Wherever the oil went, the damage done to the area is horrific.
Industries are impacted.
Families are impacted:
LAKESHORE, Miss. – Pete Yarborough, a trucker who hauled seafood until the BP oil spill hit, and about 800 other households are under pressure to buy or get out of the state-owned cottages they’ve been living in…
I can’t imagine.
If I’m in a position where I’m in government housing the last thing I wanna hear is that my only means of making a living is ending. AND I’m facing a deadline.
But there’s more than meets the eye.
You see, Pete COULD buy the place if he wanted. The price?
He can buy the cottage for $351…
Catch? Sure, maybe:
but it would cost about $23,000 to raise it in the flood-prone area…
Now. $23,000 is a lot of money, but are there other options?
Yarborough has refused to buy the petite dwellings for as little as $351 and relocate them to “cottage parks,” where residents would lease a piece of land much like a mobile home park.
Hmm, that’s not 23k.
But really, how much can we expect the good Mr. Yarborough to take? I mean, how long has the government givin’ him to get out from under this burden?
… the state-owned cottages they’ve been living in since Hurricane Katrina left them homeless.
Nice.
5 full years ago and Mr. Yarborough hasn’t been able to square himself away. In 5 years, he would have had to come up with a loan for 23 grand to keep his house.
But he hasn’t.
And somehow I need to feel sorry for this guy?
The only “sorry” I have is that I’m not.
Context.