"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:wsKRe.301427$x96.41584@attbi_s72...
This just in from the AP:
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But across the flooded-out city, the rescuers themselves came under attack
from storm victims.
"Hospitals are trying to evacuate," said Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Cheri
Ben-Iesan, spokesman at the city emergency operations center. "At every
one of them, there are reports that as the helicopters come in people are
shooting at them. There are people just taking potshots at police and at
helicopters, telling them, `You better come get my family.'"

Some Federal Emergency Management rescue operations were suspended in
areas where gunfire has broken out, Homeland Security spokesman Russ
Knocke said in Washington. "In areas where our employees have been
determined to potentially be in danger, we have pulled back," he said.

A National Guard military policeman was shot in the leg as the two
scuffled for the MP's rifle, police Capt. Ernie Demmo said. The man was
arrested.

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Unbelievable.

What we are witnessing now in the United States is the classic example of
good vs evil. In this deplorable situation, we have examples of life cut to
the raw bone and sinew of it's basic core engine; ripped wide open for us as
we watch it unfold before our eyes.
During the last several days I have seen acts of unbelievable daring and
courage by tired and over worked helo crews threading their huge machines
between power lines and obstacles that could have ended their lives at any
instant they made the slightest mistake; to save some nameless and faceless
obscure fellow human being in desperate need of assistance. There are as we
speak nurses who have gone without sleep for days working by hand
respirators attached to patients at hospitals. These nurses don't know the
fate of their own families and homes, but are caring for the people being
brought in.
I've also seen a segment of ignorance and stupidity that is almost beyond
belief, as some of my fellow human beings attempt to take advantage of the
situation by stealing electrical appliances and other items that not only
won't work under the conditions, but serve no useful survival purpose
whatsoever.
Shooting at the helos is sheer madness. It won't make them come, and could
in fact prevent them from coming. This is ignorance at it's highest level if
in fact the reports are true.
Of all the images; all the desolation; all the horror and despair I have
seen these last few days, I think I will carry with me to the day I die the
image of that poor, totally broken black man relating to the world, asking
nothing for himself but to be heard, the horror of his choice in the middle
of the night at the height of the storm as he struggled desperately to hold
on to his wife with one hand and his children with the other. The look of
sheer agony on his face as he told the reporter about the instant he had to
let her go to save his children was heart wrenching and shattering and I for
one will never forget it.
You may rest assured that when this thing has run it's course and everything
that has made up this horrible experience has been tallied up and the
country moves on, life in the United States will have experienced a paradigm
shift, and life as we have known it in our country will never be quite the
same again.
I sincerely hope that when these tallies are finalized, the better stuff of
our people will have triumphed over the criminal and ignorant side of this
deeply human experience.

Dudley Henriques