On a state level, we’re hamstrung right now.

We know people were up in the attics hollering for help.

I’ve got 122,000 people in my district, and everybody’s been affected (by Hurricane Katrina).

We were wounded, we weren’t totally wiped out. We’ve still got infrastructure here that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the country. That gives us some advantages.

My biggest concern is the loss of life. We have a lot of people down there hiding in their attics, and I don’t know if we will get to them fast enough.

I am thinking we are better off than we thought we’d be.

We’re coming back, and we’re going to be stronger and better than ever. It’s going to be a long, hard road, but everybody I’ve talked to said they are definitely coming back.