Katrina stories
A local website, NOLA.com, lets people publish their stories about Katrina.
This one was memorable. It is about a family that tried to walk away from New Orleans, but were turned back by the Gretna police. Gretna is a white suburb and the actions of their police department were some of the most reprehsible behavior I have ever heard of. I also want to point out that even during the worst of the flooding, you could walk or drive on the dry elevated highway straight to the superdome. But you will see that below.
Follow the link if you want to read the full text.
http://www.nola.com/weblogs/bourbon/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_bstdiaries/archives/2006_02_07.html
Friday- Escape from Mordor
We set out at dawn- tired and scared. No one could eat before the journey. Funny how that works. You can eat your little heart out when there is no life or death emergency and you don't need all the calories but when you really need them, they would come right back up. I guess we're not all that evolved after all.
So long and thanks for all the fish..............................
We went through the back yard accross the downed back fence. We didn't want to go through the front or the crack heads would see us leaving and know John was there alone. John came with us to carry the water bucket and blow up bed to bring back to the house. We put the bed in the water on Esplanade. I could hear my dog howling at the back door. It was breaking my already sore heart. Giant crocodile tears began to well up in my eyes. Kevin looked at me and told me to put those emotions in a drawer and save them for later. We could not appear weak. He was right. I didn't look back at the house and I blocked my ears. Ms. Bernadette was on her front porch waving at us looking very sad. She was worried about us and for her own safety when we left. John would help her all he could.
We put the blow up bed in the water and put the red wagon and fresh water bucket on top and set off into the unknown. Esplanade looked like a giant swamp. The water burned my legs. It was thigh deep and little things were nipping at my legs. I kept thinking an arm would reach through the water and try to pull me down into it. I cursed myself for watching all those Friday the 13th movies. We made it to Claiborne and took a left to get up on the Esplanade exit off of I-10. There was a tiny kitten underneath the overpass. He was meowing for us to help him. It was so sad. I wanted to take him with us but we had to save ourselves.
We made it to the ramp and once we got out of the water, we stripped off all our clothes with the nasty sewer water and showered ourselves with the fresh water from the bucket. A guy was on his balcony watching me. He got quite an eyeful. My big stripper debut and it was the end of the world- go figure. We then put our only other clothes in the world on and hugged John goodbye. We were all trying not to cry.
Kevin and I set off pulling our litle red wagon by ropes- we each had one. We had our Jazz Fest [bog floppy straw - PD] hats on. I thought if someone saw our hats, they would pick us up. Everyone is nice at Jazz Fest, right?When we got to the top of the interstate I looked at Kevin and told him we were like Sam and Frodo leaving Mordor. He laughed with me and it felt good. We had a lot of hope. And hope is a powerful thing.
The interstate was more like the end of the world than anything I had ever seen. You could see the giant smoke plumes from the fires everywhere. There was trash along the road as far as the eye could see. We walked by a blind man sitting on the ground and he said "Good morning". I guess we weren't as quiet as we thought. We got to Tulane Avenue and looked at Charity Hospital. The water must have been 10 feet high at that point. Thank God we were on the interstate looking down at it instead of sloshing around in it.
There was human feces everywhere. It was sickening. We saw people that had gone to the bathroom on themselves. We saw them sprawled out on the ground. I would like to think they were sleeping and not dead but when I think back- it could have been either. There were many, many people just sitting around. Old, young, weak and strong. They seemed to be waiting for something that was not ever going to come. Many were in a daze and just wondering around. It reminded me of the movie 28 Days Later where the zombies roamed around and there was nothing else that resembled any form of sanity. They looked at us like we were there to help them. I wish I could have but we needed to get ourselves out first.
A lady in her early forties came up to us and said she had been there since Tuesday- just wandering the interstate. Why were these people just sitting there? THERE IS NO HELP! I wanted to scream at them to get themselves out but I kept my eyes straight ahead and concentrated on task of pulling our little red wagon to the Greater New Orleans Bridge. They said on the radio that this was the only way out.
We got to where the Superdome was next to the interstate and we looked down at the chaos. Thousands of people were moving around. We could see busses under water nearby but none close to pick anyone up. The Superdome was never an option for us. We considered it for one short second and then realized it was a worse place than where we were. We saw where the roof to the Dome was ripped apart. Good thing we didn't get season tickets to Saints games this year.
While we were passing where everyone was waiting to go down the ramp to the Dome, an elderly Vietnamese lady grabbed my arm. She asked where we were going. I told her we were walking out. Her eyes pleaded with me to help her. Her husband had a cane and could barely walk. We couldn't help them. I felt so sad for them. They didn't belong there. Honestly nobody belonged up there but some more than others. I smiled at her and said someone would come to take them to the buses. I hoped that wasn't a lie.
We kept going and got to the top of the turn towards the bridge and stopped. We looked at the city. It was a mess. We wondered what would become of New Orleans. Would there be another Mardi Gras? Jazz Fest? So many fires and so much water. How could anyone begin to fathom what it would take to fix this mess? We shared a bottled water and kept moving. We had places to go (not sure where yet) and people to see.
Along the walk we saw a couple of abandoned police cars, army tanks, and prison busses. All were empty and looted. Where were all these people?? What the hell was going on?
One way or another...I'm gonna find ya.......
As we approached the hill up to the bridge, we saw a lot of people coming back down. I started to get scared.Why were they coming back? THAT'S WAY OUT!! A group yelled at us that they would not let you through without a Jefferson Parish ID. We had a business in Jefferson Parish- surely they would let us through. As we approached the top, we saw a group of people sitting by the side with their hands up. I thought it was very sweet they were praying. I told Kevin this and he said they looked more like they were under arrest. They had kids with them- how could they be under arrest? We saw police cars at the top of the entrance to the bridge. We saw guys in camoflauge holding shotguns. OH MY GOD- PROTECTION!!! I was smiling- we would get help up there.
A young guy in camo pants and light colored shirt pointed his gun at us and yelled for us to get off the bridge. It was then that I realized these guys may be worse than the looters. Kevin yelled at him that the bridge is the only way out of the city that wasn't underwater. He chambered a round and fired over our heads. I felt like the world would never be the same for me. It all came crashing down right then. Kevin started yelling at the guy, "You should be ashamed of yourself!!"
Then the guy started chasing at us with the rifle pointed our way. We started running. I was sobbing with my whole weary body as I ran pulling the wagon. How could this be happening? How could our government let us down like this? We were being attacked by the very people who swore to protect and serve us. I HATE GRETNA POLICE. I am going to have T-shirts made. " I survived Hurricane Katrina and all I got was shot at by the crummy Gretna police". We had our Jazz Fest hats on. How do you fire a gun at someone in a straw hat? Now what? I was not going back towards the Superdome. It was surely the best way to die fast.
This one was memorable. It is about a family that tried to walk away from New Orleans, but were turned back by the Gretna police. Gretna is a white suburb and the actions of their police department were some of the most reprehsible behavior I have ever heard of. I also want to point out that even during the worst of the flooding, you could walk or drive on the dry elevated highway straight to the superdome. But you will see that below.
Follow the link if you want to read the full text.
http://www.nola.com/weblogs/bourbon/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_bstdiaries/archives/2006_02_07.html
Friday- Escape from Mordor
We set out at dawn- tired and scared. No one could eat before the journey. Funny how that works. You can eat your little heart out when there is no life or death emergency and you don't need all the calories but when you really need them, they would come right back up. I guess we're not all that evolved after all.
So long and thanks for all the fish..............................
We went through the back yard accross the downed back fence. We didn't want to go through the front or the crack heads would see us leaving and know John was there alone. John came with us to carry the water bucket and blow up bed to bring back to the house. We put the bed in the water on Esplanade. I could hear my dog howling at the back door. It was breaking my already sore heart. Giant crocodile tears began to well up in my eyes. Kevin looked at me and told me to put those emotions in a drawer and save them for later. We could not appear weak. He was right. I didn't look back at the house and I blocked my ears. Ms. Bernadette was on her front porch waving at us looking very sad. She was worried about us and for her own safety when we left. John would help her all he could.
We put the blow up bed in the water and put the red wagon and fresh water bucket on top and set off into the unknown. Esplanade looked like a giant swamp. The water burned my legs. It was thigh deep and little things were nipping at my legs. I kept thinking an arm would reach through the water and try to pull me down into it. I cursed myself for watching all those Friday the 13th movies. We made it to Claiborne and took a left to get up on the Esplanade exit off of I-10. There was a tiny kitten underneath the overpass. He was meowing for us to help him. It was so sad. I wanted to take him with us but we had to save ourselves.
We made it to the ramp and once we got out of the water, we stripped off all our clothes with the nasty sewer water and showered ourselves with the fresh water from the bucket. A guy was on his balcony watching me. He got quite an eyeful. My big stripper debut and it was the end of the world- go figure. We then put our only other clothes in the world on and hugged John goodbye. We were all trying not to cry.
Kevin and I set off pulling our litle red wagon by ropes- we each had one. We had our Jazz Fest [bog floppy straw - PD] hats on. I thought if someone saw our hats, they would pick us up. Everyone is nice at Jazz Fest, right?When we got to the top of the interstate I looked at Kevin and told him we were like Sam and Frodo leaving Mordor. He laughed with me and it felt good. We had a lot of hope. And hope is a powerful thing.
The interstate was more like the end of the world than anything I had ever seen. You could see the giant smoke plumes from the fires everywhere. There was trash along the road as far as the eye could see. We walked by a blind man sitting on the ground and he said "Good morning". I guess we weren't as quiet as we thought. We got to Tulane Avenue and looked at Charity Hospital. The water must have been 10 feet high at that point. Thank God we were on the interstate looking down at it instead of sloshing around in it.
There was human feces everywhere. It was sickening. We saw people that had gone to the bathroom on themselves. We saw them sprawled out on the ground. I would like to think they were sleeping and not dead but when I think back- it could have been either. There were many, many people just sitting around. Old, young, weak and strong. They seemed to be waiting for something that was not ever going to come. Many were in a daze and just wondering around. It reminded me of the movie 28 Days Later where the zombies roamed around and there was nothing else that resembled any form of sanity. They looked at us like we were there to help them. I wish I could have but we needed to get ourselves out first.
A lady in her early forties came up to us and said she had been there since Tuesday- just wandering the interstate. Why were these people just sitting there? THERE IS NO HELP! I wanted to scream at them to get themselves out but I kept my eyes straight ahead and concentrated on task of pulling our little red wagon to the Greater New Orleans Bridge. They said on the radio that this was the only way out.
We got to where the Superdome was next to the interstate and we looked down at the chaos. Thousands of people were moving around. We could see busses under water nearby but none close to pick anyone up. The Superdome was never an option for us. We considered it for one short second and then realized it was a worse place than where we were. We saw where the roof to the Dome was ripped apart. Good thing we didn't get season tickets to Saints games this year.
While we were passing where everyone was waiting to go down the ramp to the Dome, an elderly Vietnamese lady grabbed my arm. She asked where we were going. I told her we were walking out. Her eyes pleaded with me to help her. Her husband had a cane and could barely walk. We couldn't help them. I felt so sad for them. They didn't belong there. Honestly nobody belonged up there but some more than others. I smiled at her and said someone would come to take them to the buses. I hoped that wasn't a lie.
We kept going and got to the top of the turn towards the bridge and stopped. We looked at the city. It was a mess. We wondered what would become of New Orleans. Would there be another Mardi Gras? Jazz Fest? So many fires and so much water. How could anyone begin to fathom what it would take to fix this mess? We shared a bottled water and kept moving. We had places to go (not sure where yet) and people to see.
Along the walk we saw a couple of abandoned police cars, army tanks, and prison busses. All were empty and looted. Where were all these people?? What the hell was going on?
One way or another...I'm gonna find ya.......
As we approached the hill up to the bridge, we saw a lot of people coming back down. I started to get scared.Why were they coming back? THAT'S WAY OUT!! A group yelled at us that they would not let you through without a Jefferson Parish ID. We had a business in Jefferson Parish- surely they would let us through. As we approached the top, we saw a group of people sitting by the side with their hands up. I thought it was very sweet they were praying. I told Kevin this and he said they looked more like they were under arrest. They had kids with them- how could they be under arrest? We saw police cars at the top of the entrance to the bridge. We saw guys in camoflauge holding shotguns. OH MY GOD- PROTECTION!!! I was smiling- we would get help up there.
A young guy in camo pants and light colored shirt pointed his gun at us and yelled for us to get off the bridge. It was then that I realized these guys may be worse than the looters. Kevin yelled at him that the bridge is the only way out of the city that wasn't underwater. He chambered a round and fired over our heads. I felt like the world would never be the same for me. It all came crashing down right then. Kevin started yelling at the guy, "You should be ashamed of yourself!!"
Then the guy started chasing at us with the rifle pointed our way. We started running. I was sobbing with my whole weary body as I ran pulling the wagon. How could this be happening? How could our government let us down like this? We were being attacked by the very people who swore to protect and serve us. I HATE GRETNA POLICE. I am going to have T-shirts made. " I survived Hurricane Katrina and all I got was shot at by the crummy Gretna police". We had our Jazz Fest hats on. How do you fire a gun at someone in a straw hat? Now what? I was not going back towards the Superdome. It was surely the best way to die fast.
posted by JNA | 5:44 PM
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