My own view is that the Governor of Lousiana, in a state of emergency declaration, had the legal means to DEMAND that a place like that nursing home be evacuated, the responsibility to make that demand, given %’s stated for a Katrina landfall in the New Orleans area, and a responsibility to arrange for or commandeer any assistance needed for such an evacuation.
Like Nagin and other liberals in Louisiana, she was waiting for someone else to do her job and save her the expense and effort. In a moral sense, I also think the nursing home owners also had a responsibility to request government assistance for an evacuation, if the lack of the means to affect that evacuation was their issue. Then, they could have at least said they asked the authorities for help and got none.
In a much broader sense, when you look at a map that reflects the topography of the area (showing how many feet above or below see level each area of land is) a sane person would ask who in the hell ever permitted a nursing home to be built where it was. There should be no one in that area but self-supporting people who can get themselves out - north and to higher land.
here are some facts: from http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-11-28-st-ritas_x.htm
“What passes for high ground in Louisiana’s southeastern marshlands are the patches of terra firma (not very much above sea level) that did not flood during Hurricane Betsy in 1965.”
“St. Rita’s Nursing Home was built 20 years ago on one of those patches. That (the patches that survived Betsy) figured prominently in the decision by Sal and Mabel Mangano, St. Rita’s owners, to ride out Hurricane Katrina in their one-story brick building rather than follow an order by St. Bernard Parish to evacuate the home’s 60 residents. The Manganos even invited their relatives, staffers and the staff’s relatives to use St. Rita’s as a shelter, and nearly 30 people accepted the offer. (Related photo gallery: Remnants of St. Rita’s)”
“For a few moments after Katrina barreled through on the morning of Aug. 29, it seemed the Manganos had made the right decision: The parking lot was dry, the roof intact. Then disaster struck. When Sal Mangano and several other men stepped outside to inspect the grounds, they heard a low rumbling sound. A wall of water appeared, rolling toward them. The men raced back inside and fortified the doors and windows. The water hit the building, rose up the sides and then burst inside.”
“Forecasters had predicted a 21-foot storm surge in [low lying] St. Bernard Parish that would last more than six hours. The parish council ordered a mandatory evacuation on Aug. 28, the day before Katrina hit, and St. Rita’s was the only one of the five nursing homes in the parish that did not comply —— facts that would seem to help prosecutors in the Manganos’ case.”
If it was a jury trial, maybe the local jurors are so fed up with the local and state officials that they hated to see this couple as the only ones held to account.
When the mandatory evacuation for Ivan was called there were several elderly nursing home patients who died because of the time it took to get to Baton Rouge. It was like 12+ hours to go what normally took an hour. Ivan turned and completely missed New Orleans at the last minute. I could see the reasoning to a degree. I know I wouldn’t have hunkered down though.
IMO, some of the family members need to look at themselves for not evacuating their family member themselves, especially for those who were ambulatory instead of suing. I know I took my wheel chair bound, oxygen dependent father when I evacuated for Lili. Because I took responsibility for my father it freed up space, time, and personnel for those without family. Was it easy, hell no, my father was a pain in the ass but it was my responsibility not the government’s or other health care agency.