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.
___
AWESOME
That's some amazing video.
Fishtalk, I believe you have a great idea, and your feelings echo mine. Unfortunately, the idea could never survive a news cycle.
You know, you don't have to be a jerk. I was just making sure I really understood what you were saying, because it sounds like some people here believe that not a soul who doesn't want to leave should go. I guess you do think then, that there is a legal basis to take people out if the area really is dangerous.
susie
I'm just thinking of the downside, if they stay. The entire place is putrid at best. For forty miles around.
If they come down with disease, it won't be a pretty sight and no doctors or hospitals.
No skin off my nose. I don't have a dog in the fight. Let them stay.
Could you name one mosquito transmitted disease where the pathogen is water borne?
Yep. I do have to be a jerk. If you don't like post to someone else.
I think I remember them saying it was not loaded when I firs saw that clip on Fox.
susie
Mr. O'Dwyer is mentioned in this article:
Old-line families plot the future in New Orleans
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0908wsj-katrina-wealth08-ON.html
Despite the disaster that has overwhelmed New Orleans, the city's monied, mostly white elite is hanging on and maneuvering to play a role in the recovery when the floodwaters of Katrina are gone. "New Orleans is ready to be rebuilt. Let's start right here," says Mr. O'Dwyer, standing in his expansive kitchen, next to a counter covered with a jumble of weaponry and electric wires.
>>> "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.>>>
Don't you mean 10 days?
It does bother me. It also bothers me that some people seem to think the government always has nefarious plans.
I don't really have a dog in this hunt, whether the people stay or go, but I do think there are legitimate reasons the government might want them out. And of course, as I stated before I can well imagine wanting to stay.
susie
Making sure tey pull their pants down all the way...
Thanks.
Good grief, what kind of silly question is that? Mosquitos aren't going around popping Evian bottles for sustenance; it's not about the water: it's about the rotting corpses and sewage.
When people editorialize my comments to say something other than what I did say, I realize they've conceded the agrument, and I say thank you and better luck next time.
I will add this. I saw several others interviewed tonight, who also refuse to leave. The subject of toilets came up. Flushing is no problem. They didn't say how, but I imagine they just dump a pail of water in. These old people are a lot smarter than you , I suspect.
Doesn't it bother you that millions of brave young American men died to prevent this kind of stuff from happening?? I know that's one of the things my uncle, and my very best friend died for.
That you throw their ultimate sacrifice aside so easily disgusts me.
FEMA is a paper government.
The idiot probably thinks that death swimming in the water a half mile away is probably not so good.
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