Here's another story you can file under "FAFO, y'all":
More than two months after a tornado destroyed his home, Brian Lowery still looks through the rubble, hoping to find a tie clip his mother gave him, made from the center stone of her wedding band.
“I still have hope,” Lowery said.
Lowery considers himself lucky. He, his wife and 13-year-old son made it to safety before the tornado ripped apart their trailer home of 15 years. Despite his positive outlook, Lowery admits he’s frustrated; Mississippi’s request for federal aid is still pending before the Federal Emergency Management Agency, meaning badly needed assistance has not yet made it to his hard-hit community of Tylertown.
“I don’t know what you got to do or what you got to have to be able to be declared for a federal disaster area because this is pretty bad,” Lowery said. “We can’t help you because, whatever, we’re waiting on a letter; we’re waiting on somebody to sign his name. You know, all that. I’m just over it.”
Republican Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves asked the Trump administration for a major disaster declaration on April 1 after 18 tornadoes tore through the state on March 14 and 15, leaving seven people dead and hundreds of homes destroyed or damaged.
The declaration would allow the state to access a wide range of FEMA resources, including financial aid for individuals and for government agencies still removing debris and repairing infrastructure.
“We don’t have a declaration yet. People are still hurting,” said Royce McKee, emergency management director for Walthall County, which includes Tylertown. (our emphasis)
An aside is appropriate here: the three Tylertown districts voted for the Malignant Fascist 909-206 in 2024. They. Voted. For. This. The budget cuts, the chaos, the dystopian dysfunction. (However, it might take some more smacking upside the head for these folks to get the picture that "America First" only applies to the Trump crime family and billionaire oligarchs who are first in line for tax cuts and corrupt deals.) Continuing:
Mississippi’s request comes at a time of upheaval for FEMA. The agency’s acting administrator, Cameron Hamilton, was recently ousted after he publicly disagreed with proposals to dismantle FEMA, an idea President Donald Trump has floated in calling the agency “very bureaucratic” and “very slow. [snip]
“We need federal help, and we need it desperately, and we need it now,” said Bobby McGinnis, a Tylertown resident and firefighter. “I know President Trump said that — America first, we’re going to help our American folks first. But we haven’t seen the federal folks down here.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi "Dress Up Barbie" Noem carefully considered the heartfelt pleas from MAGAt Mississippi and responded on behalf of the MF:
“President Trump has been very clear that he believes that the way that FEMA exists today should not continue,” Noem responded. “He wants to make sure that those reforms are happening where states are empowered to do the response and trained and equipped, and then the federal government would come in and support them and financially be there when they need them on their worst day.” (our emphasis)
It would seem that what they've experienced could be counted as "their worst day," but maybe they need to feel a little more pain, just part of that "transition period" that'll deliver economic pain for long term gain! In the meantime, look at all the owning the libs their votes got!
(Cartoon: Marshall Ramsey, Mississippi Today)
No comments:
Post a Comment