An excellent post. I wish I'd written it.
Thank you : ) I do want to correct a couple of things, though. After I posted, I read that the generator was in the basement and failed. There's also a carbon monoxide problem with running generators in enclosed spaces. There must have been a way to have several generators running in tandem on the upper floors. I have never used a generator, so I don't know the logistics of that, but I do know someone would figure it out.
Then there was the toilet situation. There was a big rock concert called Cal Jam II, held at the old Ontario Motor Speedway, back in '78. It was a couple of days long, I don't remember how many people were there, but let me tell you about overflowing porta-potties. The sludge sucked the sandals right off my feet, and I told my best friend to get everyone because we need to leave. We hosed our feet down at the closest gas station. The smell sobered me up instantly.
The difference is that we chose to be there. Can you imagine being pregnant, having small kids, or being elderly, and have to deal with that? We were outside too, not stuck in a building with no cool air. I forgot all about Cal Jam, until I read some of the Super Dome accounts.
I know we can't depend on government, but this is ridiculous.