Yeah. This happened after Andrew. People looted. Fights broke out and people stole from each other, completely stressed from waiting hours in the heat for bottled water and ice. They'd already had to traipse from whereever, towing stuff i strollers, Radio Flyer kiddie wagons, and the like. Then they had to wait in line in the heat. They looted private homes. There's some public service video that you can order when you first move here, and it's shown on the telly all during hurricane season, to educate people about the seriousness of a hurricane.
The video reveals that things were not pretty. OTOH, people were also incredibly generous, sharing, and selfless.
>The fear, stress, heat and helplessness is taking it's toll on all
>remaining inhabitants and rescuers alike, but like you, I worry that
>the rest of the nation just sees a lot of poor, extremely
>disenfrancished, undereducated black people and are writing them off.
Some bozo on another list asked, "There are plenty of poor whites. Why aren't they showing whites looting?" HE figures that it's a cultural thing.
Fucking asshole. Thank you, Chuck, for pointing to those photos from the AP and the AFP. That liberal media is at it again!
I can tell you: the stress just from going through four of them and not even having to deal with deprivation was bad enough. It's amazing they haven't all lost their minds. IT's one thing if you're a rescue worker, you have something to do. If you're trapped in that dome or sitting on highway 10, you have nothing to do but freak out, listen to gossip, and freak out some more.
Someone said that you have to be deprived to ever understand what it's like to live on a subsistence income. I don't agree. This entire list, mostly, is evidence to the contrary. I realize that a number of non-USers are probably pissed at our self-absorbed chatter. Oh. Well.
This is from Jaycon, again.
Final notes before I leave. First, thanks to all for concern. Second, all communication with those you know and love is impossible. Towers down, land lines down, etc. Assume all are ok, since they did get @80% out of the area before the storm hit. Third, keep inmind the extent of this event when the begging bowl comes to you via the airwaves. Fourth, Kelly, the orange jumpsuits will, like in '27, be used eventually to clean up the area. At least that's my prediction.
Last year I sat in on a presentation by Don Davis, a prof at LSU who gives a great speech that intertwines cultural, geographical, historical info on cajuns and other ethnicities in the south part of La. At one point in the presentation, he had this to say, approximately:
"Now, we all know that the models show what will happen to New Orleans should a cat 4 or 5 hurrican hit it dead on. Normally, the national guard is sent into restore order. Where is the national guard right now? Iraq. What happens if a cat 4 or 5 hit New Orleans while the majority of troops aren't in La. to restore order?
We're finding out now. No guard to restore order, no guard to help plug levees and rebuild the city.
But I hear the Green Zone and Baghdad airport are fairly well protected. Thank God.
Con