Thursday, February 09, 2006

Katrina survivors march on Washington DC

Hundreds of New Orleans evacuees from Hurricane Katrina have marched on the US capital Washington, demanding more aid for displaced families. "We are here so our voices can be heard, so our lives and our levees can be rebuilt, so we can go home," march organiser Dorothy Stukes said.

The Katrina Survivors Association said progress in rebuilding after the hurricane was unacceptably slow. A further rally, attended by Senate Democrats is planned for Thursday.

The march on Wednesday was attended by at least 300 evacuees currently living in Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi and Georgia, the organisers said. We've lost everything but our minds, said survivor Leonard Dowden. Many were frustrated by what they saw as a government failure to listen to them. "Where is the money? That's the thing I want to know," survivor Leonard Dowden told Reuters news agency. "We've lost everything but our minds." The marchers later attended a Democrats' hearing on Capitol Hill about the housing crisis in New Orleans. Ms Stukes said the survivors planned to give federal officials a list of demands and that they wanted answers in 30 days "or we are going to return". BBC

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