Katrina (1 Viewer)

[tipsy mcstagger]

A bit of a blast from the times picayune

Editorial: Where is the cavalry?

New Orleans needs a show of force. Now.

Until the city is inundated with law enforcement officers from every level of government, the anarchy of the past three days will only worsen. More stores will be ransacked. More cars and bicycles will be stolen. More fights will break out over water, the most precious commodity in the aftermath of Katrina.

Only Wednesday did police officers from across the state start to appear on city streets, and then only sporadically. National Guard troops were working in parts of the city, but the beleaguered residents left in this drenched city need the troops on every corner. That is the only way to curb looting, robberies and worse. The lawlessness was intensifying to horrific levels Wednesday. Some residents said armed gangs were terrorizing people up and down Chef Menteur Highway in eastern New Orleans. There were reports of rapes and murders. In other parts of the city, looters became more and more brazen. One looter used a forklift to rip the metal security doors off a drugstore near Carrollton Avenue. At the Sports Authority in Riverside Marketplace, police had removed guns and ammunition and boarded up the place at noon. But looters broke through the plywood at 2 p.m. and stole every knife.

Not all the looting was so mercenary. Some people were taking only essentials: food, water, dry clothes.

The lack of a law enforcement presence is stunning. It is apparent that no one -- neither New Orleans Police Chief Eddie Compass nor state and federal officials -- were prepared for what would come after Katrina had passed through.

Not only did they not have basic communication plans in place locally, there seems to have been no strategy to get the hundreds of military and law enforcement officers on the ground who were needed to establish order immediately.

The city police officers who are on the streets don't know what the overarching strategy is and have had little or no communication with top brass.

Of course, this sort of horrific event is far beyond the ability of any single law enforcement agency. But that should have been obvious from the time Katrina entered the Gulf.

Virtually everyone involved in public safety has failed the people left in New Orleans who are trying desperately to survive.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

Someone explain this to me:The mayof of NO said on Saturday that this is the big one and everyone should evacuate. He also acknowledged that about 20% of the people there did not have personal transportation. However, to my knowledge, there were no staging areas for evacuations before the storm hit.Why? Why not command every public transportation unit, school bus, police van and every other governmental operated transportation system to just start rounding up people and getting them out of the city then?

 

[Capella]

This is bad. Unless you are a criminal. Maybe my waitresses recent DUI will be lost in the shuffle though?

As evidence floods, criminal cases likely collapse

Basement also housed thousands of appeals

By Michael Perlstein

and Trymaine D. Lee

New Orleans criminal justice officials cringed Wednesday at another disaster evolving in the wake of Hurricane Katrina: the possible long-term collapse of the city’s criminal justice system.

With the flooding of the police department’s evidence and property room in the basement of police headquarters, evidence and records in hundreds of criminal cases appeared to be irretrievably lost, police spokesman Marlon Defillo said.

Evidence in the most serious, pending cases, from murder to rape to robbery, was housed in the basement, Defillo said.

“We lost thousands of documents and untold evidence,” Defillo said. “We lost everything.”

The floodwaters in the basement of criminal court at Tulane Avenue and Broad Street also inundated old evidence in thousands of old cases under appeal. The lost evidence could reopen cases that otherwise had little chance of getting back into trial court.

“We’re in serious trouble,” Defillo said.

Officials averted a separate crisis by transporting about 3,000

inmates out of Orleans Parish Prison. Under heavy armed guard, inmates who lined Interstate 10 above the flooded surface streets were loaded onto buses from the Dixon Correctional Center and other state lockups.

While the inmates were successfully evacuated, the ongoing

shutdown of criminal court could lead to the unavoidable release of dozens of suspects awaiting charges. By law, suspects must be tried within 30 days of a misdemeanor arrest and within 45 days of a felony arrest or they are automatically released from any bond obligation.

Even with the potential long-range problems facing the court

system, officials were more concerned Wednesday with citywide crimes and looting sprouting amid the storm’s chaotic aftermath.

Terry Ebbert, the city’s homeland security director, said police

received numerous reports of armed groups of marauders robbing scores of people throughout the hard-hit parts of the city. Authorities were unable to patrol the most lawless areas of the city, and it appeared police had little chance of investigating much of the unchecked crime.

Apparently a paperless office never got around to these people.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

This is bad.  Unless you are a criminal.  Maybe my waitresses recent DUI will be lost in the shuffle though?

As evidence floods, criminal cases likely collapse

Basement also housed thousands of appeals

By Michael Perlstein

and Trymaine D. Lee

New Orleans criminal justice officials cringed Wednesday at another disaster evolving in the wake of Hurricane Katrina: the possible long-term collapse of the city’s criminal justice system.

With the flooding of the police department’s evidence and property room in the basement of police headquarters, evidence and records in hundreds of criminal cases appeared to be irretrievably lost, police spokesman Marlon Defillo said.

Evidence in the most serious, pending cases, from murder to rape to robbery, was housed in the basement, Defillo said.

“We lost thousands of documents and untold evidence,” Defillo said. “We lost everything.”

The floodwaters in the basement of criminal court at Tulane Avenue and Broad Street also inundated old evidence in thousands of old cases under appeal. The lost evidence could reopen cases that otherwise had little chance of getting back into trial court.

“We’re in serious trouble,” Defillo said.

Officials averted a separate crisis by transporting about 3,000

inmates out of Orleans Parish Prison. Under heavy armed guard, inmates who lined Interstate 10 above the flooded surface streets were loaded onto buses from the Dixon Correctional Center and other state lockups.

While the inmates were successfully evacuated, the ongoing

shutdown of criminal court could lead to the unavoidable release of dozens of suspects awaiting charges. By law, suspects must be tried within 30 days of a misdemeanor arrest and within 45 days of a felony arrest or they are automatically released from any bond obligation.

Even with the potential long-range problems facing the court

system, officials were more concerned Wednesday with citywide crimes and looting sprouting amid the storm’s chaotic aftermath.

Terry Ebbert, the city’s homeland security director, said police

received numerous reports of armed groups of marauders robbing scores of people throughout the hard-hit parts of the city. Authorities were unable to patrol the most lawless areas of the city, and it appeared police had little chance of investigating much of the unchecked crime.

Apparently a paperless office never got around to these people.

It's not that simple in the legal system. We need paper. And evidence. And things. The system doesn't function without them. We routinely kill 5 or 6 trees a day in this office.

 

[Drifter]

This is bad.  Unless you are a criminal.  Maybe my waitresses recent DUI will be lost in the shuffle though?

As evidence floods, criminal cases likely collapse

Basement also housed thousands of appeals

By Michael Perlstein

and Trymaine D. Lee

New Orleans criminal justice officials cringed Wednesday at another disaster evolving in the wake of Hurricane Katrina: the possible long-term collapse of the city’s criminal justice system.

With the flooding of the police department’s evidence and property room in the basement of police headquarters, evidence and records in hundreds of criminal cases appeared to be irretrievably lost, police spokesman Marlon Defillo said.

Evidence in the most serious, pending cases, from murder to rape to robbery, was housed in the basement, Defillo said.

“We lost thousands of documents and untold evidence,” Defillo said. “We lost everything.”

The floodwaters in the basement of criminal court at Tulane Avenue and Broad Street also inundated old evidence in thousands of old cases under appeal. The lost evidence could reopen cases that otherwise had little chance of getting back into trial court.

“We’re in serious trouble,” Defillo said.

Officials averted a separate crisis by transporting about 3,000

inmates out of Orleans Parish Prison. Under heavy armed guard, inmates who lined Interstate 10 above the flooded surface streets were loaded onto buses from the Dixon Correctional Center and other state lockups.

While the inmates were successfully evacuated, the ongoing

shutdown of criminal court could lead to the unavoidable release of dozens of suspects awaiting charges. By law, suspects must be tried within 30 days of a misdemeanor arrest and within 45 days of a felony arrest or they are automatically released from any bond obligation.

Even with the potential long-range problems facing the court

system, officials were more concerned Wednesday with citywide crimes and looting sprouting amid the storm’s chaotic aftermath.

Terry Ebbert, the city’s homeland security director, said police

received numerous reports of armed groups of marauders robbing scores of people throughout the hard-hit parts of the city. Authorities were unable to patrol the most lawless areas of the city, and it appeared police had little chance of investigating much of the unchecked crime.

Apparently a paperless office never got around to these people.

Municipal governments make up a fair amount of our customer base but most usually don't have the budget for a document management solution or they choke on the bureaucracy necessary to get something moving.

 

[Drifter]

This is bad.  Unless you are a criminal.  Maybe my waitresses recent DUI will be lost in the shuffle though?

As evidence floods, criminal cases likely collapse

Basement also housed thousands of appeals

By Michael Perlstein

and Trymaine D. Lee

New Orleans criminal justice officials cringed Wednesday at another disaster evolving in the wake of Hurricane Katrina: the possible long-term collapse of the city’s criminal justice system.

With the flooding of the police department’s evidence and property room in the basement of police headquarters, evidence and records in hundreds of criminal cases appeared to be irretrievably lost, police spokesman Marlon Defillo said.

Evidence in the most serious, pending cases, from murder to rape to robbery, was housed in the basement, Defillo said.

“We lost thousands of documents and untold evidence,” Defillo said. “We lost everything.”

The floodwaters in the basement of criminal court at Tulane Avenue and Broad Street also inundated old evidence in thousands of old cases under appeal. The lost evidence could reopen cases that otherwise had little chance of getting back into trial court.

“We’re in serious trouble,” Defillo said.

Officials averted a separate crisis by transporting about 3,000

inmates out of Orleans Parish Prison. Under heavy armed guard, inmates who lined Interstate 10 above the flooded surface streets were loaded onto buses from the Dixon Correctional Center and other state lockups.

While the inmates were successfully evacuated, the ongoing

shutdown of criminal court could lead to the unavoidable release of dozens of suspects awaiting charges. By law, suspects must be tried within 30 days of a misdemeanor arrest and within 45 days of a felony arrest or they are automatically released from any bond obligation.

Even with the potential long-range problems facing the court

system, officials were more concerned Wednesday with citywide crimes and looting sprouting amid the storm’s chaotic aftermath.

Terry Ebbert, the city’s homeland security director, said police

received numerous reports of armed groups of marauders robbing scores of people throughout the hard-hit parts of the city. Authorities were unable to patrol the most lawless areas of the city, and it appeared police had little chance of investigating much of the unchecked crime.

Apparently a paperless office never got around to these people.

It's not that simple in the legal system. We need paper. And evidence. And things. The system doesn't function without them. We routinely kill 5 or 6 trees a day in this office.

The evidence and things are a different matter but we do scanning for law offices all the time to both rid them of the paper and to provide a solution for ongoing cases whereby all the documents pertaining to the case can be accessible by anyone (with clearance) at any time.

 

[bakes]

I've been away the past couple of weeks, but just want to offer my thoughts to all of the board members and their families and communities affected by this disaster. TigerFan, thanks for posting the contact info above - I'm just trying to figure out what my family and I can do to help.Keep the faith and I hope that your buds are found safe.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

This is bad.  Unless you are a criminal.  Maybe my waitresses recent DUI will be lost in the shuffle though?

As evidence floods, criminal cases likely collapse

Basement also housed thousands of appeals

By Michael Perlstein

and Trymaine D. Lee

New Orleans criminal justice officials cringed Wednesday at another disaster evolving in the wake of Hurricane Katrina: the possible long-term collapse of the city’s criminal justice system.

With the flooding of the police department’s evidence and property room in the basement of police headquarters, evidence and records in hundreds of criminal cases appeared to be irretrievably lost, police spokesman Marlon Defillo said.

Evidence in the most serious, pending cases, from murder to rape to robbery, was housed in the basement, Defillo said.

“We lost thousands of documents and untold evidence,” Defillo said. “We lost everything.”

The floodwaters in the basement of criminal court at Tulane Avenue and Broad Street also inundated old evidence in thousands of old cases under appeal. The lost evidence could reopen cases that otherwise had little chance of getting back into trial court.

“We’re in serious trouble,” Defillo said.

Officials averted a separate crisis by transporting about 3,000

inmates out of Orleans Parish Prison. Under heavy armed guard, inmates who lined Interstate 10 above the flooded surface streets were loaded onto buses from the Dixon Correctional Center and other state lockups.

While the inmates were successfully evacuated, the ongoing

shutdown of criminal court could lead to the unavoidable release of dozens of suspects awaiting charges. By law, suspects must be tried within 30 days of a misdemeanor arrest and within 45 days of a felony arrest or they are automatically released from any bond obligation.

Even with the potential long-range problems facing the court

system, officials were more concerned Wednesday with citywide crimes and looting sprouting amid the storm’s chaotic aftermath.

Terry Ebbert, the city’s homeland security director, said police

received numerous reports of armed groups of marauders robbing scores of people throughout the hard-hit parts of the city. Authorities were unable to patrol the most lawless areas of the city, and it appeared police had little chance of investigating much of the unchecked crime.

Apparently a paperless office never got around to these people.

It's not that simple in the legal system. We need paper. And evidence. And things. The system doesn't function without them. We routinely kill 5 or 6 trees a day in this office.

The evidence and things are a different matter but we do scanning for law offices all the time to both rid them of the paper and to provide a solution for ongoing cases whereby all the documents pertaining to the case can be accessible by anyone (with clearance) at any time.

That with clearance is a big qualifyer. As is the whole Best evidence crap we have to deal with.We scan stuff to. But we need to keep the paper for 7 years. And electronic data can be lost as well, so there needs to be a backup.

I'm not saying anyone is wrong here. I'm just saying it's not that easy for the actual court system to operate without needing the paper and things somewhere at sometime.

 

[tipsy mcstagger]

This is bad. Unless you are a criminal. Maybe my waitresses recent DUI will be lost in the shuffle though?

As evidence floods, criminal cases likely collapse

Basement also housed thousands of appeals

By Michael Perlstein

and Trymaine D. Lee

New Orleans criminal justice officials cringed Wednesday at another disaster evolving in the wake of Hurricane Katrina: the possible long-term collapse of the city’s criminal justice system.

With the flooding of the police department’s evidence and property room in the basement of police headquarters, evidence and records in hundreds of criminal cases appeared to be irretrievably lost, police spokesman Marlon Defillo said.

Evidence in the most serious, pending cases, from murder to rape to robbery, was housed in the basement, Defillo said.

“We lost thousands of documents and untold evidence,” Defillo said. “We lost everything.”

The floodwaters in the basement of criminal court at Tulane Avenue and Broad Street also inundated old evidence in thousands of old cases under appeal. The lost evidence could reopen cases that otherwise had little chance of getting back into trial court.

“We’re in serious trouble,” Defillo said.

Officials averted a separate crisis by transporting about 3,000

inmates out of Orleans Parish Prison. Under heavy armed guard, inmates who lined Interstate 10 above the flooded surface streets were loaded onto buses from the Dixon Correctional Center and other state lockups.

While the inmates were successfully evacuated, the ongoing

shutdown of criminal court could lead to the unavoidable release of dozens of suspects awaiting charges. By law, suspects must be tried within 30 days of a misdemeanor arrest and within 45 days of a felony arrest or they are automatically released from any bond obligation.

Even with the potential long-range problems facing the court

system, officials were more concerned Wednesday with citywide crimes and looting sprouting amid the storm’s chaotic aftermath.

Terry Ebbert, the city’s homeland security director, said police

received numerous reports of armed groups of marauders robbing scores of people throughout the hard-hit parts of the city. Authorities were unable to patrol the most lawless areas of the city, and it appeared police had little chance of investigating much of the unchecked crime.

Apparently a paperless office never got around to these people.

It's not that simple in the legal system. We need paper. And evidence. And things. The system doesn't function without them. We routinely kill 5 or 6 trees a day in this office.

The evidence and things are a different matter but we do scanning for law offices all the time to both rid them of the paper and to provide a solution for ongoing cases whereby all the documents pertaining to the case can be accessible by anyone (with clearance) at any time.

That with clearance is a big qualifyer. As is the whole Best evidence crap we have to deal with.We scan stuff to. But we need to keep the paper for 7 years. And electronic data can be lost as well, so there needs to be a backup.

I'm not saying anyone is wrong here. I'm just saying it's not that easy for the actual court system to operate without needing the paper and things somewhere at sometime.

you guys will argue anything.

 

[Tiger Fan]

Someone explain this to me:

The mayof of NO said on Saturday that this is the big one and everyone should evacuate. He also acknowledged that about 20% of the people there did not have personal transportation. However, to my knowledge, there were no staging areas for evacuations before the storm hit.

Why? Why not command every public transportation unit, school bus, police van and every other governmental operated transportation system to just start rounding up people and getting them out of the city then?

The mayor made every effort to obtain mass transportation. Amtrack and Greyhound wouldn't send any trains or busses. Serioulsy.

 

[tipsy mcstagger]

Someone explain this to me:

The mayof of NO said on Saturday that this is the big one and everyone should evacuate. He also acknowledged that about 20% of the people there did not have personal transportation. However, to my knowledge, there were no staging areas for evacuations before the storm hit.

Why? Why not command every public transportation unit, school bus, police van and every other governmental operated transportation system to just start rounding up people and getting them out of the city then?

The mayor made every effort to obtain mass transportation. Amtrack and Greyhound wouldn't send any trains or busses. Serioulsy.

i only partially agree with this after seeing the photo of all the school buses submerged just on the other side of the industrial canal. thousands could have been sent out on those, and it breaks my heart that we didn't have the planning in place to use them.

 

[Capella]

This is bad.  Unless you are a criminal.  Maybe my waitresses recent DUI will be lost in the shuffle though?

As evidence floods, criminal cases likely collapse

Basement also housed thousands of appeals

By Michael Perlstein

and Trymaine D. Lee

New Orleans criminal justice officials cringed Wednesday at another disaster evolving in the wake of Hurricane Katrina: the possible long-term collapse of the city’s criminal justice system.

With the flooding of the police department’s evidence and property room in the basement of police headquarters, evidence and records in hundreds of criminal cases appeared to be irretrievably lost, police spokesman Marlon Defillo said.

Evidence in the most serious, pending cases, from murder to rape to robbery, was housed in the basement, Defillo said.

“We lost thousands of documents and untold evidence,” Defillo said. “We lost everything.”

The floodwaters in the basement of criminal court at Tulane Avenue and Broad Street also inundated old evidence in thousands of old cases under appeal. The lost evidence could reopen cases that otherwise had little chance of getting back into trial court.

“We’re in serious trouble,” Defillo said.

Officials averted a separate crisis by transporting about 3,000

inmates out of Orleans Parish Prison. Under heavy armed guard, inmates who lined Interstate 10 above the flooded surface streets were loaded onto buses from the Dixon Correctional Center and other state lockups.

While the inmates were successfully evacuated, the ongoing

shutdown of criminal court could lead to the unavoidable release of dozens of suspects awaiting charges. By law, suspects must be tried within 30 days of a misdemeanor arrest and within 45 days of a felony arrest or they are automatically released from any bond obligation.

Even with the potential long-range problems facing the court

system, officials were more concerned Wednesday with citywide crimes and looting sprouting amid the storm’s chaotic aftermath.

Terry Ebbert, the city’s homeland security director, said police

received numerous reports of armed groups of marauders robbing scores of people throughout the hard-hit parts of the city. Authorities were unable to patrol the most lawless areas of the city, and it appeared police had little chance of investigating much of the unchecked crime.

Apparently a paperless office never got around to these people.

It's not that simple in the legal system. We need paper. And evidence. And things. The system doesn't function without them. We routinely kill 5 or 6 trees a day in this office.

Uh, I'm in a legal office and everything that comes in here gets scanned.

 

[Capella]

This is bad.  Unless you are a criminal.  Maybe my waitresses recent DUI will be lost in the shuffle though?

As evidence floods, criminal cases likely collapse

Basement also housed thousands of appeals

By Michael Perlstein

and Trymaine D. Lee

New Orleans criminal justice officials cringed Wednesday at another disaster evolving in the wake of Hurricane Katrina: the possible long-term collapse of the city’s criminal justice system.

With the flooding of the police department’s evidence and property room in the basement of police headquarters, evidence and records in hundreds of criminal cases appeared to be irretrievably lost, police spokesman Marlon Defillo said.

Evidence in the most serious, pending cases, from murder to rape to robbery, was housed in the basement, Defillo said.

“We lost thousands of documents and untold evidence,” Defillo said. “We lost everything.”

The floodwaters in the basement of criminal court at Tulane Avenue and Broad Street also inundated old evidence in thousands of old cases under appeal. The lost evidence could reopen cases that otherwise had little chance of getting back into trial court.

“We’re in serious trouble,” Defillo said.

Officials averted a separate crisis by transporting about 3,000

inmates out of Orleans Parish Prison. Under heavy armed guard, inmates who lined Interstate 10 above the flooded surface streets were loaded onto buses from the Dixon Correctional Center and other state lockups.

While the inmates were successfully evacuated, the ongoing

shutdown of criminal court could lead to the unavoidable release of dozens of suspects awaiting charges. By law, suspects must be tried within 30 days of a misdemeanor arrest and within 45 days of a felony arrest or they are automatically released from any bond obligation.

Even with the potential long-range problems facing the court

system, officials were more concerned Wednesday with citywide crimes and looting sprouting amid the storm’s chaotic aftermath.

Terry Ebbert, the city’s homeland security director, said police

received numerous reports of armed groups of marauders robbing scores of people throughout the hard-hit parts of the city. Authorities were unable to patrol the most lawless areas of the city, and it appeared police had little chance of investigating much of the unchecked crime.

Apparently a paperless office never got around to these people.

It's not that simple in the legal system. We need paper. And evidence. And things. The system doesn't function without them. We routinely kill 5 or 6 trees a day in this office.

Uh, I'm in a legal office and everything that comes in here gets scanned.

Wanted to point out, that this isn't the end all to any problems, with the best evidence rule or clearance or whatever...but we have copies of just about everything. I just can't imagine depending on only having single paper copies of anything, in this age of technology.

 

[rolliehouliranson]

Thank you God for allowing all of this to happen.

 

[Tiger Fan]

Someone explain this to me:

The mayof of NO said on Saturday that this is the big one and everyone should evacuate.  He also acknowledged that about 20% of the people there did not have personal transportation.  However, to my knowledge, there were no staging areas for evacuations before the storm hit.

Why?  Why not command every public transportation unit, school bus, police van and every other governmental operated transportation system to just start rounding up people and getting them out of the city then?

The mayor made every effort to obtain mass transportation. Amtrack and Greyhound wouldn't send any trains or busses. Serioulsy.

i only partially agree with this after seeing the photo of all the school buses submerged just on the other side of the industrial canal. thousands could have been sent out on those, and it breaks my heart that we didn't have the planning in place to use them.

Maybe - but who would have driven them? I'm sure most/all of the bus drivers evacuated or were nowhere to be found.

 

[Fla\/\/ed]

Now look at what taken place as we look at Nipsey's quote... "couple of kids acting out their aggresions."

 

[Tiger Fan]

Now look at what taken place as we look at Nipsey's quote... "couple of kids acting out their aggresions."

let's not get into this againTIA

 

[Blue_Devil_31]

Thank you God for allowing all of this to happen.

before my head explodes, could you qualify "all of this"?i'll assume you meant the bravery and dedication of the rescue workers, military, police, medical workers, volunteers, folks who donated, etc.

if not...have great season, guy.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

Someone explain this to me:

The mayof of NO said on Saturday that this is the big one and everyone should evacuate.  He also acknowledged that about 20% of the people there did not have personal transportation.  However, to my knowledge, there were no staging areas for evacuations before the storm hit.

Why?  Why not command every public transportation unit, school bus, police van and every other governmental operated transportation system to just start rounding up people and getting them out of the city then?

The mayor made every effort to obtain mass transportation. Amtrack and Greyhound wouldn't send any trains or busses. Serioulsy.

ok. Fair enough. It was just a thought that popped into my head.

 

[tipsy mcstagger]

Thank you God for allowing all of this to happen.

WTF do you mean by that? dammit. now im being sensative again.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Thank you God for allowing all of this to happen.

WTF do you mean by that? dammit. now im being sensative again.

Either he is a sarcastic atheist or an insensitive #######.

 

[Drifter]

Thank you God for allowing all of this to happen.

WTF do you mean by that? dammit. now im being sensative again.

Either he is a sarcastic atheist or an insensitive #######.

I'm going with "a" on this one.

 

[Ditka is God]

Thank you God for allowing all of this to happen.

???????????

 

[Blue_Devil_31]

Thank you God for allowing all of this to happen.

before my head explodes, could you qualify "all of this"?i'll assume you meant the bravery and dedication of the rescue workers, military, police, medical workers, volunteers, folks who donated, etc.

if not...have great season, guy.

i'm guessing he accomplished his mission. he lurked around long enuf for 4 or 5 of to reply, then he disappeared.

 

[tipsy mcstagger]

Superdome evacuation disrupted because of fires and gunshots

9/1/2005, 9:15 a.m. CT

By ADAM NOSSITER

The Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Gunfire and arson blazes disrupted the evacuation of 25,000 people from the Superdome on Thursday, as National Guardsmen in armored vehicles poured into New Orleans to help restore order across the increasingly lawless and desperate city.

An additional 10,000 National Guard troops from across the country were ordered into the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast to shore up security, rescue and relief operations in Katrina's wake. That brought the number of troops dedicated to the effort to more than 28,000, in what may be the biggest military response to a natural disaster in U.S. history.

"The truth is, a terrible tragedy like this brings out the best in most people, brings out the worst in some people," said Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour on NBC's "Today" show. "We're trying to deal with looters as ruthlessly as we can get our hands on them."

The first of 500 busloads of people who were evacuated from the hot and stinking Louisiana Superdome arrived early Thursday at their new temporary home — another sports arena, the Houston Astrodome, 350 miles away.

But the ambulance service in charge of airlifting the sick and injured from the Superdome suspended flights after a shot was reported fired at a military helicopter. Richard Zuschlag, chief of Acadian Ambulance, said it had become too dangerous for his pilots.

The military, which was overseeing the removal of the able-bodied by buses, continued the ground evacuation without interruption, said National Guard Lt. Col. Pete Schneider. But Schneider said fires set outside the arena were making it difficult for buses to get close enough to pick people up.

President Bush urged a crackdown on the looting and other lawlessness that have spread through New Orleans.

"I think there ought to be zero tolerance of people breaking the law during an emergency such as this — whether it be looting, or price gouging at the gasoline pump, or taking advantage of charitable giving or insurance fraud," Bush said. "And I've made that clear to our attorney general. The citizens ought to be working together."

On Wednesday, Mayor Ray Nagin offered the most startling estimate yet of the magnitude of the disaster: Asked how many people died in New Orleans, he said: "Minimum, hundreds. Most likely, thousands." The death toll has already reached at least 110 in Mississippi.

If the estimate proves correct, it would make Katrina the worst natural disaster in the United States since at least the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, which was blamed for anywhere from about 500 to 6,000 deaths. Katrina would also be the nation's deadliest hurricane since 1900, when a storm in Galveston, Texas, killed between 6,000 and 12,000 people.

Nagin called for a total evacuation of New Orleans, saying the city had become uninhabitable for the 50,000 to 100,000 who remained behind after the city of nearly a half-million people was ordered evacuated over the weekend, before Katrina blasted the Gulf Coast with 145-mph winds.

The mayor said that it will be two or three months before the city is functioning again and that people would not be allowed back into their homes for at least a month or two.

With New Orleans sinking deeper into desperation, Nagin also ordered virtually the entire police force to abandon search-and-rescue efforts Wednesday and stop the increasingly brazen thieves.

"They are starting to get closer to heavily populated areas — hotels, hospitals, and we're going to stop it right now," Nagin said.

In a sign of growing lawlessness, Tenet HealthCare Corp. asked authorities late Wednesday to help evacuate a fully functioning hospital in Gretna after a supply truck carrying food, water and medical supplies was held up at gunpoint.

"There are physical threats to safety from roving bands of armed individuals with weapons who are threatening the safety of the hospital," said spokesman Steven Campanini. He estimated there were 350 employees in the hospital and between 125 to 150 patients.

Tempers flared elsewhere across the devastated region. Police said a man in Hattiesburg, Miss., fatally shot his sister in the head over a bag of ice. Dozens of carjackings were reported, including a nursing home bus. One officer was shot in the head and a looter was wounded in a shootout. Both were expected to survive.

Looters used garbage cans and inflatable mattresses to float away with food, clothes, TV sets — even guns. Outside one pharmacy, thieves commandeered a forklift and used it to push up the storm shutters and break through the glass. The driver of a nursing-home bus surrendered the vehicle to thugs after being threatened.

Hundreds of people wandered up and down shattered Interstate 10 — the only major freeway leading into New Orleans from the east — pushing shopping carts, laundry racks, anything they could find to carry their belongings.

On some of the few roads that were still open, people waved at passing cars with empty water jugs, begging for relief. Hundreds of people appeared to have spent the night on a crippled highway.

The floodwaters streamed into the city's streets from two levee breaks near Lake Pontchartrain a day after New Orleans thought it had escaped catastrophic damage from Katrina. The floodwaters covered 80 percent of the city, in some areas 20 feet deep, in a reddish-brown soup of sewage, gasoline and garbage.

The Army Corps of Engineers said it planned to use heavy-duty Chinook helicopters to drop 15,000-pound bags of sand and stone into a 500-foot gap in the failed floodwall.

But the agency said it was having trouble getting the sandbags and dozens of 15-foot highway barriers to the site because the city's waterways were blocked by loose barges, boats and large debris.

The full magnitude of the disaster had been unclear for days — in part, because some areas in both coastal Mississippi and Louisiana are still unreachable, but also because authorities' first priority has been reaching the living.

In Mississippi, for example, ambulances roamed through the passable streets of devastated places such as Biloxi, Gulfport, Waveland and Bay St. Louis, in some cases speeding past corpses in hopes of saving people trapped in flooded and crumbled buildings.

 

[beefcake]

here u go tipsy

http://www.fema.gov

http://www.fema.gov/about/process/

http://www.fema.gov/pdf/about/process/help...ter_english.pdf

u probably have already looked at those.

 

[aardball44]

Hard to imagine how many years of work have just been completely wiped out in one day.

BTW, this live feed is very informative, if you're not watching you're missing out. http://www.wwltv.com/perl/common/video/wmP...&props=livenoad

Is WWL still broadcasting? This link worked for me the past two days, but it's not allowing me to view the live TV broadcast today (though it says it's "ready" to do that).

 

[whoknew]

Hard to imagine how many years of work have just been completely wiped out in one day.

BTW, this live feed is very informative, if you're not watching you're missing out. http://www.wwltv.com/perl/common/video/wmP...&props=livenoad

Is WWL still broadcasting? This link worked for me the past two days, but it's not allowing me to view the live TV broadcast today (though it says it's "ready" to do that).

I'm watching it. They are still broadcasting.

 

[Sidewinder]

Hard to imagine how many years of work have just been completely wiped out in one day.

BTW, this live feed is very informative, if you're not watching you're missing out. http://www.wwltv.com/perl/common/video/wmP...&props=livenoad

Is WWL still broadcasting? This link worked for me the past two days, but it's not allowing me to view the live TV broadcast today (though it says it's "ready" to do that).

Watching it right now, it's been working all morning.

 

[aardball44]

Hard to imagine how many years of work have just been completely wiped out in one day.

BTW, this live feed is very informative, if you're not watching you're missing out. http://www.wwltv.com/perl/common/video/wmP...&props=livenoad

Is WWL still broadcasting? This link worked for me the past two days, but it's not allowing me to view the live TV broadcast today (though it says it's "ready" to do that).

I'm watching it. They are still broadcasting.

Hmm. Maybe they've blocked it here at work. :(

 

[yellowdog]

Hard to imagine how many years of work have just been completely wiped out in one day.

BTW, this live feed is very informative, if you're not watching you're missing out. http://www.wwltv.com/perl/common/video/wmP...&props=livenoad

Is WWL still broadcasting? This link worked for me the past two days, but it's not allowing me to view the live TV broadcast today (though it says it's "ready" to do that).

I'm watching it. They are still broadcasting.

Hmm. Maybe they've blocked it here at work. :(

I can't connect either.

 

[yellowdog]

Go here and click on the link for LIVE news cast. It's working for me.

 

[Tiger Fan]

Riots reported in Baton Rouge now on some forums...not sure if rumors or not but link

Government and city workers in downtown BR have been evacuated and sent home form work due to unrest downtown. Workers were getting taunted and yelled at while making their mornign walks to work form the parking garages. All workers were sent home. BR police have now established a strong presence downtown and countless officers are carrying shotguns over their shoulder. Just saw all of this on WBRZ 2. Was really something astonishing to see. BR mayor wants the people in the River Center to be relocated asap.

 

[djcolts]

Riots reported in Baton Rouge now on some forums...not sure if rumors or not but link

Government and city workers in downtown BR have been evacuated and sent home form work due to unrest downtown. Workers were getting taunted and yelled at while making their mornign walks to work form the parking garages. All workers were sent home.

BR police have now established a strong presence downtown and countless officers are carrying shotguns over their shoulder. Just saw all of this on WBRZ 2. Was really something astonishing to see. BR mayor wants the people in the River Center to be relocated asap.

Why are they being taunted?

 

[Tiger Fan]

Riots reported in Baton Rouge now on some forums...not sure if rumors or not but link

Government and city workers in downtown BR have been evacuated and sent home form work due to unrest downtown. Workers were getting taunted and yelled at while making their mornign walks to work form the parking garages. All workers were sent home.

BR police have now established a strong presence downtown and countless officers are carrying shotguns over their shoulder. Just saw all of this on WBRZ 2. Was really something astonishing to see. BR mayor wants the people in the River Center to be relocated asap.

Why are they being taunted?

b/c the refugees are ####### nuts

 

[aardball44]

Here's an article from Slate online magazine by an author of an environmental history of New Orleans.

City of NatureNew Orleans' blessing; New Orleans' curse.By Ari KelmanPosted Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2005, at 3:59 PM PT In retrospect, the idea was so stupid and yet so American: Move the homeless, the elderly, the impoverished, the unlucky, all those poor souls who couldn't get out of New Orleans in time to avoid Hurricane Katrina; move them into the city's cavernous domed football stadium. Anyone who has seen a disaster movie could have predicted what would happen next: Katrina slammed into the Superdome, ripped off the roof, and knocked out the power, cutting off the drinking water and the air conditioning. Those trapped inside had to be moved again—to Houston's Astrodome, of course.If it's not too callous to say so while the tragedy on the Gulf Coast is still unfolding, the stadium mishap is an apt metaphor for New Orleans' environmental history. The sodden city has long placed itself in harm's way, relying on uncertain artifice to protect it from unpredictable environs.New Orleans is utterly dependent for its survival on engineered landscapes and the willful suspension of disbelief that technology has allowed its citizens to sustain. As most people know by now, much of New Orleans lies well below sea level and also beneath the Mississippi River, which flows high above the city it helped create. If you visit New Orleans you can't actually see the river unless you're willing to climb its steep banks, mini-mountains that jut above the Mississippi's endlessly flat delta. From the relatively high ground of the French Quarter, you might catch a glimpse of a huge container ship, seemingly levitating above the roofline of most houses. New Orleans is, in other words, a shallow bowl surrounded by a ridge of levees, which are supposed to keep out water from the Mississippi and from Lake Pontchartrain at the city's rear—and this week didn't. When the levees fail, as they have many times before, a flood occupies the recessed terrain in the city's center. Like the people trapped in the football stadium, water has no natural way to leave New Orleans. It must constantly be pumped over the lip of the bowl formed by the levees.New Orleans' dysfunctional relationship with its environment may make it the nation's most improbable metropolis. It is flood prone. It is cursed with a fertile disease environment. It is located along a well-worn pathway that tropical storms travel from the Atlantic to the nation's interior. From this perspective, New Orleans has earned all the scorn being heaped upon it—the city is a misguided urban project, a fool's errand, a disaster waiting to happen.But such insults miss why most American cities are built in the first place: to do business. In 1718, when the French first settled New Orleans, the city's earliest European inhabitants saw riches inscribed by the hand of God into the landscape of the vast Mississippi valley. The Mississippi river system takes the shape of a huge funnel, covering nearly two-thirds of the United States from the Alleghenies to the Rockies. The funnel's spout lies at the river's outlet at the Gulf of Mexico, less than 100 miles downstream from New Orleans. In an era before railways, good highways, and long before air travel, much of the interior of the nation's commerce flowed along the Mississippi, fronting New Orleans. The river system's inexorable downstream current swept cotton, grain, sugar, and an array of other commodities to New Orleans' door. Because of the region's geography and topography, many 19th-century observers believed that God—working through nature, His favorite medium—would see to it that anyone shrewd enough to build and live in New Orleans would be made rich.So, people built. Some lived. A lucky few even got rich. Many others, usually poor residents, died. They were carried away in floods. They were battered by catastrophic storms. They were snuffed out by yellow fever epidemics, like the great scourge of 1853 that killed nearly 10,000 people in the city. Over time, New Orleans developed a divided relationship with the environment: Nature, as embodied by the Mississippi, promised a bright future. But it also brought water, wind, and pathogens, elements of a fickle environment that in the past as now turned cruelly chaotic.Geographers refer to this as the difference between a city's "situation"—the advantages its location offers relative to other cities—and its "site"—the actual real estate it occupies. New Orleans has a near-perfect situation and an almost unimaginably bad site. It's because of the former that people have worked endlessly to overcome the hazards of the latter.From the first, New Orleans turned to technology to impose order on its environs. Since engineers began to figure out how to drain the city adequately in the mid-19th century, they have struggled mightily to do so. Over time they built a network of enormous pumps (several of which have failed in the face of Katrina) and hundreds of miles of canals—a quantity to make a Venetian feel at home. Their feats, however incomplete, have allowed the city to expand off the relatively high ground near the Mississippi and to spread out into what used to be a huge cypress swamp along the shore of Lake Pontchartrain.New Orleans' early settlers also built artificial levees. At first they were little more than crude efforts to augment the natural riverbanks. But for more than two centuries, engineers steadily ramped up their project, and today the levees have grown so high that they loom over the city below. New Orleans has literally walled itself off from the Mississippi. This is all part of the effort to realize the promise of the city's situation while keeping at bay the forces that buffet its site. Of course, in its present condition, the city faces two truths: First, even today the levees are not impregnable. And second, the higher the defenses are built, the more difficult it becomes to remove water from New Orleans once it finds a way inside.Most of the time, New Orleans can forget the perils of its environment. With the levees standing between the city and the Mississippi, it is possible to ignore the river peering down into town. And unless you happen upon one of the huge pumping stations that dot the city and manage to figure out what's inside the anonymous structure, there's no reason to consider the city's peculiar hydrology. But now, with water flowing 20 feet deep in some places, New Orleans is forced to remember that it is trapped in a cage of its own construction. Most of the city's residents will be saved, but its site cannot be airlifted to Texas.

 

[Bloom]

From: Gregory S. Henderson MD, PhD (email address removed by Lisa)Thanks to all of you who have sent your notes of concern and your prayers. I am writing this note on Tuesday at 2PM . I wanted to update all of you as to the situation here. I don't know how much information you are getting but I am certain it is more than we are getting. Be advised that almost everything I am telling you is from direct observation or rumor from reasonable sources. They are allowing limited internet access, so I hope to send this dispatch today.Personally, my family and I are fine. My family is safe in Jackson, MS, and I am now a temporary resident of the Ritz Carleton Hotel in New Orleans. I figured if it was my time to go, I wanted to go in a place with a good wine list. In addition, this hotel is in a very old building on Canal Street that could and did sustain little damage. Many of the other hotels sustained significant loss of windows, and we expect that many of the guests may be evacuated here.Things were obviously bad yesterday, but they are much worse today. Overnight the water arrived. Now Canal Street (true to its origins) is indeed a canal. The first floor of all downtown buildings is underwater. I have heard that Charity Hospital and Tulane are limited in their ability to care for patients because of water. Ochsner is the only hospital that remains fully functional. However, I spoke with them today and they too are on generator and losing food and water fast. The city now has no clean water, no sewerage system, no electricity, and no real communications. Bodies are still being recovered floating in the floods. We are worried about a cholera epidemic. Even the police are without effective communications. We have a group of armed police here with us at the hotel that are admirably trying to exert some local law enforcement. This is tough because looting is now rampant. Most of it is not malicious looting. These are poor and desperate people with no housing and no medical care and no food or water trying to take care of themselves and their families. Unfortunately, the people are armed and dangerous. We hear gunshots frequently. Most of Canal street is occupied by armed looters who have a low threshold for discharging their weapons. We hear gunshots frequently. The looters are using makeshift boats made of pieces of styrofoam to access. We are still waiting for a significant national guard presence.The health care situation here has dramatically worsened overnight. Many people in the hotel are elderly and small children. There are ID physicians in at this hotel attending an HiV confection. We have commandered the world famous French Quarter Bar to turn into an makeshift clinic. There is a team of about 7 doctors and PA and pharmacists. We anticipate that this will be the major medical facility in the central business district and French Quarter.Our biggest adventure today was raiding the Walgreens on Canal under police escort. The pharmacy was dark and fulll of water. We basically scooped the entire drug sets into gargace bags and removed them. All under police excort. The looters had to be held back at gun point. After a dose of prophylactic Cipro I hope to be fine.In all we are faring well. We have set up a hospital in the the French Qarter bar in the hotel, and will start admitting patients today. Many with be from the hotel, but many with not. We are anticipating to dealing with multiple medical problems, medications and and acute injuries. Infection and perhaps even cholera are anticipated major problems. Food and water shortages are iminent.The biggest question to all of us is where is the national guard. We hear jet fighters and helicopters, but no real armed presence, and hence the rampant looting. There is no Red Cross and no Salvation Army.In a sort of cliché way, this is an edifying experience. Once is rapidly focused away from the transient and material to the bare necessities of life. It has been challenging to me to learn how to be a primary care phyisican. We are under martial law so return to our homes is impossible. I don't know how long it will be and this is my greatest fear. Despite it all, this is a soul edify experience. The greatest pain is to think about the loss. And how long the rebuild will. And the horror of so many dead people .PLEASE SEND THIS DISPATCH TO ALL YOU THING MAY BE INTERSTED IN A DISPATCH From the front. I will send more according to your interest. Hopefully their collective prayers will be answered. By the way suture packs, sterile gloves and stethoscopes will be needed as the Ritz turns into a MASHGreg Henderson

 

[Wingnut]

I just found out that my family members that live in Jefferson Parish evacuated to northern Mississippi....Im glad they got out, but we havent heard from them since, and Im not sure what part of Mississippi they are in or if there was any major damage there...At least theyre not in N.O.

 

[Sidewinder]

I just found out that my family members that live in Jefferson Parish evacuated to northern Mississippi....

Im glad they got out, but we havent heard from them since, and Im not sure what part of Mississippi they are in or if there was any major damage there...

At least theyre not in N.O.

FWIW -- a number of my friends from Jeff and St Tammany parishes went to Tunica (imagine that). They are all ok, said that there was not much damage, and there are ALOT of New Orleanians there. Hopefully your family is among them or in another safe location.

 

[Wingnut]

I just found out that my family members that live in Jefferson Parish evacuated to northern Mississippi....

Im glad they got out, but we havent heard from them since, and Im not sure what part of Mississippi they are in or if there was any major damage there...

At least theyre not in N.O.

FWIW -- a number of my friends from Jeff and St Tammany parishes went to Tunica (imagine that). They are all ok, said that there was not much damage, and there are ALOT of New Orleanians there. Hopefully your family is among them or in another safe location.

Well, my great aunt is a casino junkie, so that would make sense.... Thanks for the info and the kind words. I just wish they would call and let us know for sure that they are alright.

 

[whoknew]

CNN is now reporting that FEMA has stopped all boat rescues because of dangers to the rescuers.

 

[Doug B]

Riots reported in Baton Rouge now on some forums...not sure if rumors or not but link

Government and city workers in downtown BR have been evacuated and sent home form work due to unrest downtown. Workers were getting taunted and yelled at while making their mornign walks to work form the parking garages. All workers were sent home.

BR police have now established a strong presence downtown and countless officers are carrying shotguns over their shoulder. Just saw all of this on WBRZ 2. Was really something astonishing to see. BR mayor wants the people in the River Center to be relocated asap.

I work in downtown B.R. It's no BS.I work in downtown Baton Rouge, just a few blocks from the River Center (formerly the Centroplex). Yes, there is some stuff going down relating to the refugees. Thankfully, it's been isolated, and police in riot gear have been deployed to keep order.

Here is an e-mail sent just a few minutes ago to all the employees of my building:

It has been reported by (department) employees that refugees in the Main Street Market are asking for money and picking fights.

We have been assured that the Governor’s Office and city of Baton Rouge law enforcement officials are taking steps to assure the safety of citizens. We ask that you remain in the (office) building and do not venture outdoors until further notice.

Another e-mail minutes later:

As a safety precaution, the (office) building has been locked and can be accessed only by employees using ID badges. You must enter the building by using the card scanner at the entrance to the conference center.

Hoping to be able to leave work today at quitting time. There's a huge shelter a few blocks away at the River Center and some of the worst element of these refugees have been hitting the street. They see a bunch of professionals out here in shirts and ties heading to the office, and assume they can hit them up for cash.

 

[Tiger Fan]

I just found out that my family members that live in Jefferson Parish evacuated to northern Mississippi....

Im glad they got out, but we havent heard from them since, and Im not sure what part of Mississippi they are in or if there was any major damage there...

At least theyre not in N.O.

:thumbup;

 

[Tiger Fan]

Riots reported in Baton Rouge now on some forums...not sure if rumors or not but link

Government and city workers in downtown BR have been evacuated and sent home form work due to unrest downtown. Workers were getting taunted and yelled at while making their mornign walks to work form the parking garages. All workers were sent home.

BR police have now established a strong presence downtown and countless officers are carrying shotguns over their shoulder. Just saw all of this on WBRZ 2. Was really something astonishing to see. BR mayor wants the people in the River Center to be relocated asap.

I work in downtown B.R. It's no BS.I work in downtown Baton Rouge, just a few blocks from the River Center (formerly the Centroplex). Yes, there is some stuff going down relating to the refugees. Thankfully, it's been isolated, and police in riot gear have been deployed to keep order.

Here is an e-mail sent just a few minutes ago to all the employees of my building:

It has been reported by (department) employees that refugees in the Main Street Market are asking for money and picking fights.

We have been assured that the Governor’s Office and city of Baton Rouge law enforcement officials are taking steps to assure the safety of citizens. We ask that you remain in the (office) building and do not venture outdoors until further notice.

Another e-mail minutes later:

As a safety precaution, the (office)  building has been locked and can be accessed only by employees using ID badges. You must enter the building by using the card scanner at the entrance to the conference center.

Hoping to be able to leave work today at quitting time. There's a huge shelter a few blocks away at the River Center and some of the worst element of these refugees have been hitting the street. They see a bunch of professionals out here in shirts and ties heading to the office, and assume they can hit them up for cash.

Freaking Shame.Keep with the updates

 

[Winston Smith]

Just an update for the FBG...Me and Mrs. WS are safe in Baton Rouge. Still haven't gotten any word on our apartment, but we are pretty sure it is totally gone, given that it was in Oak Harbor, which is in Slidell, right on the lake. It's amazing how something like this sends you back to square one. We both had just graduated law school and was about to get my first paycheck from my new job. I had a nice office right next to the Hyatt building with all the windows blown out, great view of the Dome and the Arena, and was really enjoying my job. We had gotten our apartment set up nicely and were looking forward to really starting our lives together. Now, its back to the basics...where will we get money? How will I pay my bills with no money? How long will I be out of work? What will we do for transportation? Where will we live? It's just nuts.

 

[Winston Smith]

Riots reported in Baton Rouge now on some forums...not sure if rumors or not but link

Government and city workers in downtown BR have been evacuated and sent home form work due to unrest downtown. Workers were getting taunted and yelled at while making their mornign walks to work form the parking garages. All workers were sent home.

BR police have now established a strong presence downtown and countless officers are carrying shotguns over their shoulder. Just saw all of this on WBRZ 2. Was really something astonishing to see. BR mayor wants the people in the River Center to be relocated asap.

I work in downtown B.R. It's no BS.I work in downtown Baton Rouge, just a few blocks from the River Center (formerly the Centroplex). Yes, there is some stuff going down relating to the refugees. Thankfully, it's been isolated, and police in riot gear have been deployed to keep order.

Here is an e-mail sent just a few minutes ago to all the employees of my building:

It has been reported by (department) employees that refugees in the Main Street Market are asking for money and picking fights.

We have been assured that the Governor’s Office and city of Baton Rouge law enforcement officials are taking steps to assure the safety of citizens. We ask that you remain in the (office) building and do not venture outdoors until further notice.

Another e-mail minutes later:

As a safety precaution, the (office)  building has been locked and can be accessed only by employees using ID badges. You must enter the building by using the card scanner at the entrance to the conference center.

Hoping to be able to leave work today at quitting time. There's a huge shelter a few blocks away at the River Center and some of the worst element of these refugees have been hitting the street. They see a bunch of professionals out here in shirts and ties heading to the office, and assume they can hit them up for cash.

Apparently, Mayor Holden has demanded that they all be relocated as soon as possble.

 

[SteelCurtain]

In a sign of growing lawlessness, Tenet HealthCare Corp. asked authorities late Wednesday to help evacuate a fully functioning hospital in Gretna after a supply truck carrying food, water and medical supplies was held up at gunpoint.

"There are physical threats to safety from roving bands of armed individuals with weapons who are threatening the safety of the hospital," said spokesman Steven Campanini. He estimated there were 350 employees in the hospital and between 125 to 150 patients.

Tempers flared elsewhere across the devastated region. Police said a man in Hattiesburg, Miss., fatally shot his sister in the head over a bag of ice. Dozens of carjackings were reported, including a nursing home bus. One officer was shot in the head and a looter was wounded in a shootout. Both were expected to survive.

 

[Doug B]

Just an update for the FBG...

Me and Mrs. WS are safe in Baton Rouge. Still haven't gotten any word on our apartment, but we are pretty sure it is totally gone, given that it was in Oak Harbor, which is in Slidell, right on the lake.

Glad you're safe, Winston.Trying to help my family get started again, just like you and your's are. My sister's starting her kids in school up here and everything.

 

[rolliehouliranson]

Thank you God for allowing all of this to happen.

before my head explodes, could you qualify "all of this"?i'll assume you meant the bravery and dedication of the rescue workers, military, police, medical workers, volunteers, folks who donated, etc.

if not...have great season, guy.

i'm guessing he accomplished his mission. he lurked around long enuf for 4 or 5 of to reply, then he disappeared.

Not trying to offend. Just saying it's hard to believe that God would let this happen. It's horrific, and no one deserves to go through it. So, I guess God has pissed me off.

 

[Sidewinder]

I just found out that my family members that live in Jefferson Parish evacuated to northern Mississippi....

Im glad they got out, but we havent heard from them since, and Im not sure what part of Mississippi they are in or if there was any major damage there...

At least theyre not in N.O.

FWIW -- a number of my friends from Jeff and St Tammany parishes went to Tunica (imagine that). They are all ok, said that there was not much damage, and there are ALOT of New Orleanians there. Hopefully your family is among them or in another safe location.

Well, my great aunt is a casino junkie, so that would make sense.... Thanks for the info and the kind words. I just wish they would call and let us know for sure that they are alright.

Hang in there, not knowing is the worst part. I still have some friends from Thibadoux I have not heard from. Don't know if they evac'ed or not.Here's a quick story for you -- on Friday, a buddy of mine had driven to Wichita Falls, TX (about 650 miles from NOLA) to do a century bike ride on Saturday. After the ride, he heard the storm track had changed. He immediately headed back to evacuate his elderly parents from Lakeview. Got home early Sunday, threw some clothes together (figuring he'd be gone for a couple of days) and drove his parents to Houston (normally a 6 or 7 hour trip that took almost 15 hours). He hadn't slept for over 48 hours, with a 100 miles bike ride and over 2,000 miles in his car driving. Finally heard from him last night.