Another message from relief worker

[chaz4jazz]

This appears to have been written on Wednesday from what is being said about relief supplies.


more from the relief worker. not sure when this is from. this was
forwarded, so have no web address to give you:

* * *

I've been here in Baton Rouge for a little more than 6 hours. I came in on a helicopter with a group of Red Cross workers that had been in New Orleans to get a look around. This place is Heaven compared to the Hell that is New Orleans. I will be going back to New Orleans at 6:45 local time. While here I took a shower, used a real bathroom with a toilet that flushed, and got to call Nikko. I woke him out of a sound sleep as it was after midnight in Florida, but he didn't mind.

I have been watching the 24 hour cable stations while I have been here. If what I saw is typical of what people around the world are seeing. well, al I can say is how absolutely sad that is.

Yes, there is looting. Yes, the criminal element are running around. Yes, police and guard people are stretched thin. Yes, it's hot, there's no water, there's no food, there are lots of dead bodies, it's beginning to smell, people are now getting sick, tempers are short, relief is hard to come by. Yes. All of that is true.

And it's also true that the city is filled with people saving lives. Where is that on the news? Every minute of each day that passes, rescuers are saving lives. They aren't here for the money or the glory or for anything other to help. Some are paid: Coast Guard, National Guard, local EMS and fire. Most are volunteers: people like our teams and so many others from across this country. Even those people paid aren't being paid for the work they're doing here. They are working every minute of every day with no other thought than to rescue as many people as we can.

Time is not on our side. There are still THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS of people still on roofs and in attics. They have NO FOOD and NO WATER. It is almost 100 degrees. They have no insulation from the sun. Time is critical for these people, and just as I told you that the death count would be staggering here, long before the press keyed on these "possibly thousands of deaths" (I'll say it again. there's no possibly about it. We were told before we even left Florida to expect between 3000 and 9000 deaths. We're ready. It's happening. God forbid the press get a hold of that), I will tell you that not all of the people waiting for rescue on their rooftops
will be rescued in time. Some will die of dehydration. Some will die because they need medication that they have no way to get. Some will kill themselves before rescuers can get to them (this is happening --- and again, God forbid the press get wind of it). Not everyone here will be saved. That's just the way it is.

I heard on CNN or MSNBC, I don't know which, that there is a lack of
communication between agencies and the somewhere along the way, things haven't happened the way they should. People are complaining that there doesn't appear to be enough help here yet. There are no relief stations with food and water; plans of relief aren't getting to the citizens. Well. no shit. this is a city where more than 100,000 people did not evacuated when they were told it was mandatory to do so. Trust me, every single agency that is here and every single agency on the way is doing the best they can do.

Maybe if the city didn't have to cut rescue operations in more than half to go address the problems of looters stealing guns and raiding hospitals, maybe if the press would use their trucks and vans to help bring in water for people instead of for inciting panic among the people, maybe if everyone would stop for one minute and truly let the magnitude of what is happening here sink in. maybe it'd be better. Well, that's not true. It isn't going to be better for a very long time. But maybe it'd be something other than it is being reported by the press to actually be.

I wish everyone could see what's happening here the way I see it. One rescuer reaching out to one person and saving that one life. Every minute of the day.

The next time that I hear someone say to me that Dan Marino is a hero or that Elton John in a hero or that Jon Wayne was a hero, I think I'll tell them the story of James Delory. He has broken through attic after attic and has pulled 311 people to safety. He has saved 311 lives since Monday night. He's how hero is defined.

*** Many people couldn't leave and this rescuer appears to not understand that, blaming them for not getting out of NO. On the otherhand, the writer is correct in the aspect that many, many wouldn't leave their homes, having "rode out the last one..."***

[gorbal]

1. Thanks, I want to hear more about these REAL heroes.

I am sick of hearing about people idolizing actors who only play heroes in movies or on tv.

[Walt Starr]

2. Uncorroborated, thus I dismiss it

Come up with confirmation and I'll reconsider.