Hurricane Katrina
After spending the two days following Hurricane Katrina on vacation, and three more days touring the disaster region upon his return, Bush decided to send 7,000 troops to the Gulf yesterday. “In America, we do not abandon our fellow citizens in their hour of need,” he said. New Orleans city officials, however, have accused the Federal Emergency Management Agency — part of the Homeland Security Department — of responding sluggishly. “Get off your asses and let’s do something,” Mayor Ray Nagin told the agency.
Criticism is mounting over the Bush administration’s handling of the crisis. President Bush didn’t return from his vacation until Wednesday and several other top officials remain on summer breaks. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice had been vacationing in New York City but returned to Washington on Thursday. While on vacation, she attended a musical, where she was booed. She also went shoe shopping. A fellow shopper was thrown out of the store after yelling “How dare you shop for shoes while thousands are dying or homeless?” Meanwhile Vice President Dick Cheney has been in Wyoming and White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card has been in Maine.
Eighty percent of New Orleans was flooded after levees were breached by rising water. The situation in New Orleans quickly worsened, but little help appeared. Shelters set up at the Superdome and at the New Orleans Convention Center became squalid, hot, and dangerous.The Louisiana National Guard patrolled the Superdome with machine guns as flood victims, locked behind metal barricades, shouted “we need more water.” Cigarettes in the Superdome sold for $10 a pack, and a brisk market in anti-diuretics, which allowed people to avoid the overflowing bathrooms, developed. “We are like animals,” said a woman. Shootings, carjackings, and looting were reported across New Orleans. Thousands of people, most of them poor, were stranded for several days; many died waiting for rescue. About 57,000 troops, many assigned to combat operations, entered the New Orleans area. The Superdome and Convention Center were finally evacuated, but evacuees were not allowed to take their pets with them. “Snowball!” cried a little boy after police took away his dog. “Snowball!” It was announced that it could take up to six months for New Orleans to be pumped out, and another three months for it to dry. Officials estimated that 10,000 people had been killed in the flood; about the same number of people remained in the city. Fifty-five countries offered aid to the United States. Cuba offered 1,100 doctors, Iran offered humanitarian aid, China offered $5 million, and Venezuela offered fuel at a reduced cost. The United States was performing a “needs assessment” to decide whose help to accept.
AP
democracynow
harpers
Stumble it!