"We have been abandoned by our own country," said Aaron Broussard, the president of Jefferson Parish in New Orleans.
He broke down in tears Sunday as he recounted how a colleague's mother drowned awaiting rescue from a nursing home.
"Everyday, she called and she said, 'Are you coming, son? Is somebody coming?' " Broussard told NBC's "Meet the Press."
"And he said, 'Yeah, Mama, somebody's going to get you.
" 'Somebody's coming to get you on Tuesday.
" 'Somebody's coming to get you on Wednesday.
" 'Somebody's coming to get you on Thursday.
" 'Somebody's coming to get you on Friday,' and she drowned Friday night."
"Nobody's coming to get her. The secretary's promised, everybody's promised; they've had press conferences. I'm sick of the press conferences.
"For God's sake, shut up and send us somebody."
Video avalible here:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/