I may be jumping the gun because I've only watched the Wednesday & Thursday shows so far. Friday's is still on my Tivo.
I did hear you mention the "Gulf Coast" area a couple of times but most of the references were about New Orleans families and children. I think what you & Robin and your wonderful sponsors did was amazingly generous, but more importantly, an uplifting, positive, and unforgettable experience for kids who've suffered more from the trauma and uncertainty than the loss of personal items. It was obvious that your kindness did just as much for their mental well-being as it did to give them back much of what they lost.
What seems to have been missing in almost all of the national coverage is the fact that the hurricane came in east of New Orleans leaving the most fierce and destructive winds to hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I live in a community off I-10 16 miles east of the LA state line and 50 miles east of New Orleans - about dead on in the eye of the storm. The part of my community on the south side of I-10 is all but gone. There is a badly damaged Comfort Inn that remains standing and has caused many out-of-staters who stop for gas at the Chevron station on the north side of I-10 to ask the clerks what happened to it. Most are surprised that the destruction was caused by Katrina because they'd gotten the impression from the media coverage that New Orleans was the only area to suffer catastrophic damages. Hwy 90 which runs east/west along the Gulf of Mexico beach has just been opened to traffic. Along that 40 or so mile stretch were some of the most beautiful plantation style homes in the state. Several were historical landmarks. I haven't seen it myself yet but have heard from many who have that there are very few homes standing and the ones that are have been damaged beyond repair. It's now a stretch of highway primarily lined with lots of empty slabs or maybe a staircase here and there.
New Orleans wasn't destroyed by the hurricane - it was destroyed by decades of politicians who knew the levees and pumping stations were substandard and inadequate, talked about the situation after every hard rain and during every hurricane season but never did anything to fix it. Now the mayor, who had the most accurate information about where flooding would most likely occur, where people lived who might not have the means to evacuate, and actually had the resources to transport many of them, wants to blame everyone but himself. I'm not trying to lessen the impact that the levee failures caused to so many, in fact I think it makes it worse because many died or were put into life-threatening circumstances by the lack of action of the officials elected to protect them.
The problem the New Orleans situation has caused for the Mississippi coast is that the mayor and governor are asking for so much money that they've actually frightened many US congressman (which would be almost comical under different circumstances) away from allocating help to other devastated places. So as it was from the beginning when looters took over the city and others actually fired guns at the helicopters that were trying to bring in help, all of the attention and aid has been focused on New Orleans. Oprah was the only national figure I can remember that devoted equal coverage to our coast.
I think the happiness you've given the children on your show is phenomenal - I only hope that some of the children from the Ms coast who also no longer have homes, toys, or stability, were included.
