Message from a New Orleans Refugee
Message from a New Orleans refugee:
‘ I am emailing everyone I can to say this (it is 9:53 a.m., Thursday, September 1, three days after the storm):
Please contact any gov’t. officials you know, and pressure them to get more troops and resources here. People are still dying. The radio station (there’s only one now) is still getting calls from people in attics. Memorial Medical Center on Napoleon Ave. is now out of water and people are dying there (this directly from the only radio station that works).
The body count will be staggering. Please note that no casualties have been announced from Orleans, St. Bernard, or Plaquemines parishes. Those will be the worst, and we know nothing.
I heard from refugees from St. Bernard Parish. They say that there are dead people everywhere. St. Bernard Parish was declared “gone” by news announcers.
It is three days after the storm, and the response seems inadequate.
“We” (I don’t really feel like part of an extended “we” right now) are the wealthiest country in the world. CNN just reported that there are STILL no active duty military troops on the ground in New Orleans, this after days of looting and violence. Police who have been photographed looting are still working in uniform. A friend of a friend is a photographer and went back in with a video camera, following looters around. They were happy to be on camera. He has it all on tape, including the police participating.
If American democracy still functions, please pressure your representatives, anyone you can. This is the real game, and things aren’t happening as they should. The next time there is an earthquake, flood, or terrorist attack, this could be you. ‘
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