Down the memory hole

"... The party said that Oceania had never been in alliance with Eurasia. He, Winston Smith, knew that Oceania had been in alliance with Eurasia as short a time as four years ago. But where did that knowledge exist? Only in his own consciousness, which in any case must soon be annihilated. And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed -- if all records told the same tale -- then the lie passed into history and became truth. 'Who controls the past,' ran the Party slogan, 'controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.' And yet the past, though of its nature alterable, never had been altered. Whatever was true now was true from everlasting to everlasting. It was quite simple. All that was needed was a series of unending victories over your own memory. ..." (George Orwell, 1984.)

Dave decided to take apart the Playstation 2 this weekend. It hasn't been working since at least August 2005 - but I couldn't remember if it had stopped working reliably before Hurricane Katrina or after. We had come to believe that its demise around the time of the tidal surge was purely coincidental as it would have been above our official waterline on the day of the storm.

Our official waterline. Made official by FEMA and SBA inspectors... by the engineering firm that came to sort out wind versus water damage... All based on a lot of assumptions about a faint line of moss and dirt near our front door - a mere nine inches from the floor. Nevermind that we were here and saw the water with our own eyes.. waded through it... watched it creep closer and closer up the stairs... That dirty little line near the door was the only 'reliable' evidence.

When the first inspector came - we were adamant about telling him we had near three feet of water in the lowest parts of the house at the height of the wave's passing. We showed him how many stairs had been submerged - how many drawers had been filled with water... "Inundation: one to two feet" his report read. And he had been generous.

By the time the second inspector came we were more hesitant. FEMA said we had one to two feet of water -- and that is what we told the SBA inspector as well. "Sure seemed a lot higher to us," we said. And so it went with each successive inspection... One foot, less than one foot.. barely nine inches. Eventually that is what we told people: "We had about nine inches of water in the house but I guess with the waves it seemed a lot higher at the time."

When Dave took apart the Playstation this weekend - it seemed to verify the lower waterline theory. There was very little corrosion inside the case... Its biggest problem was the sheetrock dust that caked its innards. And I remember where it had been -- on top of the VCR on the bottom shelf of the entertainment center. A mere 12 inches from the floor. Of course the VCR didn't fare so well -- but it was so much closer to the water... What floored me was when Dave then took apart the multi-tap controller box (a gadget that allows you to connect more than two controllers to a single Playstation) and asked me to come look.

This little electronic box had obviously been submerged in salt water. But - this little electronic box was not on the bottom shelf when our house flooded. It was on the back of the second shelf - twenty inches from the floor and actually on top of several video tapes. I put it there to keep it out of reach of Yvonne - Queen of all she can reach - for safe keeping the day before.

So then confusion turned to a bit of random anger. Why on earth did they say we had nine inches of water? Why did I BELIEVE we had nine inches of water? Wait a minute.. I was HERE.. we didn't have nine inches of water. Why did I make up elaborate and impossible stories about waves inside the house reaching stuff to explain the discrepancy between our story and the 'official' record? (Just how big can waves get in nine inches of water anyway?)

All because someone found a fuzzy line of dirt near the front door. That fuzzy line of dirt was more authoratative than three adult eye-witnesses. Even to the eye-witnesses themselves.

Scary, isn't it?

For my own sanity then... if nothing else. I must reiterate - and continue to reiterate - several important details about the before and after events of Hurricane Katrina.

1) Our local news did not tell us that a horrific killer storm was destined to make landfall in our area within 48 hours. They did not beg us to leave. They did not tell us that we could expect 40 foot waves and catastrophic flooding in areas that have never been known to flood. Yes - they are now claiming to have done so - to the point that folks believe it. They have shown news footage of screaming advisories to get out of the way of the storm and implied (though please notice they have not stated outright) that these reports were made long before Katrina made landfall. If these reports were made at all.. they were made long after it was too late. I have not lost my mind. Prior to Katrina's landfall - our local weatherman assured a woman in Diamondhead, MS via a telephone call-in that she should be 'just fine' in Diamondhead -- but should be prepared for tropical storm force winds and possibly some hurricane force gusts. A few hours later people were trapped on their rooftops in Diamondhead. The graphic overlay for our area of the coast showed that we could expect tropical storm force winds near 45 miles per hour and a storm surge of 6 to 8 feet. I can't speak for other areas -- I was interested in my own... But I can tell you that no one predicted this would happen to Pascagoula, MS...

2) The water ... the tidal surge.. the wave... the tsunami.. whatever you want to call it... followed the landfall of Hurricane Katrina by at least 3 1/2 to 4 hours. I don't care how many 'corrected time' reports are filed... Our home did not flood until after 9 am on August 29th, 2005.

3) Hurricane Katrina did not make landfall in New Orleans, Louisiana.

4) Hurricane Katrina was not more powerful than Hurricane Camille. Hurricane Camille at landfall surpassed Katrina in windspeed, barometric pressure, and forward movement. Hurricane Katrina obviously caused more severe widespread damage than Camille... An observation which would normally lend itself to indicating which was the stronger hurricane. But in fact.. IN FACT.. Katrina was an average hurricane at landfall.

In addition, and speaking of landfall, it has been suggested that the slight difference between the paths of the monumental and the mediocre hurricane is what made all the difference as far as the unprecedented storm surge. That all sounds good except if this were the case than it is Camille that should have surpassed Katrina. Camille's angle of approach was perfect for pushing water into the Mississippi Sound & up the Mississippi river delta... (Which it did. Incidentally, has anyone out there mentioned that the levees in New Orleans were breached - though on a smaller scale - during Hurricane Camille?) Katrina on the other hand -- actually made landfall on the Gulf side of Louisiana before (as FEMA itself reports) it made another landfall at the Mississippi/Louisiana line.

Camille 1969

Katrina 2005

And finally 5) Emergency assistance to the affected areas was not merely delayed. In many places - it was non-existent. The news still drones on and on about who didn't do what and what took so-and-so so long to the point of boring the American public with the whole thing. In the meantime... I'm trying to figure out when help arrived. I must have missed it. Please understand that the cavalry didn't come charging in four or five days late -- they never showed up at all. Anyone who needed to be rescued on August 29th -- would still be waiting today had they not climbed off their own rooftops or drowned in the process. Two and a half weeks after the passage of Hurricane Katrina - we drove past a point of distribution in Gautier, MS which had been marked with a hand-painted plywood sign: "No Food. No Water. No FEMA. Closed."
The big question -- if emergency assistance arrives several weeks after the emergency... is it still emergency assistance?

And that is my take on things. Just my perspective. My memory of events as they happened. Do with it what you will -- but please don't get worked up if you can't find a news article, a press release, an official document, or a fuzzy line of dirt to corroborate my story.