The
Houston Chronicle is carrying an AP story that the Mayor of New Orleans has issued an
SOS regarding the chaos at the New Orleans convention center -
About 15,000 to 20,000 people who had taken shelter at New Orleans convention center grew increasingly hostile after waiting for buses for days amid the filth and the dead. Police Chief Eddie Compass said there was such a crush around a squad of 88 officers that they retreated when they went in to check out reports of assaults.
"This is a desperate SOS," (Mayor Ray) Nagin said in a statement. "Right now we are out of resources at the convention center and don't anticipate enough buses."
Storm survivors, waiting for help, are beginning to speak out in stark terms about their plight.
One survivor was interviewed near three corpses, including one of an elderly woman in a wheelchair. Speaking of the old woman, he said he wouldn't treat his dog as badly -
"You can do everything for other countries, but you can't do nothing for your own people," he added. "You can go overseas with the military, but you can't get them down here."
And a seafood merchant, Donald Dudley, is angry that he and other survivors were chased by the National Guard when they broke into a convention center kitchen -
"They pulled guns and told us we had to leave that kitchen or they would blow our damn brains out," he said. "We don't want their help. Give us some vehicles and we'll get ourselves out of here!"
Remember, this is an Associated Press article in a Texas newspaper. Not Al Jazeera.
Will the desperate and stranded survivors of New Orleans now be labeled insurgents and pursued by the federal government?