E.M.T. At the Superdome recounts what REALLY happened.

The Santa Fe New Mexican ^ | 9/9/5 | Diana Heil

[RightinNM]

Paramedic's N.M. team stays behind to treat storm victims ... a self-contained, federally funded team from New Mexico -- arrived in New Orleans at 3 a.m. Aug. 30 with 20 tons of supplies. ... Hesch has a few insights he'd like to share: "I would tell people to be patient with their government and understanding because this is the nation's biggest disaster, bar none."

[RightinNM]

This one group arrived at the Superdome on August 30, before the levees broke, with 20 tons of supplies. And the atricle hints that other teams were also there, but bugged out when things got tough. How many supplies did they bring with them? Did they bail WITH or without te supplies?

VANITY- To add some credence to this story, It's extraordinary for the daily rag here in the P.R.S.F. (People's Republic of Santa Fe) to write anything that doesn't just slam Bush.

[NonValueAdded]

Some had gone cold turkey off their medications.

That's a polite way of putting it :)

[Serious Capitalist]

Great post-I think his observations regarding the initial Nat Guardsmen is dead on accurate- I guess jesse Jackson has no idea that N.O. is 12 feet below sea level.....

[Gefreiter]

Interesting article, with some new details.

This tidbit was kinda odd though:

"By contrast, at Hurricane Andrew in 1992, the 82nd Airborne Special Forces carried locked and loaded AK-47s at all times..."

[claudiustg]

---By contrast, at Hurricane Andrew in 1992, the 82nd Airborne Special Forces carried locked and loaded AK-47s at all times, with the National Guard in strong force, he said.---

?

[JimRed]

Some had gone cold turkey off their medications.

That's a polite way of putting it :)

Translation: Their drug dealers had been evacuated.

[ordinaryguy]

"In other disasters where Hesch has worked, people pulled tightly together as a community. But New Orleans didn't seem to know how to do that."

[RightinNM]

That was 13 years ago. Maybe memory's just a little hazy. I vaguely remember that right after September 11, some troops (Guard?) were posted at airports with weapons but no bullets. Could be something like that with details getting hazy over time?

[vox humana]

He said the city of New Orleans should have organized a more persuasive evacuation, using school buses and other means.

Well, I guess we know why that didn't happen!

[Paisan]

...locked and loaded AK-47s ...

WTF???????

Please, someone, convince me that this reporter is not just slightly retarded

[Mr. Jeeves]

"By contrast, at Hurricane Andrew in 1992, the 82nd Airborne Special Forces carried locked and loaded AK-47s at all times..."

Yes, but, as I understand it, they didn't show up until five days after Andrew had hit.

[SueRae]

That was a polite way of putting it is right. Good article, minimal spin and one heck of a heroic team from New Mexico.

[ican'tbelieveit]

"By Aug. 31, the Federal Emergency Management Agency told the exhausted New Mexico team it was time to leave."

They make it sound as if August 31st was DAYS after the start, not the day, essentially, it was after the levees broke. I am sure to them, in that environment, it felt that way though.

And no martial law imposed. Who has refused that?

[Auntie Mame]

Very interesting, coming from someone who was actually there. Not one "It's all Bush's fault" in the entire article either. He sure makes it sound like the majority of people who he came across at the Superdome are selfish animals.

[ican'tbelieveit]

They know how to pull tightly together in partying, though...

[Just mythoughts]

Sad, sick, and twisted. Wonder whose city these "fittest" now inhabit?

[Dahoser]

That stopped me, too. AK-47s? Did McCoy save Edith Keeler's life again?

[Puddleglum]

I wonder what teams from other states bugged out after the levee broke, and why? To escape the flooding or to escape the violence? He doesn't say.

[RGSpincich]

The reporter is quoting the EMT. The term "AK-47" is used to describe any automatic weapon in some circles.