September 14, 2008

Hurricane Ike -- The Pissed Off Post

Well, the folks with the city of Seabrook still won't tell us when we can come home.

Not only are they not answering the number they told us to call for information, but it has been over 24 hours since they have bothered to update their website.

But not to worry -- they do have the manpower to block anyone from coming home to actually check on their property.

Sunday morning, residents of the tiny community of Seabrook near Johnson Space Center began trying to return home. They were met by a roadblock, and three Seabrook police officers standing in the rain, turning folks away. At times the line was six to 12 cars deep.

"It's gonna be a while," an officer shouted to one man as he made a U-turn. "Just listen to the news."

"Seabrook is a disaster area: no sewer, no infrastructure. It really isn't safe," said officer Charlie Skinner. "It's making residents pretty upset. I understand, but ... There's an order signed by the mayor. We can't let anybody in."

That's right -- the law-abiding folks who followed the mandatory evacuation order are not permitted home and are getting no information. The folks who flaunted it and stayed behind are being allowed to remain.

Seems to me that the approach being taken by the city officials in Seabrook is exactly what should not be done -- and the mismanagement of Mayor Renola, the City Council, the city manager, and the rest of the employees of Seabrook has been so bad that many people will refuse to evacuate in the future for fear of again being denied access to their homes by badge-and-gun wielding cops acting on orders from an unresponsive and unprepared city government.

Seabrook was once known as Recall City USA because of its frequent use of that tactic to get rid of unresponsive politicians. Expect it to happen again with the entire crew currently in charge.

UPDATE: Shortly after 11:00 PM, the city put out phone calls, emails, and updated its website to inform residents that those on the west side of town can return home after 6:00 AM on Monday -- but that the rest of us still cannot. Better late than never -- but it would have been nice for those impacted by this move to get a little bit of extra notice.

Posted by: Greg at 02:40 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 405 words, total size 2 kb.

1 Hey "rhymes with incite". Lets say YOU stop the very personal and distasteful negative slant on what you believe to be the city's lacking response to this terrible disaster. Stop this slant in your blogs, etc and instead rally the folks with positive and cooperative actions for the city. Im all ears to hear your improvement recommendations to address the issue about Seabrook's damages from Ike, not the tertiary issue of your personal "incite" tactics against the city government. Ive tired of your negative approach - say its time you try the positive. I too want to make it back home to Seabrook.

Posted by: gscottk at Sun Sep 14 14:58:38 2008 (yf/EP)

2 Now wait --I've posted three things here about the hurricane. Only one has been critical of the city -- and it has been based upon what I and many others view as the deficient performance of the city leadership at this time. You want some recommendations? Here's one -- UPDATE THE CITY WEBSITE TO GIVE US SOME INFORMATION! Here's another -- ANSWER THE PHONE, AND WHEN YOU DO HAVE SOME INFORMATION FOR US, NOT A RUDE, BRUSQUE RESPONSE LIKE WE HAVE NO RIGHT TO ASK. How's that for two that would not cost the city one thin dime in money but would increase citizen good will and cooperation. What else should be done? How about giving us some status reports on different parts of the city. Or maybe let us back into the area on a limited basis like most of the surrounding communities are doing, so that homes can be made secure and damage mitigated. And as for my "incite" tactics, I'm sorry you don't approve. But that is the great thing about democracy -- you can tell me to shut up and I can tell you to shove it. And WHEN the recall petitions are filed, you can vote to keep Renola and company in office while the rest of us vote to fire them all. After all, we do live in Seabrook, not North Korea or Cuba. Oh, and if you want to get rid of me from my elected position, feel free to file against me in the 2010 primary.

Posted by: Rhymes With Right at Sun Sep 14 15:54:08 2008 (4jk9c)

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