"You're on your own," Britain's victims told

[JoFerret]

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1562517,00.html

British families trapped in New Orleans last night claimed that US authorities had refused to evacuate them as Hurricane Katrina approached the city.

Although assistance was offered to US residents, British nationals were told they would have to fend for themselves. ....

The order meant UK holidaymakers without cars were left helpless in the face of the hurricane.
....


'The British who were left all thought the police would come back, but nobody has. They have just been left...,
....

There is a payphone in the hotel lobby, but US operators have been refusing to accept collect calls from stranded Britons.

.... conditions in the lobby were described as atrocious, with sewage up to knee level last night.

....

Last night victims trapped inside the Ramada were making plans to escape after food and water supplies neared exhaustion....

'Overall the mood among those trapped is good,' said Scott. 'It's a real league of nations, but they have all bonded.

[ET Awful]

1. Nice to know how we took care of "our greatest ally" eh? n/t

[bigbrother05]

2. UK news reporting US asking for help from EU

Sky news (UK) just reported that the US has asked the EU for emergency help. Blankets, food, etc. Sorry this is off topic, but too new to start a thread.

[fasttense]

3. The Free Market at its best

"There is a pay phone in the hotel lobby, but US operators have been refusing to accept collect calls from stranded Britons."

That's what a free market does. If you can't pay up, you can drown and die. It's business not personal.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Amazing. Hard to believe, isn't it?

Can you imagine these people being treated like this during Bill Clinton's Presidency? We've gone so far downhill so fast.

If we're lucky enough to ever get these monsters out of control it will still take forever to remove their filthy stain from our country.

There's NOTHING they haven't ruined.

[Eugene]

5. Everybody without a car was on his own.

That citizenship excuse from the police was
just that. They helped nobody get out.
But it is scary when public safety personnel
pick and choose who they will protect.

Welcome to On-your-ownistan!

[natrat]

8. ownership society

[AspenRose]

6. Disgraceful

Simply disgraceful.

[JoeMemphis]

7. I hope the Dems bring this up when hearings are held

If a disaster were to happen in the UK, we'd expect their law enforcement to treat US citizens with the same respect as UK citizens. But as someone mentioned above, the free market doesn't work in time of disaster -- "It's business, not personal" is the mantra of the corporate conservatives and crime familes alike.

What is happening to our country? This is just disagraceful.

[natrat]

9. it's the looting that'a the problem

=and the local and state government , oh yea and the victims-ssarcasm off

[Tanuki]

10. A taste of Bush's "ownership society"

If you own a car, you can escape doom. If not, you're screwed. Unless you are staying at the Ritz or the Hyatt, in which case you get air-evacuated with preventive vaccination by "commandeered" antibiotics, while patients at Charity Hospital are left to die.



(Angel statues at a New Orleans cemetery. May all who perished in this horrific disaster rest in peace)

[fortyfeetunder]

22. Remember the tube bombings?

There was some whining about "what about American citizens???"...

[Cha]

11. blair should jump on the

"Where's The Leadership?" on this, bandwagon..do ya think he will?

[JoFerret]

12. No

.

[Sgent]

13. NOBODY

from hotels were evacuated. It wasn't a British thing.

Unfortuantely, the disaster plan had evacuating "up" as an official part of it.

[anotherdrew]

14. they were specially evaced after the storm from the hotels near superdome

I guess the ramada just doesn't have the clout

[JoFerret]

15. Read the article

<<Although assistance was offered to US residents, British nationals were told they would have to fend for themselves. According to those who remain stranded in the stricken city, police had visited hotels and guest houses on the eve of the hurricane offering to evacuate Americans, but not Britons.>>

[Sgent]

16. The *might* have offered to evacuate them to the superdome

but my sister-in-law is a manager at one of the large downtown hotels.

They didn't evacuate, and in fact she offered to get us rooms so we could ride out the storm.

See the Ritz-Carlton which also didn't evacuate, and a slew of others.

I can't comment on this specific hotel, but in almost all cases a hotel beats the hell out of the superdome.

[Wind Dancer]

17. We will continue to hear more stories as people get out.

This is disgusting at every level - where is the fucking compassion for human life?

[marshall]

18. Priorities?

I would think getting them out of the way would be a priority. They won't need housing or clothing or jobs, they just need to get to the nearest airport so they can fly home and be one less thing for the local authorities to have to worry about.

On the other hand, some foreigners in the Superdome seem to have wanted preferential treatment because they felt uncomfortable as outsiders. They should have had to wait in line like everyone else, but the mayor ordered them pulled to the front of the line yesterday.

[brentspeak]

20. Er, no...they were being singled out and threatened by the crowd

The National Guard inside the Superdome separated them from the rest of the victims when it became clear that the tourists had a greater chance of being murdered than anyone else.


Violent gangs stalked the tourists and the women were threatened with rape as the stadium became a human jungle...Realising that foreigners were being targeted, Mr Hopes and fellow Aussies gathered other tourists into one part of the building.

"There were 65 of us altogether so we were able to look after each other, especially the girls who were being grabbed and threatened. They were so brave," said Mr Hopes, a talent scout on a working holiday.

...Mr Hopes said the Australians owed their lives to a National Guard sergeant who broke the rules to get the tourists out of the dome, evacuating them to a medical centre with 60 other people.

http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,16487751%255E1702,00.html

[Igel]

21. If true, not a shining example of southern hospitality. n/t

[Wind Dancer]

23. Saving lives is a priority!

Why did the US refuse to accept collect calls from stranded Britons? I'm sick of people making excuses for the way this has been handled.

Where is the fucking compassion?

[JoFerret]

24. Agreed - this may pale (!) in the big picture but

...it is an example of discrimination - not based on need, or color, or wealth but on nationality.

[indepat]

19. What goes around has a way of coming back and biting one in the arse

[natrat]

25. not in bushworld

you kill people or lie on a grand scale and you get the medal of honour