[StBernard] No Way Out

[Westley Annis]

No Way Out

Jan. 31, 2008
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(CBS) Among the countless stories of catastrophe from Hurricane Katrina,
perhaps one of the most horrific was that of St. Rita's Nursing Home in St.
Bernard Parish, where 35 elderly residents drowned because their caregivers
decided not to evacuate the home. 

In the days before Katrina hit, numerous evacuation warnings were issued in
the New Orleans area, but over the years many residents had grown accustomed
to storm warnings and were reluctant to leave. 

Among those who chose to stay were Sal and Mabel Mangano, who ran St.
Rita's. Their failure to evacuate resulted in the death of over half their
patients. Subsequently, the Manganos were charged with 35 counts of
negligent homicide for those that perished and 24 counts of cruelty to the
infirm for those who survived. They faced over 200 years in prison if
convicted. 

"We lost people that we loved, but the decision is made and we can't go back
and change it," says Mabel. "We have a stigma that's going to follow us for
a long time." 

The couple did not testify at their trial and until now, has refused to
speak publicly about why they didn't evacuate. In their first and only
interview, Sal, 67, and Mabel, 65, tell 48 Hours Mystery that, at the time,
they believed they were doing the right thing by staying. In the absence of
a direct evacuation order of St. Bernard Parish, the Manganos claim they
considered the warnings to be just that - warnings. 

"If it was mandatory, we felt like they would have come to help us, and we
would have evacuated," says Mabel. 

"We don't know how many would pass away by doing an evacuation. For 20 years
we've never lost a resident during a hurricane," says Sal. 

The couple also claims that it was the breakage of the levees that killed
their residents and not the actual hurricane. "The hurricane came that night
and it was windy," explains Mabel. "The parking lot didn't have any water in
it.So we felt real good the morning of the hurricane. We felt like, 'God,
it's gone. We have made it. All of our residents are safe.'" Then, she says,
"I heard them say, 'The water is coming.'" 

"Everything just happened so fast. Whoever was right there, you try and grab
them," Sal describes. "If they was in a wheelchair or the wheelchair turned
over, as fast as it came in the building, they drowned within a matter of
just a bit. It was horrible." 

Prosecutors maintain that the absence of a mandatory evacuation order was
merely a technicality and that the Manganos were to blame for the deaths, a
sentiment shared by the family members of those lost. "What's sad is it
could've been avoided," says Joe Galladoro, son of one of the victims. "We
placed our faith and our trust in them...They betrayed that trust that we
had." 

Now, two years after Katrina and five months after the trial many find it
hard to forgive the Manganos. Others question whether the couple should
still be held accountable for what was ultimately a larger breakdown among
government officials and design mistakes by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer,
who built the failed levee system. 

Correspondent Harold Dow reports on the Manganos and their trial, this
Saturday, Feb. 2, at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

Video
http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=3775548n