- Citizens across the country ban together to get one of
their own home for holidays despite FEMA's draconian programs leading to
racial cleansing and a property takeover in the Crescent City. Clothilde
Mack, 85, who miraculously survived Katrina after 10 days in her attic,
said she's glad to be home and looking forward to dancing at Mardi Gras
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- By Greg Szymanski
1-2-6
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- An 85-year-old New Orleans Katrina survivor, on the wings
of a white dove and an old 1985 Winnebago Chieftan motor home, will be
rolling into New Orleans today, ending a 3,200 mile odyssey to get her
back home for the holidays to reclaim her house and property.
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- Despite FEMA programs designed to racially cleanse and
keep people away from the Crescent City, this time average Americans banned
together to help one of their own get home, essentially popping the New
Year's champaign cork "right up Big Brother's you know what."
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- "The whole episode is the feel-good story of the
year and nobody in the big mainstream media is even bothering to cover
it. Where is Oprah when we need her?" said Wendy Owens from Greene
County Tennessee, one of the many good Samaritans who helped finally get
the Katrina survivor back home.
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- Clothilde Mack, who spent 10 days in her attic up to
her neck in water after the levies broke, has become the unlikely "New
Orleans poster child," returning home with the help of citizens across
the country who took matters in their own hands after government programs
designed to keep evacuees out of New Orleans left Ms Mack housed in a Greene
County living facility against her will.
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- "All I ever wanted to do was go home and now it
is finally happening after four long months of being away. I couldn't be
happier," said Ms Mack while having a New Year's day dinner with friends
and distant relatives in Mississippi about 90 miles away from her final
leg of her long journey back home.
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- "FEMA never helped me, never got me the temporary
trailer to put on my property to live and even dropped my case after I
refused to sign a documents saying I wouldn't return to New Orleans for
a year. That was just crazy. Why couldn't they help me in New Orleans or
somewhere nearby?"
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- Despite FEMA's lame efforts to get people back home,
Ms Mack's Christmas wish finally came true after good Samaritans from east
coast to west essentially told government officials "to put their
draconian programs were the sun don't shine."
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- And with that "government be damned" attitude,
the story of Ms Mack unfolded like a modern day "It's a Wonderful
Life" Christmas story, creating the same feel-good story watched year
after year in the famous holiday movie starring Jimmy Stewart.
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- Although no angels appeared from heaven like in "It's
a Wonderful Life," the miracles this time appeared in human form through
private donations and tons of support from average Americans, wanting to
help one of its fellow citizens this time fight city hall and win.
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- But along the way getting Ms Mack home wasn't easy, as
Big Brother through Homeland Security tried to put "a stupid monkey
wrench" into the story at the last minute, trying to intimidate the
driver and block the motor home from leaving as she was being picked up
at the Tennessee living facility.
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- "They tried to intimidate me, harass me and wouldn't
let me even park in the living facility parking lot to pick her up. It
was Big Brother at his finest, but I wasn't going to lose my cool and get
arrested like they wanted," said Joe Tittiger, 48, the driver who
first flew from Florida to Idaho to pick up the donated motor home.
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- "They then were going to ticket me for tags that
were several months expired, but they backed off when I said why don't
you ticket Ms Mack, it's her motor home? They then told me to go to the
Wal Mart parking lot and I was surrounded by squad cars and officials who
wanted to inspect the motor home.
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- "I heard they were trying to convince Ms Mack up
to the last minute not to leave, but she wouldn't have any part of it.
She told them she wanted to go home as planned in the motor home and we
finally left."
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- The adventure, bucking stupid government policy to get
Ms Mack home for the holiday's, began months ago when the Arctic Beacon
picked up on Ms Mack's miracle story of surviving 10 days in her attic
on two cans of greens and several small bottles of water.
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- Besides surviving against insurmountable odds after calling
911 on the first day of the flood, Ms Mack's story became even more disheartening
after being treated "worse than a dog" by FEMA, being ignored,
deprived of medication and placed in an expensive living facility without
the government paying "one dime" for her care.
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- In fact, the Arctic Beacon learned FEMA has still not
reimbursed the Mountain Pointe living facility for her extended stay, leaving
the stark possibility of the facility attaching a lien on Ms Mack property
in order to be reimbursed.
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- "Ms Mack always wanted to go home and it was incredible
that FEMA just didn't put a trailer on her property, even after the lights
in her community were turned back on," said Owens. "It would
have been a lot cheaper than the expensive living facility, but FEMA wasn't
paying anyway and we were afraid they might take Ms Mack's home if she
kept staying here.
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- "After the Greeneville paper covered the story and
printed the liberal views of the people helping her with the motor home,
I think they tried to stop Ms Mack from leaving any way they could so they
didn't look bad. You have to understand this is Bush country and a very
Republican county."
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- As Ms Mack pulls into New Orleans today, she intends
to stay in the motor home until her house is repaired or FEMA comes up
with the promised temporary trailer. Tittiger also plans to stay in New
Orleans to assist Ms Mack, as he is also awaiting the help of an Idaho
group called Seeds of Peace, who are also traveling to New Orleans in January
to assist Ms Mack with food and other necessities.
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- Also, Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu said she would
have representatives of her office present to help Ms Mack when she arrives
home, also saying they would help facilitate trying to get Ms Mack the
needed FEMA temporary trailer.
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- The efforts to get Ms Mack home started when radio talk
show host, Greg Szymanski, promised to donate his motor home to Ms Mack,
requesting a driver and donations for gas money.
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- Raising the needed gas money, generous listeners and
readers, including Tittiger, came through with time, money and other donations
to give Ms Mack her wish of getting home for the holidays.
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- "I think the motor home is great for the time being
and the first thing I am going to do is look to see if I can find my cats,"
said Ms Mack. "Also I want to thank all you wonderful people, including
Joe, who has been just great and you too, Greg, as you are a man of your
word and I wouldn't have gotten home without all you have done."
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- For more informative articles, go to www.arcticbeacon.com
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