About a week ago, I listened to Rush Limbaugh complain about not having a peaceful dinner when one his friends brought up the Avian flu as the next catastrophe to worry about. I suppose Rush deserves a nice meal to contemplate nothing but the peas on his plate (Rush, do you like peas?), but what’s important to note about his comment is that many, many folks feel that way, especially about New Orleans. Their thoughts are this : “New Orleans? I thought things were fine” or “New Orleans! Enough already!” Yeah, well just because my hometown has curiously left the radar of the national news things are still not-so great there.

It’s not over folks. Not by a long shot. And if you’re tired of hearing about it like Rush, then I’d tell you to move to Siberia, but I’m guessing you’d still hear it there.

To this day, there are people buried under debris. There are houses sitting on the street. Piles and piles of uncollected trash sit on gray lawns. Families living on limited FEMA funds not sure what the next step is. The schools, oh, the schools. The New York Times recently reported that many displaced students living in the Renaissance Village in Baker, Louisiana haven’t been to school in months.

How do I know such things exist? Because I was there a month ago. Because I hear from die-hard New Orleanians of what’s not being reported, and because papers like the New York Times exist to unbury these hidden stories.

It’s not over—not until the fat lady sings—but until we, the local and federal government do something about it.