Posted on 09/03/2005 7:34:17 AM PDT by RDTF
Eric M. Weiss Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, September 3, 2005; Page B01 A convoy of 10 buses provisioned with food, water and officers to keep the peace left the District yesterday evening bound for the troubled city of New Orleans, hoping to return by Monday with as many as 400 evacuees who will be sheltered at the D.C. Armory. Council member David A. Catania (I-At Large), a leader of the effort, said he hoped it would be only the beginning. He called on other communities in the Washington region to take in those in need. "This is a region of 4 million. We should be able to accommodate more than 400," he said. Catania said that if offers of more shelter space come in, "there's no reason we can't turn those buses right around for more. We have to see." -snip- Salt Lake City, Charlotte and Indianapolis also are working to bring evacuees to their cities, in addition to most cities in the Gulf Coast area that were not struck. Also yesterday, Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner (D) sent his chief of staff, William Leighty, and an armful of satellite phones to the Louisiana governor's office to help coordinate aid offers that are flowing in from throughout the country. -snip- D.C. police officers will accompany the buses for security, and each bus will have two drivers so the caravan can drive through the night on its 2,200-mile, round-trip journey. In addition, a fuel tanker will be in the convoy, ensuring enough fuel without lengthy stops.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Unbelieveable. Just friggin unbelievable. DC sends a bus down for refugees from the storm and they have to send police officers with the busses to make them behave themselves on the trip back. They will also need them to patrol the Armory after arrival. And extra officers to watch the streets around the Armory after their arrival.
Its almost like accepting a monster into your presence. There is no way of telling how long these people will have to live in the Armory or how to get rid of them when their time is up. Who will drive them home and who will supply them with funds for their drug habits while they are here?
Am I a skeptic? Yes. When I see what these same people did in the SuperDome, Yes I am a skeptic.
One of the problems here is that if you take several tens of thousands of people and put them in a small area without toilets, it will get pretty nasty pretty quick.
Read "King Rat" someday ~ things were so bad at Changi POW camp that only one man could be kept in clean-clothes and civilized condition.
(BTW, there are many different impressions to be taken from "King Rat" ~ that's one).
These huge shelters are just a first step, I believe most people will be relocated into cities & towns as soon as possible.
Good for this step by DC....it's a small rescue, but it was well planned & indicative of what will follow.
When an overwhelming crisis hits....the biggest problem is paralysis. Look at the scope of the need in this disaster, but don't look for too long, because there are life & death situations at hand.
And sgt., the majority of these people are not monsters, you know that in your heart. You are just furious about the monsters who have been terrorizing & making this all so much worse. Remember Anne Frank, the little jewish girl whose family spent years hiding from the nazis in WWII. She kept a diary all thru those years describing her fears and her hopes and she wrote that even with all the evil she saw, she still believed that people are basically good.
When in the history of this nation have you ever read that rescuers had been shot at? That police had to travel with refugees to keep order, that rapes were committed in shelters. Yes I feel that most of the people who will be sheltered in DC are basically good folks, BUT those rapists and killers and racist who threatened whites in that stadium are going to be mixed in also. Better be prepared to deal with them.
And yes the plan seems to get them seems to be well thought out.
"When in the history of this nation have you ever read that rescuers had been shot at?"
Never. It's horrible and really hard to believe that it is happening in our beloved country,I pray never to see such evil ever again.
If the bad ones are mixed in, I hope they are turned in by the others. Once the others feel they are really safe, they will do it. Also, the drug addicts and bullies won't be able to hide for long before they reveal their true nature. I don't know how the officials are prepared to deal with them....they deserve no mercy.
We have all heard the stories of rape in the Superdome. Can anyone tell me how someone can get raped in a building with 20,000 people in it and not one tries to stop the rape? What were they all doing , enjoying the show? Waiting in line? I have nothing but disgust for the people at the Superdome.
The rapes were in the Convention Center, I thought?
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