Red Cross: State rebuffed relief efforts

CNN.com ^ | 9/8/05 | CNN

[Safety]

Red Cross: State rebuffed relief efforts Aid organization never got into New Orleans, officials say BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (CNN) -- Louisiana officials rebuffed American Red Cross requests to enter New Orleans with relief supplies last week because of concerns over logistical difficulties, Red Cross and state officials said Thursday. The Red Cross never launched its relief effort in the city. The national president of the American Red Cross, Marsha Evans, first made the request to undertake the operation during a visit to the state on September 1, three days after Hurricane Katrina struck, a local Red Cross chapter official said. p>

[1035rep]

"Duhhh - And why did the people at the top of the food chain let it happen? There was an open highway and Fema should have let them roll in on Monday night - We would have seen lots of Red Rrosses at the Superdome instead of Geraldo's Red tear stained acne."

FEMA didn't stop them. The Louisiana State Department of Homeland Security that was under the control of Governor Blanco would not let them in. Trying reading for comprehension. I don't know how many times you need to have this explained to you.

[1035rep]

FEMA didn't stop them. The Louisiana State Department of Homeland Security that was under the control of Governor Blanco would not let them in. Try reading for comprehension. I don't know how many times you need to have this explained to you.

PS: you should change your ID to spam alot

[spanalot]

"FEMA didn't stop them. The Louisiana State Department of Homeland Security that was under the control of Governor Blanco "

I didn't know Mr and Mrs Podunk were at the top of the food chain.

[True Republican Patriot]

Why do they have a RELIGION REPORTER writing articles on National Catastrophies??? She appears dumber than a rock!

[Aquakat]

Now think hard to cut thru the "fuzz" & The dates are important. ..

Due to the pressure you both put me under I have spent two hours looking for the piece to no avail.

BTW, try going back to 8/30 using the keyword katerina. LOL I only got as far as 9/4.

Yes, the date had to be at least 8/30 since I posted on that date. Most likely the date was 8/29 since I used that info for a response on the levee breach issue.

I distinctly remember the article (posted with full attribution on FR) stating that all/most of the responding units were all awaiting orders as to destination and were parked.

Too bad all this doesn’t do any good and only anecdotal, since I cant find the article.

I would have made sure to keep a link if I had only known the media and the left would go to this extent to lie and distort to this extent. Never in my wildest dreams did I think this would happen.

Elevates my tag line from hyperbole to fact doesn’t it?

[de Buillion]

"My money's going to the Salvation Army. It will NEVER go to the CORRUPT United Way."

Much of the money donated to United Way supports abortion mills. And Red Cross dosen't have a very good record either. Go with Sally!

[inquest]

ricochet ping

[GretchenM]

Does it strike anyone else that the Louisiana democrats found a perfect puppet in Blanco, "helped" get her "elected," never dreaming their figurehead would be called upon to make life and death decisions,
and that her refusal to let the feds into LA might be, not because it would make it look like the LA officials had lost control, as she said,
but because they were afraid the feds would turn over too many rocks and see all the government corruption with their own eyes?

[mjaneangels@aolcom]

"The state said don't go in, because we're evacuating all the people, and you'd just be in the way. (There is some logic to this, IMO.)"

First of all, the state was evacuating no one.

"So the Red Cross backed off, helped where it could, like SuperDome and other outlying gathering points."

Second, the Red Cross was not able to go to the Superdome.

Third, there were no outlying gathering points.

"Then the floodwaters came in and drowned NO. And it was fast....five foot walls of water down some streets.

Whatever Red Cross that was in NO at that time would have had to be evacuated along with the residents. It's better that they weren't in NO."

This may be a blessing for the Red Cross in some ways, but they have gone into worse conditions. They are well prepared for just about anything.

And lastly, the fact that the State government prevented the Red Cross (as well as, the Salvation Army and FEMA), from coming in implies that the state government knew that the levee would not hold. Did the state government know that the Federal dollars sent to make sure the levee could withstand a Category 5 hurricane had been spent on something else?

[combat_boots]

"And now there is no way the Governot and Mayor will let the Red Cross anywhere near the area. At this point the gloves are off in NO. Some pretty nasty things are happening to the gang thugs that are left there. Many will just disappear. No way will the Mayor and Governot let the Red Cross in there to report back on what it is taking for the NOPD and National Guard to reclaim this city."


And yet, somehow, just next door in Mississippi, FEMA, through the state MEMA, and the Red Cross, etc. got in adn started rescue ops right away. Hmmmmmmmm.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

"Second - Major Garrett makes a wonderful observation that he didn't need to do any hard investigative journalism, he just picked up a phone a called the Red Cross. He said it something CNN could have done too. They are being shamed into doing their jobs."

Astute observation! It's not about ratings. It's about keeping some shred of credibility. If ratings were important to CNN, the rats would be fleeing the country right now.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

"Here are my questions: Mayeaux is the deputy director. Did he make that decision on his own? Or was he following orders of the director of the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness?"

Good question. I'll ask another, assuming the absolute best intentions of the governor: where was the governor? Did the governor have that 'open door' policy that made Mayeaux feel like it was ok to mention this little detail? Or was there difficulty reaching the governor during this crisis? Was there a single, sensible screener Mayeaux could reach, particularly when his job was so crucial at that moment? And while I'm at it, did the governor make a single phone call to the Red Cross up to that point?

[patriciaruth]

Some pretty nasty things are happening to the gang thugs that are left there.

Source?