Posted on 09/02/2005 7:27:17 PM PDT by Former Military Chick
Thursday, September 1st, 2005
10:46 pm 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.
That's okay. Spreading this info far and wide is still a service. Well done.
With a bit of luck the 'bots at Google will have cached this website's contents, so even if the guilty parties in NO municipal government shut the website done, the info will still be available.
The cumulative effect of four generations of nanny government and living on welfare will do that to people.
It's probably sitting in a flooded parking lot with all those unused school buses.....
I'm sure the MSM is going to start asking the Mayor these tough questions "real soon now"......
Amen !
Wouldn't surprise me in the least. It has the look and feel of what I used to refer to as a "barf-back" plan: that is a plan that simply repeats a requirement without elaborating how the requirement is to be satisfied. Example: "Provide sustenance for the survivors." If that's all the plan says, how does that help? What sustenance? How many survivors will need to be sustained, and for how long? Where will the food and water come from? Sewerage disposal? Medical care? Electrical power? Shelter? Emergency transportation? Comunications?
The devil is in the details, and it would be very interesting to see what, if any, implementing procedures were written under the auspices of this so called "plan." I have sneaking suspicion that the implementing procedures will just be another layer of "barf-back" with no real substance to them (assuming they exist at all).
Lastly, the real issue isn't the Hurricane Plan; it's what did they have in the way of an emergency plan for a major levee break occurring contemporaneous with a hurricane? I'll bet it doesn't exist, even though everybody familiar with New Orleans knew that this would be a likely scenario if anything larger than a CAT 3 hurricane hit them head on.
The conclusion is obvious: the municipal government of New Orleans is a farce, and its malfeasance, incompetenece, and negligence have cost people their lives.
The government education system has played a large part in this. Our history has been edited by those whose goal is to "socialize" the sheeple.
In large measure, it has worked. Preparedness and self reliance are often ridiculed, even here on FR.
I've read where some of the sheriffs in neighboring towns and parishes have shut them down not allowing others in...they have relative Law and Order established and don't want to let NO thuggery spread to them. UNfortunately that ends up punishing the 99% of people who are good and honest and just need some relief.
I hadn't ever thought much about it before, but now it's becoming clearer to me why there are such things as marshall law, and why looting leads to inability to provide humanitarian aid. It's a shame we have to see this example first hand:(
Aw shucks.
One thing for certain:
At no time did New Orleans run a credible rehearsal, rock drill, or even table top this "plan." Because if they did, any sentient being with two functioning brain cells would have concluded: "It isn't going to work."
I was just watching Mr. Rivera (my husband calls him what you do!) talking to a woman who was grateful for the help, and instead of asking her important questions, he wanted to know wasn't she angry that it wasn't sooner. These people are NOT NEWSMEN. This is apparently the new reality TV.
susie
If Whoraldo is at the seen, you can bet that part of the story is about Whoraldo.
His coverage at times, well, lets just say I turned the channel or muted the TV.
Orders to suppress looting would have resulted in troops firing upon looting NO police
bump
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