Katrina Wednesday Roundup

Self interested Congressman uses National Guard to check on home:
Will Collier of Vodkapundit relates the story of a powerful Louisiana Congressman who took it upon himself to round up a bunch of Louisiana National Guardsmen to check on his house after making their way to the Superdome. The truck they were in got stuck in the flooding and needed to be resuced. The National Guardsmen signaled a Coast Guard rescue chopper but the good Congressman refused to be rescued twice. The original story.

Recovery efforts in Slidell are moving slowly.

St. Rita's Nursing Home criminal case proceeding:
In a follow up to my earlier pieces on St. Rita's Nursing Home, a 35th patient who was rescued from the rising floodwaters has died of injuries sustained and the pair of owners of the nursing home will be charged with a 35th count of negligent homicide by the Louisiana Attorney General. An MSNBC story says that the Attorney General will examine various reports of deaths at hospitals and nursing facilities to determine whether charges should be pursued.

This gets me to thinking. What does the emergency evacuation plans have to say about this. When a mandatory evacuation notice is given, and the nursing home or hospital is unable or unwilling to move patients, should the local authorities move in to get these people to safety.

I understand that the attorney for Mable and Salvador Mangano, the owners of St. Rita's is going to argue that moving their patients would possibly have resulted in their death due to their special needs. He's also claiming that hte Magano's were waiting for a mandatory evacuation order that never came.

This has a tinge of the truth to it. Some people are at a higher risk of death due to moving them when they're on ventilators, feeding tubes, or oxygen. I wont say that they did nothing, as it appears that some workers at the nursing home tried to barricade the lower floor to keep the floodwaters out, but were quickly overwhelmed by the storm surge. There was a near 100% risk of death or serious bodily injury for staying put.

The Manganos had an evacuation plan as required under state law, both their attorney and the attorney general said.

But Foti said the nursing home had a contract with an ambulance service to evacuate the patients, but the owners didn’t call the company. They also turned down an offer from St. Bernard Parish officials who asked if the nursing home wanted help evacuating, he said.

The victims died Aug. 29, the day the hurricane hit, and on Sept. 6, at least 14 unrecognizable bodies were still inside the nursing home, the New York Times reported last week.

It was absolutely inexcusable that they didn't even try to move at least some of these patients. Were all of them on ventilators or feeding tubes (special needs patients)?

While searching through the La. Attorney General's website for more information on St. Rita's, this release popped out. It states that Gov. Blanco and the Attorney General issued three executive orders on September 2, 2005. One of those orders was

Executive Order Number KBB 2005-31 pertains to the Emergency Evacuation by Buses.
• Parishes with running school buses must report to the Office of Homeland Security to help with massive evacuation of Hurricane Katrina evacuees.

Would it not have made more sense to issue this particular order before the hurricane hit, instead of after? By issuing this directive before the storm hit, it is possible that more people could have been moved out of New Orleans and other affected areas - and possibly preserved those buses and vehicles for use after the storm passed.

Mississippi Response:
Mississippi Governor Barbour expects to convene a special session of the legislature to address hurricane related issues.

A subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee looked at how local governments are being affected by the storm. Some reports cite municipalities, such as Waveland and Biloxi, that have lost most, if not all, of their local property tax base.

Hancock County Tax Assessor-Collector Jimmie Ladner estimated that his county had lost about 40 percent of its local tax base.

"I have people flat out telling me I can't pay taxes on a house that is not there - take it to the tax sale and see what you can get for it," Ladner said at the subcommittee hearing.

Ladner and other Gulf Coast officials said they would like to be able to "forgive" taxes for people who suffered major damage from the storm, but at the same time they need revenue to operate local governments and schools.

This is yet another way to measure the damage inflicted by Katrina - the total loss of a region's tax base. That means that the businesses, residences, and revenue generators for an entire region are simply no longer there. Wiped out by the storm.

However, even in Waveland, there are signs of hope.

“New Waveland Cafe” reads the large white sign prominently displayed under a tent where several volunteers are distributing water and lemonade.

Boxes nearby are overflowing with baby food, canned vegetables, peanut butter and other donated essentials at a one-stop shop where everything is free. Bottled water is stacked in towering piles, and the mound of diapers has grown so large that one volunteer said no more can be accepted because there is no room to store them.

By day’s end, members of the Christian Life Church from Orange Beach, Ala.—who have organized the relief efforts at this makeshift restaurant and supply distribution center in a Kmart parking lot—will have offered assistance to hundreds of Hurricane Katrina victims in Waveland, Miss.

UPDATE:
Confederate Yankee wonders why New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin would buy a home in Dallas, Texas. Is he planning a move on a permanent basis? I've wondered about that myself. He can ostensibly claim that he was trying to make things comfortable for his school-aged kids, but I think it has to do with the end of his political career as a New Orleans and Louisiana politician. Either that, or setting up to be the next DNC Chairman if Howard Dean steps down.