Sorry for this hasty diary, but I wanted to get it out.
This rumor has just been reported by the British paper the Guardian:
One French journalist from the daily newspaper Libération was given precise information that 1,200 people had drowned at Marion Abramson school on 5552 Read Boulevard. Nobody at the Federal Emergency Management Agency or the New Orleans police force has been able to verify that.
But then Fema could not confirm there were thousands of people at the convention centre until they were told by the press for the simple reason that they did not know.
"Katrina's winds have left behind an information vacuum. And that vacuum has been filled by rumour.
"There is nothing to correct wild reports that armed gangs have taken over the convention centre," wrote Associated Press writer, Allen Breed.
Indeed there is a Marion Abramson Senior High School at 5552 Read Blvd, NO, LA 70127, located on the east side of the city. See Google map
point A here
It is the largest High school in NO (1714 enrollment).
and was a citizen assembly point for public transportation to the Superdome shelter on the August 28, 2005
From The Times-Picayune
Beginning at noon, as officials prepare to open the Dome as a shelter of last resort, the RTA will begin ferrying passengers to the facility from 12 locations around the city. Those locations are:
-- Arthur Monday Senior Citizens Center, 1111 Newton St.
-- E.J. Morris Senior Center, 1616 Caffin Ave.
-- Eleanor McMain Magnet Secondary School, 5712 S. Claiborne Ave.
-- Warren Easton Fundamental High School, 3019 Canal St.
-- Sylvanie F. Williams School, 3127 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
-- Israel Augustine Middle School, 425 S. Broad St.
-- Sarah T. Reed High School, 5316 Michoud Blvd.
-- Marion Abramson Senior High School, 5552 Read Blvd.
-- L.E. Rabouin Career Magnet School, 727 Carondelet St.
-- O. Perry Walker High School, 2832 Gen. Meyer Ave.
-- New Orleans Mission, 1130 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.
-- William Frantz School, 3811 N. Galvez St.
Cook also said streetcar service on St. Charles Avenue and Canal Street will be replaced by buses in case power goes out.
Generally, RTA regular service will continue until the weather doesn't allow it or a curfew is imposed by city officials, she said.
Does anyone have any information on the status of Marion Abramson Senior High School?
Have there been any US media news reports that can discount or support this report in the Guardian?