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One poster made a remark about people leaving in their cars, only a couple of people per car. Well, I left Baton Rouge at 12:30AM. Got to Jackson, MS at 5:00AM. At every stop I made, EVERY vehicle that was fleeing the storm was filled with people. with their belongings for who knows how many days thrown in as an afterthought. Most of these people do NOT expect to even have a home if or when they return. On the roads yesterday and today I didn't see anyone taking such leisurely drives. Everyone I know is getting out of the area and taking as many people as they can with them. Those include Democrats, Republicans, Black, White, whatever classification you want. There are alot of people who HAVE been helped out by people they never knew but I guess those people were doing it for some unknown selfish reason and not to help their fellow man.
As for those people getting stuck in New Orleans, Mayor Nagin, who is minority for those who keep track of such things, did everything he could to tell these people to leave. The Sherriff, Harry Lee, told everyone all weekend to get out in no uncertain terms. Alot of people simply do NOT think it will be that bad. I have a good friend who is in tears because her idiot 18 year old son will not leave the quarter because he thinks its not that big a deal. Alot of people were told and chose not to leave. WHAT can government do in those cases? The problem is that these people who are now showing up at the dome are stuck. There will be no safe place but that structure in the city if its a direct hit.
As for the cruel heartless rich, I know several who are doing everything they can to help. One owns a lumber company. He will lose about 2 million dollars in lumber when in New Orleans when his yard goes underwater. He still has been up non stop from his home in Monroe, LA arranging for 18 wheelers to bring in plywood, generators, water, ice, and other necessities to give out at his distribution centers and no, he is not making money off of this stuff. He geniunely cares what happens to people.
In Baton Rouge, Mayor Holden, recently elected minority mayor, is not even IN THE CITY!!!! His assistant is handling everything and refuses to comment on where the mayor is and when he will return.
There are only so many roads that exit the city because of its being closed in by water. Once the winds get to a certain point, you can not let anyone on those causeways.
This storm rose to such fury in a hurry and caught alot of people by surprise. No one expected the clone of Camille to suddenly appear this weekend. There are a lot of good people, poor, rich, middle class who have tried to help and make a difference. However, at some point nature does overwhelm these efforts. If it hits New Orleans, there will be tragedy. It IS sickening. It is maddening. Short of sending 100K troops door to door to get people, it would have been impossible to get alot of people out in time.
As for people saying they have no where to go, that is so stupid on its face. Just GET OUT!!! If all you are doing is waiting at a rest area on the state line or somewhere else, at least you are not there where the city will be underwater if a direct hit takes place. I am speaking in general of course. There will be some who have no means etc to get out of town but there is no way to get to all of them either. The Mayor would've had to commandeer every bus, etc in the first 24 hours. the problem with these storms also is they are so unpredictable that at what point do you make these decisions.
Too often there is no right time and no matter what judgement you make there will be criticism. Bush probably could not have done much different (and before anyone bashes me I have never voted for him and never will).
I should apologize for offending some but I do not care at this point. I guess I am not an expert on this tragedy as I live down here and am too close to it as compared to those of you who live in the ivory towers from which you can spew forth your intelligent and knowledgeable comments about the storms impact and the residents in the area. I frankly am disgusted by some of the posts and the first thought for this person with 3 degrees was to grab a baseball bat. However, I am too busy taking in people from New Orleans up here in jackson to think about this anymore after I write this post.
I will say that alot of you do NOT know what you are talking about. Alot of good people will die in this tragedy if it pans out like we t hink it will. Alot of GOOD people are going to lose their homes, jobs, loved ones, and things that are precious to them. For them to be ridiculed by some of you on this board is outrageous and beyond the pale and merely shows the anger that you have over something in your own pathetic life.
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