Hurricane Katrina: "I don't have any way to get out"

[Bluebear]

"I know they're saying `Get out of town,' but I don't have any way to get out," said Hattie Johns, 74. "If you don't have no money, you can't go."

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050827/ap_on_re_us/tropical_weather

Oh, Hattie, I wish I could come down there and pick you up. :cry:

Where has community gone to in America?

[steve2470]

1. Does anyone know if NO can help her ?? nt

[Horse with no Name]

3. I posted this earlier

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4478963&mesg_id=4479458

Nagin said he would consider ordering evacuations by Sunday morning and may employ buses and trains to help get people out of the city.

Nagin said he would call churches and urge them to have their congregations adopt seniors or someone who doesn’t have transportation and get them out.

“I don’t want to wake up one day and not have done all I could do with a catastrophe on top of us.”

Hopefully someone will see this and adopt her and get her out or she will get put on a bus.

[still_one]

24. thanks, sorry. I hope it isn't too late

[theHandpuppet]

2. Any NO Duers who can pick her up?

Certainly there's someone who can help her (I hope!)

[Lorien]

4. Jeezus, someone needs to rent a van, bus or something

and pick these people up! This storm is a killer.

[Horse with no Name]

5. You can't get into the city now

It's all outbound traffic.:(

[shraby]

6. The city, county and state should be

picking these people up in buses and getting them out of the area. That's their duty as public servants.

[Devlzown]

7. About all she could do is stay at the Superdome.

Mayor Nagin was just on the Weather Channel and said that the Superdome can withstand 200mph winds. It's also higher than most of the rest of the city. I know people here in Mississippi who are staying in trailers near bodies of water. Now they're saying it's a Category 4 at 145mph. I see a disaster in the making.

[Pithy Cherub]

8. That made me cry.

She is a lone voice speaking for thousands. :cry:

Peace & Heaven Sent Urgent Prayers unto everyone in Katrina's path. The Weather Channel just upgraded it to a Category 4 with 145MPH winds.

[Bluebear]

11. Me too honey....

"if you don't have any money......" you don't seem to count here anymore.

[Liberty Belle]

30. Could someone wire her money? Could she fly out then?

[Horse with no Name]

9. I just felt someone walk across my grave

From your news article:

"Making matters worse, at least 100,000 people in the city lack the transportation to get out of town."

From the article I read earlier:

DANIEL ZWERDLING: And here's perhaps the most troubling question of all: if a huge hurricane does hit New Orleans, how many people will die?

JAY COMBE: I think of a terrible disaster. I think of 100,000, and that's just my guess. I think that there's a terrible lack of perception.


Tell me they didn't factor this in? Tell me it is a coincidence that these two numbers just happen to be 100,000?

[H5N1]

10. Damnit! What the fuck is wrong with this country?

Every car and van leaving town is so full they have no room
for these people?

[Horse with no Name]

12. Something tells me that Hattie will be taken out of town because of the

article. But what about the other 99,999?
And you are absolutely right. There isn't any fucking reason with as high of potential for death as this storm carries that there should be anyone left behind.

[H5N1]

19. It isn't like this is someplace in bumfck Africa.

Not that there is an excuse to beguile humanity of any stripe.
The thing is this:
we have all walked these streets. Met these people.
Dined with them, shared drinks, laughed with them, enjoyed their music. These people ARE us.
I am too far away to help. All we can do is hope they will be OK.

[lpbk2713]

13. Seems like there would be a lot of

ships, boats, barges and other watercraft that would be seeking refuge further up the Mississippi out of harm's way. Couldn't they take some of the people who have no other form of transportation with them?

[Catherine Vincent]

14. There's quite a few cruise ships out of N.O.

They could pack thousands in and travel to safety.

[Horse with no Name]

17. They have all been re-routed to Galveston

that doesn't mean they couldn't get something in there to get those people out though.

[VADem11]

20. They're closing the port

I hope that there are other ships that could go upriver perhaps.

[rumpel]

15. and all we can do is worry...just awful.

[lonestarnot]

16. OMG! Hattie, I'd come and get you if I could!

[VADem11]

18. The sad thing is

that many people are choosing to stay behind and not because they don't have transportation. They say they're going to use buses and trains. Hope that's enough to get most out.

[kestrel91316]

21. Well, this may conveniently solve the city's problems with

homeless, elderly, and poor people. They are such a drain on the system................and planning is such a bother.

:sarcasm:

[still_one]

22. why can't they activate the national guard to do the evacuation?

[geomon666]

23. That's up to the governor actually.

But he should've done that already (I don't know if he has). I know after Katrina hit Florida, the state national guard were already out on patrol during the early morning hours.

[Bluebear]

25. Sen. Landrieu said on CNN 3000 Louisiana guard are in Iraq

THIS is what the National Guard is supposed to be for, "W".

[Kool Kitty]

33. My thoughts exactly, Bluebear.

When the other poster mentioned activating the National Guard for this, I thought, oh, you mean the five or ten that haven't been deployed to Iraq? This is what the NG is for, W-guarding the nation. They used to be homeland security, until he needed them for his grudge match with Saddam.

[Bluebear]

35. He should be held accountable for this. nt

[VADem11]

26. She has

Kathleen Blanco declared a state of emergency so that activates the nat'l guard. They are really weakened though with the War in Iraq.

[gauguin57]

27. I pray everyone gets out. I pray Hattie gets out. But I'll tell ya ...

... if a lot of impoverished people are unable to get out of Katrina's path, and are killed or injured because of it, there's gonna be hell to pay for the leadership of this country. Hell. To. Pay.

We put all our money into a unilateral, illegal, immoral war, and don't have the money to help those who need a helping hand in so many ways. Our society is going to hell in a handbasket, and no one seems to care.

The poor get poorer, and are in more jeopardy than ever. And what in the EFF is the Bush Administration doing about it? Clearing brush on an effing fake ranch.

Hell. To. Pay.

Prayers, prayers unceasing tonight for the impoverished of New Orleans and other cities and towns in Katrina's path!!!

[Bluebear]

28. WORD. nt

[gauguin57]

29. Maybe we can get Crazy Pat (Robertson) to pray the hurricane away

... hey, he did it for Virginia Beach several years ago -- just prayed that damned hurricane right off the path toward his TV empire.
So why the f*ck doesn't he pray it away from a bunch of poor people who can't afford to get out of dodge? I'll bet he's not even friggin' trying.

He probably doesn't give a rat's rear end about people who can't afford to send him money or buy the Jesus Protein Shakes he's always hawking on the 700 Club.

Pray, Pat, you crazy bastard!

[Judi Lynn]

31. He'll be praying, all right. For everyone's loose change to show up

in his pockets. He's big on earthly possessions. Pat's a MEpublican.
("MEpublican" coined by Guy James on the Guy James Show, Saturdays.)

http://photos1.blogger.com/img/162/1473/320/Robertson,%20Pat.jpg

[steve2470]

32. hope these quotes from the mayor help you feel better

Nagin said he would consider ordering evacuations by Sunday morning and may employ buses and trains to help get people out of the city.


Nagin said he would call churches and urge them to have their congregations adopt seniors or someone who doesn’t have transportation and get them out.

“I don’t want to wake up one day and not have done all I could do with a catastrophe on top of us.”

Nagin said anyone trying to stay in a city hotel or hoping for an opening of the Superdome might want to think again.

http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/WWL082705nagin.b7724856.html

[wli]

34. Welcome to Bushler's Amerikkka. n/t

[Roland99]

36. And the mayor calling on churches to help doesn't come into play?

You all bitch you want the gov't to fund 100% of the evacuation when it should be a shared duty amongst the community.

You can bet plenty of church buses were headed out of town, probably even corporate buses, some charter buses, neighbors taking neighbors, family taking family, etc.

Some people just won't ask for help. That's a fact of life.