Workers sent to Miss. complain about conditions
Kalila Dalton, 20, and Chris Tucker, 23, joined several other friends who responded to the call for assistance. They were told they should expect to work at least 40 hours a week for at least six weeks, be paid $7.50 hourly, and be provided with bus transportation, meals and hotel accommodations. Things didn't unfold how they expected.
Dalton and Tucker boarded school buses Sept. 2, but found out they were heading to Biloxi, Miss., not New Orleans. They pulled into a parking lot the next day and say they were told to take a two-hour nap on the pavement before reporting for duty. Dalton and Tucker say they then were sent to work clearing debris at MGM Mirage's $800-million Beau Rivage casino. They say they were fed bologna sandwiches and Oreo cookies, told their work days would be up to 16 hours long and that they would be bused to a hotel two hours away where they could sleep for four hours before returning to work.
Tucker and Dalton wanted to leave but said they were told they could be shot by National Guardsmen enforcing martial law and that there was no transportation home. "I just thought, `I've got to get out of here, even if it is hitchhiking or finding a bicycle,'" Tucker said.
Representatives for the companies in charge of the program were apologetic about conditions and confusion they said arose out of trying to deal with a disaster. "We're certainly sorry that the people had a problem; we're certainly doing the best we can," said Teri Hill, a spokeswoman for BMS Catastrophe Inc., which is in charge of refurbishing the Beau Rivage. "It's a mess down there."
Mike Mansingh of One Source Staff and Labor, the Overland Park firm that recruited the workers, said work conditions were unexpectedly bad. "Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong," Mansingh said. "Everybody made mistakes. It was a bad situation." The day after Dalton and Tucker arrived, Mansingh arranged for a school bus to carry them home. The two said they felt sorry for the workers they left behind - people they said were mostly poor, unemployed and often unable to speak English.
Greg Henderson, MD
Email 9/1/05 source: rense.com
Be advised that almost everything I am telling you is from direct observation or rumor, from reasonable sources. They are allowing limited internet access, so I hope to send this dispatch today. Personally, my family and I are fine. My family is safe in Jackson, Miss.,and I am now a temporary resident of the Ritz Carleton Hotel in New Orleans.I figured if it was my time to go, I wanted to go in a place with a good wine list.
The city now has no clean water, no sewerage system, no electricity, and no real communications. Bodies are still being recovered floating in the floods. We are worried about a cholera epidemic. Even the police are without effective communications. We have a group of armed police here with us at the hotel that is admirably trying to exert some local law enforcement. This is tough because looting is now rampant. Most of it is not malicious looting. These are poor and desperate people with no housing and no medical care and no food or water trying to take care of themselves and their families.
Unfortunately, some of the people are armed and dangerous. We hear gunshots frequently. Most of Canal street is occupied by armed looters who have a low threshold for discharging their weapons. We are still waiting for a significant national guard presence.
There are (Infectious Disease) physicians in at this hotel attending an HIV conference. We have commandeered the world famous French Quarter Bar to turn into an makeshift clinic. There is a team of about seven doctors and PAs and pharmacists. We anticipate that this will be the major medical facility in the central business district and French Quarter, until we are all rescued.
Our biggest adventure today was raiding the Walgreens on Canal under police escort. The pharmacy was dark and full of water. We basically scooped the entire drug sets into garbage bags and removed them. All under police escort. The looters had to be held back at gunpoint. After a dose of prophylactic Cipro I hope to be fine.
The biggest question to all of us is where is the National Guard. We hear jet fighters and helicopters, but no real armed presence, and hence the rampant looting. There is no Red Cross and no Salvation Army.
In a sort of cliché way, this is an edifying experience. One is rapidly focused away from the transient and material to the bare necessities of life. It has been challenging to me to learn how to be a primary care physician. We are under martial law so return to our homes is impossible. I don't know how long it will be and this is my greatest fear. Despite it all,this is a soul-edifying experience. The greatest pain is to think about the loss. And how long the rebuild will take. And the horror of so many dead people.
PLEASE send this to all you think may be interested. I will send more according to your interest. Hopefully, their collective prayers will be answered. By the way, suture packs, sterile gloves and stethoscopes will be needed as the Ritz turns into a MASH unit.
