National Guardsmen find 74-year-old alive 16 days after storm
BY KEITH SHARON
The Orange County Register
NEW ORLEANS - (KRT) - This was just another body in the growing number of bodies that they encounter every day. A human foot arching at an odd angle was visible through the front window of a locked and dark home. The NationalGuard team of searchers was about to call in a "DB" (dead body) at 1927 Lopez St. in the Broadmoor district when Lt. Frederick Fell decided to investigate.
In the last few days, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has ordered searchers NOT to break into homes. They are supposed to look in through a window and knock on the door. If no one cries out for help, they are supposed to move on. If they see a body, they are supposed to log the address and move on. The morticians will remove the deceased later. But Fell broke the rules and ordered his men to bash open the door, launching a series of events that would save a man's life and revitalize California Task Force 5 from Orange County, Calif. In the last two days, the 80 member task force had identified seven dead bodies in the same neighborhood, and they had rescued no one.
What I'm wondering is this: how many "dead bodies" may actually have been barely alive, but unable to respond? Could any of these "dead" been saved? How many "dead bodies" are upstairs, or unable to respond to the searchers? How many people will die because of FEMA's policy?
What an amazing "culture of life" we have in this country.
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