Katrina Sent Louisiana's Problem Children to Texas

When Katrina emptied out New Orleans, a lot of them ended up in Texas, and unfortunately, Texas may have taken on more than it really wanted when it welcomed the refugees to their state:

A letter to inmate No. 1352951 and a cell phone bill for $76.63, both found in a soggy New Orleans duplex ruined by Hurricane Katrina, led Louisiana bounty hunter James Martin to Texas.

Again.

It marked the seventh time since Katrina that Martin, whose pursuit of bail jumpers often begins with clues salvaged from abandoned New Orleans homes, has followed a trail to Texas.

"I don't think Texas really knows what they got," Martin said.

Katrina sent a lot of bad guys to Texas, as Houston is finding out.

Houston took in 150,000 evacuees _ the most of any U.S. city _ after Katrina struck on Aug. 29. Houston police believe the evacuees are partly responsible for a nearly 17.5 percent increase in homicides so far this year over the same period in 2005.

About 21 percent of Houston's 232 homicides through July 25 involved an evacuee as either a suspect or a victim, according to police, who attribute much of the bloodshed to fighting among rival New Orleans gang members.

"New Orleans allowed a lot of these guys to stay on the street for whatever reason or be picked up and released after 60 days," said Capt. Dale Brown, who oversees Houston's homicide division. "Texas law, I don't want to say it's tougher, but we take these offenses very seriously."

Judge Robert Eckels, chief executive of Harris County, which includes Houston, said Katrina evacuees arrested in the Houston have cost the county's criminal justice system more than $18 million. In June, Texas Gov. Rick Perry sent $19.5 million to Houston to help pay for additional officers and overtime to police the city after Katrina.

The problem for Texas is the bums that were washed out of New Orleans are the least likely to want to return since they didn't have anything to go back to. This transplanted social problem will go on for a long time.

And speaking of Katrina, remember all those FEMA trailers? It seems like they have one very basic flaw - one key fits all:

Prompted by a WAFB 9 NEWS INVESTIGATION, FEMA said Monday it will replace locks on as many as 118,000 trailers used by victims of hurricanes who are living in trailers provided by the government agency.

FEMA says some keys could open as many as 50 different locks. At two FEMA trailer parks in Baton Rouge, our investigation revealed residents who were able to open not only their trailers, but also trailers of other individuals parked only a few spaces away.

Nobody thought of that when they were manufactured?