Nursing Home Owners Charged in Louisiana

washingtonpost: Homicide charges were filed against the husband-and-wife owners of a nursing home where 34 elderly patients are believed to have drowned in Hurricane Katrina's floodwaters, the first major criminal case related to the storm's still rising death toll.

For Louisiana alone, the toll surged by more than half Tuesday to 423, and officials fear the numbers could climb as floodwaters recede and more of the city becomes accessible to search teams. Including deaths in four other states, Katrina's overall death count stood at 659.

"It's the water. Everything is driven by the water," said Lt. Col. Mike Thompson of the Oklahoma National Guard.

Authorities said the toll would be lower if Salvador and Mable Mangano, owners of the St. Rita's nursing home in town of Chalmette, had heeded warnings to evacuate their patients as Katrina came ashore Aug. 29.

"The pathetic thing in this case was that they were asked if they wanted to move them and they did not," said Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti. "They were warned repeatedly that this storm was coming. In effect, their inaction resulted in the deaths of these people." Read more

db: "We asked if they wanted to move them and they did not" - oh well that's you in the clear then. What, are we talking about cattle here? You don't ASK you ORDER.