[quote]Professor X wrote:
Now it’s Friday? Is anyone else watching the days roll back right before our eyes?[/quote]
Don’t take my word for it, check it for yourself.
[quote]reddog6376 wrote:
Professor X wrote:
Now it’s Friday? Is anyone else watching the days roll back right before our eyes?
Don’t take my word for it, check it for yourself.
[/quote]
I’m not taking your word for it. Several different sources, including a letter from a congressman point to the date being slowly rolled back. It wasn’t noted as being Friday that an order was given even two days ago.
HEY VROOM
Thought you might appreciate this one.
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (Reuters) - A Canadian search-and-rescue team reached a flooded New Orleans suburb to help save trapped residents five days before the U.S. military.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
sasquatch wrote:
Prof
Why is it so important to you to affix as much blame as possible on Bush and his administration?
This is not a political issue and yet it has become a lightning rod for the ABBers to attack the President. Why are those same people not disgusted with the local gov’t. Oh yah–then the race card couldn’t be played and we couldn’t exploit a true nationa tragedy for purely political posturing.
There is plenty of blame to go around. I feel the gamesmanship is not appropriate.
You can keep telling yourself that this isn’t politics, but I think deep down, everyone involved knows that is not the case.
Upside? I am amazed at how Texas has responded to the tragedy. If any state needs to be individually recognized, I think it needs to be that one. Kids that were displaced are expecte3d to be able to attend schools and enroll tomorrow morning with buses picking them up and coordinating drop offs.
Upside? The overall national response has been amazing. People are giving when they can. The New York Fire Fighters have jumped in and, despite the horror of finding thousands of bodies beneath the water, I think in the end an overall sense of positivity will show that the majority of people do care for others in this country…despite those who claim, “those who stayed were stupid”.
Downside? The initial response was too damn slow and no one is going to let that slide. No one is just going to blame the local government because, as has been explained multiple times, if the governor requested a state of emergency, FEMA would be the first to blame in this situation FOR THE DELAYED RESPONSE. That doesn’t mean that the local officals are blameless. Questions from, “why weren’t buses used?” to “just how long were local officials going to put off impending doom?” are coming from every side. However, one fact that many will not pass up is the president’s college friend’s roommate that many gave consent to for that position, and the apparent “distance” of the president during the inital tragedy and as people suffered.
Yes, this is politics. You might as well get used to it.[/quote]
I can’t argue with your response here. FEMA was called out here and flat out didn’t reszpond. I agree with your assessment about the distance and unbelievable lethargy showed by our top man.
I also believe he or the administration is no more to blame than any other figure. Each level failed and should be spoke of in that light as to not make it sound to be only politically motivated smack. To only pick out the federal gov’t is simply politicizing blame and that’s not fair. Nor warranted. The biggest loser here is clearly the governor.
2 cheers though for Texas. I couldn’t agree more than that state really picked up the slack and helped alot of people. God bless Texas and all those helping.
Interesting.
http://www.theconservativevoice.com/articles/article.html?id=8133
Red Cross Aid Refused by Louisiana Governor’s Office
September 08, 2005 02:14 PM EST
By Sher Zieve - Reporting on Brit Hume’s program on Fox News, Wednesday night, Major Garrett advised that the Red Cross stood waiting with supplies for the people housed in New Orleans’ Superdome. The American Red Cross had pallets of food and bottled water, ready to be delivered to hungry and dehydrated individuals. But, the State of Louisiana would not allow it.
According to Garrett, the Red Cross advised him that the Louisiana Governor’s office would not allow the Red Cross to make their deliveries. The reason given is that Governor Blanco’s office was concerned that if others found out there was food and potable water available, others would be attracted to the Superdome. Per the Red Cross, the Governor wanted to move people out of the facility and not invite more.
[quote]freemark wrote:
HEY VROOM
Thought you might appreciate this one.
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (Reuters) - A Canadian search-and-rescue team reached a flooded New Orleans suburb to help save trapped residents five days before the U.S. military.
[/quote]
Freemark, thanks. Here’s an interesting excerpt…
[i]Boasso said U.S. authorities began airdropping relief supplies to St. Bernard last Wednesday, the same day the Canadian rescue team of about 50 members arrived from Vancouver, nearly 2,200 miles away.
“They chartered a plane and flew down,” he said.
Two FEMA officials reached the parish on Sunday and the U.S. Army arrived on Monday, he said.
“Why does it take them seven days to get the Army in?” Boasso asked.[/i]
The part I like… they chartered a plane and flew down. It seems that the people that really helped early, and I mean all the little folks not just some Canadians, just took it upon themselves to do something.
Screw asking for permission or asking for an assignment from the so-called authorities. Jump in and start helping people!
[quote]vroom wrote:
The part I like… they chartered a plane and flew down. It seems that the people that really helped early, and I mean all the little folks not just some Canadians, just took it upon themselves to do something.
Screw asking for permission or asking for an assignment from the so-called authorities. Jump in and start helping people![/quote]
I’ve been to a few technical rescue trainings with teams from Canada. Very good and extremely professional.
Of course as soon as I got past the funny accent, I realized they were making fun of our beer.
[quote]freemark wrote:
HEY VROOM
Thought you might appreciate this one.
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (Reuters) - A Canadian search-and-rescue team reached a flooded New Orleans suburb to help save trapped residents five days before the U.S. military.
“The stricken parish of 68,000 people was largely ignored by U.S. authorities who scrambled to get aid to New Orleans, a few miles (km) away.”
Oh oh, back the question of whether Bush is at fault.
The TV this morning is talking about the fact that the biographic details of FEMA’s Brown are not in fact accurate.
He was for example, assistant TO the city manager, not an assistant city manager. Other examples include being a student and possibly as a student doing some teaching, but he was not a professor.
So, continuing in this direction, apparently a lot of the top people in FEMA are politically appointed friends of Bush.
So, if this is all true (it’s just showing up on TV now so surely more discussions will occur), it would be a bad reflection on the Bush administration.
[quote]vroom wrote:
…
So, continuing in this direction, apparently a lot of the top people in FEMA are politically appointed friends of Bush.
So, if this is all true (it’s just showing up on TV now so surely more discussions will occur), it would be a bad reflection on the Bush administration.[/quote]
This is politics as usual.
The heads of all agencys are mostly political backers and usually unqualified for the job.
I don’t know if it any worse in Bush’s administration than previous admins.
Another reason to dislike politicians.
Speaking of back to the fault analysis, here’s an editorial from the Investors Business Daily:
http://www.investors.com/editorial/IBDArticles.asp?artsec=20
Fault Lines
Posted 9/8/2005
Katrina: Hillary Clinton says FEMA was more effective when her husband was president. The victims of Hurricane Floyd might venture a different opinion, and it wasn’t FEMA that kept supplies from the Superdome.
During a post-Katrina conference call with reporters, Sen. Clinton said, “Helping localities do what they needed to do to mitigate damage ? that philosophy governed FEMA during the Clinton administration. It obviously was rejected by this administration.”
Does that mean Clinton’s FEMA was the model of government efficiency and effectiveness? Or was it closer to the DMV and post office? Just ask the tens of thousands of people left stranded up and down the Eastern Seaboard by Hurricane Floyd in 1999.
“We’re starting to move the trailers in,” said then-FEMA director and current Hillary favorite James Lee Witt, nearly a month after Floyd first hit. “It’s been so wet, it’s been difficult to get things in there” ? an explanation that sounds familiar.
Witt was also a guest on Jesse Jackson’s CNN show, “Both Sides Now,” in Floyd’s aftermath. Jackson complained then that “bridges are overwhelmed, levees are overwhelmed, whole towns underwater. . . . (It’s) an awesome scene of tragedy.”
Gee, where have we heard that recently?
Many have called for the head of FEMA Director Mike Brown. But Bill Clinton’s choice to be Southwest Regional FEMA director in 1993 was even less qualified, earning his job handling disaster recovery of a different sort.
Raymond “Buddy” Young, a former Arkansas state trooper, got his choice assignment after leading efforts to discredit other state troopers in the infamous Troopergate scandal. If a storm like Katrina struck the Big Easy back then, Young would’ve been in charge.
Former House Speaker Tip O’Neill used to say all politics is local. Forgotten in the Katrina disaster and its aftermath is that so is most law enforcement and disaster preparedness.
Why does Hillary think Houston’s Astrodome was all set up to receive thousands of refugees? It was because Houston and Texas authorities planned for it to take thousands of refugees from Galveston, where a hurricane in 1900 killed 8,000 people.
Totally clueless about their duties were officials at Louisiana’s ? not Washington’s ? Homeland Security Department. They blocked a convoy of Red Cross trucks filled with water, food, blankets and hygiene items to the New Orleans Superdome after Katrina struck because it would have encouraged refugees to stay there.
The Red Cross Web site says: “The state Homeland Security Department had requested ? and continues to request ? that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans following the hurricane.” The ARC was told its “presence would keep people from evacuating and encourage others to come into the city.”
On Aug. 27, Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco was asked at a press conference what could be done to avert disaster. Her pathetic answer was, “We can pray hard that the intensity will weaken.” That was Louisiana’s disaster-recovery plan.
And here’s an interesting article, with a telling quote from Governor Blanco - aside from questions concerning coppetence, this just highlights the bureaucratic problems I have been harping on, and the fact that Congress should pass a bill automatically pre-empting state authority for these situations, but given state (this includes local, as far as the federal government is concerned, FYI) officials full authority to make any and all decisions until the feds arrive:
September 9, 2005
Political Issues Snarled Plans for Military Help After Hurricane
By ERIC LIPTON, ERIC SCHMITT
and THOM SHANKER
WASHINGTON, Sept. 8 - As New Orleans descended into chaos last week and Louisiana’s governor asked for 40,000 soldiers, President Bush’s senior advisers debated whether the president should speed the arrival of active-duty troops by seizing control of the hurricane relief mission from the governor.
For reasons of practicality and politics, officials at the Justice Department and the Pentagon, and then at the White House, decided not to urge Mr. Bush to take command of the effort. Instead, the Washington officials decided to rely on the growing number of National Guard personnel flowing into Louisiana, who were under Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco’s control.
The debate began after officials realized that Hurricane Katrina had exposed a critical flaw in the national disaster response plans created after the Sept. 11 attacks. According to the administration’s senior domestic security officials, the plan failed to recognize that local police, fire and medical personnel might be incapacitated.
As criticism of the response to Hurricane Katrina has mounted, one of the most pointed questions has been why more troops were not available more quickly to restore order and offer aid. Interviews with officials in Washington and Louisiana show that as the situation grew worse, they were wrangling with questions of federal/state authority, weighing the realities of military logistics and perhaps talking past each other in the crisis.
To seize control of the mission, Mr. Bush would have had to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows the president in times of unrest to command active-duty forces into the states to perform law enforcement duties. But decision makers in Washington felt certain that Ms. Blanco would have resisted surrendering control, as Bush administration officials believe would have been required to deploy active-duty combat forces before law and order had been re-established.
While combat troops can conduct relief missions without the legal authority of the Insurrection Act, Pentagon and military officials say that no active-duty forces could have been sent into the chaos of New Orleans on Wednesday or Thursday without confronting law-and-order challenges.
But just as important to the administration were worries about the message that would have been sent by a president ousting a Southern governor of another party from command of her National Guard, according to administration, Pentagon and Justice Department officials.
“Can you imagine how it would have been perceived if a president of the United States of one party had pre-emptively taken from the female governor of another party the command and control of her forces, unless the security situation made it completely clear that she was unable to effectively execute her command authority and that lawlessness was the inevitable result?” asked one senior administration official, who spoke anonymously because the talks were confidential.
Officials in Louisiana agree that the governor would not have given up control over National Guard troops in her state as would have been required to send large numbers of active-duty soldiers into the area. But they also say they were desperate and would have welcomed assistance by active-duty soldiers.
“I need everything you have got,” Ms. Blanco said she told Mr. Bush last Monday, after the storm hit.
In an interview, she acknowledged that she did not specify what sorts of soldiers. “Nobody told me that I had to request that,” Ms. Blanco said. “I thought that I had requested everything they had. We were living in a war zone by then.”
By Wednesday, she had asked for 40,000 soldiers.
In the discussions in Washington, also at issue was whether active-duty troops could respond faster and in larger numbers than the Guard.
By last Wednesday, Pentagon officials said even the 82nd Airborne, which has a brigade on standby to move out within 18 hours, could not arrive any faster than 7,000 National Guard troops, which are specially trained and equipped for civilian law enforcement duties.
In the end, the flow of thousands of National Guard soldiers, especially military police, was accelerated from other states.
“I was there. I saw what needed to be done,” Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, said in an interview. “They were the fastest, best-capable, most appropriate force to get there in the time allowed. And that’s what it’s all about.”
But one senior Army officer expressed puzzlement that active-duty troops were not summoned sooner, saying 82nd Airborne troops were ready to move out from Fort Bragg, N.C., on Sunday, the day before the hurricane hit.
The call never came, administration officials said, in part because military officials believed Guard troops would get to the stricken region faster and because administration civilians worried that there could be political fallout if federal troops were forced to shoot looters.
Louisiana officials were furious that there was not more of a show of force, in terms of relief supplies and troops, from the federal government in the middle of last week. As the water was rising in New Orleans, the governor repeatedly questioned whether Washington had started its promised surge of federal resources.
“We needed equipment,” Ms. Blanco said in an interview. “Helicopters. We got isolated.”
Aides to Ms. Blanco said she was prepared to accept the deployment of active-duty military officials in her state. But she and other state officials balked at giving up control of the Guard as Justice Department officials said would have been required by the Insurrection Act if those combat troops were to be sent in before order was restored.
In a separate discussion last weekend, the governor also rejected a more modest proposal for a hybrid command structure in which both the Guard and active-duty troops would be under the command of an active-duty, three-star general - but only after he had been sworn into the Louisiana National Guard.
Lt. Gen. James T. Conway, director of operations for the military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the Pentagon in August streamlined a rigid, decades-old system of deployment orders to allow the military’s Northern Command to dispatch liaisons to work with local officials before an approaching hurricane.
The Pentagon is reviewing events from the time Hurricane Katrina reached full strength and bore down on New Orleans and five days later when Mr. Bush ordered 7,200 active-duty soldiers and marines to the scene.
After the hurricane passed New Orleans and the levees broke, flooding the city, it became increasingly evident that disaster-response efforts were badly bogged down.
Justice Department lawyers, who were receiving harrowing reports from the area, considered whether active-duty military units could be brought into relief operations even if state authorities gave their consent - or even if they refused.
The issue of federalizing the response was one of several legal issues considered in a flurry of meetings at the Justice Department, the White House and other agencies, administration officials said.
Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales urged Justice Department lawyers to interpret the federal law creatively to help local authorities, those officials said. For example, federal prosecutors prepared to expand their enforcement of some criminal statutes like anti-carjacking laws that can be prosecuted by either state or federal authorities.
On the issue of whether the military could be deployed without the invitation of state officials, the Office of Legal Counsel, the unit within the Justice Department that provides legal advice to federal agencies, concluded that the federal government had authority to move in even over the objection of local officials.
This act was last invoked in 1992 for the Los Angeles riots, but at the request of Gov. Pete Wilson of California, and has not been invoked over a governor’s objections since the civil rights era - and before that, to the time of the Civil War, administration officials said. Bush administration, Pentagon and senior military officials warned that such an extreme measure would have serious legal and political implications.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has said deployment of National Guard soldiers to Iraq, including a brigade from Louisiana, did not affect the relief mission, but Ms. Blanco disagreed.
“Over the last year, we have had about 5,000 out, at one time,” she said. “They are on active duty, serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. That certainly is a factor.”
By Friday, National Guard reinforcements had arrived, and a truck convoy of 1,000 Guard soldiers brought relief supplies - and order - to the convention center area.
Officials from the Department of Homeland Security say the experience with Hurricane Katrina has demonstrated flaws in the nation’s plans to handle disaster.
“This event has exposed, perhaps ultimately to our benefit, a deficiency in terms of replacing first responders who tragically may be the first casualties,” Paul McHale, the assistant secretary of defense for domestic security, said.
Michael Chertoff, the secretary of homeland security, has suggested that active-duty troops be trained and equipped to intervene if front-line emergency personnel are stricken. But the Pentagon’s leadership remains unconvinced that this plan is sound, suggesting instead that the national emergency response plans be revised to draw reinforcements initially from civilian police, firefighters, medical personnel and hazardous-waste experts in other states not affected by a disaster.
The federal government rewrote its national emergency response plan after the Sept. 11 attacks, but it relied on local officials to manage any crisis in its opening days. But Hurricane Katrina overwhelmed local “first responders,” including civilian police and the National Guard.
At a news conference on Saturday, Mr. Chertoff said, “The unusual set of challenges of conducting a massive evacuation in the context of a still dangerous flood requires us to basically break the traditional model and create a new model, one for what you might call kind of an ultra-catastrophe.”"
Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker reported from Washington for this article, and Eric Lipton from Baton Rouge, La. David Johnston contributed reporting.
[quote]I don’t know if it any worse in Bush’s administration than previous admins.
Another reason to dislike politicians.[/quote]
Zap,
What you say might be true. However, it does not in any way excuse the person in charge during the current situation.
Pointing to previous transgressions is somewhat of a favorite tactic in these parts, but it is not appropriate. Whatever was done wrong before does not excuse what is being done wrong today, nor does it mean it should be done wrong tomorrow.
Hopefully this will lead to less cronyism in appointments, though I am not confident that it will. It’s up to the public to hold these people accountable, I hope they start to do so, to take that responsibility seriously.
In any case, if these allegations are true, whether or not others did the same, this administration just got caught… and it is an appropriate reason to assign some level of blame (if true).
The same holds for whether or not FEMA was really more effective under Clinton. That is the past, and maybe the same transgressions took place, but it is not materially important in the current situation.
Bush had an opportunity to fix it, and he did not. This is going to be true for every turnover in the administration… whether republican or democrat, not just for the current administration.
More on deadly bureaucracy. As I have said before, to the extent I find Bush blameworthy, it’s mostly for appointments (honestly, probably not a huge effect, but it looks bad, and appointments should only go to the well qualified) and for thinking that adding a layer of bureaucracy was a good idea.
Deadly Bureaucracy
In Katrina’s wake, red tape too often trumped common sense.
BY BOBBY JINDAL
Thursday, September 8, 2005 12:01 a.m. EDT
BATON ROUGE, La.–Over the past few days, America has been both moved and disturbed by television footage of Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath. But for those of us in Louisiana still struggling to cope, the troubling images are of opportunistic politicians playing the blame game while there is so much real work to do.
Rather than point fingers, we should be fixing the situation on the ground. And that will include taking steps to ensure that red tape doesn’t stifle the continued security and rebuilding efforts.
There have already been a number of instances in which an overly inhibitive bureaucracy prevented an appropriate response to the disaster. For example, on Wednesday of last week a company called my office. With only three hours before rising waters would make the mission impossible, they were anxious to send a rescue helicopter for their stranded employees. They wanted to know who would give them a go-ahead.
We could not identify the agency with authority. We heard that FEMA was in charge, that the FAA was in charge, and that the military was in charge. I went in person to talk with a FEMA representative and still could not get a straight answer. Finally we told the company to avoid interfering with Coast Guard missions, but to proceed on its own. Sometimes, asking for forgiveness is better than asking for permission.
This is not the only story of red tape triumphing over common sense. After so many years of drills and exercises, we were still unprepared for Hurricane Katrina.
? A mayor in my district tried to get supplies for his constituents, who were hit directly by the hurricane. He called for help and was put on hold for 45 minutes. Eventually, a bureaucrat promised to write a memo to his supervisor.
? Evacuees on a boat from St. Bernard Parish could not find anyone to give them permission to dock along the Mississippi River. Security forces, they say, were prepared to turn them away at one port.
? A sheriff in my district office reported being told that he would not get the resources his office needed to do its job unless he emailed a request. The parish was flooded and without electricity!
? Unbelievably, first responders were hindered by a lack of interoperable communications. Do you recall how New York police and fire departments on 9/11 could not talk with each other? Four years later, despite billions spent on homeland security, state, federal, and local officials in Louisiana had the same problem.
My office became so frustrated with the bureaucracy that we often turned to private companies. They responded more quickly and flexibly.
After our staff visited communities to assess local needs, Budweiser delivered truckloads of water and ice. Ford provided vehicles for search and rescue. Every company we contacted provided goods and services without compensation.
Though things are far from perfect, we have seen an improvement in the response effort as the military increased its presence and created a more unified chain of command. However, the problems that existed before still resonate.
That’s why we need, in the future, a single, strong leader with the power to override the normal process restrictions and get things done. That individual must be identified from the very beginning. But below that person, other individuals up and down the line need to know they can make obvious and sensible calls in an emergency.
Spending my days on the ground in Louisiana last week, I did not see much television. But I understand that some media let the violent and destructive acts of a few overshadow the many acts of compassion and heroism.
Contrary to the pictures you may have seen, the vast majority of New Orleanians did not take to the street with weapons–far more risked their own safety to help neighbors and strangers.
When first responders said they needed more flat boats to pick people out of the water, they were overwhelmed by the line of volunteers. When people at a shelter in Baton Rouge announced they needed drinks, within hours they were flooded with more Gatorade than they could possibly use.
Churches throughout Louisiana opened their doors to take in evacuees. Individuals organized a network to open their homes to strangers, using phone trees and the Internet to link up those in need with those who care. Evacuation centers are flooded with volunteers and supplies.
Many rescue and relief workers, themselves victims of Katrina, have not left their posts for days. Health-care staffers have hand-ventilated patients. Law enforcement officials braved high waters and violence. People from all over the nation are contacting me, especially people in areas recently devastated by their own tragedies, to offer assistance.
The first responders, in combination with our military forces, saved 9,500-plus lives, assisted 102,800 people, and evacuated 22,000 refugees. More then 9.9 million Meals Ready to Eat and 6.6 million gallons of water were distributed. As I write this column, 1,200 buses are in transit taking refugees to shelters across the country.
In coming days, there will be many more such stories, both tragic and heroic. There will be stunning examples of depravity, in which lives were needlessly lost and permanently damaged. But there will be inspiring examples of individuals who sacrificed all so that others might live.
There will also be situations in the future when people will rely on massive government support and help. We’ll have to do better delivering it.
As I struggle to explain to my 3-year-old daughter why her prayers that the hurricane spare our hometown were unanswered, we as a nation must make sure that we learn from our initial mistakes and cut through the red tape to help people rebuild their homes, their hopes and their lives.
Mr. Jindal is a Republican congressman from Louisiana.
I think it is horse shit about the liberal ass media who can neevr look at positive things but negative. They don’t show that white people have lost their home, but look at it a way of racism and show only blacks who have lost there home and who are looting.
If youll dont know, Bush personally called the mayor and told him to set up mandatory evacuations…THe mayor then had a news conference the next day to which he was late to. They had 30 some odd buses which could have been used to evacuate those who didnt have cars. All those buses were ruin beisdes one that a teen stole and drove to houston. The teen was smarter than the mayor. I think that this disaster is just another thing for the Liberal ass media to show something that puts our government, not just Bush down.
[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
This is politics as usual.
The heads of all agencys are mostly political backers and usually unqualified for the job.[/quote]
Poltical backers equals college friend’s roommate? Honestly, don’t you think it is time to stop making excuses on this one?
This is interesting too:
http://mhking.mu.nu/archives/116625.php
It seems the photo is accurate. It also seems the locals weren’t aware of their own resources.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
Zap Branigan wrote:
This is politics as usual.
The heads of all agencys are mostly political backers and usually unqualified for the job.
Poltical backers equals college friend’s roommate? Honestly, don’t you think it is time to stop making excuses on this one?[/quote]
No excuses. Just a little perspective.
[quote]BostonBarrister wrote:
This is interesting too:
http://mhking.mu.nu/archives/116625.php
It seems the photo is accurate. It also seems the locals weren’t aware of their own resources.[/quote]
If this is true it just looks worse and worse for the locals.
I suppose someone will find a way to blame Bush and the executive branch of the federal government for this as well?
Cops trapped survivors in New Orleans
By Shaun Waterman
UPI Homeland and National Security Editor
Sep. 9, 2005 at 10:48AM
Police from surrounding jurisdictions shut down several access points to one of the only ways out of New Orleans last week, effectively trapping victims of Hurricane Katrina in the flooded and devastated city.
An eyewitness account from two San Francisco paramedics posted on an internet site for Emergency Medical Services specialists says, "Thousands of New Orleaners were prevented and prohibited from self-evacuating the city on foot."
"We shut down the bridge," Arthur Lawson, chief of the City of Gretna Police Department, confirmed to United Press International, adding that his jurisdiction had been "a closed and secure location" since before the storm hit.
"All our people had evacuated and we locked the city down," he said.
The bridge in question -- the Crescent City Connection -- is the major artery heading west out of New Orleans across the Mississippi River.
Lawson said that once the storm itself had passed Monday, police from Gretna City, Jefferson Parrish and the Louisiana State Crescent City Connection Police Department closed to foot traffic the three access points to the bridge closest to the West Bank of the river.
He added that the small town, which he called "a bedroom community" for the city of New Orleans, would have been overwhelmed by the influx.
"There was no food, water or shelter" in Gretna City, Lawson said. "We did not have the wherewithal to deal with these people.
"If we had opened the bridge, our city would have looked like New Orleans does now: looted, burned and pillaged."
But -- in an example of the chaos that continued to beset survivors of the storm long after it had passed -- even as Lawson's men were closing the bridge, authorities in New Orleans were telling people that it was only way out of the city.
"The only way people can leave the city of New Orleans is to get on (the) Crescent City Connection ... authorities said," reads a Tuesday morning posting on the Web site of the New Orleans Times-Picayune newspaper, which kept reporting through the storm and the ruinous flooding that followed.
Similar announcements appeared on the Web site of local radio station WDSU and other local news sources.
"Evidently, someone on the ground (in New Orleans) was telling people there was transport here, or food or shelter," said Lawson. "There wasn't."
"We were not contacted by anyone" about the instructions being given to survivors to use the bridge to get out of town, he said.
The two paramedics, who were trapped in the city while attending a convention, joined a group of people who had been turned out by the hotels that they were staying in on Wednesday. When the group attempted to get to the Superdome -- designated by city authorities as a shelter for those unable to evacuate -- they were turned away by the National Guard.
"Quite naturally, we asked ... 'What was our alternative?' The guards told us that that was our problem, and no, they did not have extra water to give to us.
"This would be the start of our numerous encounters with callous and hostile law enforcement."
As they made their way to the bridge in order to leave the city "armed Gretna sheriffs (sic) formed a line across the foot of the bridge. Before we were close enough to speak, they began firing their weapons over our heads."
Members of the group nonetheless approached the police lines, and "questioned why we couldn't cross the bridge ... They responded that the West Bank was not going to become New Orleans and there would be no Superdomes in their City.
"These were code words," the paramedics wrote, "for if you are poor and black, you are not crossing the Mississippi River and you were not getting out of New Orleans."
The authors say that during the course of that day, they saw "other families, individuals and groups make the same trip up the incline in an attempt to cross the bridge, only to be turned away. Some chased away with gunfire, others simply told no, others to be verbally berated and humiliated."
Efforts to contact the authors of the Internet posting were unsuccessful, but UPI was able to confirm that individuals with their names are employed as paramedics in San Francisco.
Lawson says that his officers "acted in the manner they were instructed to" and defends the order to close the bridge as "the right decision."
He said that in addition to his security concerns, an unmoored vessel on the river "raised the threat that it might crash into and breach the levee, which would have flooded Gretna."
He says that his officers did assist about 4000 people who "arrived at the doorstep of (Gretna City)" either by crossing the bridge before it was closed or approaching from another route.
"We commandeered public transit buses and we took them to higher and safer ground" at the junction of Interstate-10 and Causeway Boulevard where "there was food and shelter," he said.