Post by ~*Kimmy*~ on Aug 30, 2005 20:03:05 GMT -5
"National Guardsmen brought in people from outlying areas to the Superdome in the backs of big 2-ton Army trucks. Louisiana's wildlife enforcement department also brought people in on the backs of their pickups. Some were wet, some were in wheelchairs, some were holding babies and nothing else.
Nevertheless, it was clear the death toll would rise sharply, with one survivor after another telling of friends and loved ones who floated off or disappeared as the floodwaters rose around them.
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said hundreds, if not thousands, of people may still be stuck on roofs and in attics, and so rescue boats were bypassing the dead.
We're not even dealing with dead bodies," New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said. "They're just pushing them on the side."
"I talked with paramedics that are on the scene and the devastation is so great that they won't quit counting (bodies) for a while," said Mark Williams, operations supervisor for American Medical Response, which operated ambulances along the Mississippi coast.
Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi said there were unconfirmed reports of up to 80 deaths in Harrison County — which includes devastated Gulfport and Biloxi — and the number was likely to rise.
“What I’m authorized to say now is we expect the death toll to be higher than anything we’ve ever seen before,” said Jim Pollard, civil defense spokesman for Mississippi’s Harrison County, which includes Biloxi and Gulfport.
An untold number of people were also feared dead in Louisiana. At least five other deaths across the Gulf Coast were blamed on Katrina.
"We know that there is a lot of the coast that we have not been able to get to," Barbour said on NBC's "Today Show." "I hate to say it, but it looks like it is a very bad disaster in terms of human life."
As for the death toll in Louisiana, Blanco said only: "We have no counts whatsoever, but we know many lives have been lost."
At the Superdome, someone died after plunging from an upper level of the stadium, Ebbert said. He said the person probably jumped.
With water now rising perilously inside the Superdome, Blanco said the tens of thousands of refugees now huddled there and in other shelters in New Orleans would have to be evacuated.
In another blow to the besieged cities, looting broke out in New Orleans and in Biloxi, in some cases in full view of police and National Guardsmen. On New Orleans' Canal Street, the main thoroughfare in the central business district, looters sloshed through hip-deep water and ripped open the steel gates on the front of several clothing and jewelry stores.
"The looting is out of control. The French Quarter has been attacked," said Jackie Clarkson, a city councilwoman. "We're using exhausted, scarce police to control looting when they should be used for search and rescue."
Deputy Police Chief Warren Riley said that in one case, a looter shot and wounded another looter. One police officer was shot in the head by a looter in New Orleans, but was expected to recover, said Sgt. Paul Accardo, a police spokesman.
On New Orleans’ Canal Street, which actually resembled a canal, dozens of looters ripped open the steel gates on clothing and jewelry stores, some packing plastic garbage cans with loot to float down the street. One man, who had about 10 pairs of jeans draped over his left arm, was asked if he was salvaging things from his store.
“No,” the man shouted, “that’s EVERYBODY’S store!”
Outside the broken shells of Biloxi’s casinos, people picked through slot machines to see if they still contained coins. “People are just casually walking in and filling up garbage bags and walking off like they’re Santa Claus,” said Marty Desei, owner of a Super 8 motel."
This is so overwhelming...especially since the initial projected path originally had Katrina hitting directly where I live.
Seeing such catastropic devistation, especially knowing it very well could have been YOU, is extremely sobering (to say the least!). Every time I see more footage, the more my heart hurts. Those poor, poor people. Except for the looters...all of them should be f*cking shot! It's sickening to think that people are that selfish and gluttonous. It is truly sad that people have become so materialistic in this world that they actually have absolutely no regard for human life. Greedy ba$tards!
You know...something like this really makes you think. It makes you truly appreciate what you are fortunate and blessed enough to have...and makes even your biggest problem seem insignificant.
I feel guilty for taking so many people and so much for granted lately...
Nevertheless, it was clear the death toll would rise sharply, with one survivor after another telling of friends and loved ones who floated off or disappeared as the floodwaters rose around them.
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said hundreds, if not thousands, of people may still be stuck on roofs and in attics, and so rescue boats were bypassing the dead.
We're not even dealing with dead bodies," New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said. "They're just pushing them on the side."
"I talked with paramedics that are on the scene and the devastation is so great that they won't quit counting (bodies) for a while," said Mark Williams, operations supervisor for American Medical Response, which operated ambulances along the Mississippi coast.
Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi said there were unconfirmed reports of up to 80 deaths in Harrison County — which includes devastated Gulfport and Biloxi — and the number was likely to rise.
“What I’m authorized to say now is we expect the death toll to be higher than anything we’ve ever seen before,” said Jim Pollard, civil defense spokesman for Mississippi’s Harrison County, which includes Biloxi and Gulfport.
An untold number of people were also feared dead in Louisiana. At least five other deaths across the Gulf Coast were blamed on Katrina.
"We know that there is a lot of the coast that we have not been able to get to," Barbour said on NBC's "Today Show." "I hate to say it, but it looks like it is a very bad disaster in terms of human life."
As for the death toll in Louisiana, Blanco said only: "We have no counts whatsoever, but we know many lives have been lost."
At the Superdome, someone died after plunging from an upper level of the stadium, Ebbert said. He said the person probably jumped.
With water now rising perilously inside the Superdome, Blanco said the tens of thousands of refugees now huddled there and in other shelters in New Orleans would have to be evacuated.
In another blow to the besieged cities, looting broke out in New Orleans and in Biloxi, in some cases in full view of police and National Guardsmen. On New Orleans' Canal Street, the main thoroughfare in the central business district, looters sloshed through hip-deep water and ripped open the steel gates on the front of several clothing and jewelry stores.
"The looting is out of control. The French Quarter has been attacked," said Jackie Clarkson, a city councilwoman. "We're using exhausted, scarce police to control looting when they should be used for search and rescue."
Deputy Police Chief Warren Riley said that in one case, a looter shot and wounded another looter. One police officer was shot in the head by a looter in New Orleans, but was expected to recover, said Sgt. Paul Accardo, a police spokesman.
On New Orleans’ Canal Street, which actually resembled a canal, dozens of looters ripped open the steel gates on clothing and jewelry stores, some packing plastic garbage cans with loot to float down the street. One man, who had about 10 pairs of jeans draped over his left arm, was asked if he was salvaging things from his store.
“No,” the man shouted, “that’s EVERYBODY’S store!”
Outside the broken shells of Biloxi’s casinos, people picked through slot machines to see if they still contained coins. “People are just casually walking in and filling up garbage bags and walking off like they’re Santa Claus,” said Marty Desei, owner of a Super 8 motel."
This is so overwhelming...especially since the initial projected path originally had Katrina hitting directly where I live.
Seeing such catastropic devistation, especially knowing it very well could have been YOU, is extremely sobering (to say the least!). Every time I see more footage, the more my heart hurts. Those poor, poor people. Except for the looters...all of them should be f*cking shot! It's sickening to think that people are that selfish and gluttonous. It is truly sad that people have become so materialistic in this world that they actually have absolutely no regard for human life. Greedy ba$tards!
You know...something like this really makes you think. It makes you truly appreciate what you are fortunate and blessed enough to have...and makes even your biggest problem seem insignificant.
I feel guilty for taking so many people and so much for granted lately...
