[Rhodes22-list] Katrina, and What We Felt

[Herb Parsons]

I just read this on the web forum for one of my neighbors at Oak Harbor Marina in Slidell Louisiana. As most of you know, Slidell was one of the hardest hit by Katrina, and Oak Harbor was virtually destroyed. My boat survived, but most did not. Now, it seems as if there's another storm brewing in Slidell. I know some of the lists I'm posting this to are not directly concerned with this, but felt it would be of interest to boaters everywhere. Please feel free to visit Bianca's web site at http://www.jojamela.us  There's a ton of pictures from the marina.

Remember folks, this could happen to ANY of us, in one way or another:

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I am LIVID!! Oak Harbor, our beautiful home which has been ravaged by Hurricane Katrina is being ravaged again by unscrupulous marine salvors. Aqua Terra/Big Tuna has come into the marina and had decided that they own the world. 

I don't give a rats behind about contracts made by the marina to clean up the marina, but I do give a rats behind when slimey worms like Aqua Terra decide to block the harbor entrance and hold all of us boat owners as hostages to their greed. 

Basically it boils down to the fact that Aqua Terra claims exclusive salvage rights..... wait a minute!!!! I didn't give them exclusive salvage rights to my boat. I have my insurance with a reputable company who knows what they're doing. They won't buy into the blackmail terms that Aqua Terra is demanding and are ready and standing by to tow my boat out of the marina, do my damage assessment and pay based on the terms of my insurance policy. In the mean time, I'm homeless waiting for the insurance check because FEMA won't do a thing for us until our insurance claim is settled. 

So we sit and wait, sit and wait..... well you know what? I'm sick and tired of waiting. There are people trapped in the marina. They desparately want to get out. Their boats are seaworthy and they want to leave, but because the Aqua Terra worms are blocking the harbor, preventing our insurance companies salvage crews entry, no boats are moving from the pile or out of the marina..... in the mean time those folks sit and wait, sit and wait, sweltering in the heat with no electricity, no water, no sewerage (sorry porta potties don't count in my book) 

My blood pressure is up and that's not a good thing, so I'm going to do something about this. I'm calling the coast guard, wildlife & fisheries, the sheriff's department, the parish president, the mayor, the govenor and every newspaper, television and radio station that I can get my hands on..... please, help me spread the word- file a complaint- we're talking about people who have already been raped by a killer storm, must we now be raped by a salvage company's greed? 
 

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Bianca 
Happy Sails to you~~ _/)~~ 
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