The Mayor ordered troops to be diverted to catching looters

[Horse with no Name]

Are they subtly shifting from rescue to recovery?
There are alot of people in the Superdome who still have family members in the city.
I'm sure it will be an ugly scene for those people when they announce that all rescue efforts will cease.
It's now been 3 days. It is unsustainable for any more length of time.
Who is going to be the one to break that to the people that are left?

[lebkuchen]

1. Wouldn't make you feel too good if you were about to die due to a lack of

HELP!

[madeline_con]

2. "It is unsustainable for any more length of time "

How do you figure?

[Horse with no Name]

4. Conditions are rapidly deteriorating

The people who are trapped in their attics and homes--it has now been 3 days without potable water or food. There is extreme heat and humidity. Heat rises. They are in the top of their homes.
There are chemicals, sewage, dead bodies, and toxins in the flood waters. This will be intensified with the heat.
The initial concern was the storm. The storm is over. Then the concern was the floods. The water is done rising. It is at sea level.
Now the concern is disease. That is the factor that will not level off. It will only get worse. Cholera, dysentery, etc. will become a major concern.
If they leave the people in the Superdome for 1-2 more days, you will start seeing more people in there succumb.
3 days is the magic number. The ones that are not rescued today WILL DIE.

[madeline_con]

9. I guess I'm assuming people went and got bottled water...

and food before the storm, to last a week.

As poor as we are, we can afford that. A lot of people can't. DUH. :blush:

[Horse with no Name]

10. Well I think it was probably a lack of not thinking things through

I've seen it where people are rescued without their shoes because the water rose so fast.
Many MAY have had food and water, but I am guessing as fast as the water rose, they probably only had time to get themselves up--not their supplies.

[applegrove]

3. They better ignore the looters and go for the hoodlums or I will scream.

Property is not as valuable as life. There are still people stranded and not a few stuck under houses.

[MercutioATC]

5. They need to protect the hospitals and rescue workers.

My sister's ex-neighbor moved no NOLA this spring (he's a pediatric cardiologist). He's still there and told her that they have been having issues with looters and people attempting to raid the hospital for drugs.

I'd hope that some police were pulled off rescue duty to guard the hospitals...

[Horse with no Name]

6. At this point

the only way they can protect them is to get them out of there.
I would hope the NG would be there protecting them as well.

[MercutioATC]

8. I see your point, but they're needed there.

Sure, they could move some of the patients now, but there still a lot of people in the city, many of whom need immediate medical care.

[Horse with no Name]

11. I mean move the patients and the workers

They need to be in a secure area.
That's common sense. A "green zone" if you will.
The healthcare workers tending to the existing patients are already overloaded.
There needs to be additional workers tending to the ones that are incoming.:(

[MercutioATC]

12. Gotcha. I agree.

[anitar1]

7. They are police, not troops. Officials are receiving much

flak about looters. Plus the looting became pretty violent in places, according to what I heard and saw on CNN and MSNBC.All gun supplies and ammunition were taken by looters from a WalMart store, and they have been car jacking and taking people's boats at gunpoint. Plus they have shot a few people.They are between a rock and a hard place. Chimp waited too long to start all the "operations". He was too busy making speeches and playing golf.