Harrowing hunt for the 71 Britons still missing amid the devastation of Hu

[lovuian]

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/redir.php?jid=6da0d77088914099&cat=c08dd24cec417021

In the wake of the worst storm to strike America in living memory, the Red Cross is trying to reunite separated families
By Julia Stuart
Published: 18 September 2005
There were times when Christin Nazari lay awake last week worrying whether she had done enough to help. The 32-year-old British Red Cross worker, more used to life by the sea in her home town of Brighton, spent her days picking her way through devastated Baton Rouge trying to unite loved ones who had become separated in the chaos. It was a week that moved her to tears.

"You go to bed and think about your day and try and focus on the individuals that you have been able to help," said the tracing specialist, who also worked in Bam, Iran, after the earthquake and in the aftermath of the tsunami in Sri Lanka. "Then you think about the ones you haven't, and wonder if you spent enough time with them and made them feel any better."

She knows the horror British families are enduring. She has seen it on the faces of the displaced living in 133 shelters in the region. Yesterday the Foreign Office said 71 Britons are still missing. "The British can only be going through the same as those here," Ms Nazari said. "It's torture not knowing where people are and waiting to find out. Even if everything is being done I have no right to say to an individual that they have to be patient, because I know I wouldn't be."

Joseph Cordon, from the Isle of Wight, is one of them. He is desperate to hear from his sister, nephew and his nephew's family, all of whom live in New Orleans. The last time he spoke to his sister, Miriam Staiano, for their monthly "family chinwag" was just before the hurricane hit. Miriam, 81, a GI bride born in England, has been living alone in the Jefferson area of the city, near the breached levee, since her husband Vincent died last year.

more...

Some very sad stories!!! I hope they find them!!!

[Syncronaut Seven]

1. Can we extrapolate?

How many Brits were in the hurricane ravaged areas? If the brit's lost say, 5% of their citizens in the affected area, how many Americans were lost.

Sadly, this may be what we have to do to get a good idea of the true death total.

Fuck you GWB, and the whores you rode in on.

[daleo]

2. If 76 Britons are still missing

That would imply tens of thousands of Americans still missing, based on the small percentage of victims that would be expected to be British. Some may be dead, some maybe just haven't contacted anyone yet. You would think there would be better numbers out there by now, though.

[lovuian]

3. This is an Independant British Newspaper article

I really fear that the death tolls are being changed just like in the Iraq War!!! We are in 1984 Orwell's world!!!

[daleo]

4. There certainly is a lack of transparency about the death toll so far.

I don't doubt every trick will be used to make the numbers seem as low as possible. That may include lies and illegalities, based on Bush's previous behavior.

[Lochloosa]

5. Looking at CNN today

I was noticing how many kids are being shown on the side bar. After 2 weeks you would think most that are alive would have been reunited with their families by now. I have the really bad feeling that the numbers are going to be huge, when and if they come out.

[daleo]

6. It's true, you would expect kids to be identified quickly

Single unattached people may not really have anyone looking for them very hard, but kids are an entirely different matter.

[lovuian]

7. I think we are onto something here!!! This reminds me of the

Tsunami numbers which took forever to come out!!! Children are very susceptible to flood waters... I really feel like these numbers are lies to hide the fact at how bad the incompetence was and death toll!!!