Children's Hospital under seige(UPDATE No Children's Hospital Looting 4:35 p.m.)

Times-Picayune ^ | 8/30/2005

[Free Vulcan]

Late Tuesday, Gov. Blanco spokeswoman Denise Bottcher described a disturbing scene unfolding in uptown New Orleans, where looters were trying to break into Children's Hospital.

Bottcher said the director of the hospital fears for the safety of the staff and the 100 kids inside the hospital. The director said the hospital is locked, but that the looters were trying to break in and had gathered outside the facility.

***********

No Children's Hospital Looting 4:35 p.m.

Doug Mittelstaedt, vice-president of Human Resources for Children's Hospital in New Orleans, said one of the biggest issues at the hospital on Wednesday was debunking the prevalent rumor that looters had stormed the hospital.

Mittelstaedt said things actually were operating smoothly at the hospital - the generator was running efficiently and efforts to relocate patients were going well - but fighting the rumor was a major issue.

Officials had to lock the doors of the hospital because people had arrived, apparently thinking there was a mob scene and they could get in on looting.

He said the hospital has been flooded with calls offering assistance from other Children's Hospitals in Louisiana and Texas. "The amount of calls we have gotten for support have been overwhelming," Mittelstaedt said. "The phones literally have been ringing off the hook."

With so many calls, Mittelstaedt said officials have been able to match up the 100 patients with hospitals that specialize in the particular treatments for each.

[FreeAtlanta]

Send in Apache helicopters. The damn looters will go back into their holes, even if they have to be dropped, and buried.

[rawsnacks]

they are moving the superdome people to the astrodome. lordy.

[CDHart]

"I say shoot the bastards if they try to come in"P>Me, too. But I'll bet there's not a gun in the whole hospital.

Carolyn

[FreeAtlanta]

When I read this, my first thought was that these scum were like the living dead;

[HamiltonJay]

Air/Amphibius drop, with clearance orders to shoot if needed.

[af_vet_rr]

I'd give this another day, and people will take the law into their own hands.

No they won't - you have to understand something - a lot of those people are desperate, in shock, starving, thirsty, etc.

They aren't used to fending for themselves.

They are used to "I'm hungry, I'll walk or drive five minutes down the street to McDonalds".

The survival instinct can cause normally rational people to do irrational things when they are threatened.

[Sweet Hour of Prayer]

Drug addicts have lost their suppliers and are dangerous.

[WestCoastGal]

They said it hasn't been used for years, but could be used for these refugees. At least the toilets work and the city can provide better care for them there.

[BJClinton]

whose response to the crisis does not go far beyond hand wringing and excuse making.

You forgot to mention she fell apart crying on tv talking about the levys breaking. Way to lead! That confident, firm resolve will really inspire people!

NO and Louisiana need a Rudy in the worst way right now.

[Zechariah_8_13]

they are moving the superdome people to the astrodome. lordy.

Is that confirmed? What a mess!

[rawsnacks]

yes - according to the houston chron.

[Roccus]

My bad! (Slaps own wrist)

[AppyPappy]

Luckily, YOU are here to judge them by their race.

[Zechariah_8_13]

The survival instinct can cause normally rational people to do irrational things when they are threatened.

That's true. However, I don't believe it's survival instinct to steal jewelry and plasma screens when you're starving.

I have plenty of sympathy for those who truly are hungry and thirsty. But starving people look for food. Not electronics, in a city with no electricity.

[af_vet_rr]

That's true. However, I don't believe it's survival instinct to steal jewelry and plasma screens when you're starving.

True, and that's something else entirely. There was footage of people doing this, and they weren't covering their faces or anything - they had no shame.

Maybe it's because our culture is material driven, they've seen and wanted certain things that they couldn't normally have, and all of the sudden, it's within their grasp.

One of the clips was of a child saying "I'm gonna get me some new shoes". The kid was standing in water.

That right there tells you the problems in this country run very deep (no pun intended).

[AliVeritas]

Search and Rescue and Current Needs: http://www.mirawebdesign.com/katrina.html


FLOOD AID UPDATE: Here are some places you can donate to hurricane Katrina relief: (Bumped to top -- scroll down for current posts.)

http://www.redcross.org/

Catholic Charities: http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/news/katrina.cfm
is involved, and probably has lots of resources to draw on in the heavily Catholic New Orleans area.

Austin Bay is recommending Episcopal Relief and Development.http://www.er-d.org/

Liz at Rightalk suggests that animal lovers donate to the
https://secure.hsus.org/01/disaster_relief_fund_2005?

Here's a link to Mennonite Disaster Services http://www.mds.mennonite.net/. The Sanity Inspector says they're highly efficient.

Reader Peter Viditto recommends The Mercy Corps
http://www.mercycorps.org/

Here's the link for Methodist Relief http://www.methodistrelief.org/site/pp.asp?c=bhKNI4PHIpE&b=876335.

The Salvation Army http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/ does good work. (WalMart just gave them a million dollars, but that's just the barest beginning of what's needed.)

Hugh Hewitt recommends Samaritan's Purse http://www.samaritanspurse.com/

Scott Ott recommends Southern Baptist Disaster Relief http://www.namb.net/site/c.9qKILUOzEpH/b.224451/k.7BDB/Disaster_Relief_Homepage.htm

Jay Allen has a further suggestion:


I would suggest people donate through their companies whenever possible. Most major corporations offer matching funds to the dollar for charitable donations. Find who's collecting money for relief efforts, then file for a match through your employer instead of sending to the agency directly.


Not bad -- if your employer is supporting this.

Chuck Simmins is tracking corporate donations http://blog.simmins.org/2005/08/katrina-donations-begin.html


UPDATE: The plan for tomorrow's flood-aid blogburst: I'd like each blogger participating to put up a post recommending a charity, or other action to help, and linking back to this post where I'll keep a comprehensive list of both bloggers and charities. Basically, a Carnival of Hurricane Relief. That way readers of any blog will have ready access to recommendations on all the blogs. If anyone has a better idea, let me know.

Technorati Tags: flood aid, Hurricane Katrina
http://technorati.com/tag/flood%20aid
http://technorati.com/tag/hurricane+katrina

THE MUDVILLE GAZETTE has a massive roundup on the military response to Katrina, which is quite extensive
http://www.mudvillegazette.com/archives/003462.html


Courtesy of Hewitt at http://instapundit.com/

Also Craigslist has lost and found list for family members and those who can help in any way:
http://neworleans.craigslist.org/laf/

Search and Rescue and current needs: http://www.mirawebdesign.com/katrina.html

[WilliamWallace1999]

Hey, if the shoe fits. Look at today's Time's Picayune front page. Black police officers have joined in the looting.

[LIConFem]

"These people deserve a bullet between the eyes!"

Center-mass would suffice for me.

[Monti Cello]

I wonder if many stayed behind primarily in order to loot.

Hopefully the cops are controlling the exits to the city, and those with large amounts of contraband will be obvious if they try to leave with it. Those who want to leave with personal necessities, let em go.

I suspect these perps will stupidly try to remain in place and hang on to their ill-gotten booty, and they can hang onto it and die a painful death in a fetid swamp. If they want to live like animals, they can die like animals.