The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #84253 Message #1557858
Posted By: CarolC
06-Sep-05 - 03:40 PM
Thread Name: BS: Genocide in New Orleans
Subject: RE: BS: Genocide in New Orleans
Here's some documentaton about the lack of transportation for many of the people who were not evacuated:
From the Washington Post...
"Many of the residents left in New Orleans are poor, and while some people have criticized them for failing to heed mandatory evacuation orders, many residents say they were simply unable to get out for financial or medical reasons.
'People are saying that those stuck in New Orleans now are those that wanted to stay, but that's not true," said Danelle Fleming, a New Orleans-based social worker. "They wanted to leave, but they couldn't.'
She said that the city's Greyhound station was closing Saturday afternoon -- even as people without cars were trying to leave.
After being rescued from her roof, Moses said she was among those unable to evacuate before the hurricane. 'My mother-in-law went out of town, but I didn't have any money, so I couldn't,' she said."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/30/AR2005083000689_2.html
This is from the New Orleans Times Pickayune, in JULY, long before they even knew about hurricane Katrina, and clear demonstraton that although the local authorities were concerned for the people who were too poor to get out on their own, the local authorities just didn't have the resources to get them out. And the reason it was so important for FEMA to do its job in this situation...
"In scripted appearances being recorded now, officials such as Mayor Ray Nagin, local Red Cross Executive Director Kay Wilkins and City Council President Oliver Thomas drive home the word that the city does not have the resources to move out of harm's way an estimated 134,000 people without transportation."
http://www.nola.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-10/1122184560198030.xml?nola