Le drame des États de Louisiane et du Mississipi

 

Comme suite à ses premiers messages d'amitié et de solidarité adressés aux États-Unis,
la Société en France des Fils de la Révolution Américaine,a reçu du Président général
le témoignage suivant.

To : Jacques de Trentinian Vice President General, European District
Sun, 04 Sep 2005 23:35:04

Dear Jacques,

We, as American Compatriots, sincerely appreciate your concerns and that of our French Compatriots. Please convey this message to the France Society. Without exaggeration, this is the greatest of all natural disasters to befall North America in the modern era as far as human tragedy is concerned.

The entire population of New Orleans, the eastern Louisiana coast and the entire Mississippi and Alabama coasts – millions of people – have been directly affected. The Mississippi coast took the direct storm surge. The sea rose up 8 meters and swept inland as far as 22 km driven by winds of 150 - 200 km/hour.

The next day after the storm, the weakened dikes in New Orleans began to collapse. The sea poured in and flooded much of the city. Now, six days after the breach, the city has been evacuated and about 40,000 military personal with equipment have moved in to establish order out of anarchy.

About 400,000 people have relocated temporarily throughout the United States. The ones you see on the television are the poor people who did not have the means or understanding to evacuate on their on. They number perhaps 50,000 to 100,000. No one really was prepared for anything like this. Local government was overwhelmed in New Orleans.

However, now America has united in one giant relief effort. Yet we have not been able to contact all of our Louisiana and Mississippi members. We pray they evacuated and are safe with friends and family. We know many who did just that including Louisiana Society President Tom Jacks. It is too early to talk of property damage, but it is staggering.

Sincerely yours,

Roland G. Downing President General, NSSAR