well we all knew that something rotten was going on. Where was the red cross I kept asking myself.
so was it was the "Deputy director of the Louisiana Office of homeland security and emergency preparedness" who siad they just weren't set up to get food and water to people in need? what were they set up to do?
and while we are at it, everyone should have known tht looting would follow a general evacuation, in an empty city. why weren't the national guard brought in on monday afternoon?
CNN.com - Red Cross: State rebuffed relief efforts - Sep 8, 2005: "Louisiana officials rebuffed American Red Cross requests to enter New Orleans with relief supplies last week because of concerns over logistical difficulties, Red Cross and state officials said Thursday.
The Red Cross never launched its relief effort in the city.
The national president of the American Red Cross, Marsha Evans, first made the request to undertake the operation during a visit to the state on September 1, three days after Hurricane Katrina struck, a local Red Cross chapter official said.
Vic Howell, chief executive officer of the agency's Louisiana Capital Area Chapter, said he renewed that request the next day to Col. Jay Mayeaux, the deputy director of the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.
'We had adequate supplies, the people and the vehicles,' Howell said at a news conference in Baton Rouge. 'It was the middle of a military rescue operation trying to save lives. We were asked not to go in, and we abided by that recommendation.'
Mayeaux, appearing at the news conference with Howell, said he had asked the Red Cross to wait 24 hours for conditions to be 'set' for the operation.
'To set up a feeding station to feed a large number of people, you need space. You need to escort the personnel into position. ... And we asked Mr. Howell, and he concurred, to wait 24 hours to go to set that in,' Mayeaux said.
By Saturday, however, the point became moot because the large-scale evacuation of the city was under way, Howell and Mayeaux said. "