Five people have died of cholera. I heard that they had open wounds in their legs and had walked through the nasty water.
I heard an interview today on the radio with people that are still sticking it out in NO. I found it very illuminating regarding why some people won't leave.
The men the reporter talked to boasted about how great their city was, because "you can eat on a dollar a day - 5 dollars will feed you for a week in NO." These people were poor and were used to squeezing the most out of what they had. Their living conditions weren't great to begin with. As a result, these people a) believe that they can overcome anything and b) feel such a hardcore connection with their city that they don't even contemplate leaving. Seeing what's happened to those that left probably isn't helping either.
One of the guys they talked to was sweeping away junk from a storm drain so that the water could go down easily as it was being pumped out. He was standing in the water and the reporter pointed out to him, obvious concern in her voice, that he had a bandaid on his foot. He said "yes, I know about the bacteria, I scrub my feet with hydrogen peroxide every time I get out of this water." He spoke like an intelligent human being...it was horrible to listen to, thinking that this man could very likely die.
In an earlier report I heard another reporter regarding the holdouts. He said he went into a home that was dank and filled with the stench of rot and found an old woman who had been to the horror of the Superdome...and decided she'd rather stay home than be there. The in-studio reporter asked him what these people were planning for the long term - can they eat MREs for 3 months? - and he said "these people just aren't thinking farther ahead than one day at a time."
What has happened there is every bit as horrible as anything we can imagine. These people are deer in headlights. I'm sure if you compared this to the Holocaust or Hiroshima people would be horribly offended that I'd speak this way about a natural disaster...but much of this suffering and DEATH was created by bureaucracy and clear-cut stupidity.
Everyone who voted to put off upgrading the levies should be fired. Everyone who decided not to have disaster drills at FEMA should be fired. Everyone who hired incompetent people to such important positions should be fired. Everyone who had anything to do with any of the millions of little snags that lead to the biggest slaughter in recent memory should be fired. They should all be fired and discredited and never allowed to work in their respective industries again.
And they should be happy that we don't stick their heads on pikes in front of every government building from Maine to Hawaii as a warning.