The stench of human feces and urine was overwhelming, and many sick people waited listlessly on the ground or in wheelchairs to be fed and evacuated. Many complained about the federal government's slow response to the disaster.

"They left us here to die," said Tony Hatcher, a 48-year-old who looked around and pointed out a woman with a half-bandaged open sore on her left leg and a boy with bad skin condition on his arms. Neither had received medical attention.

Katrina's victims were predominantly black and poor, a fact that was not lost on many.

"We are throw-away people," said Sherman Wright, 69, who abandoned his home as flood waters rose dangerously high on Monday and still has no idea if anything is left. "Our politicians are not doing an damn thing for us."

[snip]

Terri Dorsey said the response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington had showed authorities could handle a major disaster but it had not happened this time around.

"Why don't they take care of us?" she said, sitting with two grandchildren and a grandniece in front of the convention center. "They just got out to us yesterday. They dropped things to us out of a helicopter like we were animals"