Posted on 08/30/2005 10:10:45 PM PDT by My Favorite Headache
It is with heavy heart I write this...
I have finally reconnected with my best friend who is a paramedic who was sent from Georgia 2 days ago to Gulf Port, Mississippi before the hurricane hit.
He just reached me within the last 10 mins via emergency cell phone to tell me he was alive.
Thousands of bodies have been discovered throughout Mississippi in Gulf Port, Waveland,Hancock County,Bay of St.Louis.
They are hanging in trees and they are pulling them out 30 at a time. Entire families found drowned in their homes and washing up on shore.
The stories he could tell me were brief. National Guard is on the scene and arresting anyone seen on the streets.
The numbers are staggering and what I have been told tonight will shake people to their foundation as the numbers will be coming out in the next 24-hours of just how many people have actually perished in these and 3 other beach communities.
More to follow....
I don't get it either. There's nothing in that post that seems particularly far-fetched given this is one of the most powerful storms ever to make landfall in the U.S.
Here's more from the same story mentioned above:
"It's clear the death toll on the Mississippi Gulf Coast will rise sharply in the days to come.
"We are very, very worried that this (death toll) is going to go a lot higher," said Joe Spraggins, civil defense director for Harrison County, home to Biloxi and Gulfport. "We're just estimating but the number could go double or triple from what we're talking now."
One Hurricane Katrina survivor after another told stories of friends and loved ones who floated off or disappeared as the floodwaters rose around them.
American Medical Response Operations Supervisor Mark Williams said paramedics on the scene say the devastation is so great that they won't quit counting bodies for days."
May God rest their souls.
Similarly, moderators at bulletin boards have to be careful to avoid allowing fear mongers to post junk without any sources whatsoever. There's enough dire news as it is. Rumors only add to the worry and fear of families that are out of communication.
You may think it's funny for Hewitt to lose respect for this forum. I'm not laughing.
One thing I didn't hear mentioned on any of the newscasts last night was whether any of these towns were ordered evacuated before the hurricane, as was New Orleans.
I would think they would build a gate on one side first then build a wall from the other side to the open gate. When you are done, you close the gate.
Military money is always moved from pot to pot. War always has priority.
However, any attempt to claim that this is not a problem that has gone back for decades is viciously partisan. Why would anyone build a coastal city below sea level in an area very prone to hurricanes? This is not even close to the first big hurricane in this area.
I suppose that many of us FReepers remember what it was like on this forum in the hours and days following the terrorits attacks on 9-11. We relied on reports from "on the scene" FReepers as well as what we were shown by the MSM. I don't recall a single instance of a FReeper being proven wrong back then.
"And if I were a betting man, I'd wager you're going to need a new screen-name when this is over, no matter which way it goes."
You must lose a lot of money on the Thurs. nite poker game then.
the 30 folks in the apartment complex were reported from the start....you have seen pics of the scouring the MS gulf coast got, it isn't like only that apartment building was lost. Multiple media reporters are commenting on seeing bodies and just leaving them. Are all the media passing the same few dozen bodies and reporting on them?
From a point of logical extrapolation, will you please post what ballpark number of MS gulf coast casualties YOU expect?
Do you feel a thousand is too many? Twenty-five hundred? Please consider how many people in the back parts of gulfport/biloxi would have stayed in their home since that area has not been hit by hurricane surge in recorded history, and consider how many of said houses no longer exist.
Denial. Anyone with eyes can see the devastation.
MFH is a journalist. I would think he could weed out hysteria from truth. But when I see video of whole cities wiped out and consider that most people stayed..........I agree with you, it doesn't look good.
Is there such a thing as a floating refinery, like a barge or supertanker as a platform?
If not, why not? They built floating casinos to get around the law.
The refineries could be moved to where they were needed or out of harm's way.
And do you have the *slightest* bit of evidence that MFH was pulling anyone's leg? No official is going to say thousands dead until they can document it. The MSM won't report on numbers or show the dead either. How many dead were shown after 9/11? I imagine you'll see plenty of bodies on ogrish.com in the coming days.
Here's one, about just one county, where authorities expect fatalities in the "hundreds."
GULFPORT, MISS. - Stunned residents emerged from shelters and homes Tuesday to start assessing the massive damage left by Hurricane Katrina as rescuers pulled bodies from crushed homes and apartments near the coast.
The death toll in this hard-hit county rose to more than 100, but officials believe that number will rise. "There's so much rubble, we won't know for a while. But I fully expect the number to be in the hundreds," said Jason Green, assistant to the Harrison County coroner.
In an auxiliary morgue downtown, hearses unloaded bodies uncovered by search-and-rescue teams.
"Several families have brought in their dead," Green said.
County Supervisor Connie Rockco said it appears the heaviest loss of life was in east Biloxi, where an apartment building collapsed and killed 30 people.
"But there are fatalities from one end of the county to the other," Rockco said. - Houston Chronicle
Hugh Hewitt can go blow on this. There are news sources with similar information. I went to www.wapt.com and clicked on their headline story to find this:
"It's clear the death toll on the Mississippi Gulf Coast will rise sharply in the days to come.
"We are very, very worried that this (death toll) is going to go a lot higher," said Joe Spraggins, civil defense director for Harrison County, home to Biloxi and Gulfport. "We're just estimating but the number could go double or triple from what we're talking now."
One Hurricane Katrina survivor after another told stories of friends and loved ones who floated off or disappeared as the floodwaters rose around them.
American Medical Response Operations Supervisor Mark Williams said paramedics on the scene say the devastation is so great that they won't quit counting bodies for days."
How long does the ground have to be saturated or submerged before a casket will float out of six feet of dirt? I have no idea.
Understand.
At some point . . . TIVO will not be necessary. The images firmly imprinted on the sensitive emulsion sheet of the mind [borrowed phrase] will be quite durable and intense enough. and then some.
And where are the generous donations from those casinos that fleece these same poor people of billions of dollars. They're moaning and whining about losing $50 million A DAY! That's obscene! So where are their generous contributions of millions in aid? They can afford it. Boy! Can they ever.
If they don't come through bigtime, I'd never let them into the state again! But that's just me. I don't gamble...at least not at casinos. Can't think of anything more boring on a beautiful day, especially in sight of a beach and the water, than to be stuck in one of those garish temples to games of chance.
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