Celtic_Angel

How do you feel about the relief efforts of the National guard? the response of the government?

I'm feeling so angry!! to halt rescue attempts....for drivers of buses to refuse to enter the city because it's too dangerous?.......my blood is boiling while they refuse to enter the city these people are dying I just watched footage from the convention center in N.O.....babies dying, women going into labour, people just dying of thirst..if they're too much of a scardy cat to enter shouldn't they airdrop supplies?...water?.....I just watched a mother barely able to wake her toddler...was he sleeping or was he slipping into wakeless sleep..it's horrible....day five without water in that heat....I doubt a strong healthy person could survive never mind the sick, the elderly, the young....what the hell is going on?

People at the convention center, who are there because they were directed there by the authorities, are watching buses go past them , while they go and collect people from the Superdome....

And what of looters?...yes it's very wrong but from what I saw most of the people in N.O are law abiding citizens , families , staying put, waiting for help , waiting for water.....what the hell is keeping them?...the hurricaine was moving 8mph while in the gulf....we knew it was coming!!! these rescue teams should have been ready to haul ass day one.................

this whole thing is outrageous!!!...

AdobePinon

I really don't see what all the excuses are. If they're worried about the snipers, send a couple of Apaches down there to get rid of them. It's a simple case of triage.

Celtic_Angel

I couldn't believe it when they halted rescue attempt today...what the hell where they thinking...this is a life or death situation for many people ..every minute counts!!


and here in Houston , ...bus loads of exhausted people arriving to the Astrodome just to be turned away because it's fulll, apparently the Red Cross is doing their best with the people they have....bull shit!! I volunteered today and was turned away as were many others....they told me they were swamped with people volunteering...so where are the volunteers then? did they turn them all away? a friend who is heavily involved with her church told me ..they have been refusing blankets and clothes etc unless they are new and are refusing food...apparently it has to come from a specific organisation? or be pre packaged etc....WTF!!!!

cut the bullshit red tape and let Houstonians feed these people!!! People arriving with food , blankets volunteering their time...all being turned away....this is ****ing ridiculous!!!!!

BrandonBrit

I agree with everything you're saying luv... just sent some karma your way, but didn't sign it, as there was a funny bar in my way????

I was talking with hubby this evening and asked why they can't have the military do an airlift or something to get all these people out? They've done it in different countries over time... why can't they send a few helicopters down there, and haul some of the people to safety instead of making them wait for busses?

Feel so helpless watching it all...

AdobePinon

I've had issues with the ARC since it emerged that Dr. Bernadine Healy was drawing a salary of $450,000 from them. Still, I'm encouraged to hear that at least some buses are making it out there. I was wondering about that.

If my employer put out a call for volunteers to go down there, I'd leave in a heartbeat. And if I could do it without their backing, I'd be gone already.

nai_in_av

The reason they probably are not doing that is that a helicopter can't hold that many people. If you fly in there with a helicopter that say holds 25 people (I have no idea how many people can fit in a helicopter) then you can bet that 25 people are going to get crushed as 20,000 people fight to get onto that helicopter. They can't overload the helicopter for fear of it crashing into the crowd (I imagine that would cause quite a mess) and this is not to mention the idiots shooting at police/military/medical helicopters who are trying to do something.

It's a sh*t situation, the problem is that it's likely to get worse before it gets better.

cindyabs

This is why my money goes to the Salvation Army..........

tiredwithtwins

Have to agree with you, its absolutely outrageous that in this day and age, they havent got some sort of major evacuation going on already!
The w###er of a president should be thrown out for this - its diabolical, and he is wholly accountable for it.

its a bluddy sad day thats for sure.

hope all BE's friends/relis are safe


sue

nai_in_av

I am no supporter of Bush, but how is he wholly accountable for a natural disaster? There is a major evacuation going on, it's simply not running smoothly and never will when you have thousands of people panicking/starving/dying etc.

I agree he has not done the best job in the world (does he ever?) but don't believe that the blame is all his.

Rete

Knew you were a smart gal, Cindy. Mine went to SallyAnn as well.

eurotramp

Just watched de German news and thy show all those terrible pictures and then Bush telling the world, that all the want are good wishes and for the rest they can help themselves....were is the help then????

tiredwithtwins

hey, im not picking an arguement with you, honestly!
But Bush is the president......of course hes not accountable for the natural disaster (thats not what i said anyway), but he is accountable for the well being of his countrys' people and as such its his head on the block when it all goes t#ts up.

obviously it wont go smoothly, but the press over here are painting a very black picture of NO evacuations, help or aid getting through....im only going on what cnn and the bbc are reporting. reports of huge (ie 1000s) of people not getting water and basic food supplies after 3 or 4 days does seem to say it all.
would imagine if it was his ass that was marooned somewhere in the middle of nowhere, he'd be very quickly found and airlifted out.

rincewind

I have to agree there. I'm no supporter either but political statements have no grounds during this insane period.

I was watching Tucker Carlson last night (not a usual habit, I just find amusement at his hair) and Al Sharpton (more hair amusement) was whining about how bad the government has been, blah blah blah.

This isn't a time for politicians to stand up and try and make themselves look good. This is a time for them to come together and help people rather than help themselves.

Yes, the government has been slow to react, but so would any government in office at this time. It's called bureaucracy. All talk, less action.

paddingtongreen

Problem: Anything that sounds the least critical of the Administration is branded as politicking. Even a suggestion for improvement implies, "it could have been done better" and is therefore, criticism. The only way to get improved performance, is to point out where it is needed. Ooops, thats politicking at a time of tragedy. Whenever something is wrong, it is wrong to criticize because it is a time of war, tragedy, whatever caused things to go wrong. We are the boss, we are entitled to kick our employee in the rear when he needs to improve his performance, especially if we want it today.

Lion in Winter

Thank you Paddington. Quite clearly the administration wasn't ready for something like this - you can't control natural disasters, but in the case of N.O. given its site, it's level below sea level, the state of its levees, and the warning of the approaching hurricane - well, looking at what's going on, yes, the country should have been better prepared than this.