The bodies of 30 elderly residents were found in the home in a suburb of New Orleans (RICHARD POHLE)
Posted on 09/10/2005 10:07:46 PM PDT by Mount Athos
Less than 24 hours before Hurricane Katrina began ravaging St. Bernard Parish with 140 mph winds and a 20-foot storm surge, Coroner Bryan Bertucci made an urgent call to the owner of St. Rita's Nursing Home near Poydras.
"I told her I had two buses and two drivers who could evacuate all 70 of her residents and take them anywhere she wanted to go," he said.
But Mabel Mangano refused the offer. "She told me, 'I have five nurses and a generator, and we're going to stay here,'" Bertucci said.
It turned out to be a tragic decision.
On Wednesday, nine days after the storm had passed, Bertucci watched as a dozen workers from a federal agency that specializes in handling mass casualties began the gruesome task of removing about 30 decomposing bodies from the still-flooded nursing home.
On Thursday, Attorney General Charles Foti Jr. announced he's launching an investigation into the deaths at the nursing home. "I want answers. I want to know why those people were trapped and were not evacuated," Foti said. The storm pounded through the parish's levees, unleashing raging floodwaters that knocked able-bodied men off their feet. At the single-story, privately-owned nursing home, residents confined to their beds or wheelchairs were quickly overwhelmed by the rapidly rising water, Bertucci said.
As the storm raged, neighbors and firefighters in boats rescued about 40 nurses and residents, carrying some -out on their mattresses. But rescuers could not save everyone. The body of an elderly woman wearing a housedress was found on a concrete patio near the front door. An elderly man's body was slumped over the back of a chair, a recovery worker said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com ...
I'm still wondering if this was the nursing home that the Jefferson Parish Sheriff was refering to when he talked about the person in the office whose mom phoned him from Monday night to Friday and then drowned Friday. It sounds like the all those in the nursing homes drowned the first night. It also sounds like St. Bernard parish tried to evacuate all the nursing homes before the storm.
I haven't seen anywhere where the media has followed up on that story and I really feel kind of guilty even questioning it, but it still bothers me because I've always had the feeling that story was not all true and it really disgusts me if he didn't tell the truth about someone's death just to make something that was already a tragedy more dramatic.
The school buses were not used because they were not needed. The CTA used their buses and even those were half empty.
But Mabel Mangano refused the offer. "She told me, 'I have five nurses and a generator, and we're going to stay here,'" Bertucci said.
Sounds as though Mabel may be related to the LA Governor and N.O. Mayor, or maybe it is just something in their drinking water that makes them make such totally STUPID decisions.
How she "felt" is immaterial. She is criminally negligent and, if alive, should be prosecuted. Then maybe the next person entrusted with the welfare of helpless people in such a situation will make a better choice.
It is stories like this, (and there may be dozens of them) that will be pointed to by officials who have justifiably had fingers pointed at them. Before long 95% of those who either perished or was dispossessed/dislocated will be lumped in with the "unmoveables", as reasons why the Mayor and Governor failed so badly in the "evacuation" phase.
So something will a small grain of truth will eventually be promoted as "the whole story", supplanting the considerably more complex set of circumstances that led to the most catastrophic destruction in American History.
"The offer of buses came before the storm hit; maybe we're reading different articles."
Before the storm hits is when you leave. The manifestation of the storm was 100+ mph winds and the 20-foot wall of water. By then it was too late.
The Times-Picayune version treats Bertucci's version as fact.
Mangano has yet to be found, but I suspect there might be another side to this story if she's alive.
It's far too late for busses once the water starts rising.
I saw the coroner on TV the other day. Sad story. He stated that some of the folks may not have survived a move, but they certainly deserved the chance.
Aaron Broussard is the president of Jefferson Parish. The nursing home was in St. Bernard parish. I'm not sure if the nursing home in this article is the same one Broussard was crying over in which the mother of his friend died, but I did read an article which stated that the nursing home referred to by Broussard was offered busses pre-storm and refused.
Why didn't the coroner call the cops, for pete's sake?
And in the spirit of trust but verify, I hope someone checks the phone records to see if they back up the coroner's account.
The crying crook, Broussard, is under federal investigation for stealing funds. He was bawling about FEMA and the president not coming to help the nursing home victims evacuate when it was the owners' decision to turn down buses to get the elderly out. He is beyond despicable. I wish I were on his jury...
On Sunday, America met 56-year-old Jefferson Parish president Aaron Broussard in an extraordinary display of raw emotion on NBC’s “Meet the Press” when he talked about a colleague whose mother was trapped in a nursing home awaiting rescue.
The man he was talking about is Thomas Rodrigue, who told “Dateline” that his 92-year-old mother was one of 32 elderly people found dead at the St. Rita’s nursing home.
Exactly
Are applicants for positions of authority in LA, required to possess single digit IQs?
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