NationStates Jolt Archive

my view on this whole hurricane shit..

George Bush for your safety and trying to help i give you a 0%

1. there are gangs of people walking the streets shooting at anything.. do you think hes going to go to those (the worst effected) places? No hes going to look at a blown over house and leave.
2. your big plane doesnt need to waste its fuel and money on flying over LA and stoping rescue efforts from saving a life.
3. talking on CNN doesnt send supplies and doesnt tell me anything i havent heard THIS MORNING. hearing it from you. oh boy ima listen up! because you are sooo important on this event..

go back to DC and get on working (if you even do..).

and to the rest of the polital people.. i watched anderson cooper 360 last night and what do i see?? some politic kissing her peers asses "thank you for caring" umm nothing else? but anderson cooper ripped her a new one so :D. anyways.. stop talking and get to work! fix it if you care so much.

thanks for reading my rant ;)

Sorry that La Habana Cuba is your first reply,
the nation that feel like it is the nation that gets no respect no respect at all. On the other hand there are some that give it respect.

Now on subject, he cant go to those areas because he is the President and needs security.

Dont you think other Presidents would not go there for the same reason, security of a President any President, that dosent mean they dont care.

If he had not gone you and others would criticize him, if he goes over a blown house and a flooded land, you and others I presume, would criticize him.

What is he supposed to do, fix everything himself with his own two hands.

I suppose it his fault that the hurricane hit New Orleans.

The gangs are the one's that dont care.

It isnt any Presidents fault, democrat or republican.

I guess that no respect part is my rant, oh well who cares.

If he dosent give a speech to the nation or says something describing the problems we already know exisits and what is being done he gets criticized and if he does, he gets criticized.

Any President does, republican or democrat.

President Bush did nothing to help or avert the situation. If the entire freaking flood hadn't have happened in the first place, or the residents had all been evacuated, then I wouldn't critisise him. Since hes the one who's got America into this mess, its seems disturbing that he isn't doing a thing to help. All his moves have been publicity stunts. He wants to keep his hands clean.

President Bush did nothing to help or avert the situation. If the entire freaking flood hadn't have happened in the first place, or the residents had all been evacuated, then I wouldn't critisise him. Since hes the one who's got America into this mess, its seems disturbing that he isn't doing a thing to help. All his moves have been publicity stunts. He wants to keep his hands clean.

Jeez you liberal will blame Bush for everything don't ya? Do you really think Bush has this much control? Don't you think that maybe the mayor of New Orleans or the governer of LA had some sort of control? Its not the President responsibility to be the First Responder. I think its apparent that New Orleans and Louisania did not have a plan A, B, C, D etc. I mean there are around 200 to 300 school buses under water now, and if each of them could hold 50 people. Thats close to 10,000 to 15,000 people being able to ride the bus. There was 8,000 National Guards men on hold in New Orleans that the Governer could've called. He/She could've called on other states to send their National Guards people. Beside these retards aren't helping by shooting at the helicopter that is TRYING to HELP them. They're lucky that they don't get shot back.

the Governer of LA broke down on National Televison blaming the Handicapps and elderly for not following the evacuation orders. Ummm, these people are either handicapped or old. I think its a pretty damn good chance that they couldn't get out if they could. I mean you have control over hundreds of buses, the least you could've done was give them a ride out of New Orleans. The same goes for the poor people.

These are School Buses that could've been used to evacuate the handicapped and elderly.

http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,513280,00.jpg

I know that you liberals gets sexually aroused for blaming Bush for things, and trust me, I blame him sometimes too. But this time its not his fault.

Jeez you liberal will blame Bush for everything don't ya? Do you really think Bush has this much control? Don't you think that maybe the mayor of New Orleans or the governer of LA had some sort of control? Its not the President responsibility to be the First Responder. I think its apparent that New Orleans and Louisania did not have a plan A, B, C, D etc. I mean there are around 200 to 300 school buses under water now, and if each of them could hold 50 people. Thats close to 10,000 to 15,000 people being able to ride the bus. There was 8,000 National Guards men on hold in New Orleans that the Governer could've called. He/She could've called on other states to send their National Guards people. Beside these retards aren't helping by shooting at the helicopter that is TRYING to HELP them. They're lucky that they don't get shot back.

the Governer of LA broke down on National Televison blaming the Handicapps and elderly for not following the evacuation orders. Ummm, these people are either handicapped or old. I think its a pretty damn good chance that they couldn't get out if they could. I mean you have control over hundreds of buses, the least you could've done was give them a ride out of New Orleans. The same goes for the poor people.

These are School Buses that could've been used to evacuate the handicapped and elderly.

http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,513280,00.jpg

I know that you liberals gets sexually aroused for blaming Bush for things, and trust me, I blame him sometimes too. But this time its not his fault.

Bush stripped back funding for the emergency services. Bush told the citizens of NO to evacuate, but didn't help the city empty. It took him a day to react after the levees broke. He has not organised the releif effort effectively. Heck, the governor of NO isn't even in Washington. Bush has let the situation slip.

Bush stripped back funding for the emergency services. Bush told the citizens of NO to evacuate, but didn't help the city empty. It took him a day to react after the levees broke. He has not organised the releif effort effectively. Heck, the governor of NO isn't even in Washington. Bush has let the situation slip.

*sigh* ok, I am going to say this as nicely as possible. Bush has no control over the evaculation routes. Thats the job of New Orleans, and LA. Its New Orleans and LA fault that the evaculations didn't work. Hell they told them to evacuate 2 days BEFORE the hurricane hit! Thats not enough time! The Relief effort, once again, like the National Guard, is under State control. The State had the responsbility of organizing and sending out the rescue and relief effort. I mean Bush wasn't the one going on National Television saying that its the Handicaps and Elderly fault that they didn't get out, mainly because they can't walk much less drive. NO has no Governor. As for the governor of LA, shes not doing much either, she didn't call out the National Guard when the leeves broke. She didn't use the 8,000 people that was at her control. Its the governor of LA that let the situation slip, not Bush.

STOP BLAMING BUSH FOR EVERYTHING!

Bush stripped back funding for the emergency services. Bush told the citizens of NO to evacuate, but didn't help the city empty. It took him a day to react after the levees broke. He has not organised the releif effort effectively. Heck, the governor of NO isn't even in Washington. Bush has let the situation slip.

If Ray Nagin had bussed people to the shelters and had water, food, cots, and medics ahead of time, there wouldn't have been such a problem. Bush has no authority to bus people around the city - it's Nagin's job.

It's his city. The federal government is never the first responder, they're just there as backup. Ray was foolishly only prepared for a small hurricane.

The feds can't get there in any less than four days - that's how long it takes to load supplies and for travel time. The cities are supposed to be able to hold the fort until the feds get there.

Do you see the other southern cities having these problems? No, they had enough supplies until they got relief, as planned, from the feds.

It is very late here in Florida and I am still on NS and doing laundry at this hour, I dont blame President Bush or any President had thier been another President in office.

I will post some news storys that are somewhat balanced, will have something for everyone to pick at, I would like to comment on them myself but it is very late here, perhaps later.

Troops Bring Food, Medicine to New Orleans By ROBERT TANNER, AP National Writer
2 hours, 1 minute ago



NEW ORLEANS - To cries of "Thank you, Jesus!" and catcalls of "What took you so long?," a National Guard convoy packed with food, water and medicine rolled through axle-deep floodwaters Friday into what remained of New Orleans and descended into a maelstrom of fires and floating corpse

"Lord, I thank you for getting us out of here!" Leschia Radford shrieked amid a throng of tens of thousands of storm victims outside the New Orleans Convention Center.

More than four days after the storm hit, the caravan of at least three-dozen camouflage-green troop vehicles and supply trucks arrived along with dozens of air-conditioned buses to take refugees out of the city. President Bush also took an aerial tour of the ruined city, and answered complaints about a sluggish government response by saying, "We're going to make it right."

In what looked like a scene from a Third World country, some people threw their arms heavenward and others nearly fainted with joy as the trucks and hundreds of soldiers arrived in the punishing midday heat.

But there were also profane jeers from many in the crowd of nearly 20,000 outside the convention center, which a day earlier seemed on the verge of a riot, with desperate people seething with anger over the lack of anything to eat or drink.

"They should have been here days ago," said 46-year-old Michael Levy, whose words were echoed by those around him yelling, "Hell, yeah!"

"We've been sleeping on the ... ground like rats," Levy added. "I say burn this whole ... city down."

The soldiers' arrival-in-force came amid angry complaints from the mayor and others that the federal government had bungled the relief effort and let people die in the streets for lack of food, water or medicine.

"The people of our city are holding on by a thread," Mayor Ray Nagin warned in a statement to CNN. "Time has run out. Can we survive another night? And who can we depend on? Only God knows."

By nightfall Friday, the mayor's tone had changed. Nagin returned from a meeting with President Bush a picture of calm.

"I feel much better. I feel like we've gotten everyone's attention, and hopefully they'll continue to do what they're doing," he said Friday, leaning against a railing in lobby of a hotel that houses his temporary lodgings and command post.

A day earlier, the mayor erupted in tears during a radio interview and told the government to "get off your asses and let's do something."

The president took a land and air tour of hard-hit areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, and admitted of the relief effort: "The results are not enough." Congress passed a $10.5 billion disaster aid package, and Bush quickly signed the measure.

What were perhaps the first signs of real hope for recovery came on a day that was ushered in with a thunderous explosion before daybreak and scattered downtown building fires that only confirmed the sense that New Orleans was a city in utter collapse.

The explosion at a warehouse along the Mississippi River about 15 blocks from the French Quarter jostled storm refugees awake and sent a pillar of acrid gray smoke over a city that the mayor has said could be awash with thousands of corpses. Other large fires fire erupted downtown.

With a cigar-chomping general in the convoy's lead vehicle, the trucks rolled through muddy water to reach the convention center. Flatbed trucks carried huge crates, pallets and bags of relief supplies, including Meals Ready to Eat. Soldiers in fatigues sat in the backs of open-top trucks, their rifles pointing skyward.

Gov. Kathleen Blanco said the military presence helped calm a jittery city.

"They brought a sense of order and peace, and it was a beautiful sight to see that we're ramping up," she said.

"We are seeing a show of force. It's putting confidence back in our hearts and in the minds of our people. We're going to make it through."

The governor also said refugees in the convention center should be evacuated Saturday.

Guardsmen carrying rifles also arrived at the Louisiana Superdome, where a vast crowd of bedraggled people — many of them trapped there since the weekend — stretched around the entire perimeter of the building, waiting for their deliverance from the heat, the filth and the gagging stench inside the stadium.

"The cavalry is and will continue to arrive," said Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, commander of the National Guard. He said 7,000 Guardsmen would be in the city by Saturday.

But another commander warned it may yet be days more before evacuations from the convention center begin, because the first priority is bringing in food and water.

"As fast as we can, we'll move them out," said Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honore said. "Worse things have happened to America," he added. "We're going to overcome this, too. It's not our fault. The storm came and flooded the city."

Within minutes of the soldiers' arrival at the convention center, they set up six food and water lines. The crowd was for the most part orderly and grateful for the first major supply convoy to reach the arena.

Diane Sylvester, 49, was the first person through the line, and she emerged with two bottles of water and a pork rib meal. "Something is better than nothing," she said as she mopped sweat from her brow. "I feel great to see the military here. I know I'm saved."

Angela Jones, 24, began guzzling her water before she even cleared the line.

"Like steak and potatoes!" she said of the cool water. "I didn't think I was going to make it through that."

A rag shielding her from the searing heat and a cart holding her only belongings, 70-year-old Nellie Washington asked: "What took you so long? I'm extremely happy, but I cannot let it be at that. They did not take the lead to do this. They had to be pushed to do it."

With Houston's Astrodome already full with 15,000 storm refugees, that city opened two more giant centers to accommodate an additional 10,000. Dallas and San Antonio also had agreed to take refugees.

One group of Katrina's victims lurched from one tragedy to another: A bus carrying evacuees from the Superdome overturned on a Louisiana highway, killing at least one person and injuring many others.

At the broken levee along Lake Pontchartrain that swamped nearly 80 percent of New Orleans, helicopters dropped 3,000-pound sandbags into the breach and pilings were being pounded into place to seal off the waters. Engineers also were developing a plan to create new breaches in the levees so that a combination of gravity and pumping and would drain the water out of the city, a process that could take weeks.

Law and order all but broke down in New Orleans over the past few days. Storm refugees reported being raped, shot and robbed, gangs of teenagers hijacked boats meant to rescue them, and frustrated hurricane victims menaced outmanned law officers. Police Chief Eddie Compass admitted even his own officers had taken food and water from stores. Officers were walking off the job by the dozens.

Some of New Orleans' hospitals, facing dwindling supplies of food, water and medicine, resumed evacuations Friday. Rescuers finally made it into Charity Hospital, the city's largest public hospital, where gunfire had earlier thwarted efforts to evacuate more than 250 patients.

Behind, they left a flooded morgue where residents had been dropping off bodies. After it reached its capacity of 12, five more corpses were stacked in a stairwell. Other bodies were elsewhere in the hospital.

Administrator Don Smithburg said his numbed staff was forced to subsist on intravenous sugar solutions.

"Some of them are on the brink of unable to cope any longer," he said.

___

Associated Press reporters Kevin McGill, Allen G. Breed, Brett Martel and Mary Foster

Bush Vows to Fix Flaws in Recovery Effort By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 33 minutes ago



WASHINGTON - President Bush, seeking to stem criticism that a slow federal response has contributed to needless misery, promised stunned and suffering residents up and down the hurricane-battered Gulf Coast that he would fix what's "not going exactly right" in the storm's aftermath.

After returning to Washington late Friday from nearly seven hours touring some of the most devastated areas of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, Bush took several more steps in his effort to meet that pledge and recapture the leadership kudos he won after the 2001 terrorist attacks.

He immediately signed a $10.5 billion disaster aid package passed by Congress — an amount he repeatedly called "just the beginning" of federal expenditures for storm relief. He issued a memorandum saying Hurricane Katrina had created a "severe energy supply interruption" that could damage the national economy, and formally authorized a drawdown of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

He also prepared for a rare live radio address on the storm response from the Rose Garden on Saturday morning.

The White House was already planning for a return trip on Monday, scrapping Bush's plans for a Labor Day speech in Maryland in favor of stops in undisclosed parts of the storm-affected region. And aides arranged for a hurricane briefing to be the first item on Bush's daily agenda for the foreseeable future.

"I'm not going to forget what I've seen," the president said in New Orleans as he ended his tour. "I understand the devastation requires more than one day's attention."

Describing that devastation in Mississippi and elsewhere along the coast that was battered by Katrina's enormous winds, Bush said it was "as if the entire Gulf Coast were obliterated by the worst kind of weapon you can imagine."

Indeed, he walked, drove or flew by incredible destruction — enormous casino barges flung like toys onto dry land, houses collapsed on themselves like decks of cards, staircases leading nowhere, and thousands of only cement squares and piles of debris where buildings used to be.

In New Orleans, where the worst problems were caused by massive flooding from breaches in the city's levees, Bush talked about the suffering of the people who have gone days without rescue, food, water or medicine — some dying in the process.

But what he experienced of the crisis there was mostly by air. He avoided the lawless parts of New Orleans where looting has become common and snipers have fired on hospital evacuations, visiting only the airport and the ruptured 17th Street levee where huge sandbags were being dropped by helicopter into the water flowing through the 300-foot breach.

Bush heard plenty, however, during more than an hour of meetings aboard his plane with state and local politicians about why it is taking so long to relieve the misery of so many people in New Orleans who have been living in squalor without the necessities of life.

"He heard some things he didn't want to believe at first," said Sen. Mary Landrieu (news, bio, voting record), D-La. "The president is starting to grasp the magnitude of the situation."

Four days after Katrina killed hundreds if not thousands, Republicans joined Democrats in shaking their heads.

"If we can't respond faster than this to an event we saw coming across the Gulf for days, then why do we think we're prepared to respond to a nuclear or biological attack?" asked former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Republican.

Republican Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts called the government's response "an embarrassment."

The criticism stung for a president who won widespread praise for his handling of the terrorist attacks four years ago — and who already is suffering sagging approval ratings in the polls over the Iraq war and gasoline prices that were high even before Katrina wreaked havoc on Gulf of Mexico operations.

Hoping to turn the tide of opinion in his favor, Bush spoke four times publicly on Friday.

"The results are not acceptable," he declared at the beginning of the day.

Along the way, the president promised to restore order in New Orleans, rush food and medicine to the needy and provide temporary housing to those who have lost their homes. Rescuing those still trapped would take a matter of days, he said, and restoring electricity to the millions without it would come within weeks.

"We're going to clean all this mess up," he said. "My attitude is, if it's not going exactly right, we're going to make it go exactly right."

Longer term — a process that he predicted would take years — Bush pledged to see New Orleans and Mississippi and the entire region rebuilt.

"I understand it seems dark right now," he said. "But by working together and pulling together and capturing that great spirit of our country, a great city will rise again, a great state will be vibrant."

Guardsmen Halt Evacuation at Superdome By MARY FOSTER, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 41 minutes ago



NEW ORLEANS - National Guard members halted the evacuation of the Superdome early Saturday after buses transporting the refugees of Hurricane Katrina stopped rolling. About 2,000 people remained in the stadium and could be there until Sunday, according to the Texas Air National Guard. They had hoped to evacuate the last of the crowd before dawn Saturday.




Guard members said they were told only that the buses had stopped coming and to close down the area where the buses were loaded.

"We were rolling," Capt. Jean Clark said. "If the buses had kept coming, we would have this whole place cleaned out already or pretty close to it."

The remaining refugees remained orderly, sitting down after hearing the news.

Guard members reported that the operation for the most part had gone smoothly Friday. Two women had miscarriages and a few people had to be removed from the buses for drinking.

At one point Friday, the evacuation was interrupted briefly when school buses rolled up so some 700 guests and employees from the Hyatt Hotel could move to the head of the evacuation line — much to the amazement of those who had been crammed in the stinking Superdome since last Sunday.

"How does this work? They (are) clean, they are dry, they get out ahead of us?" exclaimed Howard Blue, 22, who tried to get in their line. The National Guard blocked him as other guardsmen helped the well-dressed guests with their luggage.

The 700 had been trapped in the hotel, next to the Superdome, but conditions were considerably cleaner, even without running water, than the unsanitary crush inside the dome. The Hyatt was severely damaged by the storm. Every pane of glass on the riverside wall was blown out.

Mayor Ray Nagin has used the hotel as a base since it is across the street from city hall, and there were reports the hotel was cleared with priority to make room for police, firefighters and other officials.

As the evacuations continued late Friday, officials sought to comfort refugees by handing out Meals Ready to Eat and bottled water.

The conditions in the dome stayed miserable even as the crowds shrank after buses ferried thousands to Houston a day earlier. While the evacuation resumed Friday, the press of people on the bridge outside the arena was just as great as before.

Capt. Andrew Lindgren with the Air National Guard said 8,000 to 10,000 people remained in the Superdome. Most of them were jammed on the ramps leading out.

Friday's evacuations began about 9 a.m., halted for about an hour and then resumed two hours later.

Things reached such a state inside that people opted to stand on the broiling brick walkway, jammed shoulder to shoulder in temperatures that Pollard estimated had reached 125 degrees in the middle of the crowd. The sun blazed down from the cloudless sky and officials flew in a helicopter for all-too brief moments under the fan.

It didn't matter: People passed out one after another. They were carried out on tables. National Guardsmen picked them up and took them in their arms. The medical area in the nearby shopping mall was full of victims being fanned, given water. A nurse said they all were felled by the heat.

"Everyone here is doing all they can with the assets they have," Pollard said. "We just don't have the assets."

Medical help was limited. Much of the medical staff that had been working in the "special needs" arena had been evacuated. Dr. Kenneth Stephens Sr., head of the medical operations, said he was told they would be moved to help in other medical areas.

Authorities estimated they could move about 1,000 people an hour when the buses are in place.

Tina Miller, 47, had no shoes and cried with relief and exhaustion as she walked toward a bus. "I never thought I'd make it. Oh, God, I thought I'd die in there. I've never been through anything this awful."

The arena's second-story concourse looked like a dump, with more than a foot of trash except in the occasional area where people were working to keep things as tidy as possible.

Bathrooms had no lights, making people afraid to enter, and the stench from backed-up toilets inside killed any inclination toward bravery.

"When we have to go to the bathroom we just get a box. That's all you can do now," said Sandra Jones of eastern New Orleans.

Her newborn baby was running a fever, and all the small children in her area had rashes, she said.

"This was the worst night of my life. We were really scared. We're getting no help. I know the military police are trying. But they're outnumbered," Jones said.

People brought tables and chairs from restaurants and anything else they could find to make conditions a bit more livable. On one row, people had staked out their space with a row of blankets and used brooms to sweep it clean.

"We're just trying to keep a little order. It's bad. We're trying not to let it get any worse," said Michele Boyle, 41.

As for the bathrooms, "I'm trying not to eat anything so I won't have to deal with it," Boyle said.

Those who did want food were waiting in line for hours to get it, said another refugee, Becky Larue, of Des Moines, Iowa.

Larue and her husband arrived in the area Saturday for a vacation but their hotel soon told them they had to leave and directed them to the Superdome. No directions were provided, she said.

She said she was down to her last blood pressure pill and had no idea of when they'll get out or where to get help.

"I'm really scared. I think people are going into a survival mode. I look for people to start injuring themselves just to get out of here," she said.

James LeFlere, 56, was trying to remain optimistic.

"They're going to get us out of here. It's just hard to hang on at this point," he said.

Janice Singleton, a worker at the Superdome, said she got stuck in the stadium when the storm hit. She said she was robbed of everything she had with her, including her shoes.

"They tore that dome apart," she said sadly. "They tore it down. They taking everything out of there they can take."

Then she said, "I don't want to go to no Astrodome. I've been domed almost to death."

----------------------------------------------------------------

One part here about evacuating some important people first, dont blame the President for that unless he gave the order to evacuate those important people first.

If he did I will blame him myself.
La Habana Cuba.

Houston Opens Two More Refugee Centers By MICHAEL GRACZYK, Associated Press Writer
Sat Sep 3, 1:40 AM ET



HOUSTON - Texas opened two more giant centers for victims of Hurricane Katrina on Friday after refugees filled Houston's Astrodome to capacity.

Mayor Bill White declared that the city's convention center and an exhibition hall would accept more hurricane survivors, and conventions for the coming weeks would be canceled.

"We see the tragedy which is ongoing in New Orleans, and we are doing the best we can to make sure when people get to Houston they have a decent place to stay," White said.

As shelters in Houston, Dallas and San Antonio filled up, the governor's office reached out to the state's mid-sized cities to find additional space.

"This is just the beginning of what will be many months," Gov. Rick Perry said. "It will be a long effort trying to help people rebuild their lives and get a sense of normalcy, safety in what is a very trying time."

Elsewhere, officials from as far away as Utah, West Virginia, Wyoming and Michigan said they would also accept refugees. Elected leaders were considering various places to house them, including military barracks and an empty shopping mall.

Perry's office announced that thousands more evacuees would be directed to shelters in Austin, Corpus Christi, Lubbock, Amarillo and El Paso. The governor also deployed 1,000 Texas National Guard troops to provide security and support evacuation operations.

Despite crowding at the Astrodome, more buses were being loaded Friday at the Superdome in New Orleans, where conditions had become desperate as thousands struggled with lack of supplies, clogged plumbing and no air conditioning.

When the Astrodome filled, Katrina refugees who had finally arrived by bus were left in limbo for more than two hours before they were redirected to the exhibit hall.

Janetta Arnold was among those who found room at the Astrodome. She was rescued with 13 relatives after being stranded for three days on a hurricane-ravaged New Orleans highway.

"I was able to get a shower last night," the 36-year-old grocery store cashier said Friday. "I am grateful for what the people here in Houston have given us."

A wall at the stadium was crammed with scraps of paper, each showing a written message seeking friends or relatives or telling loved ones the writer was all right.

"Mom: If you see this...," a typical message started, then listed instructions describing where a person could be found on the noisy Astrodome floor, where many evacuees sat somber amid restless children with little to do.

In San Antonio, the former Kelly Air Force Base began accepting people on buses that were turned away from the Astrodome. Up to 7,000 people could be accommodated in an air-conditioned office building and warehouse.

Plans were being made for alternative sites in San Antonio once those buildings filled.

As people arrived, they were given pink lemonade and allowed to use portable restrooms. Others arrived on military helicopters directly from New Orleans and were met by people with food and medicine.

Many refugees showed up hot, dazed and exhausted. They are given toothbrushes, soap, washcloths and other toiletries when they signed in. Aides questioned them about health needs.

Inside the Astrodome, doctors had trouble keeping up with everyone needing treatment.

"Many people might think there are enough people here, and there are not. We just need help," said Dr. Steven Glorsky, who had treated evacuees for heart attacks, open wounds and diabetes. "We have a crisis in there."

A few people were arrested in the Astrodome, although Sheriff Tommy Thomas did not have an exact count. He said some men were arrested for going into the women's showers. Others were arrested for fighting over cots.

Dr. Stuart C. Yudofsky, chairman of psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, said about 30 psychiatrists from around Houston are assisting with the mental health needs of those staying inside the Astrodome.

"The Astrodome was designed to have maybe 20,000 people for six hours at the most for something upon which they are all focused," Yudofsky said. "To be there 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for an indeterminate period of time, that experiment has never been run — and we are trying to do that right now."

Myron Johnson, 27, was just happy to get three meals, a cot and some fresh clothes. The Pizza Hut worker fled his New Orleans apartment Monday in nothing but boxer shorts, leaving behind nine relatives.

"I don't know where my family is. I'm here by myself," he said outside Reunion Arena in downtown Dallas. He was frustrated he had not been able to contact loved ones.

"I thank God for the good volunteers of Texas, but all they can do is try to keep your spirits up," he said. "I just want to know that they're OK so I can salvage the rest of my life."

The state was considering using housing vouchers to allow displaced Louisiana residents to move into apartments, the governor's office said.

Along with Texas, other states such as Illinois and Maryland offered to let hurricane survivors enroll their children in public schools.

In South Carolina, U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn proposed housing up to 5,000 refugees in unused military barracks, an empty mall and other large buildings in Columbia.

Johnson held out hope that he would eventually return to New Orleans.

"In my heart, I believe there will be a Big Easy again," he said. "A better Big Easy."

____

Associated Press reporters Pam Easton in Houston, Matt Slagle in Dallas, April Castro in San Antonio and Kelley Shannon in Austin contributed to this story.

For those who care to read, a few quick comments for now, since I have to finish the laundry and get some comftrable sleep since I was not affeted by the Hurricane,
more later.

I guess for some of my fellow nations
in this mess,
the hurricane is the Presidents fault,
the gangs are the Presidents fault,
the medical supply shortages
are the Presidents fault,
everything is the Presidents fault.

A Haiku by La Habana Cuba.

Good night for now, I have to finish La Habana Cuba's dirty smelly laundry and get some comfortable sleep since I was not affected by the this hurricane mess.

The family is nagging get off that dam computer,
I am the most addicted nation to Nationstates there is,
I am on here every day, every second, minute, and hour
I can.
La Habana Cuba.

Forgot to mention it is 6:12 AM in the moorning here in Florida, good night for now.
La Habana Cuba.

Bush has no authority to bus people around the city - it's Nagin's job.

It's his city. The federal government is never the first responder, they're just there as backup. Ray was foolishly only prepared for a small hurricane.

The feds can't get there in any less than four days - that's how long it takes to load supplies and for travel time. The cities are supposed to be able to hold the fort until the feds get there.
There is a fatal flaw in the system then, is there not? ;)

my view on this whole hurricane shit..

George Bush for your safety and trying to help i give you a 0%

1. there are gangs of people walking the streets shooting at anything.. do you think hes going to go to those (the worst effected) places? No hes going to look at a blown over house and leave.
2. your big plane doesnt need to waste its fuel and money on flying over LA and stoping rescue efforts from saving a life.
3. talking on CNN doesnt send supplies and doesnt tell me anything i havent heard THIS MORNING. hearing it from you. oh boy ima listen up! because you are sooo important on this event..

go back to DC and get on working (if you even do..).

and to the rest of the polital people.. i watched anderson cooper 360 last night and what do i see?? some politic kissing her peers asses "thank you for caring" umm nothing else? but anderson cooper ripped her a new one so :D. anyways.. stop talking and get to work! fix it if you care so much.

thanks for reading my rant ;)

Well said. If I were those ppl I would have pretended to be all happy that he was coming and then slapped him across the face. Even the governor just stood next to him. The Senate aren't doing anything either. Sure they have come back from recess(how nice of them :headbang: ) and approved $10billion. But aside from that no one seems to be getting up off their asses. The American public have been great, raising over $240 million in just 2 days, giving up rooms in their houses etc. But the Police can't cope. I know police department resources are probably streched in most cities but surely they can spare some officers to send to help. There have now been reports of child rapes. Its just disgusting.

So the gangs and rapes are the fault of President Bush?

my view on this whole hurricane shit..

George Bush for your safety and trying to help i give you a 0%

1. there are gangs of people walking the streets shooting at anything.. do you think hes going to go to those (the worst effected) places? No hes going to look at a blown over house and leave.Not the President's job. you expect him to arrest these people? then you'll be critising him for doing the POLICE's Job.
2. your big plane doesnt need to waste its fuel and money on flying over LA and stoping rescue efforts from saving a life.Usually, it's Helicopters that ferry Presidents to desaster areas in the U.S. And he has his own, so no Choppers were 'Commendeered' to ferry the President around.
3. talking on CNN doesnt send supplies and doesnt tell me anything i havent heard THIS MORNING. hearing it from you. oh boy ima listen up! because you are sooo important on this event..well, then don't blame the President, Blame the Media for asking him those questions. hey, why not blame all those reporters and camerapersons who were following him around and not "helping" to get those survivors out or to drive food and supplies in... oh, that's right, it's only the PRESIDENT's Fault... :rolleyes:

and to the rest of the polital people.. i watched anderson cooper 360 last night and what do i see?? some politic kissing her peers asses "thank you for caring" umm nothing else? but anderson cooper ripped her a new one so :D. anyways.. stop talking and get to work! fix it if you care so much.they are working... they are sending supplies and Food in. you think it's easy? why aren't you doing something about it other than sitting down and bitching? oh, that's right, it's suppose to be the PRESIDENT's fault.

President Bush did nothing to help or avert the situation.Dispite popular belief, the President has no control over the Weather.
If the entire freaking flood hadn't have happened in the first place, or the residents had all been evacuated, then I wouldn't critisise him. Dispite Popular Beliefs, the President has no control over Floods nor does he have the power to force people to evacuate. niether does he have anything to do with Evacuation plans nor the Emergency plans for the City, County or States.
Since hes the one who's got America into this mess, its seems disturbing that he isn't doing a thing to help. Dispite Popular Opinion, the President cannot call up a Hurricane, nor can he Direct it to hit certain areas. He also has no control over organizations like The Red Cross and other relief and Emergency Forces. thus, he did not Get America into this mess.
All his moves have been publicity stunts. He wants to keep his hands clean.and you're over there right now getting your hands dirty right? since you see Nature being Bush's fault, then I guess you would see anything he does as a Publicity Stunt...

Bush stripped back funding for the emergency services. Source please?
Bush told the citizens of NO to evacuate, but didn't help the city empty. not the President's responsibility. heck, he didn't have to tell the people of NO to evacuate, that's the Govenors or the Mayors Job. the plans to evacuate the city again falls on the LOCAL Government to take care of, if that didn't work, then it's not the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT's Fault but the LOCAL Government's fault.
It took him a day to react after the levees broke. He has not organised the releif effort effectively. Heck, the governor of NO isn't even in Washington. Bush has let the situation slip. It is not the Federal Government's Job. As you say, the Governor of No isn't even in Washington, he is in NO, so why was response so crappy when the GOVERNOR is right THERE. but no, again another person happy to blame the President.

Funny, I didn't hear all this blame game when Kauai was devistated by Iwa and Iniki... and Federal Aid to that Island took much MUCH longer...

There is a fatal flaw in the system then, is there not? ;)Yep. The city was built in such a way that it ended up BELOW SEA LEVEL. and some people believes that is also President Bush's fault.

Well said. If I were those ppl I would have pretended to be all happy that he was coming and then slapped him across the face. Even the governor just stood next to him. then got arrested, if not shot by the secret service who are there to protect the President as well as the Governor. then thrown in jail for assault and battery of a Federal Employee... well, at least you'll be dry and be fed. and help would be delayed even more since you've shown to the whole world that the city is still too dangerous to have food and supplies trucked in without armed escort.
The Senate aren't doing anything either. Sure they have come back from recess(how nice of them :headbang: ) and approved $10billion. But aside from that no one seems to be getting up off their asses. another person who thinks that all leaders need to get into trucks and drive down to NO... putting everything else on hold. the nation is suppose to stop and not take care of anything else untill NO is rebuilt...

le grand snip.

wait.... did you just post something that DIDN'T have to do with Castro in any way at all?

JESUS CHRIST! The seventh sign of the Apocalypse! ;)

j/k man, j/k. I agree with you, the hurricaine isn't Bush's fault. At least he's trying to do something about it, though I feel he's being a dumbass for not accepting aid from nations offering. I mean come on, Chavez has twice offered to send LA gas and heating oil and stuff, just take the offer!

There's honestly no magic button Bush has that will make this all better, but that he's not pushing for some reason.