Death toll in Louisiana could be above 10,000: US Senator

[sabra]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050902/pl_afp/usweatherdeaths

Death toll in Louisiana could be above 10,000: US Senator 16 minutes ago



BATON ROUGE, United States (AFP) - US Senator David Vitter said that the death toll from Hurricane Katrina could top 10,000 in Louisiana alone.

"My guess is that it will start at 10,000, but that is only a guess," Vitter said, adding that he was not basing his remarks on any official death toll or body count.

Vitter, a Louisiana Republican, also called for the immediate deployment of regular US combat troops in New Orleans, saying the build-up of National Guard troops was too slow to quickly restore order.

....


Vitter, speaking to reporters at the emergency response center in Baton Rouge, also said he gave the federal government a grade 'F' for its response to the disaster so far.

[aquart]

1. 10,000 sounds about right.

I wasn't buying the 50,000 I heard last night.

But we'll have to count them and find out, won't we? And it would be nice if we could do what the other third world countries did, and call in teams that could identify decayed bodies.

[Pacifist Patriot]

35. Sadly I've been estimating 10,000+ since Tuesday.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. a REPUBLICAN?!?!

That means that even they can't stomach the crap from Chertoff and Brown.

On the other hand, he is their senator, and I am sure this must be an extremely emotional time for him. Reality strikes, and strikes hard.

[John Q. Citizen]

10. I'm sure he wants to be re-elected. The whole state knows the

Feds sat on their hands for days. Too little too late.

[Bucky]

31. Again the genius of democracy is shown

The genius of democracy that it marries the careerism of politicians to public insterest of the people. Vitter is ready to kick ass and take names (Landrieu should've made the same speech) both because it'll keep him popular with some pretty angry voters and because he probably knew some of the dead. The volume of this tragedy is only beginning to emerge.

[Jawja]

18. Exactly.

That's why he's not whitewashing it or spinning it for *. It hit HOME.

[yardwork]

26. Vitter represented Metairie for several terms

This really did hit home for him. I wonder why he waited until today to speak up, though?

[MaineDem]

3. I wouldn't doubt it

Hard to fathom but quite probable.

How sad.

[MADem]

4. HOLY SHIT 911x3+, but with regular programming and commercial breaks

Amazing--the loss of life and impact to our economy are far greater, but life goes on, commercials are aired, and regular programming never left the airwaves.

It's only when our houses are freezing in the goddamn winter and we cannot get to the grocery store because the local station is out of gas that we will realize the full extent of this disaster.

Those who pray should start thinking it is not too soon to pray for a mild winter...

[Ediacara]

5. 10,000 is too low

[eyepaddle]

6. At this point it is really impossible to say definitively

they aren't even beginning to count bodies. 10,000 is very likely but probably (and tragically) probably still too low.

The question is: how many have perished since Monday evening?

[Pachamama]

12. Atleast 80% of those people are dying or died within the last 24-48 hours

Those Motherfuckers in the White House are murderers....rascist murderers who have bankrupted our country financially, morally and otherwise and they are going to have the death and blood of these people on their hands.

I lost 5 friends in the WTC on 9/11...I had coffee with a girlfriend this morning who lost her parents and 9 friends in the WTC on 9/11 (and had just given birth days after 9/11 to her now almost 4 year old.

She and I both agreed, this event is far worse than 9/11....Not that the deaths of our friends on 9/11 wasn't preventable, but the death and dying going on in New Orleans was and the Bush Administration is responsible for their deaths.

I hate these motherfuckers...they are evil, evil, evil and I can't think of any other words to describe them....:grr:

Our sisters and brothers are dying in the streets of New Orleans....babies, old people and these assholes who claim they are for the "culture of life"?

:cry: :cry: :cry:

I can't stop crying....this is so so so awful...I hate these motherfuckers...I can't think of any other words to say...And here I am, someone who tries to practice kindness and have been trying to learn about love and peace and living it, and all I can think is how much I hate them and how evil they are.....

[Gormy Cuss]

13. you know, I can't help myself either.

I try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. I try to put myself in someone else's shoes to understand a different perspective. I will allow that politicians' actions may seem wrongheaded to me because I am not privy to relevant information. In public arenas like DU, I have resisted using funny but cheap shot names like 'chimpy' and try to frame my criticism of W without a lot of cursing. Starting today, I've had it. That useless piece of shit heartless motherfucker needs to be impeached now. I'd love to see him sent to jail for his dereliction of duty.

edited for &(%(^* spelling!

[adigal]

33. Yes, sometimes we just have to tell it like it is n/t

[tnlefty]

14. I wholeheartedly agree with you!

I wish that I had some words of comfort for you. I despise everything about them and it's starting to bleed over to those who helped to put this evil bunch back in office for a 2nd term.

[iamjoy]

20. Source On That 80% Please

If you are going to make the statement that 80% of the people did not drown but died of famine, please provide some evidence.

I am outraged too at the lack of federal response, but don't want to speculate. There are so many rumors, and most of them seem bad, it just makes me feel worse. I'd rather not feel worse about something that turns out to not be insubstantial.

My heart breaks for you and all the victims of 9-11 and this tragedy
:hug:

[Pachamama]

47. Want sources? Ask any Physician, aid worker, relief specialist etc

and they will tell you, both from their training, personal experiences dealing with natural disasters etc. that following an event like this, that the most critical time for saving lives is within 24-72 hrs and the number one item is clean drinking water. My husbands dearest college roommate is a doctor and relief worker with Doctors without borders. He is currently in the Darfur region of Sudan. One of the very first things they do when they arrive at a village or place struck by flooding etc (or for example in Dec. when he was in Banda Aceh) is to set up "water bladders" for drinking water.

Kirk, my husband's friend, emailed my husband on Tuesday and said this number of 80% to him. You know what? I believe him as an accurate source given his training and the shit this man sees as a physician in the world's most devastating disasters. I guess short of autopsies on every victim, we'll never know the exact percentage of the New Orleans dead who died from the hurricane or "drowning" from flooding and rising waters because like after the tsunami, they will need for disease purposes to dispose of the bodies asap, but this was not like the tsunami where people were killed within a matter of minutes from a crushing tidal wave washing them away.

The people of New Orleans will have primarily have died from dehyrdration & disease due to neglect and lack of aid. That's not speculation. I assure you that is fact. Be outraged. America should be beyond outraged. I know I am.

[HockeyMom]

29. These so called "christians" only care about

blastocysts, embryos, and fetuses. Living, BREATHING, human beings they don't give a CRAP about.

Sorry, but that is how I feel about these people. Hurricane Katrina was the THIRD byline on Concerned Women for America, after the usual fight against gay marriage and "protecting" fertilized eggs. Well, you "concerned"
women, what about the PEOPLE WHO THE HELL ARE ALREADY HERE??????? Obviously, you aren't CONCERNED about THEM????

These people make me sick.

[Massachusetts]

7. they can't stomach the crap from Chertoff and Brown

And Chertoff and Brown has WHO FOR A BOSS! The Buck STOPS with little POS king georgie boy. OFF WITH HIS HEAD FIRST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[RedEarth]

8. Rove smear machine will come after this guy for giving FMEA an F...

next week we will probably hear this guy is gay or a pedophile

[neuvocat]

11. Rove's cover is blown.

He's still got the Plame scandal to deal with and besides that, people are starting to realize that the smear tactics are standard operational procedure for the White House.

I shudder to think however that this is far, far worse than 911.

[demo dutch]

9. LA 10,000- MS ? - AL ? Bet could be around 20,000

[natrat]

21. oh but haley barbour said Ms. only a hundred or so...not

[DSperoRN]

32. MS death toll also in thousands

I don't have the link, but saw interviews with rescue workers in Mississippi talking about pulling out bodies "20 or 30 at a time." I think we have once again underestimated the evil of the gang that has taken over this country. They do not care if anyone is rescued. They only care about war, profits, and oil.

[DoYouEverWonder]

15. So how many of them are white?

Not many would be my guess.

Leaving black people to die in a disaster is the fundies new version of birth control.

[Bridget Burke]

19. Probably quite a few.

Not all the deaths are in downtown NOLA--& not even downtown NOLA is all black. What about the people who climbed up into attics without axes? Some were recovered but others have probably died by now.

[DemVet]

22. Your post is just sick.

Your post is warped and just racially divisive. Truly disgusting. :(

[Stuckinthebush]

23. Racism and classism is playing a part in this tragedy

That is certain. I don't think there is an intentional, concerted effort to let people die, but I do think that the racism and classism that we have witnessed play a part in the slow response, and the blaming of the victims.

[yardwork]

28. Racism is a huge part of the problem and it's time we called it out

The fact is that tens of thousands of mostly black people were left to die of thirst and starvation when it would have been relatively easy to organize relief efforts.

The fact is that the AP captioned photos of black people taking food and supplies from flooded and destroyed stores with the epithet "looters" while captioning photos of the white people doing the same thing as "finding supplies" or "collecting items." (This is confirmed on snopes.com for those who'd like to check.)

The fact is that mostly-white tourists trapped in New Orleans were evacuated well ahead of sick, starving, dying people who had gone - as directed! - the Superdome.

The fact is that our government is playing up reports of "thugs" and "lawlessness" and "we got shot at!" as an excuse to blame the tens of thousands of victims - most of whom are too sick to stand up much less engage in "thuggery" for this catastrophe. We're in war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Are they telling me that the National Guard can't withstand a few thugs? Come on!

It's time to call it as it is. Racism, pure and simple. Oh and by the way, my skin tone is pale.

[Seabiscuit]

37. Even Lou Dobbs on CNN is guilty of racism.

During a Lou Dobbs interview on CNN late this afternoon, his guest was talking about looting and violence. As he was talking, CNN switched from a view of Dobbs and his guest to a full screen video which has been played for days of a rather menacing looking black man with wild hair screaming unintelligibly at the TV camera, waving his arms around at the cameraman and at the crowd of black people outside the New Orleans Convention Center as Dobbs guest referred to "thugs" in the streets of New Orleans. Then they went on to another topic as if nothing had happened.

That man and the others on the sidewalk in the video were screaming for HELP. CNN portrayed him as one of the "thugs" Dobbs' guest was talking about who have supposedly been raping and killing and stealing. That man was not involved in anything like that. He was sick and tired and frustrated and angry that he and others there had been left on the street to rot with no help for days.

[President Kerry]

42. Yes, but unfortunately others were.. it's a tragic reality, but there

were MURDERS, RAPES, and SUICIDES in the Superdome! i'm not even talking about looting, it's rather unimportant given the circumstances.

[Seabiscuit]

49. Can you document/verify that claim? I've heard nothing but

unsubstantiated rumors and admissions from those who've spread those rumors that they're nothing but rumors.

Yet the MSM has been reporting those things as if they were established fact, which they're not.

Where are the suspects under arrest? Where are the criminal charges? Where are the victims? Where are the eyewitnesses? Where is the video footage? Nada.

[NNadir]

38. I agree 100%.

[President Kerry]

41. your skintone is irrelevant..

and your post is divisive and unfair, and this is as nice as i can put it. Show some evidence of your "white tourists were evacuated first" claim. If you translated all your race statements to the class difference, you might be on to something. Unfortunately, most poor folks in NOLA happen to be black. Why that is is a different subject.

It was the responsibility of FEMA, the Governor, and the Mayor to make sure the poor were not left for dead. They all failed miserably, white and black leadership! I don't believe this is about race at all.

[Karenina]

50. Guest of the Hyatt? Get in line ahead of the darkies!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4603775#4603939

[Baconfoot]

43. If you actually read the Snopes article

it doesn't confirm that there was a racial component in the captioning of those two, now infamous, photographs.

All it confirms is that the two photos exist and did have the captions which internet rumors claimed that they had. As to whether the same entity captioned the two similar looking pictures, the Snopes investigation did not confirm that. And as to whether the context of the pictures was a similar as the images on the pictures would suggest, well, the Snopes article presents evidence against that.

Now... I think that the word looting should never be used in conjunction with bread. And there may be a racial component to the captioning of the picture whose caption contained the word looting. But, if so, we don't need to look at the OTHER picture to see the racial component. Just look at the picture of the person being called a looter and think about what they are carrying.

[leftchick]

44. perhaps you have not paying attention?

DYEO is dead on.

[Zynx]

16. A couple people called me crazy for saying 7,000

This is the worst disaster that has befallen this country in my lifetime by far and it is due entirely to incompetence.

[Warren Stupidity]

17. Its Friday - day five. The official estimate of the death toll is.....

:chirp:
:chirp:
:chirp:

I have never been so outraged in my life. Everyone in this administration, every last one of them, and their friends and facilitators in the propaganda factories, every last one of them too, needs to go to jail for the rest of their natural lives.

[Stuckinthebush]

24. Why is there no estimate?

I've wondered that for the past few days. During every tragedy, the first thing that comes out is an estimate of the wounded and dead. Why not in this case?

[barb162]

25. How does anyone know who is dead in attics unless they crack

open every attic? I bet the small towns around NOLA haven't been checked too well yet. I also wonder about the Mayor's estimate that 80% of the city was evacuated in the first place.

[Karenina]

34. INDICT. IMPEACH. IMPRISON.

.

[Sgent]

27. Vitter

lives in Jefferson Parish (Metararie), and was a congressman from parts of St. Tammany and New Orleans for years before getting elected to take John Breux's spot.

[leesa]

30. And what was Vitter's role in cutting pulbic services and public disaster

funds? Did he support the unnecessary war in Iraq where all our equipment and National Guard and money is being wasted? Screw him...far as I can tell, Republicans vote in lock-step, so I imagine he was for cutting all these safety nets.

[Bumblebee]

36. Collateral damage, you know...

[BrightKnight]

39. ethnic cleansing

Is that too strong? 10K people!

[wiley]

45. It's just beginning

Lots of people just might get accidentally shot during the evacuation stage. The number will be way more than 10,000 once they take over the city, and people start dying from diseases like Hep A, cryptosporidiosis, etc. considering their physical status. This is planned genocide by default, just like cutting Medicaid funding.

[barb162]

40. catastrophic failure of city, state and federal government

It started with the city, where a shelter capable of handling only a fraction of its residents was provided and people were told to bring their own food and water. All levels of government watched a cat. 3 for a few days was aiming toward the coast. It was as if no one was planning, just "sort of" reacting after the event (instead of before) and reacting badly.

[bvar22]

46. They were killed by the Republican Party!

The GREAT Majority of deaths in New Orleans did not occur during Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans survived Katrina!
The great majority of deaths IN NEW ORLEANS were caused by the failure of an internal levee hours AFTER Katrina had left the New Orleans area. The levee that failed was scheduled for strengthening, but had been DEFUNDED by the Republican Party!

Compassionate Conservatism is a euphemism for rule by the GREEDY RICH!!!!

[pinniped]

48. Meanwhile, the moranic first lady says things are not as bad...

as it looks on TV.

10,000 sounds awfully bad to me.

[yardwork]

51. She always says that. She's a fatuous moran who says what she's told