|
Force threatened to clear out hold-outs as relief workers come under sniper fire
Using friendly persuasion backed by the threat of force, police and soldiers went house to house Wednesday to try to coax the last 10,000 or so stubborn holdouts to leave storm-shattered New Orleans because of the risk of disease from the putrid, sewage-laden floodwaters."A large group of young armed men with M-16s just arrived at my door and told me that I have to leave," said Patrick McCarty, who lives in the city's Lower Garden District. "While not saying they would arrest you, the inference is clear." Mayor C. Ray Nagin ordered law officers and the military late Tuesday to evacuate all holdouts -- by force if necessary. He warned that the combination of fetid water, fires and natural gas leaks after Hurricane Katrina made it too dangerous to stay. In fact, the first government tests confirmed Wednesday that the amount of sewage-related bacteria in the floodwaters is at least 10 times higher than acceptable safety levels. And health officials said at least four people may have died of a waterborne bacterial infection circulating in Katrina's floodwaters. As of midday, there were no reports of anyone being removed by force, and it was not clear how the order would be carried out. The stepped-up evacuation came as workers trying to get into the city to restart essential services came under sniper fire. More than 100 officers and seven armored personnel carriers captured a suspect in a housing project who had been firing on workers trying to restore cell phone towers, authorities said. Workers struggled to find and count corpses sniffed out by cadaver dogs in the 90-degree heat. The mayor has said New Orleans' death toll could reach 10,000. The enormity of the disaster came ever-clearer in neighboring St. Bernard Parish, which was hit by a levee break that brought a wall of water up to 20 feet high. State Rep. Nita Hutter said 30 people died at a flooded nursing home in Chalmette when the staff left the elderly residents behind in their beds. And Rep. Charlie Melancon said more than 100 people died at a dockside warehouse while they waited for rescuers to ferry them to safety. The floodwaters continued to recede, though slowly, with only 23 of the city's normal contingent of 148 pumps in operation, along with three portable pumps. Posted by: Dan Darling 2005-09-08 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=128959 |