Apocalypse There: A journey into the nightmare of New Orleans . . .

[OneBlueSky]

compelling article by Matt Taibbi about Sean Penn's, Douglas Brinkley's and his rescue work in New Orleans after the flood . . .

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/_/id/7661196

(snip)

A phenomenon I notice throughout my stay in New Orleans is that a sort of unfriendly competition has broken out between civilians and the military when it comes to how many people they've rescued. People like Asmussen become furious when the radio reports some FEMA crew boasting about rescuing five or even ten people. The civilians measure their rescues in the dozens. Almost everyone you meet rescued sixty people yesterday and seventy the day before that, and the numbers get bigger each time you ask about them.

On the other hand, the military guys are pompously dismissive of any efforts made by civilians. I get the impression, in fact, that the military guys look at flood victims as prizes and seek to keep civilians off their turf so they can have more to themselves. "It's like they're after trophies, or heads to put on their walls," says one civilian, who was turned away from a particular neighborhood by the Coast Guard.

But there is no question that the civilians have done the bulk of the boat-rescue work in the crucial first week after the storm. A kind of society of volunteer rescuers has formed organically in places like this section of Napoleon Avenue; they are all over the city, and all have similar stories of being forced into action by the sheer incompetence of the authorities.

(snip)

Even now, days after the Superdome has been evacuated, the authorities seem unable to cope with the scale of the disaster. Earlier that morning, before we went out on the boats, the New Orleans police chief, W.J. Riley, announced that two officers had committed suicide. Moreover, he announced that an unspecified number of police had resigned. We found only one place in the city where there were a lot of cops: police headquarters. Under an awning at the Harrah's casino downtown, the police had formed a makeshift command center. We'd been there in the morning and found about 250 officers standing around, looking a lot happier than the ones we'd seen out in the city. The very moment we'd arrived, news chimed in over the police radios that cops had shot and killed five looters at a bridge somewhere outside town. The news was met with a high cheer ("That's right, motherfuckers!" was one cry), and the whole crowd was buzzed, like a bar after midnight.

- much more . . . well worth your time . . .

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/_/id/7661196

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

1. Great read. Thanks for posting. nt.

[leveymg]

2. cops had shot and killed five looters at a bridge somewhere outside town.

Looters or just people trying to flee New Orleans? Shot for having the "wrong" skin color while trying to enter a "secure" area?

Was this the Gretna Bridge incident?

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

3. No. What I read was...

that these were contractors on their way to do some work, who, for their own security, were armed. N.O. police assumed they were criminals, engaged them without first investigating, and killed 5 or 6 of them. This got amazingly little coverage and I would like to know more myself. The news item I read on it was very brief. If someone can provide a link, it would be appreciated.

[bananas]

6. There were several threads at DU

I don't have any links handy.
The story kept changing - shoot-out between police and 5 criminals, 5 Army Corps of Engineers engineers shot by criminals, police shoot 5 criminals who were shooting at Army Corps of Engineers.

[Dunvegan]

4. Surreal...incredible read...

Highly recommended.

Really.

[chalky]

5. God Almighty, but I wish I could recommend this more than once.

n/t

[Tuesday_Morning]

10. I'll kick and highly recommend for ya n/t

[markus]

7. They can't let the locals have any credit

The fact is that more people were rescued by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, which went into the worst neighborhoods of the Ninth Ward by the hundreds with their enformcement boats even before it was clear the lakefront levees were collapsing.

They were prepositioned with their duck punts and other shallow boats and were on the ground Tuesday launching rescues. I believe the last number I saw was 10,000 taken from the roofs and attics of their home by local efforts, and that in the first week.

Just another clear failure of the local and state officials to react properly to the storm, I guess.

The darker side of this story is when the same WL&F officials turned back the boat armada of volunteers that came from Lafayette because it was "too dangerous", on orders from Governor Blanco, a victim of the media panic over conditions in the city.

[enough]

8. Yes, well worth reading the whole article.

Kick

[Nothing Without Hope]

9. Another aspect of the nightmare: even IDENTIFIED bodies are confiscated

and the official morgues are refusing to release them to their families for burial or even to admit that the bodies are there:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4949027
Thread title: LAT: "Families Lose Loved Ones Again- in a Bureaucratic Mire" BODIES TAKEN

Is this just callous indifference, or part of a deliberate effort to keep the death toll down?

[mom cat]

11. This hard hitting piece addresses the deadly role of racism. MUST READ.

(ed for sp.)