Murder and mayhem in NO's miserable shelter

[Birgitta Noel]

Murder and mayhem in New Orleans' miserable shelter

By Mark Egan1 hour, 16 minutes ago

With the rotors of President George W. Bush's helicopter sounding overhead, New Orleans' poor and downtrodden recounted tales of murder, rape, death threats and near starvation since Hurricane Katrina wrecked this city.

Ending days of abandonment since the hurricane struck on Monday, the U.S. National Guard handed out military rations and a bottle of water to thousands of evacuees -- the first proper meal most had eaten in days.

But as the masses lined up outside, herded by Army troops toting machine guns, inside the convention center where these people slept since Monday was the stench of death and decay.

Leroy Fouchea, 42, waited in the sweltering heat for an hour to get his ration -- his first proper food since Monday -- and immediately handed it over to a sickly friend.

He then offered to show reporters the dead bodies of a man in a wheelchair, a young man who he said he dragged inside just hours earlier, and the limp forms of two infants, one just four months old, the other six months old.

"They died right here, in America, waiting for food," Fouchea said as he walked toward Hall D, where the bodies were put to get them out of the searing heat.

He said people were let die and left without food simply because they were poor and that the evacuation effort earlier concentrated on the French Quarter of the city. "Because that's where the money is," he spat.

A National Guardsman refused entry.

"It doesn't need to be seen, it's a make-shift morgue in there," he told a Reuters photographer. "We're not letting anyone in there anymore. If you want to take pictures of dead bodies, go to Iraq."

As rations were finally doled out here on the day President Bush visited the devastated city, an elderly white woman and her husband collapsed from the heat.

"I had to walk two blocks to get here and I have arthritis and three ruptured discs in my back," said Selma Valenti, 80, as her husband lay beside her, being revived by a policeman in riot gear. The two had eaten nothing since Wednesday.

Valenti and her husband, two of very few white people in the almost exclusively black refugee camp, said she and other whites were threatened with murder on Thursday.

"They hated us. Four young black men told us the buses were going to come last night and pick up the elderly so they were going to kill us," she said, sobbing. "They were plotting to murder us and then they sent the buses away because we would all be killed if the buses came -- that's what the people in charge told us this morning."

Other survivors recounted horrific cases of sexual assault and murder.

Sitting with her daughter and other relatives, Trolkyn Joseph, 37, said men had wandered the cavernous convention center in recent nights raping and murdering children.

She said she found a dead 14-year old girl at 5 a.m. on Friday morning, four hours after the young girl went missing from her parents inside the convention center.

"She was raped for four hours until she was dead," Joseph said through tears. "Another child, a seven-year old boy was found raped and murdered in the kitchen freezer last night."

Several others interviewed by Reuters told similar stories of the abuse and murder of children, but they could not be independently verified.

Many complained bitterly about why they received so little for so many days, and they had harsh words for Bush.

"I really don't know what to say about President Bush," said Richard Dunbar, 60, a Vietnam veteran. "He showed no lack of haste when he wanted to go to Iraq, but for his own people right here in Louisiana, we get only lip service."

One young man said he was not looking forward to another night in the convention center and wondered when conditions would improve. "It's been like a jail in there," he said. "We've got murderers, rapists, killers, thieves. We've got it all."

[Era Might]

This is disgusting. Absolutely disgusting.

The sad thing is, this is a fact of life every day in every American city. People go years without shelter, barely able to eat, constantly worrying about being attacked on the street. It's just concentrated right now, so it has our attention. Hopefully, we'll realize after this tragedy fades out of the spotlight that the problem isn't over. We need to help every "refugee" out there, wherever they are.

[Birgitta Noel]

I agree. My primary disgust was about the rapes of the children. People who do such things should be shot on the spot.

[ardillacid]

I guess i don't understand...we give BILLIONS AND BILLIONS in foreign aid and we cannot even handle a hurricane here...maybe America needs to be able to handle her own problems beforeshipping my tax money oversees or giving it to the UN instead of helping other Americans.

[Birgitta Noel]

Before I wax poetic I should note that I was also disgusted at the plan to "kill the white folks". People are so ignorant.

There are a number of problems at work here....

1. Many politicians in the area are corrupt. (per Raymond Arroyo on EWTN)

2. The whole area is literally a disaster. The tsunami only went so far in, in a war one block is destroyed, one is ok.

3. No one anticipated this level of disaster.

4. There was no preparation for housing so many folks in one place, ie the superdome. There was no food and water supply, etc.

5. It takes time to get stuff in place, and into the area and the violence is making it more difficult. Should ordinary red cross be sent in? No, but the national guard, army, etc are trained and expect to get shot at.

6. The problems now have little to do with money. This is about coordination, logistics, supply, etc.

So, yes, the response is unacceptable, but the problems are MANY and HUGE. My Dad did disaster recovery for a living, and though he is not here to ask about this I can imagine the nightmare that this is. What we see on tv is horrific, but we do not know what is going on behind the scenes to help folks. This is so widespread, that it seems as simple as lifting in water and filling up buses, but multiply that by thousands and you begin to see the difficulty.

This is what we philosophers call life in a state of nature. The social contract has completely erroded.

The repercussions of this will be deep and long lasting. We never thought we'd see a 9-11 on our soil, and we never thought we'd see these sorts of things on our soil, but we have and we will continue to see them.

[Dreamweaver]

[url="http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=8684"]Here's[/url] an interesting article that explains the culture and lawlesness of New Orleans, and how the hurricane really pushed it to the edge (ie, police taking part in the looting). I'd like to see some more long term sociological/psychological studies done on the victims of the hurricane, whether it be looters, refugees, law enforcement....

[cmotherofpirl]

If the roads are destroyed, and people are shooting the helicopters trying to recue them, why do you expect.?

Remember there are people in this situation who are enjoying this. No laws, no police, no order , a town to loot and a situation where the strong can gleefully prey on the weak.
The monsters among us have been set loose.


For some sick people this is the best of all possible worlds.

[Laudate_Dominum]

It's hard to believe there are people that evil... Who says hell is empty?

[homeschoolmom]

Lord of the Flies comes to N.O.

Why are there no harsh words for the Governor of LA or the Mayor of New Orleans? Why only for Bush?

I wonder if part of the problem is that people can't see the massive scope of the situation. If people only think that where they are is the only place devistated, then of course, they wonder where the help is. Maybe they just don't realize that it covers three states....

[jasJis]

The person to blame is the Govener of Louisiana. She did not need the President to allow her to stage the LA Reserves, the State Police or to spend money to bulldoze the roads in. I've lived in Florida and went to the East Coast for the hurricanes there and live next to polk county that got hit 3 times. We did not need the Federal gov to start the recovery, clear roads, etc.

How did Bush prevent the State Reserves and the State Police from bringing in supplies to NO. I personally know of truck loads of food that left the tampa bay area on Monday. hmmm.

[homeschoolmom]

[quote name='jasJis' date='Sep 3 2005, 07:21 AM']The person to blame is the Govener of Louisiana.  She did not need the President to allow her to stage the LA Reserves, the State Police or to spend money to bulldoze the roads in.  I've lived in Florida and went to the East Coast for the hurricanes there and live next to polk county that got hit 3 times.  We did not need the Federal gov to start the recovery, clear roads, etc.

How did Bush prevent the State Reserves and the State Police from bringing in supplies to NO.  I personally know of truck loads of food that left the tampa bay area on Monday.  hmmm.
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That's exactly right. Where's the governor? Standing there shaking her fist at Bush.... The State is supposed to respond first.

[Laudate_Dominum]

[quote name='homeschoolmom' date='Sep 3 2005, 07:18 AM']Lord of the Flies comes to N.O.

Why are there no harsh words for the Governor of LA or the Mayor of New Orleans? Why only for Bush?

I wonder if part of the problem is that people can't see the massive scope of the situation. If people only think that where they are is the only place devistated, then of course, they wonder where the help is. Maybe they just don't realize that it covers three states....
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I heard the Mayor talk and he seems pretty cool.

[url="http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/02/nagin.transcript/index.html"]http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/02/nagin.transcript/index.html[/url]

[cmotherofpirl]

[quote name='Laudate_Dominum' date='Sep 3 2005, 08:12 AM']It's hard to believe there are people that evil... Who says hell is empty?
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Because people no longer have the fear of God [or any thing else] internalized as a child, and the prevalent feeling is " whatever", all of peoples basest instincts have let loose.

This can happen, and does, in any situation where the law cannot be enforced. If we had an earthquake or any other large-scale natural disaster the results would be the same.

With no morals, there are no internal laws and restraints, and given the right opportunity, chaos results.

[Brother Adam]

It seems as is typical the media leaves out positives. If there are already 15,000 refugees in Houston, that means people have been being moved. The media makes it sound as if only a few buses full of people have been able to get out. But from what I can read it seems as if only a few thousand are left at the Superdome and they will be evacuated today.

[Laudate_Dominum]

[quote name='cmotherofpirl' date='Sep 3 2005, 07:31 AM']Because people no longer have the fear of God [or any thing else] internalized as a child, and the prevalent feeling is " whatever", all of peoples basest instincts have let loose.

This can happen, and does, in any situation where the law cannot be enforced.  If we had an earthquake or any other large-scale natural disaster the results would be the same.

With no morals, there are no internal laws and restraints, and given the right opportunity, chaos results.
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But I think the natural basic instinct is to protect and nurture children, not rape and murder them. It's satanic.
You don't have to even believe in God to respect the dignity of other people. I just don't understand what would drive someone to do such things unless they were posessed by demons or something.
What I mean is, such unbelievable acts of evil are more than just fallen human nature completely unchecked, it seems like much more than that.
I just hope they can manage to catch the people who are doing such things.

[Laudate_Dominum]

It wasn't that long ago that I was visiting friends on the gulf coast. I have great memories of New Orleans, Gulfport, Pass Christian, Bay St. Louis, Long Beach, Biloxi.. The Church I went to mostly down there is now totally destroyed.. I hope my friends got out of there in time.

[Sojourner]

[quote name='Brother Adam' date='Sep 3 2005, 07:34 AM']It seems as is typical the media leaves out positives. If there are already 15,000 refugees in Houston, that means people have been being moved. The media makes it sound as if only a few buses full of people have been able to get out. But from what I can read it seems as if only a few thousand are left at the Superdome and they will be evacuated today.
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Not every story is going to have every detail of what's been going on. I know there have been other stories which have told of the people who have been moved to Houston and other cities. Just because a story has a negative focus doesn't mean the media is trying to ignore the positive changes that are happening.

Personally, I think we NEED to hear about what's happening in the Superdome. We in the U.S. have such a heightened view of ourselves and our goodness. Despite our wealth, we still don't properly care for the poor among us, and we're all still capable of despicable acts. In other words, we still need Jesus.

[Brother Adam]

I think it would require a certian blindness to say that the media isn't biased toward what is evil and negative. No one claims what is happening isn't tragedy, but what the media is delivering is none-the-less tainted by their overwhelming desire to see the demise of Pres Bush. It isn't about having every detail in a news story, but if they are going to go into such detail as to tell us about the park of the Superdome where the bodies are locked up, surely they can devote a single line to telling us how many people have been evacuated. Typically you would tell large details before small.

[p0lar_bear]

I don't think every reporter reporting on the mayhem is targeting Bush. A lot of them are with the peopel who aren't getting the food and water, that aren't getting help, and are just horrified and frustrated by the situation. Several of the reporters admitted that they can't really blame anyone. The situation is gut-wrenching. There is no getting away from that. I think a lot of the reporters are just frustrated and upset. Many seem to be at a loss for words to express what they are seeing.

Yes, some reporters are using the situation to attack Bush, but that isn't the only reason they are reporting these events.

[Brother Adam]

Which is why I strongly suggest reading the 'blog' at www.wwltv.com instead of network news like CNN or Fox. They are right there in New Orleans. What is the headline of the day? "Relief Arrives". Be sure to devote plenty of time to prayer for the situation.