Category Archives: Unspeakably Awful (Katrina)

Stuff which appears all true, and quite horrible:

• Sickening Beyond Belief. Here’s just a small bit:
  

  In the midst of administering chest compressions to a dying woman several days after Hurricane Katrina struck, Dr. Mark N. Perlmutter was ordered to stop by a federal official because he wasn’t registered with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

  “I begged him to let me continue,” said Perlmutter, who left his home and practice as an orthopedic surgeon in Pennsylvania to come to Louisiana and volunteer to care for hurricane victims. “People were dying, and I was the only doctor on the tarmac (at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport) where scores of nonresponsive patients lay on stretchers. Two patients died in front of me.

• The follow-up posting detailing other examples of the deadly refusal of assistance.
• Meanwhile FEMA still can’t get its act together.

PS. Here comes Tropical Storm Rita, soon to be Hurricane Rita. See the details via the University of Miami’s cool Google hack that plots hurricane track observations and predicted path. (Note that in this case the track is a little misleading, maybe, as it is quite possible the center will reform farther north during the next 36 hours. That is, right here. Although the real hurricane force may not grow until it hits the Gulf.)

How much have GW Bush and Barbara Bush personally donated from their millions to hurricane relief funds? And to which funds?

Wow. That didn’t take long. Bush gives a press conference this morning and says,

Question: Did they misinform you when you said that no one anticipated the breach of the levees?

President Bush: No, what I was referring to is this. When that storm came by, a lot of people said we dodged a bullet. When that storm came through at first, people said, whew. There was a sense of relaxation, and that’s what I was referring to. And I, myself, thought we had dodged a bullet. You know why? Because I was listening to people, probably over the airways, say, the bullet has been dodged. And that was what I was referring to. Of course, there were plans in case the levee had been breached. There was a sense of relaxation in the moment, a critical moment. And thank you for giving me a chance to clarify that.

In no time at all, the blogs expose this as a inconsistent with the facts we know. Or, if you prefer, a real whopper.

One issue that looks pretty raw right now was the local effort by neighboring Gretna to keep (black, poor) New Orleans residents from walking to safety–apparently because the route would have taken them right past (white, wealthier) people’s neighborhoods.

Start with the summary account offered by Kevin Drum — he has a good map. Then read Digby at hullabaloo for the details, and the outrage. Also Making Light. Ice the cake with this excerpt from an interview with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin in which he talks about the closing of the bridge:

That says that people value their property, and were protecting property, over human life. … I’m pissed about it. And I don’t know how many people died as a result of that.

DenverPost.com reporter Diane Carman’s story — a reliable source — begins like this:

If I didn’t know better, I’d have thought I was peering through the fence at a concentration camp.

The conditions of the camps where Katrina’s victims are being herded is, or should be, a matter of pressing concern.

Escapable Logic points to an impressive offer from Pfizer:

Victims of Hurricane Katrina who have lost access to their Pfizer medications can receive an emergency supply at any Walgreens, Rite Aid, Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club or CVS pharmacy.

From now until September 16th, Pfizer and these pharmacies are helping survivors obtain their Pfizer medicines. No matter where patients may be residing, if they are from the affected areas, they can go to any Walgreens, Rite Aid, Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club or CVS pharmacy and ask the pharmacist for help. Many independent community pharmacies will also be participating.

Patients without prescription drug coverage will get their medicines for free.

And it seems to be a genuine offer. Nice.