"We will have zero tolerance for 'survivors'". Is that what I heard my president say? "Worry about the stuff, not the souls, who desperately need the stuff." That's what I heard.
Governor: "Pull 1500 troops from rescue operations to fight looting?" Are you crazy? If the entire city MUST be evacuated anyway . . . person by person, then how is anyone to remove 20 DVD players from the city anyhow?
Law enforcement will locate all the loot, during eventual house to house searches. In the long run, nobody will "get away with" anything.
Is this not obvious?
So BACK OFF! And get back to work rescuing souls!
Stealing wasted groceries and water damaged supplies from stores which were total insured losses and which are not likely to open again for six months should not even be called "looting". The survivors are merely "commandeering" necessities.
When you have no shoes, no cash, no fresh water and nothing to eat and you have been fighting for your life for 4 days.... I don't care who you are, where you are from, what your education is and how much money you have in the bank. . . you will do whatever you must do ... at any cost ... for you and your family to survive.
I was embarrassed for our president, when he talked more about Iraq than Katrina the other day. I was further embarrassed for him when he took 3 days to show up to inspect the damage. But really now. . . he should never have even mentioned the word "looting". There was no way this word could comfort those needing to hear encouragement from their president.
The crises from the natural disaster was enough for the survivors to digest. Creating a confrontation over looting was extremely near-sighted. Law enforcement would have been better served to back up trucks to the stores and load up weapons and other such goods and dump them in the sea, than to confront storm survivors with weapons drawn.
Shots at law enforcement, police headquarters and helicopters were likely motivated by frustration for so little being done so long after the storm...and so much focus on the looters stealing water-logged junk.
Day four. I watched 20 minutes worth of aerial footage of New Orleans alone and did not see a single boat in the water. I saw one Coast Guard helicopter passing by the region entirely.
Why is it we so rarely see uniformed military bashing in roofs and plucking people out of the water. Today I saw a wildlife ranger filling his boat with survivors.
And how can it possibly be that on day four with perfect weather, the excuse is that there is "simply not enough manpower" to rescue those still trapped on rooftops and in attics?
A single announcement on CNN and 10,000 law enforcement officers would meet at a staging area with their own boats, aircraft, helicopters with their own gas and supplies to keep them going. That announcement should have gone out Sunday. This is Wednesday. And there is still barely any rescue effort of which to speak.
Why is the military holding back law enforcement officers and other uniformed rescuers from entering the area? I am assuming this because of the shear lack of visibility. By now, there are firetrucks, rescue boats, law enforcement, etc. lined up to enter the area from probably at least 30 states. Yet we see absolutely none of these when viewing raw aerial footage.
Why are 20,000 National Guard troops still "on the way" four days later, when everyone knew it was going to be a total disaster days before it hit?
Why is there no official government progress report given out every 3 hours like on every other national disaster in history?
Why was I hearing so much from FEMA before the disaster and not a word from them since?
Why is it that I am having to ask these questions and not the media? or politicians? or congress? or the lawyers of victims, since there is likely to be many negligence suits?
Am I the only one that wants answers to these questions?
The rescue effort during 9/11 was stunning. I have books commemorating their efforts. Stories abound. Those men and women must be coming out of their skins as they view the stillness of the waters in New Orleans. . . wondering 'where are all the rescuers?'
I hate very much to be the one to say it, but this is shaping up to be a shameful rescue effort. 1200 may have flagged down a ride to safety. 12,000 may not have.
Rande Is |
