Rescuers search ghost city for survivors

Scotsman.com News - Hurricane Katrina - Rescuers search ghost city for survivors:

"'There is no organisation. We are the organisation,' says Dr Sheiban."

People in boats trying to save who they can. You have to hand it to them, they are doing what they can to keep themselves and their own alive and living. With so many bodies unrecovered in the water it is a horrible and unpleasant task. It reads so unbelievably that this should be a part of America. Mr Birtell, Mr Simeon and Dr. Tut Sheiban have just taken their boat and have been trying to ferry anyone they find to safety. Reports of how people are being treated by the military do not read very well at this point. It sounds like they are being pushed and shoved around like they are not real people who are actually American citizens. It's the lack of respect and then the answer to everything seems to be guns and bullets.Yet you hear people talking and that's what they expect and are surprised if there are no guns and bullets. Like guns and bullets to get people out of New Orleans so they can clean up. Surely they have a better way of managing their own citizens? I'm sorry, I am reading this and I can't understand it at all and it may be that I have no understanding of it. Did they have to use guns and bullets in Mumbai? I honestly can't remember. Aceh was just the most tragic, tragic mess and the people refused to leave and they were trying to get them to leave but they didn't want to leave their land and their people. What happened there in the end?

When we have bush fires and they can be horrific, like our one on the Eyre Peninsula, people can go back and start cleaning up and rebuilding and it's gut wrenching, awful stuff, but at least the land is solid and the destruction can be cleared from the land. It just remains in people's hearts. With floods, it's all under water and the people are lost in the water and their homes and belongings are totally sodden. you can't just start clearing and rebuilding. It's a much slower process fraught with the pitfalls of disease and long term instability. I don't know what the answer is, but there are some pretty tough decisions to be made. Some are saying New Orleans won't be able to be rebuilt. Some are saying the levées need to be reworked and reconsidered. Some are saying move the city. I mean it's been there since 1720 and been relatively okay. Is it now totally unsafe as far as storms are concerned. You can understand those who just want to move and start afresh. You can understand those who want to stay and start it again. I remember seeing a French village near the Alps that they thought was going to be hit by an avalanche. They were trying to get the people out. Most of the old people wouldn't move because they said their families had been there for years and years. As it turned out, the tourist park got hit and the village was relatively unscathed. Faith? Luck? Stubbornness? What beats in human hearts has to be listened to sometimes.It's hard to make that kind of executive decision. Negotiation?