Hope or Hopelessness?

[Flar's Freyja]

"Meanwhile, there were holdouts in the city, unknown numbers of people who refused to go. They were being urged to leave for their own safety. Officials warned of an impossible future in a destroyed city without food, water, power or other necessities, only the specter of cholera, typhoid or mosquitoes carrying malaria or the West Nile virus........

Rescue teams in helicopters searched flooded neighborhoods and went out in boats and on foot to press a house-to-house search for holdouts yesterday. One helicopter crashed, but no one was injured. Many residents were found and evacuated, but what Mr. Chertoff called a significant number refused to go.

"That is not a reasonable alternative," he said on "Fox News Sunday." "We are not going to be able to have people sitting in houses in the city of New Orleans for weeks and months while we de-water and clean the city."

NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/national/nationalspecial/05storm.html?th&emc=th)

Are these people hopeful or hopeless? I'm wondering if they just don't want to go through months of recovery and would rather die in their beloved city or if they could possibly be that materialistic.......I'd have to go with the former, but what do you think?

At least two dozen people had enough hope to celebrate:

"In the midst of misery in New Orleans, there were lingering signs of a fading vivacity. About two dozen people gathered in the French Quarter for an annual Labor Day gay celebration, the Decadence Parade. Matt Menold, 23, a street musician wearing a sombrero and a guitar, explained: "It's New Orleans, man. We're going to celebrate."

[paintedlayde]

After having read many books about the people of New Orleans, i would say that it would break many of thier hearts to leave their home, their city, even for a few months.
I would bet that they would rather die in their familiar surrounding where they and the generations before them have meeted out an existence that is only found in New Orleans.

I've given this much thought the last few days and after having been through a tornado, which on the scale of things was minor compared to the hurricane's destruction, It would be very hard to leave my home now. I like where I live and what family I have is here so I would be frightned of the unknown and unlike many of those peple in New orleans, I have a fairly marketable skill that can be used almost anywhere.
They may be feeling hopeless in the face of only knowing one place their whole life and not knowing how to make a living anywhere else.

Please do not attack me for these are just my opionions and I have not said I think anyone is right or wrong.

[Flar's Freyja]

After having read many books about the people of New Orleans, i would say that it would break many of thier hearts to leave their home, their city, even for a few months.
I would bet that they would rather die in their familiar surrounding where they and the generations before them have meeted out an existence that is only found in New Orleans.

I've given this much thought the last few days and after having been through a tornado, which on the scale of things was minor compared to the hurricane's destruction, It would be very hard to leave my home now. I like where I live and what family I have is here so I would be frightned of the unknown and unlike many of those peple in New orleans, I have a fairly marketable skill that can be used almost anywhere.
They may be feeling hopeless in the face of only knowing one place their whole life and not knowing how to make a living anywhere else.

Please do not attack me for these are just my opionions and I have not said I think anyone is right or wrong.

I have to agree. It's heartbreaking and while this choice looks like self-imposed doom, I do hope they survive:hugz:

[Cassie]

I think they are stunned by the horror of what has happened and fear what the future holds whatever they decide to do..
My heart goes out to them.

[Celticscryer]

Are these people hopeful or hopeless? I'm wondering if they just don't want to go through months of recovery and would rather die in their beloved city or if they could possibly be that materialistic.......I'd have to go with the former, but what do you think?

I don't think it's either, actually. Those who stayed behind were almost all too poor to leave - they had no cars, no money and nowhere to go. The fact that everything they owned and loved is now gone hasn't changed any of that. Now they have nothing at all, and still nowhere to go and no money to pay for a place to stay. No homes, no jobs, no nothing.

Those that may be staying behind now are likely filled with a great sense of loss, and probably a great deal of hopelessness. They may be thinking that they can help rebuild and restore. But they also have nowhere else to turn for help. The government evacuations are merely dumping people off at temporary shelters, and with humdreds of people flowing in daily, the shelters are forced to turn people away.

It's a sad, sad situation, that in many ways could have been avoided. Just thinking about it breaks my heart.