Did I hear this right on FOX???

[CharleySurvivor]

FOX just said that a tourist from Michigan asked a POLICE OFFICE for help and was told to 'Go to hell!" Did I hear this right or not. If so, I am speechless!

[Josephine96]

Please tell me that didn't really happen

[GalvestonDuck]

Was it a group of people being interviewed? Do you see the other person who responded? Was it directly to him? Maybe it was someone in the background, pleading for help along with him, saying, "We're in hell!"

I'm on MSNBC right now or else I'd have backtracked my DVR to check it.

(Jeez...DVR...and some people don't have water right now. )

[CharleySurvivor]

No, it is the reporter on Fox right now ( don't know his name) said that. It was a woman. I wish I had more info. I was just speechless when I heard that.

[TexasStooge]

That's sad.

[FlSteel]

You have to remember that even the local police force is suffering just as bad as all the locals there. The stress they are under right now is impossible to understand. Trying to maintain any semblence of order while dealing with your own life having been torn apart. I can not even imagine. BTW I dont mean to justify this, just stating that I can see how this may have happened.

[boca]

We are supposed to help each other in need and it seems like this country the good Ole USA is not the same anymore as per that comment.

[Persepone]

Unfortunately the tourists who had the misfortune to get trapped in New Orleans got terrible, terrible treatment from the very beginning.

They were unable to evacuate ahead of the storm. Foreign tourists were at a particular disadvantage, often with language barriers, etc.

Tourism was a major factor in the New Orleans economy. As such, I believe that there was/should have been a sense of responsibility toward their plight.

I can understand when they are "abused" by fellow trapped individuals--I do not condone it, but I do understand it--but I do NOT understand when officials of any stripe abuse the tourists.

I also think that the government was very wrong to comandeer the bus that the tourists (many of them foreign tourists) arranged and PAID FOR to take them out of New Orleans Wednesday/Thursday. Why were they not eligible for evacuation just as others (Superdome, Convention Center, I-10, etc.) are? Their plight is as dire. Some are elderly and need medication--and don't even speak English so they can communicate these needs! Others may be able-bodied, but they still are suffering from the lack of food, water, etc.

I think that the treatment of the tourists will not only have a long term effect on tourism in New Orleans itself should it rebuild, but on foreign tourism in America. By the way, I have had personal experience with adisaster in a foreign country (not as serious as this perhaps, but nevertheless pretty serious flooding) and every effort was made by officials and citizens to see that I stayed safe, had drink (not water--but liquid) and food (it was minimal, but I got my share--perhaps more than my share because they were afraid that I would get sick (no bottled water) so they insisted that I drink Coca Cola!) and they did get me out of there. Of course I did not speak much of the language, but to the best of my knowledge, no one told me to "go to hell."

The world is watching this. By the way, a member of the Spanish Parliament, spouse and 10 year old were stranded in New Orleans and followed instructions to go to the Superdome and I shudder to think of what their account of their experiences will sound like. You have to wonder what our government response looks like to other nations--and when reported by a high ranking member of one of Europe's governments, it is likely not to be disregarded.