After reading my local Congressional Representative's response to Hurricane Katrina, I felt compelled to write her a letter.

Dear Representative Schultz,

Addressing the President on September 2nd you stated that he "did not have a plan to evacuate these families from the path of imminent danger".

As my local representative, I am sure that you are aware that it was not President Bush's responsibility to draft a plan to evacuate the City of New Orleans from the path of Hurricane Katrina. Despite this, President Bush had made personal appeals directly to Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin to evacuate when they had not yet in fact done so.

In fact, if Mayor Nagin and Governor Blanco had followed their *own* guidelines for Emergency Preparedness, we wouldn't even be having this brief discussion.

I hope that you and the rest of my local officials have not outsourced the immediate safety of my family to the Federal government. As I understand it, they exist to support you directly, not me.

Through all-too-human mistakes and in some cases unforgivable ineptitude, this Catastrophe was exacerbated by many levels of government, both local and Federal. As a constituent of Florida's Twentieth Congressional District, I urge you to better represent me by refraining from seemingly partisan accusations and instead simply lend your support to an official inquiry.

I have no problem casting votes across party lines for representatives that display cool heads in a relentless pursuit of the truth.

Thank you for your time.

Very Respectfully,

Michael E. Cummins II
Fort Lauderdale, FL
http://www.i-magery.com

References:

City of New Orleans: Emergency Preparedness

Katrina Response, Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Sept 2

Posted by Michael at September 5, 2005 08:01 PM