Kaum zu glauben, und doch: es klingt plausibel:

"...As Hurricane Katrina began pounding New Orleans, the sheriff's department abandoned hundreds of inmates imprisoned in the city's jail, Human Rights Watch said today. Inmates in Templeman III, one of several buildings in the Orleans Parish Prison compound, reported that as of Monday, August 29, there were no correctional officers in the building, which held more than 600 inmates. These inmates, including some who were locked in ground-floor cells, were not evacuated until Thursday, September 1, four days after flood waters in the jail had reached chest-level.

"Of all the nightmares during Hurricane Katrina, this must be one of the worst," said Corinne Carey, researcher from Human Rights Watch. "Prisoners were abandoned in their cells without food or water for days as floodwaters rose toward the ceiling."...(Quelle: Reuters Foundation via blogology)

Und es waren nicht unbedingt "Schwerverbrecher", die da im Stich gelassen wurden:

...Many of the men held at jail had been arrested for offenses like criminal trespass, public drunkenness or disorderly conduct. Many had not even been brought before a judge and charged, much less been convicted." (Quelle: Reuters Foundation)

Irgendetwas ist da in New Orleans ganz gründlich schief gegangen. Es hat offenbar System, dass all diejenigen sich selbst überlassen wurden, die auf staatliche Hilfe angewiesen waren, sei es wie vor Wochen notiert, in Superdome und Convention Hall, sei es in einem regulären Gefängnis.