New Orleans in Anarchy with Fights, Rapes

[ray of light]

New Orleans in Anarchy With Fights, Rapes

By ALLEN G. BREED, Associated Press Writer
18 minutes ago


NEW ORLEANS - New Orleans descended into anarchy Thursday, as corpses lay abandoned in street medians, fights and fires broke out and storm survivors battled for seats on the buses that would carry them away from the chaos. The tired and hungry seethed, saying they had been forsaken.


"I'm not sure I'm going to get out of here alive," said Canadian tourist Larry Mitzel, who handed a reporter his business card in case he goes missing. "I'm scared of riots. I'm scared of the locals. We might get caught in the crossfire."

Four days after Hurricane Katrina roared in with a devastating blow that inflicted potentially thousands of deaths, the frustration, fear and anger mounted, despite the promise of 1,400 National Guardsmen a day to stop the looting, plans for a $10 billion recovery bill in Congress and a government relief effort President Bush called the biggest in U.S. history.

New Orleans' top emergency management official called that effort a "national disgrace" and questioned when reinforcements would actually reach the increasingly lawless city.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/hurricane_katrina">Associated Press reporters Adam Nossiter, Brett Martel, Robert Tanner and Mary Foster contributed to this report.

[jazzjunkysue]

1. This isn't my america.

You're telling me the greatest country in the history of the world can't evacuate these people? Can't, or won't?

This plastic administration is being revealed. No one will forget this.

[iamjoy]

5. Mine Either

but if all these accounts are true, how does being hungry, thirsty and abandoned give you the right to rape another person just as desperate as you?

I am ashamed. I am ashamed of my government for failing these people so miserably. I am ashamed of those people, not the ones who are merely desperate, but the ones who use their situation to justify beastly behavior towards their fellow suffering citizen. In other disasters you hear of people working together, even in extremely averse conditions.

Why are we not hearing these reports from NOLA?

[KamaAina]

6. Because MSM wants to play up the anarchy and chaos for ratings

Why are we not hearing these reports from NOLA?

The good people are out there. Try some of the NOLA blogs at WWL-TV and the Times-Picayune.

[Iris]

18. rape is an act of anger

It's not right under normal circumstances and it's not right under these, but it's also not all that surprising.

[LostinVA]

20. Rape is an act of control and hate against women

Not against Bush or FEMA. Desperation and frustration are not causing men to rape women. They are rapists.

Not wanting to fight Iris, I swear! But this subject hits close to home for me...

[Voltaire99]

22. Gaze on the real face of America.

And not a fictitious one, imagined on certain message boards.

It's bracing to see the truth, isn't it?

[slay]

2. Is there any doubt left? - America is run by souless criminals who don't

give a shit about any of us. They only manipulate us to further their agendas. At best they only want our money. :(

[KansDem]

24. This should put the kibosh on "I'll run government like a business..."

How many times have we heard that from candidates (usually Republicans) for elected office? How many times have we heard how "government" is "out of control" and needs the steady hand of someone in business to guide it? How many times have we heard "I've had to meet a payroll!" from a business owner who believes he can run government better? Bullshit! It is clear now that we need people of vision in office. People who are skilled in public service, not some corporate yahoos who think their perceived CEO skills are what qualifies them for the job.

Both Bush and Cheney touted their CEO oil corporate skills in 2000. And the result? Record high gasoline prices and this hurricane debacle. Perhaps being a CEO didn't prepare these two bozos for a natural disaster and how to prepare and provide relief. It appears that screaming at some secretary to get them their coffee does not give them the experience to plan and organize a rescue effort. I think now we'll see a revive interest in the public service experience of candidates for public office.

[SpiralHawk]

3. "I haven't seen a single FEMA guy."

They are all "hanging loose" like George AWOL Bush

[krkaufman]

7. I've been none too impressed with New Orleans' mayor, either

The guy just didn't exude any sense of urgency in the days before the storm nor immediately afterward, and he seems to be trying to shift all the blame to the federal government. Given FEMA's and the Corps of Engineers' short-changing New Orleans over the last couple of years, the city administration should have had a "worst case scenario" plan in place and it should have been implemented early Saturday morning.

I wish there were some photo archive of available through which to search, because I'd swear that I saw tens of school buses up to their roofs in water. What the hell were school buses doing sitting unused in a parking lot, *in the susceptible flood area*? They should have been used for mass evacuations throughout the city on Saturday & Sunday, and then protected from damage during the storm.

There's just too many ways in which the federal, state and city governments -- and people -- were wholly unprepared for this *predicted* disaster.

[barb162]

12. Before the hurricane hit and the Dome was being called

the place for last resort safety, they were telling the people to bring as much food with them as they could. From start to finish, it seemed all levels of government were unprepared even though they knew a category 5 was aiming right down their throats.

[brentspeak]

14. Once the smoke finally clears, Nagin, and a whole lot of others

both Democrat and Republican, are going to be nothing but political casualties.

[iamjoy]

16. Where Would They Have Gone?

Using the buses to evacuate the people sounds like a good idea, except what city would have been willing to take NOLAs poorest? They are willing now 'cos they see the magnitude of suffering, but in advance?

I agree though, there should have been a plan.

[CJCRANE]

19. What about a "tented city"?

That seems to be the standard procedure for situations like this, get the refugees in a tented settlement in a secure location where supplies can be easily trucked in.

[gorekerrydreamticket]

21. We can do better than that

Fan them out to other cities where there is plenty of housing. NO won't be habitable for a while. Tent cities is what you would have in undeveloped countries.

[mike923]

23. Tent cities don't do very well in Catagory 4 storms.

[CJCRANE]

25. Good point.

I'm no expert but I guess they could've put them up after the storm had abated or in a location outside the hurricane zone.

[Rose Siding]

4. ray of light, please edit your post down to four paragraphs

-in order to comply with DUs copyright regulations.

-thank you

[rodeodance]

8. the mayor giving them permission to march!!!!!!!!??

Mayor Ray Nagin gave the refugees permission to march across a bridge to the city's unflooded west bank for whatever relief they could find. But the bedlam made that difficult.th

[ray of light]

9. thanks

sorry, I got so agitated when I read that, I totally went spastic and just posted!

Sorry D.U. I'll try to not do that again!

[3girlsma]

10. Heads had BETTER roll for this. I cannot take anymore.

What can we do? I cannot bear those people thinking WE HAVE ABANDONED THEM!

Payment MUST BE EXACTED for the criminals who allowed this to happen. Or we ARE ALL RESPONSIBLE.

We have let to many crimes go unprosecuted. The nation UNDERSTANDS NOW. Trial and punishment NOW!

[Divine Discontent]

11. watching abc right now

it is evil what is going on...

we're just sickened, what a horrible excuse for government we have.

Sen. Landrieau just spoke, you could see she was just short of going off about bush but kept her composure.

they knew FOUR days ahead of this that a category 4 storm was going to slam into the louisiana area - and where was the gov't preparation?

pat roberton being 2nd on the donation list at FEMA?/?

boats from the military being scrubbed out of fear for their safety???

bush laughing things off???

a sin of unbelievable proportions... someone has to be held accountable.

[iamjoy]

15. Category 3 Saturday Evening

It strengthened over night into a five.

But yes, why did we cut funding for the levees, but if local officials knew their levees weren't strong enough, why didn't they have a plan in place?

[barb162]

13. "FEMA director Michael Brown said the agency just learned

"about the situation" at the Convention Center.

The various reporters questioning him were incredulous. Everyone in the country and abroad knows about it. It's a separate story on BBC. How can that guy be running FEMA

[AlphaCentauri]

17. Child Rape? God!

BRITISH students told yesterday how they stepped out of the horror of Hurricane Katrina into the hell of their Superdome "shelter".

......

In one diary entry, he said: "A man has been arrested for raping a seven-year-old in the toilet, this place is hell, I feel sick. The smell is horrendous, there are toilets overflowing and people everywhere."



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