Gig 601XL Builder wrote:

What do you think that equipment was built for? While the NG is a great
disaster relief organization that is not its primary reason for being and
neither is giving kids a way to make extra money for college.

There isn't alot of LA-NG equipment to start with. There is nothing here
but a building at present/prior to Katrina. Probably alot of equipment
got sent back to Ft. Polk or is on loan for forward deployment long ago.
We used to have a personal carrier and a duece, thats about it and I
haven't seen those for several years...

During Lili Opelousas municipal took all the available NG generators,
just because they called for them first, there was no rationing or
rational behind it. The local water company burned up 2 of their 3 or
so, probably due to poor maintenance and nobody monitoring them. We
squeeked by without having to boil water, other surrounding areas
weren't so lucky. Not having A/C for a week, at least being able to
shower 2 or 3 times a day made is somewhat more bearable...

Deployment of the NG here was primarily cleanup and security. They
cleaned up the debris from the streets, cleared limbs from homes of
those that couldn't afford a professional and brought it to the burn
basin. My family cooked an entire meal (fried turkey) for the group
(75+) that was sent here and the city workers assisting them, several
others/organizations did as well over a week or so period. They were
quite appreciative of a missed MRE...

Bringing back a sense of normality does alot for the moral of a
community that has been devastated. I kneaux it allowed ours to bounce
back pretty quickly...