The New Orleans Convention Center is cleared, thank goodness — and thank the U.S. Army and Coast Guard. They used helicopters to get those poor people out of there. But I wonder whether they should have used busses or trucks for that job and helicopters for the many people who are still trapped all around the city in their homes. What I really wonder is whether they put their resources behind getting rid of this PR nightmare. I hate to think how many people are still trapped on roofs and in attics; I hate to think how many are dying; I hate to be cynical but after this week watching New Orleans, how can you help it?
: Says the AP:
Thousands more bedraggled refugees were bused and airlifted to salvation Saturday, 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.
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.
And the dying goes on — at the convention center and an airport triage center, where bodies were kept in a refrigerated truck….
Three babies died at the convention center from heat exhaustion, said Mark Kyle, a medical relief provider.
For those of you in the comments who smugly say I’m overreacting to this scandal, read that sentence again and again.
: Speaking of cynicism: The Arab News reports:
Inside the stadium, several reporters noted that lawyers already were circulating among the storm victims, promising to find compensation for them with a class-action lawsuit against city and state officials.
