Hurricane FEMA strikes again

The latest news about FEMA--as though we needed more--is that some university students were told, during their recent orientation, that FEMA had informed the school that all hurricane-displaced students would immediately receive a $2,000 stipend. FEMA now says it knows nothing about this.

Hurricane Rita is now a Category 2 storm, and is expected to become a Category 3 soon. A high-pressure system in the Gulf is protecting New Orleans, and most forecasters think Rita will hit Texas at the end of the week. However, there is also valid reason to believe that the storm will hit Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, instead. If that happens, a storm surge would most likely wash over Grand Isle and Lafitte, Louisiana, and then continue over the Harvey Canal levee, dumping a lot of water onto the West Bank of Jefferson Parish.

Such a hit would also put my area at risk for tornadoes. Washington Parish, one of our neighboring parishes, was torn to bits by "jumper" tornadoes during Hurricane Katrina. We have already made hotel reservations in Alabama, in the event that we have to evacuate again. We cannot return to the lovely old Bailey Hotel in Bunkie because that would place us too close to the storm.