I have had my suspicions that the death count would be kept down all along. Several things that I have read in the Times Picayune have done little to allay my fears. This from today’s… http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/
“Although body-recovery operations were still under way, the death toll represents the number of bodies that have been counted where the deaths were a result of Katrina’s winds, rains or floodwaters, or those who died as a result of medical equipment that became inoperable during the hurricane.”
So it seems that those that starved or dehydrated in their attics will not be counted. Those who starved or dehydrated in the convention center or Superdome will not be counted. Those that died at the airport from prior lack of medical care will not be counted. Those in the hospital who didn’t receive the medical care, that they needed and died on the loading dock awaiting rescue will not be counted, unless it was because of medical equipment failure.
* otis704’s diary :: ::
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Then there was this from Fridays…TP http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_Times-Picayune/archives/2005_09_10.ht
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“Sheriff Harry Lee said Saturday night that the Jefferson Parish Coroner’s office had processed 152 bodies, but only 20 of those were deaths related to Hurricane Katrina. He said the coroner’s office was picking up bodies that are reported lying in the street and handling them to FEMA’s specifications. He also said that body count does not include bodies that may have been taken to the morgue in St. Gabriel. “
So let me get this right 152 people died, but only 20 of those were determined Katrina related? So 132 people just happened to die of natural causes during Katrina. I think this is right weird in a parish this size and surely is not the normal rate of death.
Will the media bother to report on this or even investigate it? I certainly hope so. The least that these poor souls deserve from this government is to be counted as the victims of” Katrina that they are.