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| Armed thugs keep rescuers from their mission |
| 2005-09-02 |
| So who runs Bartertown these days? With seven rescue boats at his disposal and thousands of New Orleans residents in need of saving, lifelong fireman Patrick Hemphill stood by the floodwaters' edge yesterday and gave a command that went against all his years of training. Stand down. Citizens were in danger, yet he had to tell his people to pull back. "We've been ordered by the higher-ups not to go into the city of New Orleans," said Hemphill, the fire chief of Ouachita Parish, a county in northern Louisiana. "We've been advised it's not safe." "They're shooting at my people," said Mario Scramuzza, an emergency medical technician from nearby East Jefferson General Hospital, who was helping to coordinate medical care along with Hemphill. Scramuzza said the biggest problem were gun-toting men who tried to hijack the rescue boats. "We've got priorities of people who need to get out first, women, children and elderly. If you don't stop for them, they shoot at you," Scramuzza said. The problem was widespread in New Orleans. A rescue helicopter trying to airlift people out of the Superdome was fired on. A force of 88 police officers sent to restore calm to the area around the New Orleans Convention Center had to retreat in the face of violence. Workers at one hospital ducked gunfire as they tried to evacuate patients. A National Guardsman was shot in the leg as he fended off an attacker who tried to steal his gun. For people like Scramuzza and Hemphill -- men whose lives are dedicated to helping others -- it made an already difficult task that much more frustrating. "There are still a lot of people out there who don't need to spend anymore time where they are," Hemphill said. "We're trying to do what we can, but we have our hands tied a little bit." So they did the best they could. Hemphill is overseeing one of the many rescue boat operations here, launching crafts from Route 61 in Jefferson Parish, at the spot where the road lowers to meet the floodwaters. He and his fellow firemen from Ouachita Parish got there Wednesday morning and were able to operate safely, albeit with some difficulty. "It's not easy," Hemphill said. "There are a lot of shallow places where they have to get out and drag the boats. There's things floating in the water. There are submerged objects." When the bullets started flying, it got to be too much. They were still sending boats yesterday off Route 61, but only to the more immediate areas of Jefferson Parish. And they were under orders to take extreme precaution. Each boat went out with an armed guard wearing bulletproof armor and carrying high-powered weapons. When a boat returned -- usually full -- each passenger was searched for weapons. That became standard procedure at evacuation points after there was a shooting outside the Superdome on Wednesday. "We're patting down every person that comes up here and we're checking every bag," Scramuzza said. It has put them in the strange position of being both rescuers and policemen. "We wish we could do more, but we're doing the best we can," Hemphill said. "This isn't how we wanted this to happen." |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #8 A few years back when we were evacuated because of the fires SW of Denver, while we were gone it was suggested that we leave our lights on and houses unlocked for the firefighters to have easy access and to see our homes from the roads since we lived so remote. We left our home lit up like a Christmas tree and unlocked, only to come home and find 2 rifles missing. Thankfully the fire line didn't get too close but to think that folks were in our home and stole firearms. To know that your guns are in the hands of thieves that may use them for crime is an awful feeling. The area was being patrolled, but it was a very large area and the officers had alot on their plate. It's terrible that instead of being able to focus on the task at hand of rescue, they need to be policemen too. I know that I can't compare our fire that seemed so very tragic at the time to the horrors that are occuring down in New Orleans, but we banded together and helped each other. We helped our neighbors with their horses to get out, and others helped with dogs. With the evacuation point being the local high school even the kids helped by walking dogs and helping get the elderly to doctors etc. It's hard to fathom how these folks are feeling, I think that they are just feeling so very desperate, not as an excuse but as an explaination. |
| Posted by: Jan 2005-09-02 23:24 |
| #7 The Zionist (tm) Hurricane Ray worked as planned: Poor killed; democrats killed. Steve: Please try to avoid mentioning the Halliburton contract, we plan to use a subsidiary so as to escape notice. I am so glad by my puppet Bush has been so cooperative! |
| Posted by: D. Cheney 2005-09-02 18:05 |
| #6 DepotGuy, you forgot the part about giving Haliburton the contract to rebuid New Orleans. |
| Posted by: Steve 2005-09-02 11:39 |
| #5 It’s all Bush’s master plan! First steal an election and become President. Then give tax breaks to the rich and create a huge underclass. Snub the NAACP conventions to create confusion for an entire segment of the population. Preach abstinence only to insure that disenfranchised segment grows. Orchestrate the 9/11 attacks. Create the Homeland Security Department and in fold FEMA into it. Sit silent on the Assault Weapons debate and flood the populace with the most lethal weaponry. Create a war overseas to send over the National Guard. Make sure the war is on Muslim lands to insure Allah’s entire wrath. Install a corrupt state government that will gut money from the environmental funds thus eliminating the wetlands and eroding the entire delta region. Divert money from the Army Corp. of Engineers so a mega-levy system can’t be built around New Orleans. By previously refusing to sign the Kyoto Treaty, the earth’s climate was forever altered. Global warming will undoubtedly ensue causing an unprecedented flurry of hurricanes off the Gulf coast. Have Pat Robertson pray to have the storm a Category five and make sure it hits the largest city built under sea level. Sit idle for a day so FEMA breaks down and desperation grows to a fever pitch. Make sure the local police are corrupt to allow for looting and other unthinkable crimes. Send in the government controlled media to flame national outrage. Finally stage rescue and relief operations with the knowledge that some of the thugs will open fire on the authorities. The stage is now set to declare Martial Law. Now that the precedent has been established simply create disasters in other regions of the country until there is total control. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2005-09-02 10:59 |
| #4 ..shoot them if they try and get in the way of rescue efforts. I probably would. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-09-02 09:50 |
| #3 Shoot them, I don't care if the shooters are priests, shoot them if they try and get in the way of rescue efforts. |
| Posted by: Charles 2005-09-02 08:47 |
| #2 Send in a unit of Kiowas to fly cover for the firemen and if anyone one starts shooting at the rescuers then take 'em out. After a day of this, the fun will be gone from being an anarchist and the rescues can proceed. |
| Posted by: GK 2005-09-02 04:25 |
| #1 No doubt the anti-gun crowd will use this as a reason to ban all Guns. Ignoring cases where lives and property were saved by armed citizens. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2005-09-02 03:17 |