Pray for the citizens of New Orleans

[Miulang]

Re: Pray for the citizens of New Orleans

Instead of being told to go out and fight fires or rescue survivors or recover bodies, firefighters from outside the area who had volunteered to come to the disaster scene on their own time, were ordered by FEMA to work as "community-relations" officers. I thought the most important job was to save lives???

"...As New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin pleaded on national television for firefighters - his own are exhausted after working around the clock for a week - a battalion of highly trained men and women sat idle Sunday in a muggy Sheraton Hotel conference room in Atlanta.

Many of the firefighters, assembled from Utah and throughout the United States by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, thought they were going to be deployed as emergency workers.

Instead, they have learned they are going to be community-relations officers for FEMA, shuffled throughout the Gulf Coast region to disseminate fliers and a phone number: 1-800-621-FEMA. ...

"...One fire chief from Texas agreed that the call was clear to work as community-relations officers. But he wonders why the 1,400 firefighters FEMA attracted to Atlanta aren't being put to better use. He also questioned why the US Department of Homeland Security - of which FEMA is a part - has not responded better to the disaster.

The firefighters, several of whom are from Utah, were told to bring backpacks, sleeping bags, first-aid kits and Meals Ready to Eat. They were told to prepare for "austere conditions." Many of them came with awkward fire gear and expected to wade in floodwaters, sift through rubble and save lives.

"They've got people here who are search-and-rescue certified, paramedics, haz-mat certified," said a Texas firefighter. "We're sitting in here having a sexual-harassment class while there are still [victims] in Louisiana who haven't been contacted yet."

The firefighter, who has encouraged his superiors back home not to send any more volunteers for now, declined to give his name because FEMA has warned them not to talk to reporters. ..."

Miulang

[Palolo Joe]

Re: Pray for the citizens of New Orleans

Instead of being told to go out and fight fires or rescue survivors or recover bodies, firefighters from outside the area who had volunteered to come to the disaster scene on their own time, were ordered by FEMA to work as "community-relations" officers. I thought the most important job was to save lives???

Well, there's at least one group of New York City Firefighters doing the dirty work in NO. They got there Monday. Saw footage of them in action on the news tonight.

[Miulang]

Re: Pray for the citizens of New Orleans

I sure hope when all is said and done that there aren't 25,000 bodies filling the body bags FEMA has set aside for the victims of the hurricane.

"...Bob Johannessen, spokesman for the state Department of Health and Hospitals, said the Federal Emergency Management Agency has 25,000 body bags on hand in Louisiana.

Asked if authorities expected as many as 25,000 bodies, he said: "We don't know what to expect."

"It means we're prepared," Johannessen said.

Marty Bahamonde, a FEMA spokesman, said the agency has hired a contractor to help remove bodies in the expectation that there may be large numbers of corpses.

"Nobody has any numbers or anything they're going by other than guesswork," Bahamonde said.

The enormity of the disaster came ever-clearer in neighboring St. Bernard Parish, which was hit by a levee break that brought a wall of water up to 20 feet high. State Rep. Nita Hutter said 30 people died at a flooded nursing home in Chalmette when the staff left the elderly residents behind in their beds. And Rep. Charlie Melancon said more than 100 people died at a dockside warehouse while they waited for rescuers to ferry them to safety...."

Miulang

[junebloom]

Re: Pray for the citizens of New Orleans

It's quite interesting reading all of the different post on the devestation that has taken place in these three states. speaking as a black person and certainly not a rich person and a citizen of the U.S. I feel that there are many possible reasons for why things went wrong and their was so much delay. Here is just one more. I think it's fair to say that we here in the U.S. are a very blessed nation. But I also think that with that comes a very arrogant attitude on our nations part. This stuff happens all around the world. But for some reason we as nation in general lose our own volnurabity in at least speculating the thought this the same disasters that happen elsewhere could certainly happen right over here. And that is exactly what happened the only thing is we were caught us off guard and our government was not prepared. Because I think America for some reason has got it into it's head that we are the greatest country in the world and nothing can touch us. And I am speaking in general. It seems that 9/11 should always be a reminder But We have been blessed to be spared from so much that we either don't want to think about such thing or forget that the worst could happen right hear. We spend out time and money as a nation to go and help out other nations and that is a good thing but, we have to take care of home sometime. I will say this, everything happens for a reason and maybe this is a wake up call to America to remind us of the poor, the middle class, that people like this do exist right over here in America. And maybe GOD is trying to wake us up because He is tired of how we treat our very own.

[Miulang]

Re: Pray for the citizens of New Orleans

It's quite interesting reading all of the different post on the devestation that has taken place in these three states. speaking as a black person and certainly not a rich person and a citizen of the U.S. I feel that there are many possible reasons for why things went wrong and their was so much delay. Here is just one more. I think it's fair to say that we here in the U.S. are a very blessed nation. But I also think that with that comes a very arrogant attitude on our nations part. This stuff happens all around the world. But for some reason we as nation in general lose our own volnurabity in at least speculating the thought this the same disasters that happen elsewhere could certainly happen right over here. And that is exactly what happened the only thing is we were caught us off guard and our government was not prepared. Because I think America for some reason has got it into it's head that we are the greatest country in the world and nothing can touch us. And I am speaking in general. It seems that 9/11 should always be a reminder But We have been blessed to be spared from so much that we either don't want to think about such thing or forget that the worst could happen right hear. We spend out time and money as a nation to go and help out other nations and that is a good thing but, we have to take care of home sometime. I will say this, everything happens for a reason and maybe this is a wake up call to America to remind us of the poor, the middle class, that people like this do exist right over here in America. And maybe GOD is trying to wake us up because He is tired of how we treat our very own.

Brava, Junebloom! Very well put and good insight. Thnks.

Miulang

[Glen Miyashiro]

Re: Pray for the citizens of New Orleans

From the Hawaiian Sovereignty Groups thread:

I'm very curious, too. An analogy for this situation that just popped into my head is what's going on with the handling of disaster relief in the wake of the hurricane. Lots of good intentioned people (we won't talk about the bad ones ) with no clear plan of how to reach the objective, which is restoration of the Gulf Coast.

And the bad ones happen to be the ones in charge, who could care less about the restoration of the Gulf Coast. (Hint: their boss's name rhymes with Forge Push.) Don't ignore them, that's what they want because then they can go on their merry way and not have to explain their incompetence and malice.

[Miulang]

Re: Pray for the citizens of New Orleans

From the Hawaiian Sovereignty Groups thread:
And the bad ones happen to be the ones in charge, who could care less about the restoration of the Gulf Coast. (Hint: their boss's name rhymes with Forge Push.) Don't ignore them, that's what they want because then they can go on their merry way and not have to explain their incompetence and malice.

Yup. Everyone's looking to get some accountability. But if Push is the one who is going to be doing the investigating (as he is offering to do), the chances of getting any accountability are like the Eskimos praying their permafrost doesn't melt even more. There has to be an independent inquiry into what went wrong. I think there's enough blame to go around...starting with the office of the President, on down to his underlings, to the governments of the states of MS and LA especially, the Mayor of NOLA, even down to the leadership of the American Red Cross (they prevented a lot of assistance from getting through because they wanted to be the ones coordinating relief activities and getting all the kudos). I'm certainly not going to fault all the good people---the military, the civilian workers or the good hearted people of this country---for the disorganization.

Miulang

[Tiger Beer]

Re: Pray for the citizens of New Orleans

[admin]

Re: Pray for the citizens of New Orleans

Tiger, are you connected to that website? Or have they posted specific hotlinking or copyright clearances? Just want to make sure it's appropriate for you to be pulling an image from a remote site in your message. If not, please just link to the page where the image appears.

Read this thread for more information.

[Tiger Beer]

Re: Pray for the citizens of New Orleans

I don't have any copyright clearances.

I post like that on other message boards.. but not based in the U.S... and the U.S. policies are quite a bit more stringent.

[Miulang]

Re: Pray for the citizens of New Orleans

Here's a somewhat objective chronology of the events leading up to the debacle, starting with the NOAA warning on the evening of Aug. 28 that Katrina would wreak heavy damage on the Gulf Coast.

Miulang

[Miulang]

Re: Pray for the citizens of New Orleans

It's going to make for some high drama in the halls of Congress if, when the rebuilding of NOLA begins, Halliburton or any of its subsidiaries gets awarded a no-bid contract worth billiions to come in and rebuild the city. If that happens, then country will know "the fix is in."

As it is, there is now evidence that the White House and FEMA deliberately prevented outside assistance from entering the damaged cities because they were trying to take control of the rights States have in cases of emergencies.

"...The administration intentionally withheld desperately needed aid to the city to force Governor Kathleen Blanco into surrendering control of the National Guard and local police to federal authority. This explains why neither FEMA, nor Homeland Security nor the Pentagon lifted a finger to help the distraught townspeople for 4 full days. The administration was using vital supplies as bargaining chips to bribe the governor into submission. The goal was to dismantle regional defenses and militarize a major port city; an ambition that persists to this day. ...

Aaron Broussard, President of Jefferson Parrish, LA said the following on Sunday's Meet the Press (this is the interview where he broke down in tears of frustration)... quote from the same article above:

"..."We had Wal-mart deliver three trucks of water. Trailer trucks of water. FEMA turned them back, said we didn't need them. This was a week go. We had 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel on a coast guard vessel docked in my parish. The coast guard said come get the fuel right way. When we got there with our trucks, they got a word, FEMA says don't give you the fuel. Yesterday, yesterday, FEMA comes in and cuts all our emergency communications lines. They cut them without notice."

FEMA, which is supposed to work as a federal relief agency for major natural disasters, was functioning entirely as an intermediary for the Defense Dept to subvert relief efforts to force the Governor to capitulate. It is as close to a military-coup as we have ever seen in America...."



Miulang

[Miulang]

Re: Pray for the citizens of New Orleans

What I want to know is how a Canadian search and rescue team from Vancouver could be in the suburbs of NO helping to save victims 5 days before the federal government had troops arrive in the area?

Miulang

[Miulang]

Re: Pray for the citizens of New Orleans

Here's a list with links of some (but I'm sure not all) ways FEMA and the federal government prevented help from the outside from coming into the disaster area immediately after the storm subsided. This list doesn't include all the offers from other countries which are languishing on the desk of Condoleeeza Rice.

Miulang

[toeknee]

Re: Pray for the citizens of New Orleans

It's unbelievable, isn't it?