Katrina - attics

[Chairboy]

Has anyone heard anything about a large number of deaths resulting from people being trapped in their attics during the flooding?

I'm wondering if this is just a rumor, or if this is going to be a developing story.

[Charon]

You see evidence of a lot of people hacking their way out of atticts. I Imagine there are plenty who lacked a tool to help with that. I bet a lot of bodies will turn up. Even if you don't drown, the heat has to be intense.

Charon

[FiLtH]

I wouldnt be surpised to see new bldgs codes requiring egress routes from an attic space if the stairs were blocked, on fire, or flooded.

[A_Clown]

I had the same thought when I saw rescuers hacking into many a roof & pulling people out. I personally have no doubt there will be many fatalities in attics. All that footage sure makes my life problems seem soooo trivial. Really puts things into perspective for me.

A_Clown

[StarOfAfrica2]

Yeah, they showed video last night of a crew hunting people in a boat, and there were people yelling at them from inside the attic spaces.  They had to get close to the sounds and you could hear them yelling "Are you in the green house?" and then chopping through the vents and sometimes through the roof itself.

[Eagler]

what i don't get is why you would stay/die in the attic when you could swim out and climb up on the roof?

[StarOfAfrica2]

Personally, I think I'd risk the toxic water and try to swim out.  Going from roof to roof until I either found rescuers or got to the edge of the water.

Maybe they just cant swim?

[Charon]

what i don't get is why you would stay/die in the attic when you could swim out and climb up on the roof?

Depends on what shape you're in, if you can swim or not, how well you can swim, how much light is in the flooded house, your ability to swim downwards 20 feet and navigate twists and turns... Might be a lot of people who start out and never make it through to a door or window. A young, good swimmer in good shape with no obstructions should have no problem. A 75 year old man 100 lbs overweight with poor swimming skills and poor lighting is dead. Add an infant to the equation.

They could have made it to the roof before it became too late perhaps (during that transition period before the last normal floor completely flooded), but that would depend on a lot of factors. You're in the top floor it is flooding, there is a current outside, at some point you would have to decide to stay or go. Go outside too early and be swept away or have to hang on to something or tread water. Wait too long, or go into the attic hoping it will drop in a few hours, and you're stuck.

Charon

[rshubert]

Originally posted by Eagler
what i don't get is why you would stay/die in the attic when you could swim out and climb up on the roof?

It could be many things.  People in a bad situation tend to make bad decisions.  In the middle of the night, with water flowing all around the house, it would be dangerous at best to try to swim for safety.  And, of course, many people don't know how to swim.

I think a better question would be, "why didn't they follow the evac orders?"  They were given every opportunity to get out, for several days.  They chose to stay, and got themselves into a life-threatening situation.  One of my colleagues here at work suggested that part of the problem might be the tv media.  If Forrest Sawyer (or whoever) is standing on the beach during the approach of the storm, what kind of message is he giving to the locals?  "I'm OK, it isn't really all that dangerous."

Just a thought.  Anybody with a lick of sense left New Orleans or went to the Superdome.

[Hangtime]

It's a tragedy of the first order.

Responsibility for those who have not survived rests soley in the hands of those that ignored the evac order. Not in the hands of the media.

It's all very sad, all very avoidable, all very tragic.

Next time the city, state and federal authorites say 'get out', possibly more folks will in fact get the hell out.

[sling322]

I think what you guys are forgetting is not everybody has the means to get out.  People with no vehicles, no family to depend on, people who cant walk, etc....how are they supposed to evacuate?

[Hangtime]

if a person is mobile enuff to get into an attic crawlspace then I humbly sumbit that that person was most likely mobile enuff to get to a bus stop and get to the super bowl before the storm struck.

folks that were totally incapacitated should have asked for ambulatory assistance in getting to a hospital before the storm.

certainly there will be some who have no phone, no tv or radio and no way to react to the evacuation order.

and therin lies the tragedy.

new orleans is now populated by folks that said 'oh, bull, we'll be fine' types and 'oh, boy; we'll clean up on stuff as soon as the power goes out'. I hope the first group gets the hell to help and saftey before elements of the second group find them.

the last group is the muckraking media and the emergency services and medical folks.. i do hope the security folks expend their resources protecting the EMS and medical folks.. and put the media rats in close contact with the looters.

again.. this is a horrible situation; I'm not at all gloating. I'm also not at all surprised. The simple fact is the vast majority of folks now wandering the streets of that doomed city made a concious choice to be there... and now, folks that couldn't get out cannot be helped because the EMS folks are overwhelmed dealing with folks that could have gotten out and chose not too.

And that's costing lives... it's a waste, don't you think?

[Mustaine]

there are few things i may disagree with hang.

first some of the further inward areas didn't completely flood until the levee's broke a day+ after the hurricane, and they were not necessarally considering that

next is the looters. some people had everything to lose, with no way of getting back on their feet. they may have stayed as long as possible to protect those assets.

[Hangtime]

horsepucky. every single resident of new orleans was aware of the unique danger of living in a city surrounded by a levee surrounded by water 20' higher than they are.. with a catagory 5 storm boresighted on them. Just as every resident of a barrier island is aware of their unique danger with a hurricane inbound.

they made their choice.

[megadud]

Originally posted by Hangtime
horsepucky. every single resident of new orleans was aware of the unique danger of living in a city surrounded by a levee surrounded by water 20' higher than they are.. with a catagory 5 storm boresighted on them. Just as every resident of a barrier island is aware of their unique danger with a hurricane inbound.

they made their choice.

well when the hurricane misses you and you have levis that have wroked for so long whats the risk? also most of them probably had no where to go.