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 ...
On Sunday morning, the National Weather Service said a catagory 5 storm with 175 sustained winds was heading for NO. Did the pathetic mayor and the clueless governor get on radio and TV and TELL the people that the levees could not take more than a catagory 3 storm and they would drown if they stayed? If they did, all these people might not have moved out, but I think many more would have left. I never heard that this was made plain to the citizens there, so I hold the government officials responsible for the deaths of many hundreds of people who were never told that the levees could not sustain a bigger storm. This was obviously NOT common knowledge.
Lord help me. I don't mean to sound cold or indifferent, but these people are ALIVE, fcol! People risked their lives to save them.....time for them to try and make the best of a bad situation.......first of all by getting that poor baby out of that urine! Damn!
Correction: Make that "5 > 3 = Levee's gonna break"
What about the ones with small children and sick family members that they had to care for? And the mayor never called a mandatory evacuation until Sunday- too late for many to leave. Yes, some stayed to loot but some could not leave.
If you could.
All it takes is one foot in front of the other!
That's what is so charming about FR and similar forums...lots and lots of quarterbacks.
"Since I don't think they're going to be confined to the Astrodome...I sense major trouble there too."
Afraid you're right...like transplanting a cancerous tumor into a healthy patient. Would hope they'd try to contain access/egress around the AstroDome, but I'm sure the usual suspects will be calling it an internment camp if they do.
Not that sports matters right now, but the Saints will surely have to play elsewhere for a couple of years. The Superdome may have suffered more damage inside than outside, and certainly won't be worth saving.
Surely you're not referring to the MSM who would be among the first to decry Stalag Houston, right?
A "Quagmire".. Gang thugs who shoot at US helicopters should be terminated where they stand. Any known gangsta should be fed last!
There are many more people that had enough resources to leave town and stay in a motel for a couple of days and now have no money to stay, no home to return to, and no job to return to.
Very, Very true. Allot of "this wouldn't have happened to me" statements out there.
Yesterday there was chat that the levee fall under the Fed Gov and not local, so blame should not be placed under the locals (if the report I read was true)...
I am so disappointed with the flip attitude of so many FREEPERS to what will turn out to be the largest natural disaster in our lifetime. Instead of prayer we get insults. For every "animal" these articles describe there are 1,000 good people who have lost their whole lives. I cry everytime I think of it. Some Freepers make it sound like they deserve what is happening. It makes my heart sink because people read our website and every cold-hearted right wing stereotype gets reiterated when a post like this appears.
"I think that the "refugees" are (for the most part) WIC, AFDC, etc, dependent persons who now get to rely upon more gubmint handouts....a permanent underclass maintained by the govt."
I agree, Pondman! This is evidence of LBJ's Great Society Legacy being played out for all to see on national television. I am sure all of the dem/lib/socialists are proud! (Of course, they will all say it is Bush's fault, not theirs.)
If you were on dialysis or had heart problems you would walk? If you were pregnant or had several small children you would walk? Get real. Stop comparing everyone to you and what you would do. They did not do it. Okay. Many people try to ride out storms for whatever the stupid reason maybe only to find that they must be rescued. No different than people that try to climb mountains or hike in the winter through dangerous terrain only ot find out they must be rescued. Yes, some people stayed with the intent of looting and creating chaos, but some people did not.
For some of us, staying behind whe you have been WARNED REPEATEDLY and GIVEN EVERY OPPORTUNITY just does not compute.
As they say in the UK...spot on!
ravingnutter, No I had not missed that. Maybe you missed the point. Compassion for a little girl not laughter and hey this happens at the football game what's the big deal attitude. I served in the Coast Guard and have seen my share of peoples personal tragedy. Its not a laughing matter. If it was your little girl I don't think you attitude would be so caviler.
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