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I don't know if anyone has posted this link yet or not but I wasn't going to go through every thread to find out. This is just so powerful. This is from Friday, can't believe I missed it till now. Watch the whole thing.
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I haven't gotten to the end of the video yet, but I'm remember why I dislike Geraldo Rivera so much.
Posts: 4077 | Registered: Jun 2003
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Why would it be more dangerous? I'm also considering it is possible, but if like that reporter said, there is food and shelter in the next city over, why are they being left in that hell hole when relief is so close?
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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We don't know how much is there. We don't know if the facilities there are any better once overrun with thousands of people.
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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I certainly agree that the relief that is being given is not nearly enough, but it's true that if people were allowed to simply walk out, chaos would ensue. The facilities in Gretna and the neighboring towns would be mobbed and overrun as soon as people realized there were supplies to be had. More people would probably be injured and killed in the stampede out of there, and the resulting competition for supplies and shelter, than are dying now in the center. The whole operation sickens me. There are school buses sitting around Baton Rouge empty, waiting for school to start and trying to conserve gas. The government can freaking FIND some gasoline to go down there and get these people out of there. THAT is the priority right now.
Posts: 1225 | Registered: Feb 2002
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I heard a report, unconfirmed, that local residents began firing on a fire station and held it under siege because they believed the firefighters had food.
Unfortunately, that is the type of thing that is happening so I won't be surprised to hear that report confirmed. I agree, tell everyone "go where you want to, you're on your own" and you'd have more deaths and more crime and a lot more tragedy.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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The stuff I see keeps calling it a ghost town or a city of the dead, with the majority of victims still in the city either in the airport or still locked up in their houses.
Posts: 1014 | Registered: Jul 2005
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I dont know. I cant imagine being in those guys shoes, seeing all that they are seeing, and not becoming insanely frustrated. I cant stand Rivera, but I dont blame him for becoming hyper emotional in that situation. Using the child as a prop probably seemed like the best way to gain peoples sympathy to him. I just wish they had been able to give more info about what was really going on instead of getting so emotional. If people were really locked into that hell hole with insufficent supplies and law enforcement, somebodies head should role. That is absolutely inhumane, no matter the reason.
Posts: 499 | Registered: Mar 2004
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If he had started to a rush to the bridges it could have turned deadly. It was terribly irresponsible.
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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The answer is to have them stay put while you radio for someone to escort them to safety rather than turn them away and let them fend for themselves.
Posts: 13123 | Registered: Feb 2002
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"The answer is to have them stay put while you radio for someone to escort them to safety rather than turn them away and let them fend for themselves."
Stay put with not enough food? Or water? Or sanitary bathrooms? (They were going on the floor in there *ug*) And how long are they supposed to wait? They just wanted to get out. BTW I hate Geraldo as well, but when he started crying I did too. He really did care, even if he was overly emotional about it.
Posts: 870 | Registered: Mar 2005
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Well the effect of the lawlessness is certainly going to be felt. My husband told me last night they asked for 300 volunteers from the Bham area to go and help man fire stations and relieve the NO fire department.
Every person he talked to after the announcement said they wouldn't go. Not because they didn't think people in N.O. needed help but because fire fighters have been shot at and stations put under siege in N.O. One guy with Wes summed it up when he said "I'll probably come back to Mississippi, if they still need us in a week or so after I've been home with my family. The people here are in bad shape, they need a lot of help and they appreciate what we're doing. I'm not going to go somewhere where I'll risk getting shot when I can be here instead."
The people that have done all the looting, shooting, attacking and general lawlessness would have been better off if they had literally shot themselves in the foot instead of doing what they did because all they've done is make it where rescue crews don't really want to go in there. One guy asked the person from FEMA who made the announcement if there were concerns for the safety of the rescuers still and he said not to worry, law and order had mostly been restored. When the fire fighter pressed him and asked him if rescuers were still being fired upon he had to admit that yes they were but that the National guard was helping guard fire stations.
These guys have already given up a lot - they've been away from their homes and families, they've put themselves at risk for disease and injury with the work they're doing, many will lose quite a bit of money from being absent from their jobs. And now FEMA is asking them to risk their lives by going into areas where they're being shot at and where they'd have to submit to being under armed guard all the time. It's just not going to happen, not when as the other guy said, they could come back to MS instead where there is still plenty of work to be done and people to help and very little risk of being shot.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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To me this is really similar to the situation in Iraq. When it started it was a humanitarian operation, and the people were profoundly grateful for our help. Then over time it soured and the people began to look on the soldiers as enemies. Why?
I think anyone forcing me at gunpoint to stay with my children in a place where there's no food or water or sanitary facilities, where people are dying and others are in imminent danger of death, and who is not able to meet our basic survival needs, would become my enemy in a few days too.
We need to take a hard look at this situation and ask ourselves if the military is actually helping by doing some of these things. They've turned away a flotilla of people who brought boats and were willing to rescue people from the rooftops on days 2 and 3. Why not harness that manpower instead? If they're concerned about the danger to those people then let them provide one trained military person as a leader to each group of 50 volunteers and put them to work? They would be at least as coordinated and successful an effort as most of the disaster relief and military. You just don't sit on niceties like that when people are dying.
I've had the Red Cross disaster training and it's a half hour video that is mostly inspirational and only about 5% informational. The difference between someone who is trained and untrained is not that big.
Okay it makes sense to try and keep order but only if you can provide for their basic necessities. It makes sense to restrain angry people when they clearly would be in more danger if you let them go. It occurs to me that the U.S. military and National Guard units are treating the victims like criminals, or worse, insurgents. Can we learn a lot from this about what is happening in Iraq?
I would like to suggest two things:
1. That we should respect people's free agency when their own survival is at stake. For instance, warn people trying to leave the Superdome that it's more dangerous out there than it is in here and at least we have food and water. Then let them decide.
I think of people leaving the area, just walking out and sleeping on the dry ground would be such a blessing to them. Why not let them leave?
2. Of people wanting to come and help, why not accept the help and detail someone to lead them and direct their efforts for the best coordination and safety possible?
It seems that we have MUCH to learn in large scale disaster relief efforts.
I really hope we learn these lessons before Avian Flu hits, or some other disaster that will strike the whole country at once. Imagine if there was no peaceful and civilized "outside" coming in to help.
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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