Where is the help for New Orleans?
For a moment (just a moment) I'm going to take a break from the humor and in collaboration with some friends, have a little brain storming session in the hopes to actually make a difference.
Why can't the government or the Red Cross figure out some reasonable ideas to help New Orleans get their citizens to higher ground? Why is Houston — over 350 miles away and a 6 hour bus trip one way — thought of as the only salvation? Why are people still stranded in the Superdome, on rooftops, in hotels? Where is the plan to get these people out of there?
So we have come up with some ideas. Maybe they are reasonable ideas. Maybe they are impossible ideas. Maybe making a list of ideas is pointless. I don't know. But these are actual ideas, which seem to be in short supply at the moment.
Who knows. Maybe we'll pass these ideas on to the right person and someone will listen to us. Or maybe we'll just vent our frustrations. Either way, we'll feel better.
So here goes- TRAINS
Can we get these people to a train station in a city near New Orleans? Trains seem like the quickest and most efficient way to get hundreds of people out of the city at once. Take them to Houston (if you must) or anywhere outside of New Orleans. But just get them to some trains and get them out of the damn city.
- BUSES
School buses. Greyhound buses. Army buses. BUSES of any shape and color. Where are they?
- SCHOOLS
Shut down schools in Louisiana for a week, a month, whatever it takes and bus the New Orleans citizens to these schools for shelter. HOUSTON IS FULL. People are being turned away at the door. I know it's not ideal to close schools but neither is having an entire city engulfed in water with more people dying every minute. Doesn't the Governor of Louisiana have some authority in a situation like this?
- COLLEGE CAMPUSES
Lecture Halls, arenas, gymnasiums, dorm rooms. We need a place to send these thousands of people from New Orleans. Again, not convenient but it's doable. Did I mention that Houston is full? - The Governor could ask (or demand) every city in Louisiana (that's still standing) to take 100 or 200 citizens for a few weeks. Tell them they are responsible for feeding and housing them. Each town has a library, town hall, school or YMCA that could house individuals for a time being.
- BOATS
It's sounds silly but we need boats. People are stranded on roof tops, in hotels, in attics, in hospitals. We need all kinds of boats: big boats, small boats, row boats. Just like the buses, it doesn't matter what kind. It floats? Then it's a boat. Get out the communication out that we need boats. Have those boat owners report to a specific location with their boat and we'll go from there. - Place a lead boat in a neighborhood and then drop 10 inflatable rafts into that area. The lead boat could then lead the 10 rafts to higher ground.
- COMMUNICATION
Chaos has taken over New Orleans. You know why? Because even if there are things being done to save people, no one in the middle of it all knows about the help. Drop flyers, get people with bull horns, send smoke signals, do some kind of sky writing; it doesn't matter. If word gets out that help is on the way and people actually see it, calm will follow.
- OVERPASSES
Let's utilize these overpasses for dry land. Land large military helicopters on the overpasses to pick up and take people to another location where there is actual food and clean water.
- NOT HOUSTON
I just got off the phone with Houston. They're closed. "No mas." Besides, it's a 6 hour drive. SIX HOURS! Is that really the closest location?
Labels: politics
11 Comments:
Maybe they aren't keeping people in Louisiana becuase the people who were able to evacuate themselves probably went to those cities. Apparently Baton Rouge is totally fine and all my friends friends from New Orleans, or close areas are there.
I'm not sure I have ideas, but i dont' understand why it is taking so long to get these people OUT of there. Only now are they starting to use the airline planes. And you're right, they should be using buses from EVERYWHERE. Cities should be donating buses and drivers.... its just so frustrating.
I agree with all of that.
I also think that in solidarity with the people of New Orleans who are going hungry we should go to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue with empty pots, pans, and spoons and make some noise. Louisiana's National Guard is in Fallujah while there's people dying in the Superdome for lack of humanitarian aid. That's fucking rediculous.
A boat when to a hospital to start ferrying some of the patients and staff... A sniper started shooting at it.
Buses and Red Cross workers were trying to get sloser to the Superdome... People started shooting at them.
All the hotels and motels and schools in the surrounding areas are FULL, because most of the people (who were able too) got the hell out.
AND, unless you have a satelite phone, you can't talk to anybody. FEMA has been asking federal and state governments for a dedicated emergency communication system for a while now, and they haven't gotten it. So here we are.
I´m wondering if the reason why some of the people are shooting at the helicopters is because they don't know what the hell is going on. They can't watch TV, there's probably little to no news of relief coming, and--we're talking about the Bible Belt here--there's probably people who believe they're defending themselves in the end times. Also, if the feds had sent buses on Sunday before this whole thing happened they could have evacuated those who were too poor or infirm to save themselves.
I find it ironic that all of a sudden - when the tide is turning against him - President Bush comes out as if he agrees that the respons is "unacceptable." Of course its unacceptable and its his and the state government's responsibility - he should be apologizing - not trying to get on the other side of the coin. A perfect spin by his communications folks.
Lonia in Colorado comments:
Do we not see the roads to the people still flooded and destroyed? Do we not know the power is out to millions so there is no communication (except the media?). Did we forget the shots fired from the Superdome at military helicoptors trying to rescue people? I have a story for you all. My husband works with Sears stores and has been in contact with the district managers in charge of New Orleans, where there WERE four stores. They know that two of them were looted and set to fire by looters, one is still under water, and they don't know the status of the fourth. I am sickened and grieving with the poor people who desprately need help and can't get it fast enough, by the people dying because of this, but I am grossed out by the raping going on by the thugs, the looting, the gun fire. To quote one of the people from there, "it's a race war." The majority are civil and helping each other but the few are keeping government help from getting in quicker. The govenor knew the levy was weak and did nothing. But he's very loud now critisizing the government for not moving quick enough. The help is there, has been there, but our one sided media only shows the anger and neglect. Watch the concert on MSNBC and here of all that's been accomplished so far. And do something, like we have done, and pray til your knees hurt.
I think there was an unforgivable lack of organization by government entities both before and after the hurricane. It's all fine and good to order evacuations, but who the hell was looking out for the disabled? Who was looking out for those without transportation? There is rampant ignorance when it comes to the poor and disabled. These people through no fault of their own are invisible to the rest of the nation. Invisible until now, that is.
Why were the TV crews able to get to the devasted areas when government aid was not? I think fear had a lot to do with it. Fear of rioting when inadequate transportation and supplies finally arrived to desperate tens of thousands of people. Why we didn't have the National Guard in place by Tuesday morning is beyond me. It's not like the nation didn't know a storm was coming.
I am appalled at the inaction and delays. I live near my city's airport which is equipped to house thouands of evacuees. I would be more than happy to ferry supplies to these people should we be able to actually get them here. And had I a boat, truck and/or sufficient health to do so, I'd personally head out to the Gulf coast with supplies.
And if you've been looking the other way at the horrors of the past few days, just remember that the next natural disaster might happen in YOUR hometown. How much confidence do you have right now that you will be saved?
The people of the Gulf Coast are suffering as as anyone in the hundreds of foreign countries we have sent aid to in our history. It isn't because we don't care that our own people are suffering needlessly. We simply have no plan to follow, so we donate to the Red Cross or other charities and pray for the best. If there were a call to help the people of this country would gladly risk their own lives and property to save others. Very much like the British at Dunkirk. The problem is the paper pushers seem to be to busy covering their own asses to think outside the box. I agree we need to mobilize our greatest asset--OUR OWN CITIZENS!
Dropping flyers is actually one of the best ideas I've heard. The N.O. Convention Center is by the Mississippi River and barges go up and down all the time. Why didn't they push some barges there and load people on them to go up river to a dry spot? There's probably a reason that I don't know. Why not use all those military bases they're going to close to relocate people until the city can be evaluated? I visited Memphis Naval Air Station a few years back and it had barracks buildings that were empty. They probably still have all the beds that were used by trainees years ago.
I don't want to sound unsympathetic, because I'm not. What happened down there is tragic, especially for the people in places like the Superdome, who evacuated there under the premises that it was going to be safe, and it wasn't.
But I am tired of these frickin idiots who thought they would "just wait it out" in their home. Who are these morons who simply said, "Oh, it's only a category five storm. I know that people who know a lot more than I are telling me I must leave the city, but I'm just going to wait it out." Every resource we have to use to pluck them off some third story balcony is a resource that could be used to air drop food to some who actually TRIED to leave.
When we are rescuing everyone in New Orleans, can we make these people wait till last??
I agree it is frustrating that people didn't leave their homes, but I believe many of us who are posting comments have to realize - these are people without cars and/or resources to go to a hotel outside the city. The Superdome couldn't have housed everyone either. Some of these people are poor poor people - however still human beings. The saddest thing is that there are many people who are in their attics and cannot get to their roofs and cannot go back down into their homes because the water is too high - therefore suffocating them in their attics. The rescuers say you can hear them banging. No matter what - its just very sad.
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