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How could they?!

I happened to stumble over this and it left me stunned.

Hurricane Katrina: Why is the Red Cross not in New Orleans? (from the Red Cross website)

* Acess to New Orleans is controlled by the National Guard and local authorities and while we are in constant contact with them, we simply cannot enter New Orleans against their orders.

* The state Homeland Security Department had requested--and continues to request--that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans following the hurricane. Our presence would keep people from evacuating and encourage others to come into the city.

* The Red Cross has been meeting the needs of thousands of New Orleans residents in some 90 shelters throughout the state of Louisiana and elsewhere since before landfall. All told, the Red Cross is today operating 149 shelters for almost 93,000 residents.

* The Red Cross shares the nation’s anguish over the worsening situation inside the city. We will continue to work under the direction of the military, state and local authorities and to focus all our efforts on our lifesaving mission of feeding and sheltering.

* The Red Cross does not conduct search and rescue operations. We are an organization of civilian volunteers and cannot get relief aid into any location until the local authorities say it is safe and provide us with security and access.

* The original plan was to evacuate all the residents of New Orleans to safe places outside the city. With the hurricane bearing down, the city government decided to open a shelter of last resort in the Superdome downtown. We applaud this decision and believe it saved a significant number of lives.

* As the remaining people are evacuated from New Orleans, the most appropriate role for the Red Cross is to provide a safe place for people to stay and to see that their emergency needs are met. We are fully staffed and equipped to handle these individuals once they are evacuated.

So let me understand. LA Homeland Security will not allow the Red Cross into New Orleans to give aid to the people stranded at the SuperDome and Civic Center because it would discourage them from evacuating and encourage others to enter a drowned city where people are literally dying to get out? Like these people have a choice about hanging around the Civic Center and SuperDome since they have to wait...and wait...and wait...for days for buses to come get them. Five days later, people are dead and the bodies are piling up in the street around these two shelters, with more inside, but the Red Cross isn’t allowed in because it might encourage the people to stay? With the stench of dead bodies and raw sewage so strong that the National Guard troops are even gagging? It was a better plan to just let the weaker people die of thirst, heat, and exposure and hope the stronger ones would hold out?

Is someone insane?

Posted on 09/03/05 at 05:05 AM
 




Chloe

I know this sounds insane, but it’s absolutely true.
My family was through the Susquehanna River Agnes Flood in PA in 1972, so I have a bit of knowledge about what happens during floods.  (My family’s cottage was flooded to the 2nd floor - just the roof was out of the water.)

Basically, people WILL try to stay in the city or enter the city, as crazy as it may seem. 

Lots of people won’t be thinking clearly at all.

A lot of people won’t evacuate a flood zone, for their own safety, or even to save their lives, because they don’t want to leave their belongings, their homes, or their businesses, because they know they will be looted.  And many will return before it’s safe for the same reason.

And some stupid nefarious people will actually enter a flood zone, and risk their lives, just to loot.

I know it sounds astounding, but
A) Plenty of people in this world are NOT rational or logical to begin with
and
B) PLenty of ordinarily sensible people lose their ability to be rational when tragedy like this strikes

It’s sometimes hard to imagine just how dangerous flood waters can be.  But it is dangerous.

If the Red Cross does not have the gear and training to be in the actual flooded zone, then I imagine they shouldn’t be there.

United States   Posted by Chloe on 09/03/05  at  09:50 AM





Kate

The Dome and the Civic Center WERE shelters. Supposedly. No one is or was being drowned there. If the swarms of reporters don’t have any trouble getting there, if the Guard can get there easily, then why not the Red Cross?

I really, really do not understand any rationale for allowing people to needlessly drop dead while the entire world watches. That is insane.

United States   Posted by Kate on 09/03/05  at  03:00 PM





Chloe

From what I’ve read, even the Dome is a chaotic war zone type place.  I guess what I’m saying is, is if the National Guard and police or whoever, are having trouble with the situation, maybe the Red Cross would not be able to handle the situation.

I’m not saying that the handling of the situation has been very good… I really couldn’t say, being that this is an unusually bad situation.

I mean I understand that it’s hard to think of people being in that situation. Just awful.  And I’ve heard various people say various things… probably being a little naive about the situation.

I realize if you’re a good person, when you hear about someone breaking into a pharmacy, as a good person, you would assume it was someone who needed to get life-saving medication for themselves or a loved one.  However, the truth of the matter is… that’s probably not the case.  It’s probably hoodlums looking to cash in on whatever Oxycotin (etc.) supply they could get their paws on.

I’ve read where the Dome was full of criminal activities, violence, and drug use… I could just imagine the authorities not only trying to protect the innocents there, but also trying to keep the criminals from getting their hands on the Red Cross people & supplies…

I don’t know, as horrible as it may be, I think the only safe answer would be to get everyone out as quickly as possible, and that probably does make it make sense not to take anymore people INTO the area.

United States   Posted by Chloe on 09/03/05  at  07:34 PM





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