Stand back

Stand back

That seems to be the words of the N.O. tragedy. The mayor of N.O. said FEMA used it often. To our National Guard ready to come and help, it was stand back, don't come yet. Don't bring any water or food, stand back. Don't use those school buses to remove the survivers, stand back. A long line of school buses waited for two days to get the okay to go in and take people out. Is this true? I don't know... it was on the news. And with each passing hour more people died. With help standing back. Once the dirt has settled, I hope they form a good, unbiased fact-finding committee to track down and hunt out the truth of it all. There are a lot of lessons to be learned.

And why didn't the Mayor of N.O. know where the people were being taken on the school buses? That seemed very strange.

We (the city) are preparing to accept 1,000 folks from the area. A secret place (I think its one of our high schools that has been closed for years) is being prepared. And what will the people of New Orleans come to... yup, another large room full of cots lined up. Just like where they left... only not so hot or humid.

And the citizens are being asked to stand back. It is because of the physical and mental trauma the folks have been through already. A crowd of people rushing to help out might traumatize them even more. I can understand the request... but will the New Orleans citizens know they are welcomed? People are offering to take folks into their homes, but are told to stand back. I suppose that might be coming later. And one never knows if the people offering up their homes might be on the crazy side. Yes, we have one or two of them here.

I hope the folks don't have to sleep on cots for long. We have a glutton of vacant apartments around here. I know these folks would just like to have their own space and regroup in private. And I also hope families aren't being completely separated from each other...all this shipping people around the nation.

Well... I'm just standing back.