davec, are you trying to claim that these people are better off now than they would have been if they had just started walking two, three, four days before the storm hit? You think they're somehow lucky to be trapped in a city that's under water, that has no modern infrastructure left, and surrounded by people who think it's fun to take pot shots at refugees from the rooftops? How could it
possibly be worse if they had hiked 30, 40 miles west or north of the city?
And don't give me "where would they go" - where are they going now? We've got the same problem now, just with more murder, rape, and chaos.
Then everyone would be raving about how stupid they were to not sit tight in a solid building and hold out until the calvary came.
I don't think anyone would call a refugee stupid for not sitting tight in a building which is now UNDER WATER.
You know, about a year ago, FEMA and the government of NOLA did a study on the worst-case scenario of a cat 4+ hurricane hitting the city. Part of that study involved surveying the populace, and asking them if they'd leave when the hurricane was certain to hit the city. Something like a third of them said they wouldn't, that they'd sit tight.
So don't hand me a line about "they would have left if they could." No, they wouldn't have. They said they wouldn't, and then they didn't. I'm pretty sure Fats Domino had the means to get out of the city. He didn't. People make choices, and then they have to live with them. As cracked_butt said, stupid hurts.
(The above, of course, does not apply to those people who were literally unable to leave: disabled, elderly, hospitalized, etc.)