of the United States obsessed with himself. We have a humanitarian crisis and all he can think about is selling autographs.
Perhaps it is a good thing he did that, though, as it was the only thing that got the mainstream media to again talk about what’s going on here in my home state. Perhaps we should be grateful for what little attention we did get.
"Here, sell this tonight on eBay. You'll get 10,000."
"Sell it tonight on eBay. 10,000."
"If I put your name down, it loses a lot of value. So just sell it tonight on eBay."— Pres. Trump pic.twitter.com/pU89kZ5BrL
— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) August 29, 2020
“Why don’t you just move?” is a question that is often posed to me.
Louisiana is my home. It’s the place where I grew up, went to school, had my first kiss. It’s the place I returned to when I was broken and needed to rebuild my life. We have crawfish season and Mardi Gras. The cost of living isn’t as exorbitant, and I can afford to live here. Many communities in Louisiana are too poor to move, and/or are here due to their jobs — mostly jobs in the oil and gas industry.
i made a carrd for hurricane laura relief! i'll be adding fundraisers to it and to the spreadsheet i made for personal fundraisers as i learn of them.https://t.co/JEdCrepvtb
— EVERYDAY QUEEN 💫 (@venusianpop) August 27, 2020
https://twitter.com/brerobinsonnn/status/1300187375272951808
I want to share something with you. I did a Google search on “Louisiana humanitarian crisis” and “Lake Charles humanitarian crisis.” All the articles were from 3–5 days ago. There was nothing new. Yes, this is still current. We should be talking about what’s going on — now.
Hi @KimKardashian the city of #LakeCharles has suffered catastrophic damage due to #hurricanelaura and we’re not getting enough media attention. This is what my college campus looks like right now. We would appreciate if you could retweet to spread awareness pic.twitter.com/jEWEDa6RCY
— 𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕒♥ (@the_chavanna) August 30, 2020
I can not stress this enough: there are people without power, running water, shelter, and food. There are American citizens struggling, and let’s not forget about Covid-19. Lake Charles is actually the city in Louisiana that was hit hardest by Covid-19 after we went into Level 2 coming out of lockdown.
Please watch this and share. The conditions in #LakeCharles are desperate. They do not have food or water. The media must give this more attention. I’m begging you to stop what you’re doing and watch. The people in SWLA are not getting the help they need. https://t.co/2snNQOT7uh
— Dani G 📎🆘 (@DaniG999) August 30, 2020
“The situation is serious across the state, and it is most serious in Lake Charles,” said our governor on August 7, 2020. That was 19 days before the hurricane hit. Or 20 — if you count Thursday morning instead of Wednesday night. The point I am making is that our state is facing a severe humanitarian crisis and it seems as if the rest of the world has forgotten us already. It hasn’t even been a week.
LAURA RECOVERY NOTES: Sunday, Aug. 30 #LakeCharles #lakecharleslouisiana https://t.co/GpgUsxAree
— ✨ (@janesebh) August 30, 2020
Lafayette Mayor Refuses to Help Hurricane Victims
Some disturbing news that came out on Twitter was this article from The Acadiana Advocate that reported that Lafayette is refusing to open Hurricane Laura shelters. The mayor said that “bad actors will use our hospitality against us.”
Lafayette Parish Mayor-President Josh Guillory’s administration sent an email saying to “take a pause on any action to establish shelters at this time.”
How You Can Help With Hurricane Relief in Louisiana
Victoria shared a few links that were providing aid to hurricane victims in Lake Charles:
- Community Foundation of Southwest Louisiana (a nonprofit charity which means your donations are tax-deductible).
- Cajun Navy Relief (also a nonprofit organization).
- Impact With Hope is actually based in Ohio and is accepting donations. The charity is planning to bring them to Lake Charles.
- Hurricane Relief Card Link (added by another Twitter user) — includes links to several local charities in both Texas and Louisiana. Remember, Texas was also hit by Hurricane Laura.
here’s another carrd. it’s a little more detailed and includes resources and volunteer opportunities as well: https://t.co/Wrpt0YJPij
— EVERYDAY QUEEN 💫 (@venusianpop) August 29, 2020
While the media may have collectively moved on, Twitter gives me hope.
Made a short Twitter Moment's list of orgs and ppl trying to help that you can donate to if you have funds to help. #LakeCharles #HelpLakeCharles #LakeCharles
Feel free to share with others & add your own links to my replies—Lots of ppl out there want to help. https://t.co/qBiZP7rE1v
— GettingStoned.eth (@_GettingStoned) August 31, 2020
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