Posted on 09/09/2005 6:06:57 PM PDT by Happy2BMe
NEW ORLEANS
Authorities said their sweep of this deluged city for the last voluntary evacuees was nearly complete, with officers ready to carry out the mayor's order to forcibly remove the thousands who remain in their homes.
"The ones who wanted to leave, I would say most of them are out," said Detective Sgt. James Imbrogglio.
Between 5,000 and 10,000 residents are believed left in the city, where toxic floodwaters have started to slowly recede but the task of collecting rotting corpses and clearing debris will likely take months.
Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Jason Rule said his crew pulled 18 people from their homes Thursday. He said some of the holdouts did not want to leave unless they could take their pets.
"It's getting to the point where they're delirious," Rule said. "A couple of them don't know who they were. They think the water will go down in a few days."
Police Chief Eddie Compass said officers would use the "minimum amount of force" necessary to persuade those who remain to evacuate. Although no one was forcibly removed Thursday, some residents said they left under extreme pressure.
"They were all insisting that I had to leave my home," said Shelia Dalferes, who said she had 15 minutes to pack before she and her husband were evacuated.
"The implication was there with their plastic handcuffs on their belt. Who wants to go out like that?"
As searches for the living continued, the grim task of retrieving corpses intensified under the broiling sun. Officials raised the death toll in Louisiana to 118 Thursday, though New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin has said up to 10,000 could be dead in that city alone. State officials have ordered 25,000 body bags.
Authorities are now faced with the challenge of how to identify bodies that may be bloated and decayed beyond recognition. At two collection sites, federal mortuary teams were collecting information that may help identify the bodies, such as where they were found. Personal effects were also being logged.
At the temporary morgue set up in nearby St. Gabriel, where 67 bodies had been collected by Thursday, the remains were being photographed and forensic workers hope to use dental X-rays, fingerprints and DNA to identify them.
Dr. Bryan Patucci, coroner of St. Bernard Parish, said it may be impossible to identify all the victims until authorities compile a final list of missing people.
Decaying corpses in the floodwaters could pose problems for engineers who are desperately trying to pump the city dry. While 37 of the 174 pumps in the New Orleans area were working and 17 portable pumps were in place Thursday, officials said the mammoth undertaking could be complicated by corpses getting clogged in the pumps.
"It's got a huge focus of our attention right now," said John Rickey of the Army Corps of Engineers. "Those remains are people's loved ones."
Some 400,000 homes in the city were also still without power, with no immediate prospect of getting it back. And fires continued to be a problem. At least 11 blazes burned across the city Thursday, including at historically black Dillard University where three buildings were destroyed.
Also Thursday, Congress rushed through an additional $51.8 billion for relief and recovery efforts and President Bush pledged to make it "easy and simple as possible" for uprooted storm victims to collect food stamps and other government benefits.
In an attempt to stem the criticism of the slow federal response to the disaster, Vice President Dick Cheney also toured parts of the ravaged Gulf Coast, claiming significant progress but acknowledging immense obstacles remained to a full recovery.
Meanwhile, Democrats threatened to boycott the naming of a panel that Republican leaders are proposing to investigate the administration's readiness and response to the storm. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said it was like a baseball pitcher calling "his own balls and strikes."
Democrats have urged appointment of an independent panel like the Sept. 11 commission.
Confusion continued to be a problem in many areas:
_ Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said that radio equipment and portable generators she requested from the federal government a week ago had yet to arrive. Federal officials said they were tracking down the status of the items.
_ In Houston, hundreds of storm victims waited for hours to pick up debit cards for cash that had been promised by relief agencies. By noon Thursday, so many people had jammed the entrance to the sign-up area that some were overcome by the heat and police were summoned.
___
A lot of the people who say they want government out of their lives are sure wishing a lot of it on other people's lives. Go figure. This all has me very upset.
The problem with the animals and humans, is that disease is soon to rear it's ugly head. When it does, it's not only going to manifest itself in those who refuse to leave, but it's going to be transmitted to others in the region, and then trans-region.
What I would suggest, is to put people to work getting the water out. If it's that big a problem, then use all available personell to get it out ASAP.
Starting firefights with those who remain is only an option for those who wish to make an object lesson out of this event. "We know what's best for you, and if you remmber NO, then you know what we're prepared to do."
Stop it. Feds, try to have a clue. I know it's tough, but buy one if you haven't got one already.
Where are the bio suits?
I find that hard to believe and incredible.
That's my musing as well.
The idiocy continues. You think there's never been a mosquito in New Orleans before? Guffaw. Obviously, a yankee.
It'll get much worse. Hold on.
The same thing your great granny did.Get real; NO ONE lived a couple of miles from a stagnant, festering open sewage pit.
No more idiocy, please, unless you do it at DU ...
ANY of you clowns know the history of disease in New Orleans BEFORE vigorous drainage and SEWAGE plans were proposd THEN acted on?
Exactly.
Well, it seems Mississippi and Alabama did this time. For that reason I have to think it's Louisiana and not Brown. Perhaps I'll think differently has time passes.
The idiocy continues.Your postings, not mine.
Thanks for the self-identification along those lines too ...
Even Bush said it will take "Years."
There aren't going to be shops open with goods and services for a very long time to come. Goods will not be coming in.
No one will be able to run down to the Winn-Dixie like a normal week.
Me? I couldn't care less who stays and who goes. I live in Nevada.
I would just hate for the stayers to get sick and/or die b/c there won't be any doctors or hosptials either.
I'll bet this guy would take the case.
I think he was identified as a lawyer.
Because I DON'T WANT ppl to die?
Ok, which "deadly diseases"? West Nile? Shoot, we have those mosquitos here in Oklahoma. Maybe someday the government will come and confiscate your guns, then force you out of your house. Maybe then, you'll start to understand.
You are correct. But all of the information at my disposal indicates that our beloved government is hellbent on restoring New Orleans to its former glory. As I said: if we let Big Muddy take over, we save a half trillion dollars and those poor suckers keep their (short-lived) freedom.
There are people who are not near these waters. Again, where's the biosuits?
They are saying the water is 10 times the safe level. That safe level is very conservative. Hell the Mississippi River in the 60's probably exceeded the so called safe levels. Every community on it dumped their sewage in it.
When I see these cops wandering around in MOP suits I will start worrying.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.