Reply #22: Bernard Par LA; about 60... people died, apart from the 30...at St.Rita's

[preciousdove]

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/nation/epaper/2005/09/12/m1a_katrina_main_0912.html

Nursing home deaths test parish
By John Lantigua

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Monday, September 12, 2005

...Almost all of the 65,000 to 70,000 residents had evacuated. They have subsequently been kept out by military checkpoints. There is no power or water. At night, abandoned dogs are heard howling...

The sheriff's department and other public employees took refuge in the upper floors of the parish courthouse. From there, deputies subsequently launched rescue parties, first grabbing one drift boat, using it to reach other small boats, and rescuing many people off rooftops.

"We saved a lot of people," said sheriff's Sgt. Raymond Therriot, whose rescue boat at one point stopped running, forcing him to take refuge on a rooftop himself.

Therriot thinks about 60 other people died, apart from the 30 or so at St. Rita's....