When I get a email from a "friend of a friend", unless I know its origin, I treat it as a chain-letter. Snopes.com is the best source for validating these kinds of stories. It's usually up to date. This one doesn't show up so your guess is just as good.
The Mississippi story currently in the penalty box also passed except that the dates for the emergency designations before the storm seemed weird to me. That basically checked out and my supposition was wrong. However, the statements regarding NO not having that designation does not check out, and the letter's political statement seems to be wrong.

Understand that in no way am I attempting to discredit the letter, its humanitarian concepts, or the poster. Nor do I want to make this a political flurry. I'm simply trying to show how snopes.com is helpful in checking these kinds of things out.