Text 6266, 86 rader
Skriven 2008-02-05 15:26:33 av Richard Webb (1:116/901.0)
   Kommentar till text 6264 av John Massey (1:123/789.0)
Ärende: Katrina refugees
========================
John Massey wrote in a message to Ross Sauer:

JM>  The facts are on my side. Anthropologists will tell you that in any
JM> culture you are likely to have about 10% of the population that will
JM> only do what they absolutely have to do to survive. Nothing more.
<snippage>

JM> New Orleans, it seems, had more than their share.

WOuld agree somewhat with this.  My wife and I managed five apartment buildings
in innercity NEW ORleans for two years.

JM> The fact is that New Orleans had a higher percentage of people on
JM> welfare - people living off the efforts of others - than any other
JM> major city in this country.
Aided and abetted by their government I might add.

JM> The anecdotal evidence is overwhelming. Look around the country at
JM> the cities and towns where the New Orleans refuse was dumped. Within
JM> days the New Orleans street gangs were trying to take over Houston,
JM> Texas high schools.

Again agreed, and saw plenty of this when we managed those apartment buildings.
A kid whose mom worked housekeeping at another hospital.  HE sold crack and
fought pit bulls. some of these parasites needed some real gun control, as in
they needed to hit what they aimed at.  INstead, they damaged buildings and
cars all around when they played O.K. corral.


Again aided and abetted by a city that cannot thrive without the working poor.
SOme examples for you:

Many of these working poor do not need automobiles to live effectively,
therefore do not own them.  sEe my statement about the lawyer in my previous
message re: this topic, though a different thread.

when asked what to do with special needs folks, i.e. those on respirators etc.
WHo had no ability to evacuate the city and other agencies told people to take
them to the hospital where they normally received medical care. THose of us who
work with hospitals know that the first responsibility of a hospital is to the
patients currently receiving medical care at the facility.  HOspitals go into
lockdown during such situations. We had to arrange to get our critical patients
out asap and eventually get the others to facilities actually able to care for
them.  A hospital cannot allow an uncontrolled influx of people. SOme folks
sheltering at the superdome ended up commandeering a boat and trying to get to
University hospital.  OUr security isolated them and confined them until they
could be returned there.

University hospital told the city more than once as did other hospitals that
they'd have to stockpile supplies etc. to deal with those who must shelter
within the metro area as they could not evacuate. tHe city sat on the problem,
made no plans.  YEt less than 24 hours before Katrina made landfall the city
made contact with LSu medical center needing medical supplies for the
superdome. THey were told then that those needs could not be met as University
and CHarity hospitals only had what supplies we needed.

THe economy of NEw ORleans depended heavily upon the maids, bus boys, waiters,
etc.  Essentially low paid service workers. Although there are some I"m sure
who could have made a run for safety with an old beater car many who remained
had no ability to leave the city. THeir transportation consists of their two
feet; buses; streetcars, etc.

Hurricanes are nothing new to the civic leaders in NEW ORleans.  tHis old man
grew up in the midwest and could figure out waht was going to happen to a city
built below sea level surrounded by levees to make a large bowl.  This caused
me to wonder why a major hospital put the auxiliary generator in the basement.

A city which provides good low cost public transport to enable aforementioned
low paid service workers to get to jobs has some responsibility to assure the
same workers safety when the inevitable hurricane is coming.  IF this means
evacuation, which logic dictates it should, then these leaders should plan to
provide a means to do so for the large segment of the population which cannot
evacuate by private automobile.  Hence, I maintain the government of the city
and state bears a large part of the responsibility for what happened in that
city.

Airlines, Greyhound and AMtrack sent rolling stock out of that city with empty
seats. Amtrack ran one train in after the hurricane but before the waters rose
only to have the engineers told to get the train out of there with many empty
seats. SOme reports say they were ordered out of there at gunpoint.

Regards,
           Richard
... A good captain is hoisting his first drink in a bar when the storm hits.
--- timEd 1.10.y2k+
 * Origin: Radio REscue net operations BBS       (1:116/901)