FEMA $$ for MS, but not LA

Marine debris removed with FEMA money in Mississippi, but not in Louisiana. Two years on and this is still a major issue, at least to some. I guess FEMA money is available for states with Republican Governors, not so much for those with a Democrat in the governor's mansion.

From the Times Picayune:

At the eastern edge of Lake Pontchartrain, a half-mile out from Chef Menteur Highway, a half-dozen white buoys mark an unseen hazard resting on the mud bottom.

It's a pickup truck, fishers say, catapulted into the lake by Hurricane Katrina's 15-foot surges. The mast of a 42-foot sailboat pokes out of the murky waters a mile away. A marooned shrimp trawler, rusted and covered in barnacles, rises from the 30-foot-deep Chef Pass channel.

Nearly two years after Katrina and Hurricane Rita, scattered bits of houses, boats, cars and appliances still lurk in the marshes and lakes of coastal Louisiana.

With state officials and FEMA still haggling over reimbursement for the cleanup, no comprehensive program is in place to remove the underwater debris. Meanwhile, since last fall, crews in Mississippi have been using FEMA money to pick up marine debris and are set to finish the project by the end of the year.

Enbelievable. Read the whole thing HERE

More later.
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