Posted on 09/01/2005 6:56:22 AM PDT by 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Tear it down?
Worth rebuilding?
- John
As shocking as it might be, I think some Freepers believe that the people who are suffering like this deserve what they are getting because they are poor, uneducated and (mostly) black.
And let's not forget the Bible-thumpers who believe this is some sort of divine retribution for the drinking and bare breasts on Bourbon Street.
I doubt an unemployment check would help many people get back on their feet after being wiped out. It probably would barely pay for a motel and food, much less their bills. It's truly tragic.
My family was recently on a family farm 50 miles from a major urban area. It was sooooo quiet, and there isn't a whole lot for people to do entertainment-wise, but there are compensations, and community life is flourishing.
My son remarked to me more than once, "Mom, I couldn't live like this. I like blank, blank" (amenities and more creature comforts).
I think after seeing this and some other things (he is still in his thirties, he might change his views, maybe when it is too late).
There seems to be a lot of that going around...
It's why we'll never be taken totally seriously as a true Conservative voice.
The turn to the NE was forecasted. But I see what you are saying. The idiots in the medio sounding an all clear are just as to blame as the OEM guys and mayor of New Orleans, Their lack of preperation and response has been criminal.
Weren't the people directed to the Superdome? They just didn't rally there. It was a designated shelter...
If you have no car and no money and perhaps NO RADIO to hear the warnings...would it then "compute" to you?
When were Busses offering to take people out and where were they going?
Nothing like Monday morning is there...
I live in a coastal area, and we've had gobs of hurricane warnings. We've yet to get more than some high winds a few downed trees. So honestly, for lots, you just kinda turn a deaf ear and say 'whatever'.
The last evacuation was such a nightmare, that if they call another, I don't think ANYONE will budge.
Me? I will never evacuate again. Ever. I know my limits, and I'd rather die in a storm or even of stravation/thirst than to ever go through it again.
It especially doesn't compute for people who have available transportation, as most of those people probably did. Just look at the pictures of all of the submerged cars. None of those cars should have been there. Their owners and the owners' family members should have been in them heading north along with the tens of thousands of other people who heeded the warnings. Then the rescue efforts could have been directed at the truly needy and infirm who were genuinely unable to escape without assistance.
Exactly.
No wonder they can't/won't think for themselves & have no ambition to get jobs, get out from under the government.
Why work when you don't have to?
There are generations that have lived off the government.
ROFLMAO!!!! Whining Freepers saying they would make the best of the situation. SO disingenuous. You have no idea what it's like for these people. I'm so sick of Freepers blaming these people.
give it 2 more days
So you're saying that these people had zero idea that a hurricane was heading their way?
And the worst part is, if you have taken care of these people for more than 50 years, why fail them now when they need you the most? Don't let this be the point in time when you say "hey you are on your own." It's one week before the check comes and some did not have money and actually though the government would look out for them. The mayor had no plan, the governor had no plan, The police had no plan. heck they didn't even create a strategy to deal with looters. Which believe it or not, are not uncommon in disasters. The police reported they didn't even fill up all of the police cars with gas before the hurricane hit.
No, I'm saying people stay for a variety of reasons. How many times in the past two years has a warning been issued and it turned out to be no big deal. If you've lived in your home for 30 years, you'd be reluctant to leave, its all you have. that's human nature. And, quite obviously, nobody thought it would be this bad with the flooding. They talked about a HURRICANE, not this kind of flooding. And many of these people have NO MONEY. So they were bussing people, but were they putting them up before the storm? I think the State did a worse job than the people.
Possible untold thousands dead, and the MSM concentrates upon those who are uncomfortable. Yet ignores the fact they are the lucky ones to be alive and not amongst the dead.
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