greg334
Veteran Expediter
I want to add a couple things here and pass on some stuff from a former marine in New Orleans.
I lived through Hugo, one of the wakeup calls for all of us before this hurricane and I have to say that the mayor and governor dropped the ball on this one, not the federal government. Mayor Riley made sure that we outside of city of Charleston knew our way out and provided some support to us on the islands. We didn’t have the buses stop running or the police under chief Greenberg leave their posts as they have in New Orleans. But as unprepared as Charleston was, the officials didn’t blame everyone else for their mistakes, they just made sure that there was less mistakes made next time.
Now I have talked to a former coworker who went down there to save his family. He is a retired marine who seen a lot of action in his life and was determined to get people out at all cost. His family lived in the poorer part of town and yes he is black and he wants me to make sure I tell it like he wants it to be told, no BS (he is clear he is not an African American but a black American, so please don’t be offended). In this neighborhood there are all kids of people from all kinds of places.
He is clear that the fault is the mayor’s and the governor’s not the president’s or FEMA’s. He said in his email before I talked to him that his grandmother and great uncles were told by the mayor himself that it would be alright to stay but they perished. He said that his cousins who worked for the city said that the pumps and other things that the city was paid to maintain by the federal government were not even worked on in a long time because of the mayor’s administration. He also told me that some of the media is so full of race baiting to hurt the administration that they ignore the facts about what is really happening that a lot of people did not want to leave the city for fear of their property would be stolen because of the corrupt police force.
He pointed out something that the media is not saying. Who in today’s world would have given an executive order to force people from their homes? No one wants to be responsible because of the legal problems and the chance of being recalled. If the mayor or governor wanted to they could have the city emptied with the amount of police they had.
The thing that really gets me is the news media’s selfishness on a personal level. I have seen this when I lived in Charleston and people had their own form of revenge when it happened. He mentioned that there were two people begging a news crew for water and they refused to give any water to them. Never mind that one was an elderly lady and was dehydrated, they said that they needed the water as they sat in their air conditioned truck. He asked the news crew nicely for the water and they refused, but when he asked again with his 9mm pulled out of its holster, they cooperated. He took all their water and food and told them to leave the area. They argued with him about their ‘right’ to be there but he calmly explained that the cops would not help them if they didn’t leave because they are gone and he has no reason not to take their truck to help stranded people and leave them to the heat like everyone else is dealing with. He told me that he handed out 5 cases of water and food to anyone walking out of the city.
Oh one last thing about the media that we both agreed on, there were a lot of helicopters, trucks and buses full of news people, why didn’t they help out? They could have bought water, food and medical supplies to people who were stranded. If they can interview one person in the superdome, they could have do a lot more for everyone.
Well as for me, I want to help my friends down there but I learned that unless I am asked to go after I offer, I stay put. The thing is as Jerry mentioned he does not want President Bush anywhere near New Orleans, the amount of people that travel with him would only get in the way of real work.
Pray for these people and give what you can.
I lived through Hugo, one of the wakeup calls for all of us before this hurricane and I have to say that the mayor and governor dropped the ball on this one, not the federal government. Mayor Riley made sure that we outside of city of Charleston knew our way out and provided some support to us on the islands. We didn’t have the buses stop running or the police under chief Greenberg leave their posts as they have in New Orleans. But as unprepared as Charleston was, the officials didn’t blame everyone else for their mistakes, they just made sure that there was less mistakes made next time.
Now I have talked to a former coworker who went down there to save his family. He is a retired marine who seen a lot of action in his life and was determined to get people out at all cost. His family lived in the poorer part of town and yes he is black and he wants me to make sure I tell it like he wants it to be told, no BS (he is clear he is not an African American but a black American, so please don’t be offended). In this neighborhood there are all kids of people from all kinds of places.
He is clear that the fault is the mayor’s and the governor’s not the president’s or FEMA’s. He said in his email before I talked to him that his grandmother and great uncles were told by the mayor himself that it would be alright to stay but they perished. He said that his cousins who worked for the city said that the pumps and other things that the city was paid to maintain by the federal government were not even worked on in a long time because of the mayor’s administration. He also told me that some of the media is so full of race baiting to hurt the administration that they ignore the facts about what is really happening that a lot of people did not want to leave the city for fear of their property would be stolen because of the corrupt police force.
He pointed out something that the media is not saying. Who in today’s world would have given an executive order to force people from their homes? No one wants to be responsible because of the legal problems and the chance of being recalled. If the mayor or governor wanted to they could have the city emptied with the amount of police they had.
The thing that really gets me is the news media’s selfishness on a personal level. I have seen this when I lived in Charleston and people had their own form of revenge when it happened. He mentioned that there were two people begging a news crew for water and they refused to give any water to them. Never mind that one was an elderly lady and was dehydrated, they said that they needed the water as they sat in their air conditioned truck. He asked the news crew nicely for the water and they refused, but when he asked again with his 9mm pulled out of its holster, they cooperated. He took all their water and food and told them to leave the area. They argued with him about their ‘right’ to be there but he calmly explained that the cops would not help them if they didn’t leave because they are gone and he has no reason not to take their truck to help stranded people and leave them to the heat like everyone else is dealing with. He told me that he handed out 5 cases of water and food to anyone walking out of the city.
Oh one last thing about the media that we both agreed on, there were a lot of helicopters, trucks and buses full of news people, why didn’t they help out? They could have bought water, food and medical supplies to people who were stranded. If they can interview one person in the superdome, they could have do a lot more for everyone.
Well as for me, I want to help my friends down there but I learned that unless I am asked to go after I offer, I stay put. The thing is as Jerry mentioned he does not want President Bush anywhere near New Orleans, the amount of people that travel with him would only get in the way of real work.
Pray for these people and give what you can.
