So how did the destruction of New Orleans happen?

[Locutus]

Originally posted by Jon Miller
could someone driving down, and getting their sunday night, be able to assist in the evac?

No. According to a Dutch TV reporter, noone is allowed into or out of the city except for rescue workers and journalists. Roads to and from the convention centre have been free for days (the guy has been travelling them daily to make his news reports) and people could walk out of the city if needed, but they're just not allowing anyone to use them. This reporter actually smuggled some of the people from the convention centre past the security forces near the convention centre and just outside of the city to get them to safety...

According to him, the law enforcement agencies still seem more concerned with the security situation in the city than with helping all those people in the convention centre.

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Patroklos
Ted, is there any scenario where Bush isn't to blame?

The one which doesn't involve his family bailing him out of every failed business venture and the Democrats nominating someone more interesting than a tailor's dummy for President.


Is there no aircraft carrier for Bushbaby to appear on ?

No looters he can singlehandedly disarm, no part of Louisiana he can defend from the Viet Minh ?

Either Mr Rove or Mr Cheney must be sleeping....

[Patroklos]

According to him, the law enforcement agencies still seem more concerned with the security situation in the city than with helping all those people in the convention centre.

Of course that means food and water are getting to the convention center.

I was always confused when people claimed the Super Dome refugees were starving to death/dieing of thrist when from the day of the hurricane I watched blackhawks in a constant steam land on the South end unloading god knows what.

Has there yet been any instance of people starving to death, dispite the claims?

[Patroklos]

The one which doesn't involve his family bailing him out of every failed business venture and the Democrats nominating someone more interesting than a tailor's dummy for President.


Is there no aircraft carrier for Bushbaby to appear on ?

No looters he can singlehandedly disarm, no part of Louisiana he can defend from the Viet Minh ?

Either Mr Rove or Mr Cheney must be sleeping....

God that was bad.

[Sandman]

Sooner or later, Bush is going to promise to 'find the folks that did this'.

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Patroklos


God that was bad.

Of course, one must never assume that Mr. Bush or his advisors would take advantage of a national tragedy for photo opportunities.

[Patroklos]

[CapTVK]

Originally posted by Patroklos


Of course that means food and water are getting to the convention center.

I was always confused when people claimed the Super Dome refugees were starving to death/dieing of thrist when from the day of the hurricane I watched blackhawks in a constant steam land on the South end unloading god knows what.

Has there yet been any instance of people starving to death, dispite the claims?

From what I've so far most of the news reportion has been 20% fact and 80% opinion thrown in. You'll have to make an effort and collect tidbits to get a better picture. I'm afraid the full facts will only become known months later, but by that time the how and why of some actions won't interest most people. Except for the lawyers perhaps.

As for the dome, there was something going there but it certainly wasn't dieing of thirst/starvation. More the walls of civilization and social order coming down.
There was a short interview with a British tourist who stayed at the Superdome who was clearly shaken about what happened there, some people commited suicide, stabbings and god knows what. The guy was in tears.

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Patroklos

Oh dear- is West Nile Fever spreading, too ?


Two photo ops for Bushbaby !!

And he could dress up in hospital uniforms too!


Praise God for Dear Leader, who could turn water into Jack Daniel's.

[Alexander's Horse]

what I don't get is the US has been preparing for a terrorism related disaster, even a doomsday scenario like a loose nuke, since 9/11 so you would expect the response to a natural disaster would be better than ever and its not

[SpencerH]

Originally posted by GhengisFarb

They Mayor who knew it was coming FIVE DAYS IN ADVANCE and left those lower income citizens to fend for themselves when he could of used the city's buses to take them out.

No one knew where Katrina would find landfall, especially not 5 days in advance. The predicted hurricane tracks are pretty good but they remain a probability calculation and hurricanes can take amazing turns. For example, Ivan was heading directly for Mississippi but made a right hand turn toward AL a day before landfall. I have to watch these tracks pretty closely. The fact that the early tracks centered around New Orleans didnt mean that it couldnt have turned directly north toward Alabama or carried on west toward Houston and Galveston. In fact, the probable landfall site 5 days prior to landfall covered most of that area, it merely centered on NO.

[SpencerH]

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse
what I don't get is the US has been preparing for a terrorism related disaster, even a doomsday scenario like a loose nuke, since 9/11 so you would expect the response to a natural disaster would be better than ever and its not

I think the most telling comment I've heard was one made by Chertoff i.e. that they didnt expect the levees to break. Overflow, yes; break, no. That made all the difference as to the scope of the disaster.

Personally I think the two biggest mistakes were not providing evacuation transport for the poor and infirm all day sunday (once it was mandatory) and failing to recognize the scope of the security problem once some of the survivors recognized the absence of civil authority.

[Alexander's Horse]

hopefully there have been some lessons learnt

[germanos]

Originally posted by Patroklos


Of course that means food and water are getting to the convention center.

I was always confused when people claimed the Super Dome refugees were starving to death/dieing of thrist when from the day of the hurricane I watched blackhawks in a constant steam land on the South end unloading god knows what.

Has there yet been any instance of people starving to death, dispite the claims?

On Dutch radio there was a reporter at a Louisiana airport (the Louis Armstrong airport IIRC) that has been a makeshift fieldhospitel/hub for evacuees from the flooded city.
They had one room turned into a morgue and/or place for people to die (the latter was not completely clear to me, partly due to the translation in Dutch).
He spoke to a priest or reverend working there who said people were in fact dying there (and had in fact died as well), since sufficient treatment could not be provided in the dire circumstances.
Most of these dying victims were, from what I gathered from the report, evacuees from hospitals in New Orleans, so probably in a bad phisical state to start with. Still, they're dying.

The priest/reverend was quite calm, and was not laying blame on anything or anybody, he was just doing all he could for those at the airport/fieldhospital.
All in all the report sounded very genuine.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse
hopefully there have been some lessons learnt

Don't worry. Our politicians will forget them soon.