LOL-The "7 trucks outside the Superdome" talking point (original source)

[underpants]

If you haven't heard this one-RW radio and such were going off about how there WERE 7 trucks outside the Superdome with cots, food (MRE's), and water. Gov. Blanco supposedly directly ordered them to not be opened.

That is the talking point.

Below is (I am pretty sure) the original source on this, Times-Picayune. This is from the authoritative Katrina timeline on ThinkProgress.com and the links.

I offer my assessment of this below.

http://www.thinkprogress.org/katrina-timeline

http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_Times-Picayune/archives/2005_08.html#074657

26,000 shelter at Superdome

About 26,000 New Orleans residents sought refuge from Hurricane Katrina at the Superdome, which authorities describe as the "shelter of last resort," Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu said late Sunday. To help keep them fed and hydrated, the Louisiana National Guard delivered three truckloads of water and seven truckloads of MREs — short for "meals ready to eat." That's enough to supply 15,000 people for three days, according to Col. Jay Mayeaux, deputy director of the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Emergency Preparedness.

Outside the New Orleans area, the Louisiana Red Cross has opened 45 emergency shelters that were serving about 3,000 evacuees as of late Sunday, said Victor Howell, who heads the Red Cross of the Louisiana Capital Area.

Once Hurricane Katrina passes through, the Red Cross is prepared to deploy 750 employees and volunteers from Louisiana, plus an additional 2,000 from around the country. If the damage from Katrina is as great as authorities fear, Howell said he expects it to be the single largest hurricane relief effort ever undertaken by the American Red Cross.

----

First-EVERYONE has been trying to get the 26K number down. I personally watched it drop from 20K to 15K to 10K while having a cup of coffee and watching Fox.

These trucks were there on Sunday... BEFORE the storm hit. I guess we are suppose to believe that these 7 trucks and only these 7 trucks survived the category 4 hurricane unlike every other tractor trailer, shipping compartment, rail car, and floating casino in a three state coastline area.

Also, of all the rabid animalistic ;-) looting that went on these 7 trucks sitting right beside the Superdome AND the Convention Center (according to the talking points) were untouched by anyone. Not one person attempted to see what was inside of them. Not one.

[Redstone]

1. Christ, what will they think of next? Those people are despicable in

their desperation to deflect blame from being assigned where it belongs.

If they put one tenth of the energy they expend on making excuses into helping people...but no.

Redstone

[OneGrassRoot]

3. Isn't that the truth.........

these people put SO MUCH ENERGY INTO COVERING THEIR ASS that they fail miserably across the board regarding any other function.

That's an interest point in the OP. About how we're supposed to believe those trucks (if in fact they were there), survived the hurricane and looters.

Thanks for the post.

[Redstone]

10. Uh, given your screen name, I think I should mention that it looks like

the revolution is just around the corner, if the utterly astonishing thing that I noticed this morning is any indication.

Did you see the post here yesterday about the very-rich in New Orleans having ice and gasoline helicoptered in for them, hiring mercenaried to gurad their houses, etc? the article painted a luridly disgusting picture of these rich (and white) people; NOT a sympathetic article at all.

This morning, the article was in my local newspaper, and I noticed that it originated at The Wall Street Journal!

Now, if the WSJ is printing articles that are critical (extrememly so) of rich people, can the revolution not be coming soon? That's like Fox News digging up proof that bushyboy deserted the National Guard...

Strange times, indeed. Strange times we live in.

Redstone

[OneGrassRoot]

17. Absolutely...........

though I must admit that it's a cyclical thing....cylical in hours.....lol. In the morning I can FEEL the revolution on the rise, but by the afternoon the Rove machine seems to be in control again.

Well, I have tremendous hope....and I know we're all doing our part here to make sure truth gets into the open and stays there. Hopefully we're all going to be overwhelmed ~ in a GOOD way ~ on September 24th. Hopefully WE THE PEOPLE shall make ourselves known loud and clear, for everyone in the world to see. Let's flood the dismal recesses of BushCo with our patriotism and integrity and TRUTH!!!!

Yeah, you wanted "you're either with us or you're against us", BushCo......well, you're gonna see how few are truly with you. Get out of town you corrupt pieces of shit and take the last 20 years of conspiracy and manipulation with you.

[underpants]

19. "They were mad because our guns were bigger than theirs"

on ABC WNT last night. They showed a couple of these "home owners" who had been handcuffed and were sitting on a street corner, they were released with out charge.

They didn't exactly look like the well healed social elite of moneyed New Orleans but then I haven't been there maybe they do sport ponytails, wrap around shades, and wear sleeveless t-shrits that say "God's busy" with a picture of a devil on it (couldn't see the bottom of it).

[rodeodance]

2. what is the evidence that Blanco ordered them not to be opened?

..If you haven't heard this one-RW radio and such were going off about how there WERE 7 trucks outside the Superdome with cots, food (MRE's), and water. Gov. Blanco supposedly directly ordered them to not be opened.

[underpants]

5. None that I know of

You don't really think that stops them do you?

BTW- the Time report on Brown only being an intern....with oversight....in Edmund OK's emergency services..in the late 70's not the 90's also includes that Blanco waited 48 hours ( RW talking point) to order the NG into action and other such RW talking points-I saw Andrea Mitchell on the Today Show getting this out so as to dominate discussion for the day and into the weekend.

RW radio will be all over that and the Sandy Berger $50K 100 hours community service sentence.

[CascadeTide]

4. something to think about

"I guess we are suppose to believe that these 7 trucks and only these 7 trucks survived the category 4 hurricane unlike every other tractor trailer, shipping compartment, rail car, and floating casino in a three state coastline area."

The wind damage in New Orleans wasn't all that severe. Few vehicles in the downtown area had any damage besides windows being blown out. Trucks would have certainly survived the storm unless they were parked broadside against the winds on top of a bridge. So, don't use that in your argument, it'll make an easy mark for a freeper :P

[underpants]

7. MMmm okay

first of all Welcome to DU :hi:

Okay that is a good point and noted. The images on TV would lead one to another conclusion as would the sheering off of the top of the Superdome. This may have muddied (sp?) my assessment, sorry about that. Most people however would find it hard to believe that given what they saw.

[CascadeTide]

12. check out these pictures

thsi was posted in another thread by someone living in the french quarter. You can see there is very little damage in the central business distict before the flooding.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=14ewb3ap.b147fdut&Uy=nyvoby&Ux=1

[underpants]

16. Glad the porchlight made it through

What I was saying was that I saw a CNN reporter blown right off his feet IN downtown and those winds looked like enough to at least tip over a truck that sits 3 1/2 to 4 feet off the ground (tires and undercarriage).

I'm just saying.

[CascadeTide]

22. A truck weighs a lot more than a person

I'm not trying to argue with you, just saying I wouldn't base any argument you have on something not being able to withstand the storm when almost everything in the downtown area escaped significant damage.

If you put that in front of a freeper they're going to harp on that mistake and any valid point you have will be drowned out by the pile on.

[underpants]

24. Okay

I think you overestimate their debating skills. I'm just saying.

[CascadeTide]

25. Heh, that's an easily learned skill

pick something irrelevant and everyone pile on, ignore everything else. That's their best skill, so sad ;)

[oneighty]

9. "Wind damage was not severe"

"Few vehicles in the downtown area had any damage besides windows being blown out"

Really? Which is it and welcome to DU.

I lived in hurricane country and survived a few. I never ever had a tough car window blown out.

180

[CascadeTide]

14. here's a pic

see the link in my above post for the rest of the pics. I have been through a few hurricanes also (grew up in Alabama) but nothing anywhere near the scope of this one.

[oneighty]

20. You are telling me the wind

was not blowing hard and that it blew those car windows out? I do not believe that.

And now I do not understand what you say concerning the wind in NO.

???

180

[CascadeTide]

23. The wind was blowing hard

but the fact is the wind damage in New Orleans was not all that bad. All the video and pictures coming out of there shows that.

As for the back windows popping out, I would guess it was something more than wind speed, probably air pressure. Maybe the rear window is the weakest window and once it popped the air pressure was equalized so no other windows broke. It's certainly a strange phenomena.

[oneighty]

26. In my young and more stupid days

I have driven cars certainly up to a hundred miles per hour with windows up, windows down causing pressure changes and never had a wind damaged window. I do not believe the wind blew those windows in that photo out.

And certainly if it did the trees would also be damaged. Perhaps the photo is of a different time period?

Yes it is strange.

180

[CascadeTide]

27. I'm pretty sure it's a pressure issue

just like tornadoes break window panes in your house when the pressure changes, same way with a car window.

[Walt Starr]

6. So whe you end up at the truth

The food and water was there and was distrbuted. Unofrtunately, there was only enough for about a day and a half, which explains why they went an extra day before people started to die from dehydration.

[underpants]

8. WOW I glossed over that

If I get what you are saying-the food and water was already given out on Sunday so whether the trucks made it or not is irrelevant.

Right?

[catmandu57]

28. Another thing

that you mentioned, I'm sure that those trucks would have been the first thing looted, if I were there and there were seven semi trailers sitting right by me I know damn sure I'd be seeing if there was anything inside them.

[rocktivity]

11. If only we had access to the Advanced Search function!

It was first said that the number in the Superdome was around 30,000, but the "official" number was 10,000. I should have smelled a rat right there.

And if "(o)utside the New Orleans area, the Louisiana Red Cross has opened 45 emergency shelters," that's all the more damning to FEMA. The Super Dome could have saved people from the hurricane, but not from the results of the levees breaking. They should not have been left there, and it was FEMA's responsibility to set up shelters outside Katrina's path and transport the evacuees there.

:mad:
rocknation

[underpants]

15. Hey the numbers thing set off the red flags

Fox News (and other MSM) had it at 20-30 and, like I said, dropped it by mentioning the new numbers in a matter of minutes.

They obviously wanted to play down the magnification of the tragedy. Brian Williams said 10K on the Daily Show last night but I have heard numbers all over the place but almost daily someone (usually authorities who were in NO) let the 30,000 number slip out.

Who knows? What we do know is that there were a lot of people there.

Of course there were also people in the Convention Center which you and I knew about but Brown and Chertoff didn't until about a week ago.. from now.

Also Gen.Meyers and Chertoff and several admin people (RW radio too) said that they read in the next day's headline "New Orleans dodges a bullet". This apparently was the Chair of the Joint Cheifs and the head of DHS's situation report.

[Roland99]

13. Thanks for that info.

[MidnightWind]

18. Yep--that's the story that Faux and Hannity & Limbaugh are

floating. And the bad news is that Faux has more viewers than MSNBC and CNN put together. And yes, I also saw the numbers go down from 30K to 10K to 5K. It was unbelievable. We have to send this to every news organization that we can get who will report the truth and not cover *'s ass on this.

[underpants]

21. If you have noticed the "2,000 school buses" is now "200"

changing the number of people that they care so deeply about that could be rescued from 80K to 13K or something like that. Andrea Mitchell was on Today with that line AND the picture YAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!

[underpants]

29. UPDATE:Randi Rhodes just said Gen.Myers told them to hold off