account from bywater, new orleans resident
by new orleans Friday, Sep. 02, 2005 at 5:34 PM

There are supplies sitting in Baton Rouge for the folks in New Orleans, but the National Guard has the city surrounded and is not letting anyone in or out. They are turning away people with supplies, claiming it is too dangerous. If we have planes that can drop bombs on people in Iraq, certainly we can air drop supplies into the city. Our goverment is KILLING the people of New Orleans. This is the message I am now sending to all major media sources, national and worldwide, as well as posting to email lists, blogs, etc. The story is getting out that the people there are not getting supplies, but the truth of WHY is not. Please help spread the word, we must get this story out.

Please do not let any more of my friends die.

I can be reached at 254.640.8441 - feel free to call me or give my number to
any media that needs a contact person to talk to.

Here is my message:

I am a resident of the Bywater in New Orleans (9th Ward). I am one of the
lucky ones that was able to evacuate before the storm.

I have recently managed to speak to some friends stranded in New Orleans. They
are starving and dehydrating and there is no news of when they will be
receiving food and water. I have spoken to relief efforts and understand that
there are plenty of supplies waiting for these people, BUT THEY ARE NOT BEING
ALLOWED INTO THE CITY.

The National Guard has the city surrounded and is not letting anyone in or
out, except the buses being evacuated. The excuse that they can not bring
supplies into New Orleans because of the looting and gun fire is not a valid
excuse - if they are too afraid to enter the streets of New Orleans, they need
to be air dropping supplies into the city. If the United States is capable of
sending planes that can withstand enemy fire to drop bombs in Iraq, certainly
they are capable of air dropping supplies into a city where the worst of the
gunfire they could encounter would be from semi-automatics.

Our government is killing the people of New Orleans.
By withholding supplies, they are ensuring more deaths, and I hold them
complicit.

Please bring this matter to the attention of the people of the United States.
They need to now that New Orleans is deliberately being denied food and water.
Perhaps if the people there had food and water, they might not be shooting off
guns.

Please feel free to call me for further information or with any questions. I
appreciate your attention to this most serious matter.

I fear for my friends.

Sincerely,

Andrea Garland
Get Your Act On! (getyouracton.com)
254.640.8441

On another note, Jeffrey and I are in the process of getting a large vehicle
and loading it up with donated supplies needed for longer term cleanup efforts
(generators, chain saws, solar cooking equipment, etc.). Some basic info and a
paypal link is at Get Your Act On!(http://getyouracton.com) and more detailed
info will be posted later. Please help spread the word about this, as well. We
live 6 blocks from one of the hardest hit areas in New Orleans, so we intend
to bring these necessary tools to our neighbors.

Also heard that part of the reason our house flooded is they dynamited part of
the levee after the first section broke - they did this to prevent Uptown (the
rich part of town) from being flooded. Apparently they used too much dynamite,
thus flooding part of the Bywater. So now I know who is responsible for
flooding my house - not Katrina, but our government.

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