Posted on 09/02/2005 8:38:06 AM PDT by wm_tate
If anything, the situation grows more desperate in New Orleans, as these very up-close and personal, and terrifying, pleas for help at a Times-Picayune readers' forum reveal this morning. (more)
(Excerpt) Read more at editorandpublisher.com ...
I think were' going to discover afterwards that much of the reporting of the horrors was exaggerated. It is still horrible what they're going through, but the extremely horrific reports don't seem all that realistic on the scope that the reporting seems to imply.
I agree that it is exaggerated.
But of course our "objective" journalist in the Dinasour media don't bother asking the question. "Hmmm how are they getting the electricity to post to blogs if the city is as complete a disaster area as they claim?"
I saw footage of the streets and it looks like most of the water levels were low. Some of the streets were dry with people walking around with garbage bags filled with clothes. I don't know, I was expecting to see a "Waterworld" like scene or something.
While I am sure some folks are so poor (or poor and improvident) that they couldn't stock up before the storm, flood and looting hit, I am puzzled by how widespread the lack of advance provisioning was among those who did not evacuate in advance.
Even hospitals seem to have not laid in extra non-perishable food.
People who are are monitoring the police frequency and hearing the calls that were coming in are saying the situation is far worse than being reported.
Mayor Noggin, where are you?
The NO police are busy looting...
again if you haven't SEEN it...
Check out this video...
http://www.zippyvideos.com/8911023771013466/countdown-looting-in-walmart/
Possible, but it doesn't seem that way when you watch the live video from the cable news guys. If conditions are so bad that people are dying from dehydration right at the main Convention Center assembly point, and the police there (88 of them) are unable to maintain control, what makes you think things are better in some remote corner of the city?
And why wouldn't the cries for help posted on the NOLA blogs be real? I think it is just as likely that things are way worse than is being reported, because large areas are still cut off from contact, except for sporadic first hand reports and text messages. Take a look at the NOLA blog for yourself.
100 residents are still left in The Point (Algiers) and they are now under seige from the mob that was released from the convention center. They have had to kill 4 people in an attempt to protect their property and life. Please get state police in!----------------------------------------------------
For those calling on self reliance - what more do we expect those people to do - they have holed up, are protecting each other and defending against a hostile mob.
He headed on out of town.
You are puzzled and I'm disgusted. I've been all over the board making this case. Frankly, I'm disgusted by the lack of personal responsibility. (Previously I said that I hold those people, the ones who made no personal disaster preparations, in contempt. PA Mom scolded me and said I shouldn't have contempt for people. So in the interest of harmony I have decided to be disgusted instead.)
There are a few little pockets of functionality around the city. The blog at http://mgno.com does a good job of explaining who the people maintaining it are, and how they're doing it. They are employees of some high-tech company, in a high-rise office building that is apparently on fairly high ground, and are operating via a diesel generator, and have managed to arrange additional diesel deliveries to keep going. Presumably this an outfit that had to have top notch disaster-management plans and equipment in place in order to get customers, due to the nature of its business. These people are, to put it mildly, not typical of the New Orleans residents who stayed behind -- very smart, well-educated, well-equipped, and accustomed to self-sufficiency.
Like most people, I have imagined what I would do if I were in the Superdome. First option, I would walk and or swim / float on something until I got to the 10 miles or so that it took to get to higher ground. If I had my family with me and leaving wasn't an option, here is what I would do:
Superdome is downtown, so I would walk to the nearest highrise. After entering the building by whatever means necessary, I would make my way up to one of the higher level floors by stair, where you would have a good view of things going on. Once I got to the most suitable floor, I would lock the door behind me. I would then go to the nearest breakroom and bust into the vending machines to get food and drinks. Since the building is probably an office building, I would look for a battery operated radio. From there I would wait it out until it is safe to leave. Tell me the flaws in this plan.
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