Hurricane Katrina Disaster Updates

[tybee204]

Apparantly The Department of Homeland Security has been blocking The Red Cross from extending any services in New Orleans. The less then brilliant consept of Homeland Security is that if the Red Cross provides food and other services to the starving victims within the City they wont want to evacuate that cesspool of human waste and dead bodies.

Can we say FUBAR!!!!

http://www.redcross.org/faq/0,1096,0_682_4524,00.html#4524

Hurricane Katrina: Why is the Red Cross not in New Orleans?


Acess to New Orleans is controlled by the National Guard and local authorities and while we are in constant contact with them, we simply cannot enter New Orleans against their orders.

The state Homeland Security Department had requested--and continues to request--that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans following the hurricane. Our presence would keep people from evacuating and encourage others to come into the city.

 

[Buzz Mills]

This contradicts what I heard tonight, that the patients at Charity Hospital are still waiting to be evacuated. I hope what you heard is correct.

here's an update--everyone has been evacuated from Charity

New Orleans Hospital Evacuations Finish

Two of New Orleans' most troubled hospitals were evacuated late Friday after desperate doctors spent days making tough choices about which patients got dwindling supplies of food, water and medicines.

Rescuers finally made it into Charity and University hospitals and evacuated all remaining patients and staff.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050903/APA/509030532

 

[GonzoReiter]

US Senator David Vitter said that the death toll from Hurricane Katrina could top 10,000 in Louisiana alone.


"My guess is that it will start at 10,000, but that is only a guess," Vitter said, adding that he was not basing his remarks on any official death toll or body count.

Vitter, a Louisiana Republican, also called for the immediate deployment of regular US combat troops in New Orleans, saying the build-up of National Guard troops was too slow to quickly restore order.

Such a step would require Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco to formally request the dispatch of federal army soldiers, a highly unusual step.

Blanco said on Thursday that she had asked for 40,000 troops, the majority of which are National Guard units from Louisiana and elsewhere.

Five-thousand National Guard troops are expected to be on the ground in violence-wracked New Orleans by late Friday, military leaders said.

But Vitter said that timeline could be too slow, amid reports that bands of armed men are roaming the streets in the city, which is 80 percent submerged in floods brought in by a storm tide after the hurricane hit on Monday.

Vitter, speaking to reporters at the emergency response center in Baton Rouge, also said he gave the federal government a grade 'F' for its response to the disaster so far.

 

[Liz]

According to Dr. Gupta on Larry King Live, all the patients are not out of Charity Hospital. He quanitifed it by saying that some are left where they are due to their medical conditions.

 

[Mabel]

According to Dr. Gupta on Larry King Live, all the patients are not out of Charity Hospital. He quanitifed it by saying that some are left where they are due to their medical conditions.

The show that comes on after Larry King - sorry, I don't know the name because I usually switch channels when Larry comes on - said the same thing. The patients at Charity have not been evacuated... the nurses there watched from the roof with their critical patients while non-essential personel were evacuated from the private hospital across the street. Obviously someone has the story wrong. I don't think we'll ever know the truth.

 

[Liz]

Lou Dobbs, Mabel?

With poor and even no communication, maybe it isn't so surprising that this who rescue operation has been botched beyond belief.

 

[rollerbladr123]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050903/ap_on_re_us/katrina_superdome_hk1Guardsmen Halt Evacuation at Superdome By MARY FOSTER, Associated Press Writer
Quote 1 NEW ORLEANS - National Guard members halted the evacuation of the Superdome early Saturday after buses transporting the refugees of Hurricane Katrina stopped rolling. About 2,000 people remained in the stadium and could be there until Sunday, according to the Texas Air National Guard. They had hoped to evacuate the last of the crowd before dawn Saturday. Guard members said they were told only that the buses had stopped coming and to close down the area where the buses were loaded.

more at link....

 

[DEPUTYDAWG]

Re Charity Hospital last night on Fox, they were saying evacuations were halted/delayed due to the shootings in the area, and rescue workers could not go in....Sounds like CNN didn't mention that? I have no idea which one's right or wrong at this point. I just hope all will be out by the end of today.

 

[Dara]

Re Charity Hospital last night on Fox, they were saying evacuations were halted/delayed due to the shootings in the area, and rescue workers could not go in....Sounds like CNN didn't mention that? I have no idea which one's right or wrong at this point. I just hope all will be out by the end of today.

I think CNN had reported that earlier (or was it the day before...it's all running together). Then, last night, Sanjay Gupta said all patients were out, but caregivers weren't. Later, it seems he said they weren't. More conflicting info, but I found this CNN article dated this morning:

Evacuations at some New Orleans hospitals were expected to proceed Saturday, while conditions at the city's largest public hospital were reported to be deteriorating further.
As of Friday night, more than 200 patients remained at Charity Hospital, CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta reported.

The hospital has no power, no water and no food. Some patients are on ventilators being worked by hand pumps; the bodies of those who have died are being stored in stairwells, as the hospital's morgue is flooded. Two patients died on a ramp while waiting to be evacuated.

And, of course, this is after everyone, including the staff, got out of Tulane.

(and it said "Five of Tenet's other hospitals have been evacuated, except for one doctor remaining at Lindy Boggs Medical Center in New Orleans, who refuses to leave because staffers' pets are there, Campanini said." Awwww. I hope that doctor stays safe)

 

[Beyond Belief]

Roller,

Thanks for sharing that article.

 

[DEPUTYDAWG]

I think CNN had reported that earlier (or was it the day before...it's all running together). Then, last night, Sanjay Gupta said all patients were out, but caregivers weren't. Later, it seems he said they weren't. More conflicting info, but I found this CNN article dated this morning:


And, of course, this is after everyone, including the staff, got out of Tulane.

(and it said "Five of Tenet's other hospitals have been evacuated, except for one doctor remaining at Lindy Boggs Medical Center in New Orleans, who refuses to leave because staffers' pets are there, Campanini said." Awwww. I hope that doctor stays safe)

Do we know who actually did the actual evacuating of the private hospitals? Was it outside assistance, or did the hospital itself start evacuating earlier, having a better evacuation procedure?

If I were to point fingers (haha, just kidding - I'm feel much better after sleeping!), I'd want to know: Did the private and county hospitals both start out on Tuesday morning in the same situation, and the private ones got all the outside evacuation assistance, while the county-run hospital didn't? Or, did the private hospital actually have a better plan in place, better staff/management? Also, still wondering about the sizes - were they similar? And, literally, geographic areas - was one in a better site to be evacuated, and one had more flooding problems? And at least in the last 1-2 days, it sounds as though Charity had more shootings to hamper their efforts than the other hospital.

I have no idea, just questions I have. Only when I have a better understanding to those questions (which, honestly, we may not know for a long time, as I don't believe everything on the media - would rather do research after the fact to compare the hospitals), then I may get fuming mad if there really is a disconnect.

 

[Dara]

I have the same questions, DeputyDawg. I just don't know. I keep looking for info, because no matter what, we need to know. I'm just so afraid when everyone who survived is fed and has had medical attention and another big story comes along, a smidge of apathy will settle in and we'll forget. And there have to be changes, both in policy/procedures and in personnel, imo. But unfortunately, without public outcry, I don't think we'll see much of either.

 

[Dara]

A reporter on CNN (Tom Foreman?) is saying that FEMA proudly told him before the hurricane hit that they had prepositioned supplies in trailers in an "arc of relief" around the Gulf Coast and would bring them in as early as Monday.

That sure didn't happen.

Also he said last year FEMA ran a hurricane scenario on a hypothetical hurricane named Pam. Said they knew the city could flood and that many would not or could not evacuate (he mentioned how many citizens don't have care, for example).

Hope we hear more about all this.

 

[rollerbladr123]

http://www.nola.com/newslogs/tporleans/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_tporleans/archives/2005_09.htmlMore guns, buses, relief roll into city

Quote 1 New Orleans, or what's left of it, awoke Friday to discover that fire had been added to the array of pestilences - floodwaters, hunger, looting and mass death - that have beset the city since Hurricane Katrina's winds ripped it apart five days ago.

The plumes of smoke rising from locations on both sides of the river were offset by the belated arrival of long-promised National Guard units in a bid to further the evacuation and reverse the virtual anarchy that descended over the city as beleaguered and increasingly angry local officials begged for federal assistance.

Quote 2 If New Orleans was the epicenter of misery and chaos, reports from more remote suburbs revealed that the death and looting was not limited to the region's big city.

With unofficial death toll estimates rising into the thousands, State Sen. Walter Boasso said at least 100 corpses had been collected in St. Bernard Parish, 25 having been tethered together to keep them from floating away.

"We've had people lying in water in the attic for days," Boasso said of the continuing rescue effort.

more at link...

 

[Mabel]

Do we know who actually did the actual evacuating of the private hospitals? Was it outside assistance, or did the hospital itself start evacuating earlier, having a better evacuation procedure?

If I were to point fingers (haha, just kidding - I'm feel much better after sleeping!), I'd want to know: Did the private and county hospitals both start out on Tuesday morning in the same situation, and the private ones got all the outside evacuation assistance, while the county-run hospital didn't? Or, did the private hospital actually have a better plan in place, better staff/management? Also, still wondering about the sizes - were they similar? And, literally, geographic areas - was one in a better site to be evacuated, and one had more flooding problems? And at least in the last 1-2 days, it sounds as though Charity had more shootings to hamper their efforts than the other hospital.

I have no idea, just questions I have. Only when I have a better understanding to those questions (which, honestly, we may not know for a long time, as I don't believe everything on the media - would rather do research after the fact to compare the hospitals), then I may get fuming mad if there really is a disconnect.

Those are good questions. One thing I can tell you is that the hospitals are across the street from each other. They showed some of the staff at Charity on the roof with patients on stretchers watching while the last remaining staff was evacuated from Tulane.

 

[DEPUTYDAWG]

Those are good questions. One thing I can tell you is that the hospitals are across the street from each other. They showed some of the staff at Charity on the roof with patients on stretchers watching while the last remaining staff was evaculated from Tulane.

Hmmmm, that just doesn't sound good, does it? I just don't know what to think right now...other than it's all so sad. :banghead:

ETA: Wow, across the street (read: canal now) from each other - wonder if they did any cross-hospital triage process? I would hope so, and would like to hear if anyone finds out at a later date....

 

[DEPUTYDAWG]

I have the same questions, DeputyDawg. I just don't know. I keep looking for info, because no matter what, we need to know. I'm just so afraid when everyone who survived is fed and has had medical attention and another big story comes along, a smidge of apathy will settle in and we'll forget. And there have to be changes, both in policy/procedures and in personnel, imo. But unfortunately, without public outcry, I don't think we'll see much of either.

Out of the probably thousands of stories there are from NO, this is one (for whatever reason, I don't know) that interests me, and I hope we don't forget in apathy. On a smaller-scale, this could be one "case study," if you will, that might have a chance of having some truth being flushed out later.

 

[SieSie]

The levees that protected the city from the Mississippi River and Lake Ponchartrain were partially redesigned and rebuilt to withstand a Force 3 hurricane. The ten-year project to build them up to that level was launched in 1965, but is still incomplete after 40 years. The portion of the levee that collapsed, however, was one that had been completed. The city and state governments took a continuing gamble since the 1960s that no stronger storm would happen to strike New Orleans. Eventually, the city was bound to lose; it was only a matter of time. Some critics would like to blame the disaster on the recent reduction of federal funds to the Army Corps of Engineers, but funds have been declining for nearly a decade. According to the Chicago Tribune, “Congress in 1999 authorized the corps to conduct a $12 million study to determine how much it would cost to protect New Orleans from a Category 5 hurricane, but the study isn’t scheduled to get under way until 2006.”
http://www.chronwatch.com/content/contentDisplay.asp?aid=16582

I just can’t fathom why things become so complicated with politics. KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid. Instead of taking the $12 million dollars that was authorized to use to STUDY how much it would cost to protect NO from a Cat. 5 hurricane, take that same $12 million to JUST FIX IT. It’s been studied, they’ve known for years that it’s not strong enough to withstand anything more than a Cat. 3. Engineers have stated this. No studying needed – just re-build the levee stronger, build additional levee’s such as the Dutch have done.

Besides which, if this project was authorized in 1999, why wasn’t the study scheduled to get under way until 2006? What’s been the hold-up?

Also – DH just pointed out to me, that since the study hasn’t even started yet, the $12 million dollars should still be there – so get in there and get ‘er done! Screw the study, use that money to help these people re-build some semblance of a life.

 

[DEPUTYDAWG]

Besides which, if this project was authorized in 1999, why wasn’t the study scheduled to get under way until 2006? What’s been the hold-up?

Also – DH just pointed out to me, that since the study hasn’t even started yet, the $12 million dollars should still be there – so get in there and get ‘er done! Screw the study, use that money to help these people re-build some semblance of a life.

Yep!!! No study needed now, we know the results of a Cat 4...I'd say the money should be up for the taking!

 

[rollerbladr123]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/hurricane_katrinaNew Orleans Left to the Dead and Dying

Quote 1
By ALLEN G. BREED, Associated Press Writer 17 minutes ago



NEW ORLEANS - The last bedraggled refugees were rescued from the Superdome on Saturday and the convention center was all but cleared, leaving the heart of New Orleans to the dead and dying, the elderly and frail stranded too many days without food, water or medical care.

Quote 2 No one knows how many were killed by Hurricane Katrina's floods and how many more succumbed waiting to be rescued. But the bodies are everywhere: hidden in attics, floating among the ruined city, crumpled on wheelchairs, abandoned on highways

Quote 3 Gov. Kathleen Blanco said Saturday that she expected the death toll to reach the thousands. And Craig Vanderwagen, rear admiral of the U.S. Public Health Service, said one morgue alone, at a St. Gabriel prison, expected 1,000 to 2,000 bodies.

more at link...