Wow. I guess it really happened then.
In other words, maybe it was really really really different from what you said. Evacuees not having the proper documentation to attend school is worlds apart from parents not knowing the names and birthdates of their own children.
Use this moment as a learing opportunity, nearwildheaven. Ask yourself why you were so quick to not only believe such things, but repeat them.
Oh well CNN. They are a reputable news outlet. Why just the other day I heard on CNN that Obama eats babies and is the cousin of Satan.
Don’t go spreading false rumors; Obama only sacrifices babies to Satan. 
Bars on the windows
Broken glass on the sidewalks
Run down, poorly maintained buildings
Crappy cars
Lots of pawn shops, liquor stores, payday loan stores.
I so seriously doubt that you heard anything like this on CNN, and your statement was so different from what WhyNot stated, that I believe it would be best for you to consider deeply the question posed by madmonk28.
You say something like this (“how do I know? blah blah blah” for example) a lot. Methinks thou doth protest too much.
Hey, don’t be going harsh on the poor lady. It’s all those friends’ sisters-in-law, and her cousins’ bosses and the chick at the checkout in the supermarket who give her the spurious information.
Not her fault.
“You can buy alcohol in almost any store, no matter what else they sell.”
And also younger kids can by alcohol without I.D. I know this because I used to by beer in the ghetto.