FEMA Chief Brown: Victims bear responsibility for their own Fates: CNN

[chomskysright]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/09/01/katrina.fema.brown/index.html

CNN) -- The director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Thursday those New Orleans residents who chose not to heed warnings to evacuate before Hurricane Katrina bear some responsibility for their fates.

Michael Brown also agreed with other public officials that the death toll in the city could reach into the thousands.

"Unfortunately, that's going to be attributable a lot to people who did not heed the advance warnings," Brown told CNN.

"I don't make judgments about why people chose not to leave but, you know, there was a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans," he said.

"And to find people still there is just heart-wrenching to me because, you know, the mayor did everything he could to get them out of there.

"So, we've got to figure out some way to convince people that whenever warnings go out it's for their own good," Brown said. "Now, I don't want to second guess why they did that. My job now is to get relief to them."

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin have both predicted the death toll could be in the thousands.

Nagin issued a "desperate SOS" Thursday as violence disrupted efforts to rescue people still trapped in the flooded city and evacuate thousands of displaced residents living amid corpses and human waste. (Full story)

Residents expressed growing frustration with the disorder evident on the streets, raising questions about the coordination and timeliness of relief efforts. (See video on the desperate conditions -- 4:36 )

Sniper fire prevented Charity Hospital from evacuating its patients Thursday. The hospital has no electricity or water, food consists of a few cans of vegetables, and the patients had to be moved to upper floors because of looters. (Full story) (See video of a city sinking in chaos -- 2:54)

[chomskysright]

1. Victim is blamed akin to rape blame: you dressed provocatively....

'You should have listened'

And so, in my attempts to map out this phenomenon, "Malevolent Neglect", here is one of the 1st 'calling cards':

1. the Victim is somehow blamed and so pushed back against the wall so as to lose their voice. this is akin to rape-blame. And I'm thinking here, going back into my head to my old feminist literature, such as Brownmiller's 'Against Our Will'....and she forwarding the premise that rape would be more accurately and less punitively defined as a a crime of aggression rather than a crime associated with sexual shame....there is something in the below that smacks of that. And in this blaming by FEMA person, what takes place is the edifying of the position of the person who a. either did not help a la Kitty Genovese or b. offered too little too late. The person below is Brown, estate attorney and legal assistant to the Arabian Horse Association (no I kid you not).

[charmsicle]

4. Dunno, Mr. Brown, maybe they didn't have any place else to go?

A lot didn't have cars, maybe they didn't have a way to get there if they did? Or money to figure out an alternative? Or maybe they thought that their government would take care of them, or would NEVER let it get to the point where there are thousands of people in a building with no electricity, no running water, no sanitation, dead bodies propped up against the wall, no food for days and days and days? Never mind. Apparently They ARE fucking idiots if they believed that last one.

[Francine Frensky]

49. like "let them eat cake" those w/o a CAR and w/o CASH

on hand should drive out of town for a few days and find a nice hotel.

That's just a complete IGNORANCE of poverty.

[YapiYapo]

59. According to them...

It's probably their own fault for being poor in the first place.

[Sabriel]

54. "It's their own fault for living near a large body of warm water."

Yes, as chomskysright said, Let's place the burden on the thousands of people who live there.

[Gloria]

2. Wasn't Blanco early on waiting for responses from these pricks??

I have NEVER seen this kind of crap -- a government turning on its own citizens

[Born Free]

48. some say bury it all

Some I know are saying they should just bury everything, why should the American taxpayer pay for these idiots -or- in the wild, the weak don't survive either. I long learned not to argue with them, just get sarcastic, and add something like "yeah maybe this would be a good site for the nuclear waste now". This is the bush coward's America, something they expect us to be proud of.

[triguy46]

65. Blanco is shell shocked at this point

If you saw her on the AM news, she needs to get away for 24 hours and get her shit together. She doesn't remember what she has said or done and admitted it. She is past whatever her level of maximum efficiency was or is. She is a basket case.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

3. One thing the Bushies make sure gets delivered is blame...elsewhere

[Kablooie]

92. But even now ... THEY WILL GET AWAY WITH IT!

I'm convinced that as horrifying as this is, the assholes will skip around it, some mayors and Governors will get the blame and their next presidential candidate will steal the election next time. They've had so much time to get entrenched, and when you're working with a Mafia type mentality, people don't stand up to them.

America is doomed.

[Demoiselle]

5. Michael Brown has surpassed even Bunnypants in evil stupidity.

Let's blame the people who had no way out--and nobody to help them. And those hospital patients! They brought it on themselves. My God! This is beyond evil.

[speedoo]

6. Koppel nailed Brown on Nightline.

Brown is a lying incompetent hack and Ted proved that tonight.

I think you will see somewhat less of Mr. Brown in the coming days.

[aquart]

14. $1000 to evacuate.

Transportation and a place to stay.

I couldn't afford it. You?

There was a family that did evacuate and had to leave their hotel when the money ran out. Came back to nothing. No idea what's next.

[ticapnews]

16. I would have to charge it...

then file bankruptcy before October 17.

Which I may have to do anyway...

[JustSayNO 2 Sheeples]

17. $1000?

I hear tell the gubmint actually thought about handing them $1000 each on Saturday so they'd leave but then they remembered, ooops, that money is already committed (75 Million) to getting the Sunni's to sign the Bush Constitution.

[Lorien]

29. Not that much

I spent about $300 evacuating to Ohio from Florida last year (to stay with relatives) 3 nights in (cheap) hotels plus gas. I saw others camped out on the side of the freeway. That's a better spot to be than in the middle of a hurricane zone, believe me.

But still, if I hadn't had a car, I don't know what I would have done!

[shrike]

60. But did you have family with you?

Or sick or elderly relatives, or beloved pets?

I'm with you on the first part of your post -- I'd have camped alongside the road, slept in my car, or stayed in a really cheap motel. But people who have small children or elderly parents are in a different situation.

And don't forget these people are going to be out of their homes for months. If indeed they have a home left.

[FlaGranny]

89. One of the main reasons that people who CAN leave and do not

is because they won't be allowed back. Many people who evacuate come back to intact homes that have been looted. Especially, if you live on a barrier island, the police block the bridges and won't let you back to your home. In the meantime, all night, the looters have stayed behind and when you return, you might as well have hurricane damage. We evacuated for two hurricanes last year. We live on the mainland so we were able to get home. Sure, there are trees all over the roads and power lines and debris, but we were able to get safely home. I don't believe they should prevent homeowners from returning unless the roads are totally impassable.

[Sanity Claws]

82. Gasprices are about double what they were last year

[leesa]

93. You had a car. You had family to stay with. What's your point??

[Judi Lynn]

45. The less,the better.There's nothing socially redeeming about Michael Brown

We've been learning subtly from the first that we can expect only the worst from this _Bush administration, but no one could have EVER expected them to be this removed from any kind of decency.

They are stunningly cold and vicious.



Michael Brown and Lon Chaney.

[sidpleasant]

62. Hey! That's an insult to Lon Cheney!

And the Phantom of the Opera as well. The Phantom didn't kill anywhere near as many people as Brown has with his monstrous incompetence and arrogant stupidity.

[ElectroPrincess]

46. Oh, I'm disappointed ...

If not Baghdad "Michael" Brown, then who else (rationalizing vampire) to LIE about the failed fawning efforts of this Criminal Executive Branch?

Brown should be ashamed of himself but these people always find others to take the blame for THEIR incompetence.

[Erika]

7. New Orleans exceeds a 30% poverty rate

They couldn't afford to evacuate. Many asked for loans to fill their tanks and were denied those loans. Bushbots have no reality with the working American, none at all.

[Trillo]

18. Yes, but to certain fundamental sects which are apparently quite

common and have infiltrated much of our society, if you're poor, its because you're doing something wrong, haven't worked hard enough, haven't learned enough, etc., hence, their economic class was a matter of "choice." "Poor" choice.

I wish it was sarcasm. There's a tremendous hardness of heart for poor people.

[JustSayNO 2 Sheeples]

8. Nightline

I just watched Koppel make Brown squirm. I loved it, it was TV worth watching. Lots of hard questions, mostly BS, Bushite answers.

Best was "we didn't know until today about the Convention Center and I am sending Honore' in to get factual information"

Koppel says "don't you people watch TV, we've been reporting on it for days".

"Well, we didn't have a factual account of it"

[UpInArms]

33. I almost applauded when Koppel said that the was one side of this

that was wrong - either the people in Washington were so disconnected to reality or there were no mass groups of people (15K plus) that were in horrible conditions at the coliseum (I think that is the second large building holding people) in NO.

[TroubleMan]

9. Then why won't FEMA give them taxi money and hotel money.

I have a wife and two kids (with one on the way) in a bush economy - that means I'm mostly broke. I live in West Palm Beach. I can't afford to up and leave if a CAT 5 comes my way. I guess I could for a few days. I have a car, so I could visit my family in Nashville, TN for a day or two.

However, most of the people didn't leave because they were living in poverty and had no vehicles.

When you give people free rides and put up a refugee camp BEFORE IT HITS, then you can blame people.

Don't tell the fish to get out of the water, if you're not going to provide and aquarium for them to go to.

[radwriter0555]

10. Told to leave, with no way as to HOW to leave. Handicapped, elderly,

kids, babies; people with no car, no bus money, no train money, how in hell were they supposed to leave?

[DBoon]

32. train money? bus money?

Even if they did, was there a bus service to help evacuate? Didn't Amtrak stop running entirely before the storm (stranding some tourists BTW)?

Private companies aren't going to ever do public service if it would seriously harm their business. Neither wil governmetn services that are "run like a business".

[triguy46]

66. Why didn't they climb into their Suburbans like normal people??? n/t

[struggle4progress]

90. 'The ones who could not leave were poor folks. Most are black'

<snip> The officer, who was seven when the notorious Hurricane Betsy struck the city in 1965, confirmed the mounting impression that many people who were stranded in the city had been unable to leave. These people were overwhelmingly poor and black.

"There were some people who did not have the basic means to leave and I blame the city for that," he said.

The officer, who was black, added: "There was no plan. There really should have been a plan for a deal like this. were poor folks mostly; most are blacks. It's not through any fault of their own ."

Some of the people the officer was talking about were just a few hundred yards away. At the Park Fontaine Apartments, residents without running water or electricity - or, indeed, any hope that things would change quickly - had placed a large white sheet on the floor of their car park. It was a message for any rescue helicopters passing overhead and it said in large black letters: "Need water food." <snip>

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article309684.ece

[Javaman]

11. Wow, mr. brown, tell that to the poor people who didn't have a car

or means to travel, or money to leave, or couldn't afford the gas, or lived in remote places and couldn't get out or the list goes on and on.

mr. brown, how about this, IF FUCKING FEMA HAD ACTUALLY ORGANIZED A REAL EVEC, PERHAPS MORE PEOPLE WOULD BE ALIVE, YOU FUCKING ASSWIPE!!!! Make no excuse for your overwelming failure, you lying son of a bitch, take responcibility for your fuck up, you cowardly bastard!

I loath and despise these fucking tools of the WH propaganda arm. I hope he dies a slow and painful death like many of the poor people who died because of no food, no water and no medication.

There are so many other things I wish to say about this living piece of shit, but I don't want my post to be deleted.

words escape me to describe adequately how I feel about these low life's in high places.

colossal failure*.

[sakabatou]

12. Brown must resign

[chomskysright]

25. KICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Boo Boo]

47. Bush must resign /nt

[salin]

53. his experience for FEMA - lawyer in Estate Planning

clearly doesn't understand poverty in the US - more of the Tax Cuts for ME and my Clients crowd.

grrrrrrrrr

[Judi Lynn]

87. It's the only decent thing he could possibly do.

I doubt he's capable of decent acts: it's probably out of his ability range.

When's the last time you ever saw a MEpublican do anything honorable?
It doesn't happen.

[Suich]

13. Haley Barbour was singing the same song on Larry King.

:banghead:

[DBoon]

34. Do we have a quote?

I think some of the voting Mississippi public needs to hear that.

[The_Casual_Observer]

15. This son of a bitch needs to be horse whipped.

The dirty rotten bastard!

[against all enemies]

19. MSNBC let him spin all night. ABC told the real story.

It was unbelieveable, watched ABC do 15 straight minutes on the government failures and the horror these people went through, then turned to MSNBC and listened to Brown say how everyting was going great. Fuck MSNBC, letting these guys spin while people are suffering so that B*sh can look good.

[sofa king]

20. There is no bread...

"Then let them eat cake."

Let the poor inner city people who couldn't afford gas when it was cheap at $2.89 a gallon hop in the SUVs they don't have because they can't afford to park, and leave.

Remember this, when the revolution comes.

[brentspeak]

21. That's always the first thing a relief director should announce

"We're here to help you, even though we really shouldn't have to be doing this, as it's all your fault in the first place (or so we say)."

:grr:

[liveoaktx]

22. Two Vid Clips of Michael Brown

Blame it on NO

After Saying Everything Under Control, Admits Surprise at finding out people at Convention Center

[complain jane]

23. How about they get off the TV and start doing their JOBS

[applegrove]

24. That's right people. One set of rules for Bush, Rummy et all, one set

of rules for everybody else. "Take responsibility for your actions?" **** YOU!

[bpilgrim]

26. hmmm... wonder how well that'll go over in the red states?

more...
http://news.globalfreepress.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=lastup&cat=0&pos=5

welcome to the third world :hi:

peace

[ngGale]

28. You will be glad to know....

my red state is getting the picture. In the south, we know it's only a matter of time before it happens to us. I'm not feeling like the only blue person in this town anymore.

I've never seen Bush's base SO MAD.:think:

[raccoon]

71. your post gives me hope. nt

[krkaufman]

27. Brown persists in "choice" stance, even in face of contrary info

See thread here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4570102

[Endangered Specie]

30. Id pay good money to see him say that in front of

a crowd of about 50 NO survivors, see how long he lasts.

[chomskysright]

31. kick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Stil]

35. Yes sir Mr. Brown

I'll leave town as soon as they remove the IV's and breathing assist. Maybe the doctors should have left the patients Mr. Brown. I guarantee you if the people in the hospital could have left they would have.

[tmooses]

36. I suppose when we cannot feed our cars anymore, we are asking to

become victims of any natural disaster?

[HuckleB]

37. The Bush administration mantra at work.

WWHD? What would Hitler do?

I no longer give a rip that it's an overblown comparison. I know it is. But these fucks would get away with everything Hitler did and more if they could.

Shit.

[Historic NY]

38. They need to find another FEMA director........

this guy Michael Brown is a total idiot. I find it totally unbelievable that he hasn't a clue where people are. Why are there still thousands stuck in that putrid morass.....why Mr. Brown.

[physioex]

39. I have been watchin TV off and on today....

And Dudu Brown is on TV more that he is actually working. WTF....Get off the TV and do some actual work for once.....

[truthisfreedom]

40. michael "kick 'em when they're down" brown.

go f*ck yourself, you insensitive, thoughtless, mind-bogglingly selfish prick. you act like everyone lives off the federal dole LIKE YOU. prick. you are paid with OUR HARD-EARNED TAX DOLLARS and your job is to DO YOUR JOB, not spin for the mafia running our country. GET TO WORK, MICHAEL! I EXPECT TO SEE YOU WITH SHOVEL IN HAND, GRUNTING WITH THE REST OF THEM! EARN YOUR OVERBLOWN PAY!

[antonialee839]

41. I heard the despicable bastard say that too.

I'm glad Koppel nailed him on it, even though he (Koppel) kept apologizing after each question he asked. Why does anyone have to be sorry for asking these incompetent and uncaring fools a simple question or follow-up question?

[applegrove]

42. His neocon job is not to understand why leaving was impossible?

Actually... that is his job. He is

IN CHARGE OF FEMA!

[aaronbees]

43. I'd love it ...

if Brown was dropkicked into NOLA's 9th ward and had to float around and fend for himself for a few days. What an insufferable, incompetent scumbag he is.

[hunter]

44. Strip him naked and leave him on a roof for a few days.

:grr:

[struggle4progress]

84. "Brown bears responsibility for his own Fate"

[shrike]

61. Great solution

I'm in if you are.

Note to Agent Mike or any other crum bum reading DU -- we're not really going to do this.

[ElectroPrincess]

50. Now Baghdad Brown has enlisted Bush-Bot Brian Lamb ...

He's on Washington Journal almost DEMANDING nothing but "happy news" from the callers. Anyone who challenges or blames The Bush Administration is promptly "cut off." Followed by another plea from "the good corporate soldier" Lamb, "We need more stories on what IS happening in this area. :puke:

[Deja Q]

51. Like Michael Moore said, these folks won't care unless it happens to them.

As for "advance warnings", I have been hearing of how not-so-advanced they were.

[Bridget Burke]

52. The evacuation was not "mandatory"

It was recommended, but with no legal force. A mandatory evacuation would have meant emptying all the hospitals. It can be bad for very sick people to be moved & hospitals usually ride out storms pretty well. But then the water started to rise.

And a "mandatory" evacuation would probably have involved providing transport for those who did not have it.

[IMayBeWrongBut]

55. It was made mandatory

The evacuation was made mandatory about 6-8 hours before the Curfew the night before the storm as I recall...

[Media_Lies_Daily]

56. For a task of that magnitude, that was simply MUCH too late.

[JerseygirlCT]

57. Did anyone see Today this morning?

First, film and coverage from inside NO -- convention center and Superdome. People telling the cameras what they're dealing with.

Then the interview with Brown, where he says they've been getting food and water all along, that they've been getting out...

Either my eyes are lying or he is.

It was a nice juxtaposition by Today, I must say.

[dean_dem]

58. When did Marie Antoinette take over FEMA operations?

I must have missed that memo.

[triguy46]

64. LOL n/t

[triguy46]

63. in the AM news...

all the FEMA and Homeland black shirts were backpedalling over the blame issue. They are finding it doesn't sell except with the dittodicks. They struggle so hard with compassion, they just don't get it... they just can't say "Our hearts go out to them" the have to say, "They didn't heed our warnings, our hearts go out to them." They just can't let go of judgement, some small bit of trying to cover their asses. Michael Brown, the head RedShirt had obviously been scripted to be the new compassionate Michael Brown, it was a very thin veneer.

[yellowcanine]

67. Next hurricane put Brown on a levee with no transportation and tell him

he needs to evacuate to save his ass. See how he does with that.

[Oreegone]

68. Heartless

That is all I can say. Did anyone check to see if they are part of the thousands who left and then returned after the hurricane only to have the levees break that the government didn't think were important enough to fix?

[meganmonkey]

69. Man, how fucking low can you go?

You fit right in with the rest of this evil administration.

:(

[dmkinsey]

70. I saw this numb-nuts on PBS last night

saying what a swell job FEMA's doing.
Lehrer kinda gave him a hard time but in the end just let him skate.

[defiant1]

72. I hate this motherfucker....

It's obvious he doesn't give a shit.

Last night Bryan Williams was interviewing him on NBC Nightly, and he asked for specific ETA's for the supplies that Brown kept saying were "on the way". And all this dude could do was talk about how bad he felt for eveyone down there.

We get that you feel bad, you fuck, now go out there and do something constructive instead of wasting our time by giving us excuses and ambiguous answers.

Goddamn assclown.

:mad:

:argh:

[melody]

73. un-effing-believable

What happened to the "party of personal responsibility"? They want everyone else to take responsibility, so they don't have to?

[Dr Fate]

74. Great- we have a Ditto-Head for a FEMA Director. Bush is an idiot.

n/t

[Lisa]

75. they're citizens. You're supposed to protect them regardless, Chief Brown

Firefighters regularly rescue people from poorly-maintained buildings which they were foolish/desperate (take your pick) enough to live in. The Coast Guard saves unskilled people who put to sea in badly-equipped craft. Doctors and nurses take extraordinary measures to save patients whom they'd warned for years about needing to cut back on smoking, drinking, and junk foods.

The authorities may chide people for risky behavior, BUT they also must protect them as much as they can, because that's their job.

[geniph]

76. Brown, you evil son of a bitch!

Does it even OCCUR to people like this that poor folks CAN'T just up and drive away before something like this? I grew up dirt poor, and I think it's time that fucktards like this hear some home truths about it.

1. How do you evacuate before a disaster without a car?

2. If you do have a car, how do you evacuate if the car is maybe not running so hot, or you can't afford the fuel for it?

3. Say you do happen to be one of the lucky ones - you have a car that runs and can buy a tank of gas. WHERE DO YOU GO? We are talking about people who don't have middle-class luxuries like credit cards, who may not have relatives who live in safe areas. This is before the refugee camps and free shelters are set up. WHERE DO YOU GO WHEN YOU HAVE NO MONEY FOR A MOTEL AND DON'T OWN A TENT?

4. How do you feed your kids on the road, when you're living strictly paycheck to paycheck and don't have a penny extra to buy supplies to take in the car?

5. Your employer hasn't given you the day before the disaster off, you don't have sick leave, or vacation, and you know you'll lose your job if you don't show up for work. How do you get out ahead of the storm?

As TroubleMan put it earlier in this thread, you don't evacuate the fish from the water if you don't have an aquarium for them to go to.

Goddamned idiot.

[katty]

77. As Usual-bush/FEMA FU--of course BLAME THE VICTIMS!

[springhill]

78. As Ted Koppel told Brown last night........

Why in the hell weren't there buses, trucks, anything to help evacuate those people who didn't have the means to do it on their own? He had no answer for that. None.

[KamaAina]

79. "Assclown" Michael Brown. Has kind of a nice ring to it, no?

Kind of like "Downtown" Julie Brown, only evil rather than merely vapid.

[dbonds]

80. Yes, because we had all those military vehicles lined up...

ready to evacuate people. Busses commandeered also. Trains routed through there to help evacuate. And the airliners were making special trips and getting people out. :sarcasm: Isn't that what SHOULD have been done if FEMA was serious. They had 3 days.

[Mabus]

81. You mean "Baghdad Brown" ?

What flood? What people?

[Danmel]

83. It is beyond belief

The lederly, those on dialysis, women with newborns- how the hell were they supposed to get out. I saw all these women out in the street with days old infants. Three days post partum I wouldn't have been able to get out and I can afford to get out and have a acar. (Actually you're not supposed to drive for a week or so after delviering).

The callousness and utter lack of any comprehension of what it is to be poor and resourceless is simply mid boggling. I'd live to see the whole Bush crew out in those circumstances and trying to survive.

I bet Cheney would kill people pretty quickly. It would be like "The Lord of the Flies". And Condi would have to run in those new expensive shoes through all that shit and snkae and dead body infested water. The horror!

Totally sickening, It really really is. Just when you think it can't get any worse, And it's only month 7 of term 2.

[Skittles]

85. if this does not cure people of voting republican

I do no know what will

[The Wielding Truth]

86. Yeah, and we could have not gone to war in Iraq if we had facts.Levees

could withstand only cat 3 hurricane. This was forecast a cat 5. Levees would most likely break. Who informed the dead and suffering citizens of New Orleans of this. Who was there to evacuate the poor and infirmed. No Excuses. Evil,Bad Guy,WMD's.Administration change,Soldiers not die in vain.
This lies in the arms of the President and His ignorant administration.Too late to save the children,old,ill, and poor in two parts of this world.

[Bake]

88. I have NEVER seen such perverse callousness in my life.

It is a disgrace to America. A DISGRACE. And the Red States are now learning how high they rate on the Pukes' scale.

A DISGRACE. I'd use nastier language but I have none left.

Bake

[rateyes]

91. And did you see the Chimp with him on TV today..

praising him for the "fine job" he is doing, and all the claps he got from the Repig governors? What a joke. Every one of them ought to hang their head in shame as they offer their resignations.

[truth2power]

95. And the chimp referred to him as "Brownie".

Isn't that quaint? Bush talking like he's at some damn neighborhood barbeque or something.

Evil clueless fucks. Both of 'em! :mad:

[buddysmellgood]

94. WHY HASN'T THIS ASSHAT BEEN FIRED? It's not like he has a handle on

on the situation. It's not like keeping him is going to hold anything together. We need professionals here.

[Danmel]

97. "Brownie" is doing a "great Job"

Haley Barbour and the Fearless Leader told him so just this very afternoon!

[all.of.me]

96. i think the government is responsible for

not dealing with this disaster-waiting-to-happen many many many years ago.

[Shallah Kali]

98. Who do we write to get this jerk fired?

How are hospital patients to evacuate? The poor who can't afford to rent a car or could not get a bus ticket? What of the old folks homes? I read on the BBC how workers at one home were begging for help from reporters because the police wouldn't even talk to them. 2 women had already died and they didn't expect 3 more to last the day and only had a little water left for the others!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4203890.stm

Quote:
Alastair Leithead, New Orleans, LA : 15:05 GMT

A few moments ago a man came up to me and asked if I was a journalist. He said: "Can you help me? I need to save the lives of 60 women."

Twelve blocks away there are 60 people in an old people's home and 30 staff who have been looking after them since the hurricane struck. He said they had enough water to last 12 hours, two of the women had died already and three more will probably die today.

"Who can I ask?" he said. I said I didn't know and he wandered off. The policemen wouldn't talk to him so he's gone off to try to find someone who might help.