Posey worked as a cook in the New Orleans school system before she and hundreds of thousands were evacuated in face of the flooding after Hurricane Katrina hit that city.

Thousands of working people perished due to what many consider the callous indifference of the federal, state, and local governments. Tens of thousands were displaced to sports arenas, National Guard armories, hotels, and shelters in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

Government officials deployed thousands of regular and National Guard troops to the region. Army troops along with state and city cops cracked down on working people desperate for food, water, and basic necessities—describing them as “looters” and criminals.

Working people were left to fend for themselves. Posey was one of many in cities across the region who told Militant reporters how they were on their own to cope with the hurricane, how days passed before they received their first bottle of water, and how many lives were saved by the initiatives of working people themselves.

Posey called the evacuation order a "farce." She said, "It was too late. They know we are people who live from hand to mouth. We had no vehicles or other ways to leave the city."

Three days passed before she, her granddaughter, and her nephew were evacuated. The waters forced Posey and neighbors to the top floor of a three-story building. No rescue boats came for them.

"My nephew used a neighbor’s water ski and a canoe to ferry people out two at a time,” Posey explained. She said she was angered at the sight of school buses abandoned and under water that could have been used to evacuate people.

"When we made it to Interstate 10, I thought we were rescued and it was over," Posey said. "But it started all over again. We were just there in the sun with no water or food. Some people had already been there two nights." A helicopter finally arrived and began taking people away in groups of 10. "We just landed in another spot where we waited again without food or water," she said. When the buses finally arrived, people were hurried on them, often separating family members and taking them to different locations.

To deflect growing outrage at state and federal officials, both Democrats and Republicans have jousted in the media attempting to lay blame on each other.

Referring to a quick visit to the area by President George Bush, Lance Ronsonette, a firefighter who lives in Biloxi, Mississippi, said, "I wanted to ask him, what did you bring us? food? water? Bush said he came to find out our condition! The whole world knows our condition! We need help!" Bush spoke briefly in a lot next to what was left of Ronsonette's home that is used by the Salvation Army as a food distribution station.

In the coastal town of Bayou La Batre, Alabama, Regina Barbour stood in front of what had been her home for 53 years. It was completely destroyed by the storm surge waters. "I called FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] and they said they would send me some forms in the mail!" she said.  
 
Devastation in Biloxi
The Militant spoke with several workers while in Biloxi, a city wiped out by the hurricane. Arnold Blackstone, 44, worked as a cleaner for a decontamination company. Timothy Harris, 28, worked for a moving company. And Fitzroy Chambers, 32, worked at the Casino Magic. They and their family members are among the more than 300 people staying at Biloxi Junior High School, now a make-shift shelter. They sleep in the hallways on whatever they have salvaged. There are no cots or mattresses. Classroom doors were locked.

"No preparations were made for us," said Blackstone angrily. He swam for hours in water filled with debris and dead bodies. Chambers told how he, his wife, and son took refuge in their attic for 14 hours before the water receded. "I called 911 asking for help to rescue us but they said they couldn't do anything," he said.

"After three days in this shelter, we just received our first supplies of ice and water," said Harris. There is no electricity, he added. The toilets are overrun with excrement because there is no running water to flush them. No doctors have visited the shelter even though there are several diabetics there.

The anger of these workers was heightened by the fact that Keesler Air Force base sits just across the street and has had electricity, air conditioning, and plenty of food and water. "They have more than enough empty rooms for us,” said Harris. "I know because I just helped to move things out of them."

In the town of Pass Christian, Mississippi, Michelle and Anthony Daniels along with 75 of their neighbors established a makeshift shelter at Burt Jenkins High School by breaking into the school gym.

Michelle Daniels was angered by the indifference of the local cops. "Ice and water were under lock and key at the police station,” she said. "The cops sat outside in their air-conditioned cars and had hot meals brought to them. We got nothing."

"The people in that shelter were pulling together. We had to organize to get what we needed," she said.

John Benson from Birmingham, Alabama, contributed to this article.
 
 
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workers need labor party based on fighting unions
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Workers warehoused at Houston Astrodome speak out  
 
 
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