Storm troopers

Louisiana women march on Washington.

Published February 1, 2006 1:00PM (EST)

There was an interesting piece in USA Today yesterday about "Women of the Storm," a group of Louisiana ladies who marched on Capitol Hill Monday, bearing blue umbrellas and asking senators to visit their ravaged home.

The blue umbrellas were the same shade as the tarps used to cover much of the still untouched wreckage that Hurricane Katrina left in its wake.

According to USA Today, the marchers included "wives of some of the city's major business leaders" -- it was unclear if any of the women were major business leaders themselves -- and "several women from the New Orleans Vietnamese community." Among the marchers were Peyton and Eli Manning's mother, Olivia Manning; Carol Bebelle, head of the Ashe Cultural Arts Center; and Verna Landrieu, mother of Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu and Louisiana Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu.

The group told USA Today that only 55 representatives and 30 senators have visited New Orleans since Katrina struck.


By Rebecca Traister

Rebecca Traister writes for Salon. She is the author of "Big Girls Don't Cry: The Election that Changed Everything for American Women" (Free Press). Follow @rtraister on Twitter.

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