"john smith" wrote in message
.. .
That's called scrounging. Losing everything you already have is a
contingency.
How many times did you see the helicopters going to check out what was
causing smoke? Every time didn't they?
Want to get rescued first? As soon as you see or hear the helicopters
flying, start a fire with thick black smoke, someone will come to see what
it is. What do you think is easier to see, someone waving their arms as a
helicopter goes cruising by, or a column of black smoke a couple miles
away?

You're weaving an astounding fantasy here. There were people atop houses
throughout the flooded city, painting SOS messages on rooftops and waving
large white sheets that were plainly visible, but to no avail, because the
rescuers were not there. Moreover, 20,000 people had followed the
authorities' instructions to take shelter in a stadium (which they were then
forbidden to leave because of the rising flood waters) where they found
themselves trapped for days without food, water, or lights, with
temperatures in the upper 90s, immersed in raw sewage and surrounded by the
decaying corpses of people who had already died of dehydration. And you want
them to *light fires* to call attention to themselves?

--Gary