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Posted on 09/01/2005 3:46:26 PM PDT by NautiNurse
Bush's statements will be on whitehouse.gov within an hour, if not already.
As the process of busing refugees from the Louisiana Superdome to Houston's Reliant Astrodome haltingly continued, as many as 20,000 other evacuees housed at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center restlessly waited with little prospect of going anywhere soon.
With temperatures rising into the 90s, they spilled out onto Convention Center Boulevard, where they chanted, prayed and angrily denounced authorities for failing to care for the estimated 50,000 to 100,000 victims of Hurricane Katrina still in the city.
"Oh, Lord. Oh, Lord. Oh, God, help us!" Angela Perkins, 34, cried as she fell to her knees on the hot, garbage-strewn thoroughfare. "I want to leave. They treat us like animals."
At least seven bodies, including that of an old man lying in a chaise longue on the boulevard's grassy median and a blanket-covered woman in a wheelchair, were scattered outside the convention center, located at the Mississippi River near the foot of Canal Street.
Another corpse, that of an infant, was inside the building.
What exactly is unconstitutional?
It wasn't personal - just the last post on the thread at the time.
In addition, N.O. is sinking a bit more each year as the delta slowly dries out and compresses underneath it.
Welcome aboard. I appreciate your comments but must respond.
I haven't called for anything like you describe. I would just like the feds to get water to thousands of men, women and children -- Americans -- laying in the streets of New Orleans. Certainly, after four days, our government could pull that off without waving a "magic wand," right? Or, am I simply expecting too much? Or, do they all deserve this or something?
If Bush got rid of people who were in over their heads, he would have gotten rid of Scott McClellan a few years ago. He doesn't like to fire people, so I doubt anyone will lose their jobs.
I don't know where Chertoff and Brown were for the first few days, and I don't know anything about how good Chertoff is. I did see the press briefing and Q&A session by Michael Brown yesterday, and I thought he did a very good job.
There's something almost funny about hearing a big law enforcement/military guy in charge say the word "portapotty".
Sister! With Knitting Needles!
All true. Any politician or public official who says otherwise either doesn't get it yet...or gets it and is trying to position themselves politically on the issue. That's what's disgusting.
Wrong.
http://www.livejournal.com/users/interdictor/
The Real News The following is the result of an interview I just conducted via cell phone with a New Orleans citizen stranded at the Convention Center. I don't know what you're hearing in the mainstream media or in the press conferences from the city and state officials, but here is the truth:
"Bigfoot" is a bar manager and DJ on Bourbon Street, and is a local personality and icon in the city. He is a lifelong resident of the city, born and raised. He rode out the storm itself in the Iberville Projects because he knew he would be above any flood waters. Here is his story as told to me moments ago. I took notes while he talked and then I asked some questions:
Three days ago, police and national guard troops told citizens to head toward the Crescent City Connection Bridge to await transportation out of the area. The citizens trekked over to the Convention Center and waited for the buses which they were told would take them to Houston or Alabama or somewhere else, out of this area.
It's been 3 days, and the buses have yet to appear.
Although obviously he has no exact count, he estimates more than 10,000 people are packed into and around and outside the convention center still waiting for the buses. They had no food, no water, and no medicine for the last three days, until today, when the National Guard drove over the bridge above them, and tossed out supplies over the side crashing down to the ground below. Much of the supplies were destroyed from the drop. Many people tried to catch the supplies to protect them before they hit the ground. Some offered to walk all the way around up the bridge and bring the supplies down, but any attempt to approach the police or national guard resulted in weapons being aimed at them.
There are many infants and elderly people among them, as well as many people who were injured jumping out of windows to escape flood water and the like -- all of them in dire straights.
Any attempt to flag down police results in being told to get away at gunpoint. Hour after hour they watch buses pass by filled with people from other areas. Tensions are very high, and there has been at least one murder and several fights. 8 or 9 dead people have been stored in a freezer in the area, and 2 of these dead people are kids.
The people are so desperate that they're doing anything they can think of to impress the authorities enough to bring some buses. These things include standing in single file lines with the eldery in front, women and children next; sweeping up the area and cleaning the windows and anything else that would show the people are not barbarians.
The buses never stop.
Before the supplies were pitched off the bridge today, people had to break into buildings in the area to try to find food and water for their families. There was not enough. This spurred many families to break into cars to try to escape the city. There was no police response to the auto thefts until the mob reached the rich area -- Saulet Condos -- once they tried to get cars from there... well then the whole swat teams began showing up with rifles pointed. Snipers got on the roof and told people to get back.
He reports that the conditions are horrendous. Heat, mosquitoes and utter misery. The smell, he says, is "horrific."
He says it's the slowest mandatory evacuation ever, and he wants to know why they were told to go to the Convention Center area in the first place; furthermore, he reports that many of them with cell phones have contacts willing to come rescue them, but people are not being allowed through to pick them up.
I have "Bigfoot"'s phone number and will gladly give it to any city or state official who would like to tell him how everything is under control.
Addendum: Bigfoot just called to report that "they" (the authorities) are cleaning up the dead bodies at the Convention Center right now.
I like Chertoff, as I've mentioned before. He has a very unique character of gravitas and optimism that I find reassuring.
Thank you for having the courage to say what I have been thinking for the last 5 days.
I'm not sure advance_copy. I'm in a cubicle and am only able to copy, paste, and comment this morning.
Did you just see FOX NEWS?! There are hundreds of school buses under-water in New Orleans.
Why weren't these moved to higher ground or used for the evacuation?
What utter incompetence!
Folly was a good name for that beach...
Sorry, Ma'am. Didn't even look.
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