Among several similar quotes from different Bush Administration officials is this one from FEMA director Michael Brown today:
“…to help those who are stranded, who chose not to evacuate, who chose not to leave the city…”
They’re POOR. They didn’t “choose not to leave the city.” They have no cars, no money, and no way to leave the city, except on foot. And thousands of those people are aging, infirm, in wheelchairs or in hospitals. There are people DYING in intensive care right now, because they have no electricity, no medical staff, no supplies. You expected them to get out of bed and leave?
I keep picturing something like this happening to me, when I was in intensive care earlier this year — it’s a terrifying thought.
The people in the White House are EVIL. There’s just no other way to look at it.
If they are poor, they CAN use their own two feet. They HAD warning. The people who are LOOTING are not aging, infirm, in wheelchairs or in hospitals. They aren’t looting food, they are looting jewelry and boxes of shoes to sell. If it were only the people who were in hospitals or in wheelchairs, the evacuation would be going more smoothly. “Are they just going to let us sit here and die?” I heard a man ask. I’d say to him, “Why don’t you get off your butt and keep YOURSELF ALIVE?”
To Jordan-
Where would they go on their two feet while the water was rising a foot every ten minutes? Mississippi? nope they were hit, Alabama? nope. Where exactly were they supposed to run? In case you weren’t aware we (the south) have several hurricanes, tornado’s etc. every year. Seriously, they’re always hitting us and theirs no telling how bad it will be until it’s hit. Are we supposed to run every few months, on the rare chance that this is the one that fucks us up? Also, the roads and interstate aren’t designed for as much traffic as it brought, it was at a stand still. A lot of people quite literally could NOT get out.
To Julian,
Yes. You are supposed to run every few months. If it isn’t that serious, it won’t be that hard to get back into your homes and your cities. They give you warning, why don’t you heed it? If you are stuck on the roads, I am truly sorry for you. I’d suggest pulling off to the side of the highway, without blocking traffic, and walking to an area where there is less risk. If you’d left in time, yes, you could have walked.
Walked where? Texas? no, there wasn’t enough time to walk to texas. I live 4-5 hours from New Orleans (by car) and people are dead here, roofs are ripped off, I haven’t even got my power back, I’m at a library because it’s burning up and we have got it good compared to most places. So because these storms are faster than YOU, the storm will hit, at this point you’re going against another advisory, being outside during a storm. So then you would be walking against 100+ mph winds dodging large dangerous objects that you can’t see because of the heavy rain.
Who has the money to relocate every few months for what has become a “boy who cried wolf” situation from the weather stations? We’re all going to die several times a year, it’s about a 1% chance that anything actually happens.
I keep reading people comments about why people didn’t leave and really you just have no idea until you live here and go through this as much as we do.
Walk? Are you serious? Apparently you’ve never been through a hurricane before. I live on the coast and you can’t just walk out of danger. These ppl don’t know which direction is safe. They have no food or water. Many have children.
As far as looting goes I don’t get ppl stealing tv’s and such but as far as food/water I would be right there with them if that meant for my family and I to survive.
To Connie,
I’m not saying when the hurricane is hitting, I mean before it has hit. Looting for food and water is perfectly excusable (especially perishable food). But I think it’s a shame to humanity that people are looting for other items. Do they have no respect for property or for themselves?
Of course people shouldn’t be looting for TVs. But Bush’s zero tolerance policy on looting for food and water is RIDICULOUS; because babies are dying of thirst and hunger. The point is that the president has no frickin’ idea what the hell is going on down there, despite the fact that the governor of New Orleans has been begging him for days to pay attention.
And regarding the people looting for things other than food — as far as they know, this is the end of the world, literally. They have no information. No electric, telephone no contact. It’s the apocalypse, and they know they’re dead. So why not?
I’m not trying to excuse it, just to point out what’s in people’s minds and why. You might think that way too, in this situation.
Jordan is not thinking clearly. You honestly think you could WALK to safety??? Katrina was NOT a Category 5 when it hit southern Florida. It gained momentum again once it was in the Gulf. Those people didn’t know it was going to be this bad until it was WAAAY too late.
Brian Williams on NBC last night was AMAZING! There are definitely racial and class issues involved as well. You can’t say that it isn’t when a very large majority of the people stranded in New Orleans are black and poor and didn’t have money for gas or a bus ticket or a hotel or even a vehicle to leave in!
Don’t argue with someone who doesn’t know what the fuck they are talking about. Most Americans–let alone smug, white, midwesterners–have no clue how poor New Orleans is. As someone in the area, it even boggles MY mind. I can only imagine how impossible it is for some fuckhead in Iowa to understand.
Expecting people who lived in what we once called New Orleans to just walk out of the city to safety, is to show a level of such unmitigated and total ignorance that it moves beyond infuriating and into the realm of absurdity.
If the people making these comments, would simply look at a map, they would realize that New Orleans is very nearly surrounded by water. And that the minimum safe distance to take refuge from the atomic bomb we called Katrina is nearly 60 miles away in a Parish (Parish equals County) north of Lake Pontchatrain, namely St. Tammany Parish which, by the way, was also affected quite heavily by hurricane Katrina.
Do the math, and you’ll realize that trudging 60 miles nonstop on foot at a liberal walking speed of four miles every hour would get you to a place where you have NO PLACE TO STAY and NO MONEY TO STAY THERE and that is ALSO in danger from the storm in about 15 hours when you have about that same amount of time to evacuate.
Just thought I give my two cents. Which, by the way, is not far from all that I can afford after losing all that I had to this completely avoidable, completely and disgustingly politically spun disaster.