As a child, the only disaster familiar to me in Louisiana was a hurricane. I only remembered Hurricane Andrew, because we evacuated to my grandmother’s house, which was higher up, built like a fort and hardly ever flooded. I remember the wind, how fiercely it blew the branches of the oak trees in my grandmother’s front yard. I remember how loud the thunder was, and I remember the amount of times I watched Peter Pan, while we still had power, hoping and praying this would just go away. Andrew didn’t damage us that badly, but as an 8 year old, anything beyond a normal storm was scary.
Fast forward to 2005: Hurricane Katrina. I was actually taking a meteorology class that semester, because I originally wanted to become a broadcast meteorologist. I remember our professor lecturing us on the 3 worst case scenarios for New Orleans, and before LSU closed, it was looking like one of the 3: up the mouth of the Mississippi. I can’t tell you how scared I was, because my family lives right off of the Mississippi River. My Dad couldn’t evacuate, because of where he works and my mother evacuated to my dorm room, bringing my 3 siblings and a 90 lb. anxious yellow lab. It was bad news bears….very scary. By the way, 5 years later, things still aren’t back to normal, folks. My mom still teaches college level classes in a FEMA trailer.
Recently, in case you avoid the news, there was an oil spill. Better yet, I’m not calling it a spill. A spill is an oops…dropped a cup of milk. This thing is a fricking GEYSER a mile below the surface of the water, spewing non-stop into the Gulf of Mexico.
I’m avoiding the use of foul language in this post, so you will see this equivalent frequently as I share my thoughts on this. Keep in mind, I really do not care/pay attention to politics. If you think I’m going to rag or praise on Obama, Vitter, Jindal, whoever–this isn’t the right blog. I just don’t pay attention to the politics. Sorry. This post will be solely on the impact this is having right now, and the possible impact it COULD have.
Let me tell you a little something about Louisiana. While we don’t have beautiful blue beaches or the richest people along the Gulf coast, we are a state. We still matter. However, the media seems to think otherwise. Coverage didn’t go crazy until it threatened the pretty beaches of Florida. Florida is HUNDREDS of miles away from where this happened. It took WEEKS for the media to go crazy. Yes, there was coverage, but national news coverage was slim. There were better things to talk about, like Justin Bieber, Lindsay Lohan, NBA Finals, etc. I mean, heaven forbid we miss Lindsay Lohan’s trial…who gives a crud about Lindsay Lohan anymore, anyway?
Back to this subject, on April 20th, 11 people died. 11 of them….these people had families and friends who live all around the state. You might say, oh, that’s not many, but to those families, those people were their WORLD.
This part is sore for me. My Dad works at a refinery, specifically in the part where they turn the crude into the stuff consumers use. Dangerous work. In the late 80s, there was an explosion. 8 people died…people my Dad knew and they were people my Dad was due to work with 2 short hours later. His office was destroyed from the explosion, and all that was left were oiled family pictures.
So, these 11 people died. This selfish BP exec, Tony Hayward, says he wants his life back.
Oh wait a second? I’m sorry, you want your life back? Oh, poor poor Hayward…WAKE THE HELL UP. 11 people died…they will never have their life back! Their families’ lives will NEVER be the same! You are selfish and you suck. It took him over a dang month to apologize to those families after April 20th happened. Oh, so sorry that you had to take an hour out of your life to apologize to those families. Go back to your golf course and 100 year old scotch. Whatever.
Let me throw some numbers your way for a second, which I’m sure you guys are fully aware of. MILLIONS of gallons are spewing out of this geyser into the Gulf every stinking day, and the number is actually GROWING the more they try to “fix” this geyser. Did you know that? The rate of oil spewing out of that dang thing is RISING daily! This crude oil is spewing into the habitats of wildlife, some of which were recently taken off the endangered species list.
Look here and here.
Can you imagine being helpless wildlife, recently having your nesting grounds inundated with this disgusting chemical goop containing God knows what, right now? Can you imagine living day to day in 105-110 degree weather (yes, this is our current heat index) coated in this non-breathable goop. Remember folks, this is oil, it’s slowly cooking these animals to death. These animals can no longer fly or swim away. They are weighed down by this thick crude oil. They will, unfortunately, die without help.
Side note: I wonder how the BP execs would feel inundated with crude oil and left to fend for themselves in the Louisiana sun for days. I’m sure a lot more effort would be put into solving this geyser.
So, these animals have limited help available. However, THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WANT TO HELP, but it’s too hazardous apparently. Hmm..maybe we should have thought about this WEEKS ago, and appropriately protected their nesting grounds with booms. Oh wait, you aren’t going to use the hair or fur that are being donating nationwide to make into booms either?? Oh, it’s because the booms you have are “doing their jobs”, riight….
Another thing, BP. This crude stinks! Some people in Louisiana SMELL that crude daily. I’m sure that’s completely healthy too, right? Oh, and don’t get me started on the industries you have destroyed in our state.
Louisiana is known for our seafood, but hey, you might as well forget about that! We probably won’t have decent Gulf seafood for years. I mean, yeah, we fry our seafood in oil, but we don’t want our seafood pre-oiled with crude. This geyser affected thousands of fishermen. This is their jobs. Not to mention, the bait shops, restaurants and other businesses in the areas where these fishermen worked, oh yeah, those businesses are dead now.
Also, there is now a 6 month offshore drilling ban. So, now the people who worked offshore don’t have jobs for 6 months, including the businesses that helped them out. Good job, BP. Good job. Slowly making Louisiana people broke, while you sit pretty, paying pennies (in comparison to your company’s worth) to help with this oil spill effort. These people affected won’t see settlements for years either.
Also, here’s another thought. June 1st marked the beginning of hurricane season. Whatever Gulf state gets hit this season, they are going to get a storm surge full of this disgusting chemical goop. Do you want that at your front door? I didn’t think so. There are theories on what could happen with a storm, but no one really knows. Oil geysers and hurricanes have never personally met before. Should be a fun season, right folks? Not only will people who can’t evacuate be walking in disease-stricken water, oh no, they will be walking with streams of crude as well. Lovely thought….totally healthy.
I have a strange feeling that my children (who are still unfertilized eggs), as teenagers, are going to be dealing with the effects of this geyser. This completely sucks.
By the way, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Comment away. I promise I’ll comment back as I can.
