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 ...
Okay. okay, okay, okay, we heard ya, too many hurricanes?
I agree. There's more authorities to blame than just those two nitwits. Blank0 is the most culpable because she had the authority and duty to use all state resources for the evacuation.
Did you read the story about the Congressman from New Orleans getting his personal items with National guard help.
I just read that. I am so disgusted with those corrupt dems.
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