bloodrayne
09-08-2005, 07:31 AM
Okay...I'm just gonna blame the sun...It must just be too damned hot that far south...
Here are a few exerpts from several stories:
Violence In The Aftermath
New Orleans -- As authorities struggled to keep order, police shot eight people, killing five or six, after gunmen opened fire on a group of contractors traveling across a bridge on their way to make repairs.
Air and boat crews searched flooded neighborhoods for survivors, and federal officials urged those still left in New Orleans to leave for their own safety.
In the confrontation, 14 contractors on their way to help plug the breech in the 17th Street Canal were traveling across the bridge under police escort when they came under fire. Police shot at eight people carrying guns, killing five or six. None of the contractors was injured.
In addition to the lawlessness, civilian deaths and uncertainty about their families, New Orleans' police have had to deal with suicides in their ranks. Two officers took their lives, including the department spokesman, Paul Accardo, who died Saturday, according to Riley. Both shot themselves in the head, he said.
Walk-up stragglers at the Convention Center were checked by Navy medics before they were evacuated. Lt. Andy Steczo said he treated people for bullet wounds and knife wounds.
Police Abandoning Their City
Suicides and resignations hit New Orleans police department
New Orleans Deputy Police Chief W.J. Riley says he doesn't know how his officers have been able to cope.
New Orleans -- There may be no better way to explain the desperation on the city's ravaged streets than this: In the past few days, two police officers took their own lives and dozens have turned in their badges.
Several dozen of the city's 1,600 police officers have failed to report for duty, and some have turned in their badges.
Published reports put the number as high as 200, but Riley declined to comment on those figures, saying more than 100 officers may have been trapped in their own homes or unable to reach command centers.
Capt. Kevin Anderson, commander of the 8th District, which includes the fabled French Quarter, said "It hurts to the heart, but I don't have the luxury of dwelling on who's not here. "We'll welcome them back with open arms maybe someday. But that day ain't today."
Some police who remained on the job expressed outrage that some of their fellow officers abandoned the city when it most needed law and order.
"This is our area," said one officer, who spoke on the condition that he not be identified because he feared retribution from commanders. "I was raised in this town. I'm not giving this city up. Police are turning in their badges and running away."
Police Told Storm Survivors To Expose Their Breasts
A group of female hurricane survivors were told to show their breasts if they wanted to be rescued, a Britishman on vacation has revealed. Ged Scott watched as American rescuers turned their boat around and sped off when the the women refused.
The account was just another example of the horror stories emerging from the hurricane disaster zone.
Mr Scott, 36, of Liverpool, was with his wife and seven-year-old daughter in the Ramada Hotel when the flood waters started rising.
"At one point, there were a load of girls on the roof of the hotel saying 'Can you help us?' and the policemen said 'Show us what you've got' and made signs for them to lift their T-shirts," he told the Liverpool Evening Echo.
"When the girls refused, they said `Fine' and motored off down the road in their boat."
At one point he had to wade through filthy water to barricade the hotel doors against looters.
He said the experience made him want to vomit.
Mr Scott also slated the rescue operation, saying police were more interested in taking snapshots of the devastation rather than rescuing the victims.
"I could not have a lower opinion of the local authorities" he said.
"I couldn't describe how bad the authorities were. Just little things like taking photographs of us, as we are standing on the roof waving for help, for their own little snapshot albums"
He added: "The American people saved us. I wish I could say the same for the American authorities."
Mike Brocken, of Chester, said he feared his wife Christine and 18-year-old daughter Stephanie would be raped when they went into the Louisiana Superdome.
The family were also racially abused by other refugees in the stadium.
"I approached two members of the National Guard and they said to stay outside because they knew it was hell in there.
"One female office basically said under no circumstances take the women in there, because she knew what it was like.
"We were so frightened and we stayed alongside the National Guard for some kind of protection.
He added: "Everyone talks about the National Guard in rather derogatory ways historically, but I've got to say that, but for them, and one man in particular, I may well have lost my family."
Times Reporter Shot In Stomach
Lost in Baton Rouge, a gunman shoots him in an apparent robbery. Doctors leave the bullet in place for now.
A St. Petersburg Times reporter covering the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was shot and wounded late Monday night in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Marcus Franklin, 34, said he had been up since before daybreak reporting on people returning to their homes in Jefferson Parish near New Orleans. After filing his report, Franklin headed to a Baton Rouge motel after sleeping four nights in his car.
He said he was driving on Interstate 110 in Baton Rouge when he discovered he was heading in the wrong direction, so he got off. He had been driving with the air conditioning off and the windows down to save gas, in short supply since the hurricane.
About 11:30 p.m., Franklin stopped at a poorly lit intersection in what police spokesman Sgt. Don Kelly described as "an older part of the city, a high-crime area."
"I didn't hear footsteps or anything," Franklin said. Suddenly, he heard a man say, "How much money you got?"
The man tried opening the passenger door of Franklin's rental car. That's when the reporter said he realized the man was holding what appeared to be a small caliber black revolver.
"I looked at the gun sort of in disbelief," Franklin said. He hit the gas to get away. "That's when I heard a pop. ... It sounded like the proverbial firecracker."
Franklin said he drove off quickly, then checked himself for wounds. He spotted blood on his shirt and discovered he had been shot in the stomach. He called 911 on his cell phone and police and emergency medical technicians showed up.
When thousands of New Orleans residents fled their city before and after the hurricane, many headed for Baton Rouge, swelling the population of the state capital beyond its usual 260,000.
Since then there have been widespread rumors of an increase in assaults and rapes. Last week Baton Rouge Mayor Melvin "Kip" Holden warned that he would not tolerate "lawlessness" from the evacuees.
3 Duke Students Tell Of 'Disgraceful' Scene
A trio of Duke University sophomores say they drove to New Orleans late last week, posed as journalists to slip inside the hurricane-soaked city twice, and evacuated seven people who weren't receiving help from authorities.
The group, led by South Carolina native Sonny Byrd, say they also managed to drive all the way to the New Orleans Convention Center, where they encountered scenes early Saturday evening that they say were disgraceful.
"We found it absolutely incredible that the authorities had no way to get there for four or five days, that they didn't go in and help these people, and we made it in a two-wheel-drive Hyundai," said Hans Buder, who made the trip with his roommate Byrd and another student, David Hankla.
The trio decided to head for New Orleans, after reports on the news angered them. They felt like no one was doing anything to help those who were stranded, Buder said. After looking around, they swiped an Associated Press identification and one of the TV station's crew shirts, and found a Kinko's where they could make copies of the ID.
They were stopped by authorities at the edge of New Orleans, but were able to make it through.
"We waved the press pass, and they looked at each other, the two guards, and waved us on in," Buder said.
Inside the city, they found a surreal environment.
"It was wild," Buder said. "It really felt like it was 'Independence Day,' the movie."
They stopped to give water to a 15-year-old boy sitting beside the road holding a sign that said "Need Water/Food," then went to the convention center.
The evacuation was basically complete by the time they arrived, at about 6:30 or 6:45 p.m. What the trio saw there horrified them.
"The only way I can describe this, it was the epicenter," Buder said. "Inside there were National Guard running around, there was feces, people had urinated, soiled the carpet. There were dead bodies. The smell will never leave me."
Buder said the students saw four or five bodies. National Guard troopers seemed to be checking the second and third floors of the building to try to secure the site.
"It would take no more than 20 minutes to drive in with a bus and get these people out," Buder said. "They sat there for four or five days with no food, no water, babies getting raped in the bathrooms, there were murders, nobody was doing anything for these people. And we just drove right in, really disgraceful. I don't want to get too fired up with the rhetoric, but some blame needs to be placed somewhere."
There are SO many more stories like these...And many of those are much worse....But, this should give you some idea of what's going on......I can hardly believe that this is happening in America
Here are a few exerpts from several stories:
Violence In The Aftermath
New Orleans -- As authorities struggled to keep order, police shot eight people, killing five or six, after gunmen opened fire on a group of contractors traveling across a bridge on their way to make repairs.
Air and boat crews searched flooded neighborhoods for survivors, and federal officials urged those still left in New Orleans to leave for their own safety.
In the confrontation, 14 contractors on their way to help plug the breech in the 17th Street Canal were traveling across the bridge under police escort when they came under fire. Police shot at eight people carrying guns, killing five or six. None of the contractors was injured.
In addition to the lawlessness, civilian deaths and uncertainty about their families, New Orleans' police have had to deal with suicides in their ranks. Two officers took their lives, including the department spokesman, Paul Accardo, who died Saturday, according to Riley. Both shot themselves in the head, he said.
Walk-up stragglers at the Convention Center were checked by Navy medics before they were evacuated. Lt. Andy Steczo said he treated people for bullet wounds and knife wounds.
Police Abandoning Their City
Suicides and resignations hit New Orleans police department
New Orleans Deputy Police Chief W.J. Riley says he doesn't know how his officers have been able to cope.
New Orleans -- There may be no better way to explain the desperation on the city's ravaged streets than this: In the past few days, two police officers took their own lives and dozens have turned in their badges.
Several dozen of the city's 1,600 police officers have failed to report for duty, and some have turned in their badges.
Published reports put the number as high as 200, but Riley declined to comment on those figures, saying more than 100 officers may have been trapped in their own homes or unable to reach command centers.
Capt. Kevin Anderson, commander of the 8th District, which includes the fabled French Quarter, said "It hurts to the heart, but I don't have the luxury of dwelling on who's not here. "We'll welcome them back with open arms maybe someday. But that day ain't today."
Some police who remained on the job expressed outrage that some of their fellow officers abandoned the city when it most needed law and order.
"This is our area," said one officer, who spoke on the condition that he not be identified because he feared retribution from commanders. "I was raised in this town. I'm not giving this city up. Police are turning in their badges and running away."
Police Told Storm Survivors To Expose Their Breasts
A group of female hurricane survivors were told to show their breasts if they wanted to be rescued, a Britishman on vacation has revealed. Ged Scott watched as American rescuers turned their boat around and sped off when the the women refused.
The account was just another example of the horror stories emerging from the hurricane disaster zone.
Mr Scott, 36, of Liverpool, was with his wife and seven-year-old daughter in the Ramada Hotel when the flood waters started rising.
"At one point, there were a load of girls on the roof of the hotel saying 'Can you help us?' and the policemen said 'Show us what you've got' and made signs for them to lift their T-shirts," he told the Liverpool Evening Echo.
"When the girls refused, they said `Fine' and motored off down the road in their boat."
At one point he had to wade through filthy water to barricade the hotel doors against looters.
He said the experience made him want to vomit.
Mr Scott also slated the rescue operation, saying police were more interested in taking snapshots of the devastation rather than rescuing the victims.
"I could not have a lower opinion of the local authorities" he said.
"I couldn't describe how bad the authorities were. Just little things like taking photographs of us, as we are standing on the roof waving for help, for their own little snapshot albums"
He added: "The American people saved us. I wish I could say the same for the American authorities."
Mike Brocken, of Chester, said he feared his wife Christine and 18-year-old daughter Stephanie would be raped when they went into the Louisiana Superdome.
The family were also racially abused by other refugees in the stadium.
"I approached two members of the National Guard and they said to stay outside because they knew it was hell in there.
"One female office basically said under no circumstances take the women in there, because she knew what it was like.
"We were so frightened and we stayed alongside the National Guard for some kind of protection.
He added: "Everyone talks about the National Guard in rather derogatory ways historically, but I've got to say that, but for them, and one man in particular, I may well have lost my family."
Times Reporter Shot In Stomach
Lost in Baton Rouge, a gunman shoots him in an apparent robbery. Doctors leave the bullet in place for now.
A St. Petersburg Times reporter covering the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was shot and wounded late Monday night in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Marcus Franklin, 34, said he had been up since before daybreak reporting on people returning to their homes in Jefferson Parish near New Orleans. After filing his report, Franklin headed to a Baton Rouge motel after sleeping four nights in his car.
He said he was driving on Interstate 110 in Baton Rouge when he discovered he was heading in the wrong direction, so he got off. He had been driving with the air conditioning off and the windows down to save gas, in short supply since the hurricane.
About 11:30 p.m., Franklin stopped at a poorly lit intersection in what police spokesman Sgt. Don Kelly described as "an older part of the city, a high-crime area."
"I didn't hear footsteps or anything," Franklin said. Suddenly, he heard a man say, "How much money you got?"
The man tried opening the passenger door of Franklin's rental car. That's when the reporter said he realized the man was holding what appeared to be a small caliber black revolver.
"I looked at the gun sort of in disbelief," Franklin said. He hit the gas to get away. "That's when I heard a pop. ... It sounded like the proverbial firecracker."
Franklin said he drove off quickly, then checked himself for wounds. He spotted blood on his shirt and discovered he had been shot in the stomach. He called 911 on his cell phone and police and emergency medical technicians showed up.
When thousands of New Orleans residents fled their city before and after the hurricane, many headed for Baton Rouge, swelling the population of the state capital beyond its usual 260,000.
Since then there have been widespread rumors of an increase in assaults and rapes. Last week Baton Rouge Mayor Melvin "Kip" Holden warned that he would not tolerate "lawlessness" from the evacuees.
3 Duke Students Tell Of 'Disgraceful' Scene
A trio of Duke University sophomores say they drove to New Orleans late last week, posed as journalists to slip inside the hurricane-soaked city twice, and evacuated seven people who weren't receiving help from authorities.
The group, led by South Carolina native Sonny Byrd, say they also managed to drive all the way to the New Orleans Convention Center, where they encountered scenes early Saturday evening that they say were disgraceful.
"We found it absolutely incredible that the authorities had no way to get there for four or five days, that they didn't go in and help these people, and we made it in a two-wheel-drive Hyundai," said Hans Buder, who made the trip with his roommate Byrd and another student, David Hankla.
The trio decided to head for New Orleans, after reports on the news angered them. They felt like no one was doing anything to help those who were stranded, Buder said. After looking around, they swiped an Associated Press identification and one of the TV station's crew shirts, and found a Kinko's where they could make copies of the ID.
They were stopped by authorities at the edge of New Orleans, but were able to make it through.
"We waved the press pass, and they looked at each other, the two guards, and waved us on in," Buder said.
Inside the city, they found a surreal environment.
"It was wild," Buder said. "It really felt like it was 'Independence Day,' the movie."
They stopped to give water to a 15-year-old boy sitting beside the road holding a sign that said "Need Water/Food," then went to the convention center.
The evacuation was basically complete by the time they arrived, at about 6:30 or 6:45 p.m. What the trio saw there horrified them.
"The only way I can describe this, it was the epicenter," Buder said. "Inside there were National Guard running around, there was feces, people had urinated, soiled the carpet. There were dead bodies. The smell will never leave me."
Buder said the students saw four or five bodies. National Guard troopers seemed to be checking the second and third floors of the building to try to secure the site.
"It would take no more than 20 minutes to drive in with a bus and get these people out," Buder said. "They sat there for four or five days with no food, no water, babies getting raped in the bathrooms, there were murders, nobody was doing anything for these people. And we just drove right in, really disgraceful. I don't want to get too fired up with the rhetoric, but some blame needs to be placed somewhere."
There are SO many more stories like these...And many of those are much worse....But, this should give you some idea of what's going on......I can hardly believe that this is happening in America