Things are still pretty bleak in New orleans. Now some of the local authorities have committed suicide. Recently 6 people from the army core of engineers were shot dead, by local police, as they walked across a bridge.
What complicates the whole effort is that a small number of residents don't want to leave to become refugees at an unknown destination, but possibly in a crowded stadium somewhere. And some say they don't want to leave now, but might want to leave later.
And all this is made worse by federal people who are doing...what exactly?
It seems the real answer to that is they are organising photo-ops for themselves, and giving press conferences.
On its Internet site, CNN on Friday quoted upbeat assessments of relief efforts by US officials, which contrasted sharply with the grim conditions on the ground.
So was Bush just caught off guard for once. Was it just unlucky that this hurricane hit in his last week of holidays?
Bush has been here before. When the Tsunami hit, guess where he was? Crawford. How many people do you know who need to take 5 week vacations? And this guy is the president. He can spend as much time as he wants there when he is not president.
From News24:
Bush was at his Texas ranch when the tidal wave hit, and although the United States quickly pledged to aid afflicted areas, he did not make public remarks until December 29 (3 days later), when he defended US aid from accusations that Washington was being "stingy."
The US later quieted those charges by mounting a massive relief effort, which included deploying US military ships in the region, and ramping up financial help well beyond its much-mocked original $15m offer.
I watched a clip of Celine Dion on Larry King, who has contributed $1 million. She was livid, and emotionally overwrought, waving her arms and saying yes there may be reasons (from the government), but for God's sake, go there and do something. How hard can it be to bring people water? She was also saying that each night she comes home to her child and then watches another day go by where women with babies are still where they were, still standing and waiting.
Anway, that period is over for most.
I found a picture of Bush holding a guitar on August 30 (a few days after Katrina hit on August 25).
From News24:
Bush was also at his Texas ranch while Katrina churned towards the US coast, where it struck Florida on August 25. He did not make public remarks on the storm until August 28.
Some critics have seized on a news photograph of the president palling around with a country singer and posing with a gift guitar on August 30 - even as officials predicted Katrina's death toll would run in the hundreds - to say that the president was not taking the situation seriously enough.
There was also an interesting report of Australians who later fled the Superdome (and went under to a nearby hotel)because the Australian men felt that they could no longer protect the Australian girls who they were with.
The report below is not available at the moment on any American websites. Not MSNBC, not CNN, not Yahoo. But it's the main headline of a South African newsite called news24 (www.news24.com).
05/09/2005 00:10 - (SA)
New Orleans - Police shot eight people carrying guns on a New Orleans bridge on Sunday, killing five or six, a deputy chief said.
A spokesperson for the army corps of engineers said the victims were contractors on their way to repair a canal.
The contractors were walking across a bridge on their way to launch barges into Lake Pontchartrain to fix the 17th Street Canal, said John Hall, a spokesperson for the corps.
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