Tensions flare at crowded Houston convention center;

[Contrary1]

"HOUSTON - A humanitarian crisis unfolded Monday along the Texas coast as thousands of Hurricane Ike victims clamored for food, water, electricity and gasoline — and found nothing much to go home to except streets littered with piles of debris, spewing sewage, and floodwaters crawling with snakes and alligators.

In Houston, tensions were rising among more than 1,000 who had spent several nights at the George R. Brown Convention Center because most of the city is still without power. They complained that they couldn’t get information about how to get food and clean clothes. The city’s mayor said only 1,300 people were inside, but those sleeping on cots said it felt like thousands.

Lines snaked down side streets at gas stations that had little fuel to sell. Some looked like parking lots. At sites distributing water, ice and prepackaged meals, people stood on foot for hours waiting for anything they could take home.

Michael Stevenson, 37, had wandered from shelter to shelter since the storm struck before ending up at the convention center. At one shelter, he said, he barely ate.

“They give you a little cup of water every four hours. They feed us one peanut butter and jelly sandwich. We were in there for about 18 hours before we could go outside and get some air,” he said..."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26695458/

[NC_Nurse]

1. Wow. They won't let them outside? Yikes.

I thought they learned something from Katrina. Like don't put so many people into a convention center for days on end without enough supplies...
guess not.

[Stuart G]

2. If this true, the shit has hit the fan.....and it is true.....

[AndyTiedye]

3. You Mean You Don't Think They'll Be Voting For More of the Same This Fall?

me neither.

[AwakeAtLast]

5. But if they have no home, will they still be able to vote?

Not if the Repukes have their way. x(

[butterfly77]

19. Speaking of voting

Where is Tom Delay? on the day of the storm he called into msnbc to complain about the coverage and how they were going overboard telling people to get out he said he was staying and hunkering down..

[AwakeAtLast]

23. OMG, I didn't know that

I'm thinking poetic justice might come into play...

[butterfly77]

24. I'm still waiting ...

they are hiding a lot of things..

[merh]

7. the upcoming elections will be what gets these people help

not compassion or respect - they will have to help out these people and reestablish voting precincts before november, they cannot afford to lose these votes. In NOLA it was the total opposite, they didn't care if they voted.

[monmouth]

4. I can't help but wonder what the people in New Orleans have

going through their minds right now, seeing this "sort of" replay of their nightmare. Wow, scary stuff.

[uppityperson]

6. I wonder if any of these are NO Katrina survivors, sent to Houston, then stayed.

As well as survivors of other hurricanes PTDSing.

[monmouth]

10. You're right, many of them did stay, God bless them...n/t

[crickets]

11. Wondering the same thing here.

Gah, what a horrible situation.

[ColbertWatcher]

8. What? They're not overwhelmed by the hospitality?

This should be working out very well for them, since they're all so underprivileged anyway.

And such as.

[Selatius]

9. Now they know how all the people at the Superdome felt waiting for bottled water...after 5 days. nt

[sarge43]

12. Mrs George H W Bush, Sep 5th, 2005 aka Big Bar

NPR interview, re Katrina evacuees

"What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the area here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working out very well for them."

So suck it up Houston, stop the whining and enjoy the privilege.

(Typo)

[intheflow]

13. She said that in September '05.

Certainly not on 8/5/05, since Katrina didn't hit until 8/29/05.

[sarge43]

18. My bad. Misread on my part. Corrected and thanks. n/t

[teehee]

14. How many times can people believe their government before getting it?

I have absolutely no illusions about FEMA or anyone else coming to my aid in a natural disaster. Even if they send out the various agencies, there are only so many rescuers compared to the number of people needing help. I propose that we all learn to live off the grid and become survivalists. There is just no other logical, viable option.

[Contrary1]

16. I was polled on this very subject a couple weeks ago...

Most of the questions were based on much faith I had in the government helping me personally in case of a disaster.

My local government fared better. I rated them a 2 or 3, depending on the question. (some or a little bit) The Feds got a 1
(none at all), and only that because there was no zero option.

[Th1onein]

22. We SHOULD have faith in OUR government.

It's OUR government, set up to SERVE us. Just because Bush broke it doesn't mean it shouldn't still serve you. That's what elections are all about.

Don't you think that Bush would just love it? It would be his fucking legacy, to have no government, and no help for the helpless.

Don't buy into that bullshit.

[bushmeister0]

15. Time for another flyover?

He got close to Texas, sort of.

Sep 12,

AP:

"'I am deeply concerned about Hurricane Ike. It is a major storm headed toward a large population center,' Bush said after arriving in Oklahoma on a trip to raise money for Republican presidential candidate John McCain . . .

'We'll be monitoring the situation very carefully. The federal government can help not only with the pre-storm strategy but once this storm passes, we'll be working with state and local authorities to help with the recovery as quickly as possible health care savings accounts."

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/5997648.html

Three days later:

"The nation's fourth-largest city lay paralyzed, sweltering and almost completely blacked-out Sunday as frustrated residents waited in vain for promised federal disaster aid to be distributed more than 36 hours after Hurricane Ike tore through the region.

Both Republican Gov. Rick Perry and Democratic Houston Mayor Bill White pointedly questioned whether the Federal Emergency Management Agency was devoting enough resources to deliver supplies to the region and help restore power to nearly 5 million area consumers languishing without it."

http://www.courant.com/news/nationworld/hc-2ike0915.artsep15,0,7408054.story?track=rss

How was the fund raiser Mr. President?

[tanyev]

17. Just saw a story on my local Dallas station--

Several families of evacuees left when they were supposed to, filled out paperwork with FEMA, and used the verification number they got from FEMA to make reservations at a hotel. Today the hotel has told them that FEMA told the hotel they were not going to pay. The families are filling out more FEMA paperwork, and the hotel has let them stay until they get word on that, but if FEMA doesn't pay, the families will have to go.

[Chulanowa]

20. Republicans indulging in self-fulfilling prophecy.

"Government programs don't work! Give us control and we'll prove it to you!"

Makes me sick

[malaise]

21. I'm following here

http://www.maroonspoon.com/wx/ike.html

Lots of long lines for everything.