Day 534: Tornado Update

Governor Blanco tells Fox 8 that the recovery from the tornado damage is going to take a long time and that we should declare a day of prayer. Is this:

a. a joke?
b. stalling for time while she concocts a better excuse
c. the pat reply in the face of government incompetence – “It worked for the flood, let’s use it on the tornado which had a much smaller and more manageable footprint”
d. for real?
e. A combination of b, c and d

As Karen commented in my last post on the topic, “Just so you will know, Blakely gave his office an A+ on their response … This morning there were 4 bloggers here from all parts of the City, and no one from City Hall or Blakely’s Office.”

Monday night’s tornados hit our Krewe of King Arthur family. These are people I partied and paraded with just two days ago. Our float captain, Sherry, writes:

We are fortunate that no one lost their lives and that our krewe dens in Westwego and the floats there were unscathed. Whatever you do to give thanks, now’s the time. Chad Usea (former King and krewe officer) … had a house until the tornado took it last night. Patrick Clementine, a former Merlin and float lieutenant, lives in Pontchartrain Park. The extent of damage to his house is unknown, but his neighbor was Stella Chambers, the person who perished in the tornado. He is a hero for helping her. You may have seen him in the news stories.

Jan Wilson, former Queen and current officer, started a fund to help them. She hadn’t heard about Patrick yet when the fund was named, but any donations made will be used to assist both of them. If you want to contribute, please send a donation to the Gulf Coast Bank and Trust, 737 Terry Parkway, Terrytown, LA, addressed to the “Usea Tornado Fund.”

Alan writes with word of the city’s latest official count: “C Ray was on television to say that 18 homes were damaged in Gentilly and 38 in Carrollton.”