Red Cross update

 
Here's more information on the Red Cross being barred from New Orleans: talkleft has the link to the Red Cross page where they explain the situation:

Acess [sic] to New Orleans is controlled by the National Guard and local authorities and while we are in constant contact with them, we simply cannot enter New Orleans against their orders....The state Homeland Security Department had requested--and continues to request--that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans following the hurricane. Our presence would keep people from evacuating and encourage others to come into the city.

The Red Cross is completely blameless in this, of course--they don't have much choice but to follow the orders of LA Homeland Security (or risk being shot at). Perhaps under normal circumstances, I might understand the government's position that they want to get people out of the area. But the problem is, that there are thousands of people still trapped in the city (even if Michael Chertoff doesn't know it), and they're not being allowed out. And apart from the folks who lack basic necessities in the Convention Center and the SuperDome (and everywhere else), there are lots and lots of hospital patients who are in critical medical condition. Could somebody perhaps see their way to letting the Red Cross attend to those folks--instead of just letting their corpses float down the street?