The Chaos before the Calm

The evacuation of New Orleans has now met with what everyone figured would occur but most hoped would not. The chaos that develops for many reason has now spread though New Orleans in the form of desperation, looting and crime. As reported by MSNBC, “Cries for help spread across New Orleans Desperation at Superdome, convention center; safety fears halt some work”. 

Thousands of desperate, stranded residents begged for help Thursday as conditions deteriorated here, with heavy rain compounding a tense situation that led to fights, fires and fears for the safety of emergency responders.

Doctors at two desperately crippled hospitals with 360 patients called The Associated Press pleading for rescue, saying they were nearly out of food and power and had been forced to move patients to higher floors to escape looters.

It has now unfortunately gotten to the point because of the break down of civil authority that the search and rescue efforts and evacuation of the citizens of New Orleans are being hampered by the looters and the crime. As reported by Reuters, New Orleans evacuation slows as shooting, chaos erupt. Make no mistake about it, some individuals I am sure are just trying to survive; however, there is another element that is taking advantage of the horrendous aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and causing more harm. There is bad element in every society no matter what country. I think some American are maybe beginning to realize what and how looting occurred in Iraq after the fall of Baghdad as they see their own citizens doing the same in the United States.

Chaos and lawlessness hampered the evacuation of New Orleans on Thursday and a U.S. senator said thousands may have died in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina devastated the U.S. Gulf Coast. In New Orleans, shell-shocked officials tried to regain control of the historic jazz city reduced to a swampy ruin by Monday’s storm. Bodies floated in the flooded city and authorities still could only guess how many people had died. A National Guard official said as many as 60,000 people had gathered at the Superdome stadium for evacuation. But the evacuation was suspended when someone fired at a military helicopter sent to ferry out survivors. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin ordered police to drop rescue operations to fight looting and other crime that gripped the city. A National Guard soldier was shot and wounded on Wednesday in the Superdome arena housing thousands of refugees in increasingly squalid conditions.

CNN: Despair, death pervade New Orleans

“There are multiple people dying at the convention center,” he said. “There was an old woman, dead in a wheelchair with a blanket draped over her, pushed up against a wall. Horrible, horrible conditions.

Reuters: Bush warns against price gouging on gasoline prices

President Bush warned against price-gouging of gasoline on Thursday in reaction to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and said looters should be treated with zero tolerance.