You are not the only one that thinks this and it pisses (excuse my language) me off. Someone shot once at you 2 days ago and they ain't been back since (and that IF they really were shot at because on NPR yesterday, they interviewed a rescue crew and they were like no one has been shooting at us)? WTF? If these are people that work in New Orleans, I'm sure they've been shot at before because all of NO's neighborhoods ain't like the French Quarter.

There is a reporter in reporting from downtown that is saying that the water has subsided and that you CAN get to the convention center / downtown by vehicle so where the heck are they???

I'm sorry to get all political but this is frickin' ridiculous. Yeah, my family is ok, but many people's are not. Those are someone's mother, father, brother, sister, daughter, son that has been left there to basically die - and for what.....because those in charge are running around like the Three Stooges.

I'm watching the President right now and I totally agree with him - the results so far are unacceptable. And they have planned poorly.

I agree also. It's been a week. A week.:(

Ugh, this is another thing that makes me fucking sick about this situation. The damn hotels in LA, MS, AR, and TX. They jacked up the prices so high that many people couldn't afford to stay there.

I was thinking that it was tough to get supplies in there because of flood waters and debris, etc., until I saw Harry Connick Jr on the Today Show this morning. He said they drove right up to that convention center. Days ago, they could have asked for every charter bus company in the country to send one bus down there to help. They could have asked every bottled water company to send a couple truckloads of water. Why is this so impossible for them to pull together? We look like a third world country down there.

The Great Miami Hurricane of 1926 was a Cat 4 when it hit Miami. It took a few decades for the area to completely recover. Not sure what the population of Miami was at that point, though.

Trivia: The University of Miami opened it doors for the first time just days after the Great Hurricane. That's why they named their athletic teams "The Hurricanes."

Ms. MysticCat and I both commented watching the news how almost all of those stranded in NOLA that we saw on TV were black.

Unfortunately, I have to agree with your observation about how the speed of reaction might be different if those stranded were white. In addition, Ms. MysticCat and I were commenting on how what we were seeing showed the vast socio-economic divide that still exists on racial lines. Most of those who could get out did. Those who did not have the resources to leave couldn't, and as we can see they were overwhelmingly black.

This whole thing is just so sad in so many ways.

Okay, I should preface this by saying that I know nothing about how the media works and how reporters/film crews work their jobs. And I certainly don't mean to offend any of you who work in media (DeltAlum, I'm talking to you!).

But what I want to know is, as I sit here and watch the news coverage of all of this, I want to know why, especially in NO, where the reporters are shooting images from their car windows, are they just standing there and capturing all this on film? I realize it's their job, but isn't there a point where the situation becomes so urgent that you need to just stop and help?

If I were down there, I would be helping every person I could. I would be shuttling people back and forth in my news van. I would be giving out my bottles of water. Otherwise, I'd go out of my mind if I had to just stand there and look at it all and do nothing.

I don't know. Maybe that is how all the reporters feel. It just seems like such a waste to have able-bodied people standing there while all this is going on. Maybe I've reached an emotional breaking point and I am just overwhelmed and am just not making sense about anything anymore.

It's difficult because where do you start? In a devastated city where there are 100,000+ people stranded, who do you go to first? The sick and the elderly? The children? They're all over the city. People are so spread out, it's impossible to find and get to them all right away. And while you're rescuing those, you have to leave behind others who may be in just as dire straits and who may not be there when you get back. How do you choose between two people who are both straddling life and death and you can only take one?

The United States may be a powerful and wealthy country, but we still have our weaknesses. This is evidently one of them.

You would think that after 9/11, we'd be a little better equipped to deal with a national disaster like this. Hell, they knew this was coming, it's not like it was a suprise. You would think that they'd have a better emergency plan put together, a better communications system and a way to get bodies and supplies down there to help ASAP.

You would think.

It's just so sad.

I know I asked about this, and others may be curious as well, so I'll post the info in case anyone is interested.

Form a Volunteer Team: Hands On Network (www.citycares.org) is organizing and deploying coordinated volunteer teams of 25 or more people to serve in the Volunteer Operations Center set up by the Red Cross in Montgomery, AL. Volunteers will help provide for the basic needs of displaced individuals and families by helping erect temporary shelters (tent cities) and organizing support services such as dispensing water, serving food, administering first aid, providing comfort, etc. Volunteers will receive on-site training from the Red Cross to support specific recovery and emergency needs. If you are interested in volunteering for this effort, please make note of the following eligibility requirements.

1. Seven-day Commitment: Volunteers can only be accepted if they commit to at least a seven-day shift (Sept. 6-13; Sept. 14-21; Sept. 21-28; October and beyond).

2. Groups Strongly Preferred: Groups of 25 or more are strongly preferred over individuals. This will help maximize our efforts. Individuals must form teams that have a designated Team Leader, and he/she must supply a name, address, direct phone number and email address, as well as the number of people in the group.

3. Travel: Volunteers must arrange for their own transportation to and from Montgomery.

4. Housing: Volunteers will be provided with shelter and food in the same tent cities where they will be serving. Volunteers must bring their own sleeping bags and be prepared to sleep in makeshift structures.

5. Medical Needs: Individuals with medical issues that require regular or rapid attention are strongly discouraged from volunteering at this time. Medical personnel are already overextended serving immediate emergency needs.

6. Insurance and Liability: The Red Cross does not accept liability for volunteers serving in disaster response efforts. Volunteers should be covered by their own individual or company policies and will be required to sign appropriate waivers upon volunteer registration.

If you have a group of volunteers that meets all these requirements, please contact the Hands On Network at takeaction@handsonnetwork.org or call the special hotline at 404-979-2933.

I've gotten the sense that many reporters are doing what they can to help, but what they can do may be limited. They don't have cases of water to hand out. They don't have food. I think lots of reporters have notebooks full of names and phone numbers to try and help reconnect families.

But realistically, perhaps the best way the reporters could help yesterday was to get it all on film/record to show FEMA and the White House what was really going on. I mean, sheesh, Chertoff was telling NPR yesterday that their reporter was basically repeating rumor about what was going on at the NOLA Convention Center -- one of his spokespeople sent NPR a message later in the day to say, basically, "guess what, turns out your guy was right." :rolleyes:

I think MysticCat is right. There are also probably liability issues/concerns that prohibit reporters from just providing basic help (such as taking names and numbers of family members, etc...).

I just want to reiterate that by my previous comment I was not trying to be critical of the press, I was just trying to express that I don't understand. I'm overwhelmed with the urge to go down there and help just by seeing these images, let alone if I were standing there amidst all the destruction. I can't imagine what they're feeling.

Well, Mr. xo_kathy thinks that FEMA has been so obsessed with tryong to plan for terrorist attacks on our major cities that they have completely stopped worrying about anything else. Probably true, and it's obviously backfired... :(

IN terms of the media, I was reading a NY Daily News reporters story yesterday and he pointed out that he and his photographer are down there living out of the car they are in. They have no supplies to offer and no room to fit anyone in the car. Also, they mentioned they wouldn't know where to start. If they offered help to one, there is the possibility of people getting angry and trying to car jack them - or worse.

And I sadly think lifesaver is right - if they were rich white folks, they wouldn;t still be there.

No worries. I think we all share your sense of complete dumbfoundedness, and we would all like to just jump into our TV sets and help.

In a strange way, it has really hit Ms. MysticCat and me. We don't have family down there (any more -- up to a few years ago, we did), but we honeymooned in New Orleans -- a truly ideal location for a honeymoon. It's hard to see a place so intertwined with wonderful memories for us suffering so.