I don't get it.

[low_delta]

Posted: 10:02 a.m. ET
CNN's Jim Spellman in New Orleans, Louisiana

I don't think I really have the vocabulary for this situation.

We just heard a couple of gunshots go off. There's a building smoldering a block away. People are picking through whatever is left in the stores right now. They are walking the streets because they have nowhere else to go.

Right now, I'm a few blocks away from the New Orleans Convention Center area. We drove through there earlier, and it was unbelievable. Thousands and thousands and thousands of people spent the night sleeping on the street, on the sidewalk, on the median.

The convention center is a place that people were told to go to because it would be safe. In fact, it is a scene of anarchy.

There is absolutely nobody in control. There is no National Guard, no police, no information to be had.

The convention center is next to the Mississippi River. Many people who are sleeping there feel that a boat is going to come and get them. Or they think a bus is going to come. But no buses have come. No boats have come. They think water is going come. No water has come. And they have no food.

As we drove by, people screamed out to us -- "Do you have water? Do you have food? Do you have any information for us?"

We had none of those.

Probably the most disturbing thing is that people at the convention center are starting to pass away and there is simply nothing to do with their bodies. There is nowhere to put them. There is no one who can do anything with them. This is making everybody very, very upset.

Okay, so there are thousands of people stranded at the dome, and the convention center. And they're starting to take them out by bus.

A Louisiana National Guard official told CNN Thursday morning that between 50,000 and 60,000 people had converged at evacuation points near the Superdome hoping to get on one of the buses out of town.

"It's no longer just evacuees from the Superdome, as citizens who were holed up in high-rise office buildings and hotels saw buses moving into the dome, they realized this is an evacuation point," Lt. Col. Pete Schneider of the Louisiana National Guard said.

If the buses can drive in, why don't the people start walking? And don't tell me they've got no place to go. If they stay, they'll die. I read somewhere that the people are being "allowed to walk out," but I can't find that quote now.

Comments

[emschin.livejournal.com]

I thought I saw a TV picture of people walking on the highway.

[fleur.livejournal.com]

I don't think they're going to walk 350 miles to Houston on no food and no water.

What is taking so damned long?? Why are the buses not there yet? Where is the military? Why aren't they airlifting water down to people?

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

There's got to be water closer than 350 miles.

There are buses there, but there are reports of 60,000 people in that neighborhood.

I wondered about air drops.

[ravengirl.livejournal.com]

?!kevin, sometimes you astound me
and i can't talk to you right now
so don't bother responding to this rant.
thank you.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

People are dying, and nobody seems to be able to help. You look for solace in your way, and I'll look for it in mine.

[cynnerth.livejournal.com]

There is something about Kevin that maybe you aren't aware of. He doesn't have all the answers and doesn't pretend to. His mind is open. When he doesn't understand something, he questions it. He really listens to answers and explanations. If you have an explanation for something or disagree with him, he.will.listen. Talk to him about where his misconception is. Don't write him off as insensitive for asking a question.

That's all I have to say. I'm stepping back out of this.

[sunshyncat.livejournal.com]

It is too dangerous for them to walk outside with the shootings and looting. Many people with small children, health problems, or elderly people would not be able to walk 3 miles, let alone 350!

I think race is playing a part in the authorities not taking enough action in New Orleans. If it were a white town, the wheels would have been turning much sooner.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

It would take weeks to evacuate everybody by bus. Let the infants and elderly take them.

I don't think a march of thousands of people would have much to fear from looters.

I don't think race has much to do with it. I think it has more to do with nobody really knowing what to do.