Marc Reeves wrote: "Since when is it the governments responsibility?
Surely living on the gulf coast they'd be insured for something like this."

Many of theses vessels were not insured and even the one's that were the
insurance companies have not been very cooperative.

You asked why should the government help?
1. Most of theses boats would have been in safe harbor from a storm surge
had the US government built levees to hold back the Mississippi River. The
levees prevented the annual flooding of the marsh which allowed the marsh to
subside since it was no longer receiving its annual fill and nourishment.
In turn this allowed the sal****er to erode 25 to 30 square miles of
Louisiana coast away each year. As the coast line disappears these boats
could no longer head inshore for safe harbor since there is no land left in
some of theses areas. Yes, some of the disappearing coastline was not
totally due to the levees but the oil companies and their pipeline canals.
2. Over 1/3 of your fresh seafood in the US was harvested by theses boats.
If theses boats are not in operation, then we will have more Asian imports
or more foreign vessels working our waters.
3. Not all the boats destroyed or missing from the hurricane came from the
area the photos were taken. Many boats were lost on the East bank of the
river in St Bernard Parish and Orleans Parish (New Orleans). Theses boats
would have survived the hurricane had it not been for the flooding. The
flooding was a result of poor levee design and the Mississippi River Gulf
Outlet (MRGO). MRGO is not the Mississippi River but a channel dug by the
US government to shorten the ride for ships to go to New Orleans. It is
under utilized and has caused more lost of marsh which means more coastal
erosion.
4. FEMA requested local boaters through the state to assist in rescue
efforts. They asked for boats and many Louisiana residents from across the
state responded not only with their boats but with the body to help rescue
people. I owned three boats prior to Katrina and now I have one. One is
missing and the other has been damaged beyond repair. One boat was used by
rescue personnel and they hit something and destroyed the lower unit and
damaged the hull. They abandoned the boat and I found it 2 weeks ago on the
side of the road in New Orleans East. My insurance company will not cover
since I was not the operator. I lent a 20 foot flatboat to the rescue
efforts and it has yet to be found. I did locate the trailer and my motor.
The motor was at NOPD impound yard and my trailer was on in St Tammany
parish. Many boats lent to the effort was not returned to the owners. They
were abandoned by the rescue personnel when they were no longer needed.


Louisiana coastline is the states first line of defense in protecting it
from a hurricane. With the missing barrier islands and the missing marsh,
the storm surge has no way to slow down until it hits one of theses levees
and either goes over it or through it. Had the marsh not been destroyed by
the things this government did then perhaps we would not be looking at this
as hard and sad.

Louisiana born and reared and proud of it. Nope, I am not from New Orleans
but close enough the hurricane affected my home also.

Sarge