Those that can afford to are packing up and leaving New Orleans for other cities in the Southeast. Radio DJs in Atlanta were talking about how New Orleans residents have been applying for jobs here in droves. My parents, who are in South Florida, have seen a bunch of Louisiana and Mississippi license plates! It's so weird to think that one of the biggest cities in our country is losing their residents not only to death but to people packing up and moving on to somewhere else.

One of my co-workers had her sister up here during the storm and they have decided to just stay here permanently. They're not even going to try to go back and see if there is anything left.

The mayor of Detroit is offering to take some of the "refugees". I'm having a hard time with that term because I think of refugees as those leaving a war zone type area, not a disaster stricken area, but at this point, there doesn't seem to be much difference.

Another co-worker, whose son is an internal medicine doc in the Air Force is being sent down there from his base near St. Louis. They are going to set up a mobile hospital unit. He's been told he will be there for a month.

I heard on the news tonight that they are bringing bodies out of the Superdome and some of them were victims of gun fire. The reporter sounded completely numb and in shock, not to mention scared.

Someone used the word surreal, and it truly is. One woman interviewed said "I just want to pinch myself and wake up".

Dee

Heartbreaking and horrific images on TV, but I think what a previous post mentioned is probably true: we're not being shown the worst of it. What has struck me is that even Fox (and, on another network) the ideologically somewhat similar "Scarborogh Country" are allowing significant indications of desperation, frustration with slow or nonexistent FEMA and state help, and "third world" conditions to be shown and discussed.

just horribly sad...
my high school kids were glib until they took it apart and realized how many folks were involved and what it really meant.
how sad.

CNN: People are dying in front of us
 

http://www.cnn.com/video/player/play...ew.orleans.cnn

This is a video clip. ***It's pretty graphic*** I usually turn away from this - but we need to know.

So sad. It doesn't even look like the US. My apologies if someone has already posted this.

there is a similiar video on MSN (sorry - i couldn't figure out how to post it) that focused on children though.

Heartbreaking isn't the word. All we can do is pray - pray that a miracle will happen for these people - pray that provisons will be given unto them - pray that violent thugs that shoot at rescue personnel will stop so that these people can be helped. Shoot, just pray....

I don't normally admit to crying. But, I am absolutely overcome with emotion. It's just so terrible. Terrible isn't even the word for it. Terrifying...

We have refugees here in TN. In fact, we are boarding some pets for people who have no place to keep them. Our church had been set up as a shelter for them. My friends have lost their homes.

Is anyone else just overcome with emotion over all of this?

This is how everyone was after 9/11.

The worst part then for all of us on GC was we couldnt even talk about it. GC was down for 2 weeks. Us not being able to talk about it isnt anything big, but at least its a place of support and we can share information and such.

BTW, the Astrodome is now CLOSED to refugees.

From The Houston Chronicle

Stadium calls halt to taking refugees
By BILL MURPHY and LEIGH HOPPER
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

Officials closed the Reliant Astrodome to further New Orleans evacuees late Thursday, shortly before five more busloads arrived.

Although the passengers initially were told they would have to reboard the buses and go to Huntsville, officials relented and allowed at least one busload of 67 passengers to stay. The fate of the other four buses was still being considered late Thursday.

Houston Police Sgt. Nate McDuell said the Harris County Fire Marshal's Office ordered that no more evacuees be accepted....

Tippiechick - I am. When I first saw that video, my eyes welled up. I was looking at the body in the chair thinking "that could be someone's mother..." And the babies. I can't imagine. I go from sadness to extreme anger. All we can do is donate & pray collectively - like Honey said. :(

Now that the Houston Astrodome isn't accepting any more refugees, what's the plan? I've read that some are supposed to be taken to San Antonio -- is that right? And I'm concerned for the tens of thousands of people without safe water, food, or medical care, not just in New Orleans, but elsewhere in LA, MS, ALA, even parts of FL.

Am I right in assuming that lots more people will die before adequate basic help arrives?

Yeppers. Many more are gonna die before this is all finsihed. I personally believe that part of it is a manifestation of the ingrained racism that exists in this country. I just believe in my soul that if it was 30,000 white people stuck at the NOLA convention center and superdome, they all wouldda been outta there by tuesday.

My personal beliefs aside...

San Antonio is supposed to accept up to 25,000, but I dont know how just yet. We only found out this afternoon that they were coming and at 5PM they were still grinding off the bolts that stuck out of the concrete (that held down equipment) in the warehouse where everyone is staying. I dont know how it coudl be ready already.

What would be real nice would be if the right religous brother Joel Osteen would shut his mouth for once and open his church. He just moved his congregation to the former Compaq Center. Bet that place could hold some refugees.

BTW, on CNN I just saw Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Katrina Task Force - some dude named General Honoree was all apologetic saying (and I am paraphrasing here) that "there was absolutely NO way anyone could have seen this coming." Really? Cause a few lowly New Orleans Times-Picayune reporters figured it out some three years ago. See their story (I cant find a dateline) HERE. (Read 'Day Two' - its a play by play of whats happening now - and this was written (I believe) three years ago.

I just dont understand how it's 2005 and were gonna have THOUSANDS who have died in this. When 8,000 died in the Galveston storm in 1900, I can understand. They had no warning. But being the weathiest, most powerful country in the world, how did this happen here in 2005? How were we this vunerable? How did we not have a plan?

These are the questions that we keep asking ourselves. I'm sorry, I just cannot comprehend what is happening here. We've been watching Today and they were just interviewing the head of FEMA. It sounded like this guy pretty much said that the people in New Orleans were getting help, but the pictures certainly said something completely different.

Why is this happening in our own country? It's my understanding that many other countries have already offered tangible help to us, but this assistance has been turned down? I hope I'm wrong about that!

Why can't I shake the feeling that if this devastation had happened anywhere else, the US would have had help there in 48 hours? Why can't we take care of our own country in a true time of crisis?

Yep. I agree.

My line sister works at the Holiday Inn in Tallahassee and she says its been PACKED in there with all sorts of pets running around. They are, however, KICKING THEM ALL OUT because of people who reserved hotel rooms for the Miami football game on Labor Day...these people have no-where to go and people are just breaking down in her arms...another Soror helped make 700 meals at her church that is being used as a shelter.