Trapped in an Arena of Suffering

LA Times ^ | 9/1/05 | Scott Gold

[Brian Mosely]

NEW ORLEANS — A 2-year-old girl slept in a pool of urine. Crack vials littered a restroom. Blood stained the walls next to vending machines smashed by teenagers.

The Louisiana Superdome, once a mighty testament to architecture and ingenuity, became the biggest storm shelter in New Orleans the day before Katrina's arrival Monday. About 16,000 people eventually settled in.

By Wednesday, it had degenerated into horror. A few hundred people were evacuated from the arena Wednesday, and buses will take away the vast majority of refugees today.

"We pee on the floor. We are like animals," said Taffany Smith, 25, as she cradled her 3-week-old son, Terry. In her right hand she carried a half-full bottle of formula provided by rescuers. Baby supplies are running low; one mother said she was given two diapers and told to scrape them off when they got dirty and use them again.

At least two people, including a child, have been raped. At least three people have died, including one man who jumped 50 feet to his death, saying he had nothing left to live for.

[stuartcr]

So what is to become of them? They followed the order to evacuate. Do you think they will get free FEMA housing if they are 200 miles away from NO? I bet most of the housing will be occupied by the time the evacuees start trickling back to their homes, then what? In punta Gorda, FL, you had to be below an certain income level, before you could get FEMA trailers.

[stuartcr]

The world is getting to see only the bad side of Americans...sort of like us only getting to see the bad side of Iraq.

[Pondman88]

The idjits at DU linked to this post, citing our lack of compassion.

In reality the underclass, maintained by the state, fed by the state, fatherless--is showing the results of "the great society." Liberalism has destroyed, and is continuing to destroy this country. Liberalism is a disease.

[rave123]

The mayor did not give a mandatory evacuation order until Sunday. He could have sent school busses to get people out of the projects and demanded they leave to help avoid this looting problem. They did not even evacuate many of the hospitals until after the storm. They had no real plan in place to weather the storm. The police did not even have additional batteries for their radios. It is simply pathetic, because no matter what or wher there are always those elements that look for opportunity to do evil. So the police should have been prepared.

[libstripper]

Not so. All you had to do was see the Fox report that was broadcast about two days before the storm hit. They very clearly explained the probability of flooding and the disaster it would be because of NO being in a bowl surrounded by water that was being held out by levees that could only withstand up to a class 3 hurricane. There were also the satellite and radar maps, shown at the same time, that showed NO directly in line to be hit by a class 5 hurricane. That's why the Federal government prepositioned relief supplies, President Bush urged everybody to evacuate NO, and President Bush urged the local authorities to make the same pleas, something they wouldn't do until he prodded them.

[chgomac]

rave, you wrote, "the innocent suffers with the poor"; and I'm remembering that the poor will always be with us. If we can't stay vulnerable and help the poor and those who suffer, we will lose our humanity.

It is the magnatude of this disaster and their helpless frustration that makes some people rage out with harsh words. I'm angry too when I see amoral people hindering the rescue and recovery effort. I've been praying:

Prayer to St. Martin De Porres
St. Martin De Porres, you whom God favored with black skin and a love for all peoples and especially the poor, pray that we may look upon everyone with love.
Pray that we may always keep our souls clean and pure, and realize that all races of thw world belong to the one family of God. Amen.

[Hildy]

Maybe you're being optimists, but I'm a realist and this goes on EVERY disaster. Maybe not to this extent. There are many reasons why people choose to stay, sometime it's that they have no place to go and no way to get there. But we are where we are. Freepers tend to dwell on the WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN too much. Things have got to change...and fast. I don't know how, but this is America and we should be doing a better job and again, Bush is just not a great rally kind of guy. Let's just hope he just does it instead of talking about it.

[pepperdog]

I hope that my faith in the authorities in Texas isn't misplaced. I feel that they will have observed the situation in the SD and will be prepared to deal with the trouble makers when they arrive in Houston. You know the saying "Texas, it's a whole 'nother country". Bless Texas and Houston for what they are doing.

[rave123]

Yeah me too. Such heartless posts make me understand why people can dislike the republican party. It's okay to state and disagree with the looting but to have no compassion for those innocent people that lost their lives is unbelievable.
Brett Favre mother could have left she didn't. But she was not staying around to loot, she just did not leave. Same for some of the other people in NO.

[SedVictaCatoni]

And to think some people despise illegals who put their children on the school bus to get an education while they work their a??es off all day.

No kidding. When our natives are this bad, I wonder how people who risk their lives to come here and work could be any worse.

[Hildy]

You are so right. In San Diego we are instructed all the time about having Earthquake supplies. I always felt secure that the city was prepared for something catastophic. The city of NO must share some of the blame. I never thought about it like you did, but you're right, they should have helped with the evacuation BEFORE instead of the problem of evacuation after.

[varyouga]

I agree. The dome should be used for small children and the disabled.

I am also not placing blame on the people. Many of these people relied on the government to think for them and it failed miserably. The mayor was actually calling on people to leave Saturday but it was not "mandatory". Even though they knew that the storm was more direct than usual, it was not mandatory until Sunday.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050827/D8C8F0HG0.html

[najida]

Yeah,
We all have hindsite after a disaster, but it doesn't change one happened one iota.

[WestTexasWend]

If law enforcement (Rangers, please) are allowed to run things at the 'dome, and not politicians & lawyers, things should be okay.

But that's a Texas-sized "if"...

[libstripper]

You're probably right. Look at the pictures of the neighborhoods where the looting is happening. There are lots of submerged cars on the streets almost everywhere, cars that were at least reasonably functional before the flooding. Those cars and the people who own them shouldn't be there. Instead their owners should have used the cars to get out of the city, as they were implored to do by President Bush. You just don't see such numbers of submerged cars in the law abiding areas of the city that evacuated. Those cars and their owners are some place where it's high, dry, and safe. My view is that the vast majority of the individuals who chose to stay in NO, when they could have left, did so partly because of the free pickings they thought they'd get preying on their absent neighbors. That leaves me with little sympathy.

[Modernman]

Just follow the suggestions of the local Democratic politician. He really knows what's best for you. Form a line. Get on this train. We're taking you to where you'll be safe and happy. We'll give you a nice shower when you get there. Put all your possessions off to the side there. You won't need those. You don't have any guns, do you. It's not safe for you to have guns. We'll take care of you. Trust us.

This statement is obscene. The Democratic government officials in NO and LA seem to be pretty incompetent, but to compare that incompetence to the WWII death camps is moronic.

[oldbrowser]

So what is to become of them? They followed the order to evacuate.

They just got wiped out. The state probably owes them an unemployment check for a few months while they get on their feet.

[the Deejay]

MORNIN' FREEPMAIL!

[libstripper]

Look at all the submerged cars on the streets, probably with gas in their tanks. The vast majority did have transportation and should have gotten out. If people can afford crack and cigaretts, they can afford gas to save their lives.

[YankeeGirl]

WHY DIDN"T THEY LEAVE BEFORE THE STORM HIT?????

>No car
>No disposable cash
>No ATM/Credit cards
>Pets that couldn't go to shelter
>Belief that house was safer than superdome structure
>Elderly relative too hard to move safely
>No place/family to go to necesitating move to shelter of last resort when evacuation was absolutely necessary
>Alone & scared to leave the familiar
>Sick or marginally disabled & unwilling/scared to travel in a crowd
>Unable to understand (language, mental capacity)
>Belief that home could be safe/saved
>Disbelief that warnings were accurate
>Wanted to, but needed assistance
>Waited for assistance that couldn't come

Lots of reasons. Not everyone who stayed wanted to stay. I will try not to be so judgemental. They are certainly facing the consequences of their actions/decisions/circumstances.