http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0221-01.htmAt Mardi Gras, Politics Fuels Revelers
by Michael Kunzelman
Mardi Gras spectators couldn't miss the anger and frustration Jeff Friedland and others feel about the slow pace of Hurricane Katrina recovery - it was the theme of their costumes in the second Carnival since the storm.
Friedland joined the celebrations Tuesday in a house painter's jumpsuit - wrapped in red tape.
Hurricane Katrina - Storm of The Century Aug. 29, 2005 - New Orleans, Louisiana, USA - Hurricane Katrina was an extraordinarily powerful and deadly storm. One of the five deadliest hurricanes to ever strike the United States, with 1,420 deaths, Katrina was also the costliest natural disaster, amassing over $75 billion in damages. Katrina is surpassed by the Galveston, Texas hurricane in 1900 that claimed at least 8,000 fatalities. Hurricane Katrina's storm surge was what made the storm so deadly. Levees separating Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans were breeched by the surge, which resulted in the flooding of about 80 percent of the city. Many survivors found themselves homeless, like Henry Rhodes, who sits in a New Orleans Police Department boat after being rescued in the 7th Ward on North Miro Street.
"Abysmal. Uncaring. Bordering on immoral," Friedland, 57, said of his more than 17 months of haggling with five different insurance companies and three mortgage companies over damage to his home and two rental properties he owns in New Orleans.
Tourists couldn't help but notice. Annie Clowes, 43, of Newburyport, Mass., found the political-themed costumes more amusing than the usual flesh-baring ones for which Mardi Gras is famed. She said it's still impossible to celebrate Fat Tuesday in New Orleans without thinking of Katrina.
"They didn't let it get them down. They still have Mardi Gras," she said.
A popular target for Katrina-themed revelers' sly jabs was Gov. Kathleen Blanco's grant program that offers eligible homeowners up to $150,000 in compensation to get back into their homes. Checks have been slow to come, say critics.
Allen Bender dressed as a housewife with a bathrobe and curlers in her hair and held a fake, oversized check for $150,000 signed by "Goobernor K. Blanco." He was flanked by two friends wearing jackets that said "LRA Prize Patrol," a reference to the storm-spawned Louisiana Recovery Authority.
"It's a hit this year," he said of his costume. "Last year we dressed as insurance adjusters from hell."
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