[bahamaman]

If that is your call, I will be happy to edit my post.

 

[wakeride74]

From what I understand most recent efforts have been focused on search and rescue and delivery of food and water. Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu said 3,000 people rescued by boat and air.

Nagin estimated 50,000 to 100,000 people remained despite the warnings, and said that 14,000 to 15,000 a day could be evacuated in ensuing convoys.

Sections of Interstate 10, only major freeway leading into New Orleans from the east, destroyed.

This is not the type of thing that can have imediate relief. I have faith in all those involved in the relief and remain hopeful that everything that can be done is being done.

RickG - I know there are massive help efforts in progress and am just trying to post some reported numbers and stay positive and hopeful, if any of this is too political please feel free to delete.

 

[pearle]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakeride74 These numbers are amazing and will increase. Remember this just happened Sunday/Monday and it is only Thursday!

Only thursday? That is a lifetime in these sort of circumstances unless the only goal is to clean up the dead bodies. If Canada, the US and other countries can respond to foreign disasters within hours we should not be saying "only Thursday".

Canada had DART (Disaster Assistance Response Team) ready to be deployed to the US in addition to planes loaded with medical supplied and food. They were denied entry to the US.

 

[wakeride74]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pearle Only thursday? That is a lifetime in these sort of circumstances unless the only goal is to clean up the dead bodies. If Canada, the US and other countries can respond to foreign disasters within hours we should not be saying "only Thursday". Canada had DART (Disaster Assistance Response Team) ready to be deployed to the US in addition to planes loaded with medical supplied and food. They were denied entry to the US.

I don't think you are grasping the magnitude of devastation this storm has caused. This is unlike any disaster we have seen in a very long time, read post #107 and check out more facts and numbers relating to relief efforts and what people on the ground are saying about the difficulties involved in getting supplies delivered and people moved. No one is acting casual about this, it's just an extremely difficult situation.

I really don't want this turned into an argument, let's just try and grasp that without being there we can only rely on reports of the challenges they are faced with in getting/giving relief. Let's try and stay clear from screaming why aren't __(fill in the blank)__ doing X, Y, & Z and focus on doing what we can do to help.

 

[micaela]

I just heard on cable news that they have had contact w/Fats Domino. They said he & his family are safe.

 

[mikeg]

CNN and Fox just reported that police in New Orleans are fighting to defend their police stations. The reporters had to escape the streets because of the lawlessness. Most of the police officers in these stations just walked off the job. Seems that, when night falls, all that the police can do is defend their police buildings, using roof-top police snipers. And, no sight of any military personnel yet. And, it's been three days and three nights. There are rapes, attacks on innocents, and no one to protect anyone. Seems that many thousands are held prisoner in a convention center by young men with guns, and there's no one to take those guns away, or to rescue those people. It seems clear that there was no emergency readiness, and that government efforts to deal with this situation so far, have been to no avail. And, after all of these days, more and more people are dying, and all semblance of social order appears to be disintegrating.l

 

[bundee1]

This Storm didnt come out of nowhere, they were tracking it since last week and people were talking about it hitting N.O. since at least Friday. Why werent the Armed Forces at the ready then? It pisses me off that we as the best country in the world cant take care of our people properly. Its just inept. Why does the governor have to resort to beggin for help?

 

[mikeg]

They had at least two days warning that a category 5 hurricane will hit. That provided lots of time to get the national guard on standby readiness. Yet, four days after the disaster, national guard soldiers are not yet visible on the streets. This is completely unbelievable. Got knows what would happen if one or two of our cities were hit by terrorists. IMO, all of the readiness talk that we've been hearing is a lot of BS.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bundee1 This Storm didnt come out of nowhere, they were tracking it since last week and people were talking about it hitting N.O. since at least Friday. Why werent the Armed Forces at the ready then? It pisses me off that we as the best country in the world cant take care of our people properly. Its just inept. Why does the governor have to resort to beggin for help?

 

[saturnine]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikeg IMO, all of the readiness talk that we've been hearing is a lot of BS.

QFT, although I wont divulge into political talk here.

Katrina is a bad name. A girl by that name wrecked my high-school love life

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

I wonder if the help response would have been different if it were not such a downtrodden city (i.e. >25% poverty, many homeless and living in projects, etc)? Living in NO a few weeks before this happened, I became very familiar with how poor the city really was. I saw things far worse before Katrina than I ever saw in the worst parts of Los Angeles, or central California (Fresno). That it has degenerated into such lawlessness does not surprise me, as many in NO were already living in third-world like conditions, and the city already had some of the nation's worst crime rates. These people were already unhappy with their lives (and rightfully so IMO) and now this gets dumped on them, truly horrible.

 

[Davie]

Ted Koppel just grilled the head of FEMA on Nightline. I hope the pressure builds to get some answers about how this whole situation has been handled -- from the flood prevention to the evacuation down to the woefully inadequate response. This isn't about pointing fingers, but in this age of "Homeland Security" the first major test is turning into a fiasco.

 

[mikeg]

I just saw a show on Fox that explained what's going on at the New Orleans hospitals. Thousands of patients living and dying under terrible conditions, are being terrorized by marauding mobs. The only way that is available to get these patients out is by hellicopter. All efforts to use boats and trucks have failed because these vehicles are attacked by the mobs, and/or attempts are made by the mobs to grab them. Boats are also turned back by being fired on. So, the only way left to to pluck out a very few patients at a time is by helicopter. The hospitals are begging for national guard protection, but no soldiers are showing up. The doctors and patients are being terrorized by armed criminals, who by the way, are also stealing the ambulances. I can't believe that all of this is being allowed to happen, without any available police or military intervention. And, this has already been going on for four days and nights.

 

[mikeg]

Here are several news articles that appear to honestly and accurately describe the horrendous conditions in New Orleans. It's really a tragic time for our country.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050902/D8CBS1T0F.html

http://cnn.worldnews.printthis.click...partnerID=2006

http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisi...list=louisiana

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg...a155306D82.DTL

 

[purk]

It really sadden me. I have read that the thousands are stranded at the Convention Center. Many people have died and those thousands are without food and water. I still can't believe that how unprepared we are.

 

[AML]

After seeing what Katrina had done to New Orleans and it's people, i thought that was horrendous enough, but for the life of me, i CANNOT understand people turning on their own and not allowing any rescue teams in, in such time of need. In situations like this, poeple are susposed to put their differences aside and band together and help out their fellow man. This is what the people of Aceh Province did after the tsunami. Why in the hell can't the same thing happen here.