This from the AP, by way of WWLTV New Orleans:
First the federal government took the buses they had hired to evacuate them.
Then their hotels turned them out onto the desolate streets.
They trudged for blocks to walk over a bridge, but officers wouldn’t let them cross — and fired a few warning shots over their heads to convince them.
And the night was coming down.
Despairing, dozens of trapped tourists huddled on a downtown street corner and waited for dark.
“I grew up in an upper-middle class family. Street life is foreign to me,” said Larry Mitzel, 53, of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. “I’m not sure I’m going to get out of here alive.”
The fate of tourists in dozens of hotels here was caught up in the days of chaos and confusion that came after Hurricane Katrina’s 145 mph winds.
Many smaller hotels shut down. The largest housed hundreds and hundreds of guests and took in refugees from the storm. How many remained Thursday was unclear.
Tourists and hotel managers alike condemned government officials for ignoring them.
“The tourists are an afterthought here,” said Bill Hedrick of Houston, who came to town on business and was trapped with his wife and elderly mother-in-law.
“We’re appalled,” said Jill Johnson, 53, of Saskatoon. “This city is built on tourism and we’re their last priority.”
Peter Ambros, general manager of the Astor Crowne Plaza in the French Quarter, said, “Guests who bring business to the hotels are treated 10 times worse than the people at the Superdome.”
So, do you think there are at least a few Canadians who want to send in several hundred Royal Candanian Marines to evacuate their citizens? They wouldn’t be there for humanitarian purposes, but only to evacuate their citizens.
Just like in developing countries. If Bush had any sense of honor…