Another place, another time

MINDEN — As utility crews continue the campaign to restore power to rural Nebraskan communities devastated by a New Year's ice storm, many are wondering if the government has failed them in its efforts to help some of the nation's neediest citizens.

In Holdrege, population 5,636, many residents are still without power. According to Mike Wight, who is with the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency, "The process of building poles back up is a very, very time-consuming process." Some officials estimate that utility crews may be working well into February in some places before power is fully restored. Their work has been slowed at times by rioting, looting, and gunfire, but the crews continue to persist in their efforts.

This grim prognosis has many Nebraskans affected by the storm asking why more isn't being done to help them. "If the gover'ment can't get my power back on by the next day at the latest, what are they there for?" wondered one Nebraskan who lives just outside of Kenesaw. According to Frank Zimmerman, the mayor of Upland, not a single one of his constituents has received their debit card yet. When asked to comment, Hadley said, "I'm quite confident that state and federal agencies, including FEMA, will do everything they can to meet the basic needs of our citizens, including heat, shelter, food, and spending money for televisions and other electronics." FEMA stands for Federal Emergency Mega-ATM.

The Bush Administration, at the behest of Senator Ben Nelson, has declared the area a federal disaster area. However, city officials in Wilcox, Hildreth, and Funk have filed a formal complaint with FEMA and are requesting that a full investigation be done to determine if the government acted swiftly enough. Walter Yoder, chairman of the Wilcox city council, said that he thought things might have been handled differently if this disaster had happened in a different part of the country. "You can be sure that, had this storm happened in an area with a dense Asian, African-American, or Hispanic population, they would have had the power back on, the roads cleared, and the temperature back into the 70's within 48 hours."

The uproar has spread even to Hollywood, where last week Jack Nicholson exclaimed that "George Bush does not care about white people" during the taping of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Nicholson's comments were edited out before the show was broadcast, but a member of the audience recorded the outburst on his camera phone and leaked the video to YouTube. Nicholson later apologized for his comments, but said that he had spent a significant amount of time in central Nebraska for the taping of his film "About Schmidt" and that the devastation of this storm had affected him personally.

Surprisingly, this outrage is not universally shared. When asked if he'd received his $2,000 debit card from FEMA yet, Randy Davis, who owns a family farm just East of Minden, said, "Why would they give me a debit card? I thought that people in this country were supposed to be responsible for their own well being."

Ray Nagin, the mayor of New Orleans, could not be reached for comment.