Posted on 09/02/2005 9:36:47 PM PDT by Kaslin
NEW ORLEANS — National Guardsmen helped evacuate the mass of storm refugees from the Superdome on today, where thousands were stuck in knee-deep trash and blacked-out, putrid bathrooms. "This was the worst night of my life," one mother said.
At midday, the evacuation was interrupted briefly when school buses rolled up so some 700 guests and employees from the Hyatt Hotel could move to the head of the evacuation line — much to the amazement of those who had been crammed in the stinking Superdome since Sunday.
"How does this work? They (are) clean, they are dry, they get out ahead of us?" exclaimed Howard Blue, 22, who tried to get in their line. The National Guard blocked him as other guardsmen helped the well-dressed guests with their luggage.
The 700 had been trapped in the hotel, next to the Superdome, but conditions were considerably cleaner, even without running water, than the unsanitary crush inside the dome. The Hyatt was severely damaged by the storm. Every pane of glass on the riverside wall was blown out.
Mayor Ray Nagin has used the hotel as a base since it is across the street from city hall, and there were reports the hotel was cleared with priority to make room for police, firemen and other officials.
National Guard Capt. John Pollard called the decision to move the Hyatt people to the head of the line "very poor."
The conditions in the dome stayed miserable even as the crowds shrank after buses ferried thousands to Houston a day earlier. While the evacuation resumed Friday, the press of people on the bridge outside the arena was just as great as before.
Capt. Andrew Lindgren with the Air National Guard said 8,000 to 10,000 people remained in the Superdome. Most of them were jammed on the ramps leading out.
Friday's evacuations began at about 9 a.m., halted for about an hour and then resumed two hours later.
Things reached such a state inside that people opted to stand on the broiling brick walkway, jammed shoulder to shoulder in temperatures that Pollard estimated had reached 125 degrees in the middle of the crowd. The sun blazed down from the cloudless sky and officials flew in a helicopter for all-too brief moments under the fan.
It didn't matter: People passed out one after another. They were carried out on tables. National Guardsmen picked them up and took them in their arms. The medical area in the nearby shopping mall was full of victims being fanned, given water. A nurse said they all were felled by the heat.
"Everyone here is doing all they can with the assets they have," Pollard said. "We just don't have the assets."
Medical help was limited. Much of the medical staff that had been working in the "special needs" arena had been evacuated. Dr. Kenneth Stephens Sr., head of the medical operations, said he was told they would be moved to help in other medical areas.
Authorities estimated they could move about 1,000 people an hour when the buses are in place.
Tina Miller, 47, had no shoes and cried with relief and exhaustion as she walked toward a bus. "I never thought I'd make it. Oh, God, I thought I'd die in there. I've never been through anything this awful."
The arena's second-story concourse looked like a dump, with more than a foot of trash except in the occasional area where people were working to keep things as tidy as possible.
Bathrooms had no lights, making people afraid to enter, and the stench from backed-up toilets inside killed any inclination toward bravery.
"When we have to go to the bathroom we just get a box. That's all you can do now," said Sandra Jones of eastern New Orleans.
Her newborn baby was running a fever, and all the small children in her area had rashes, she said.
"This was the worst night of my life. We were really scared. We're getting no help. I know the military police are trying. But they're outnumbered," Jones said.
People brought tables and chairs from restaurants and anything else they could find to make conditions a bit more livable. On one row, people had staked out their space with a row of blankets and used brooms to sweep it clean.
"We're just trying to keep a little order. It's bad. We're trying not to let it get any worse," said Michele Boyle, 41.
As for the bathrooms, "I'm trying not to eat anything so I won't have to deal with it," Boyle said.
Those who did want food were waiting in line for hours to get it, said another refugee, Becky Larue, of Des Moines, Iowa.
Larue and her husband arrived in the area Saturday for a vacation but their hotel soon told them they had to leave and directed them to the Superdome. No directions were provided, she said.
She said she was down to her last blood pressure pill and had no idea of when they'll get out or where to get help.
"I'm really scared. I think people are going into a survival mode. I look for people to start injuring themselves just to get out of here," she said.
James LeFlere, 56, was trying to remain optimistic.
"They're going to get us out of here. It's just hard to hang on at this point," he said.
Janice Singleton, a worker at the Superdome, said she got stuck in the stadium when the storm hit. She said she was robbed of everything she had with her, including her shoes.
"They tore that dome apart," she said sadly. "They tore it down. They taking everything out of there they can take."
Then she said, "I don't want to go to no Astrodome. I've been domed almost to death."
Ummm! No comment.
Plenty comment: don't depend on government! Learn to stand on your own two feet!
Those poor starving, dying people. Lord knows that folding stadium seat from section 3 will go a long way toward feeding their families. I mean, that is why people have taken to looting and shooting in New Orleans. Isn't it?
Weren't they just wonderful companions. Just who
were they anyway?
I wonder what poor soul gets to clean up all that mess?
I don't blame those who broke into the stores for food, water and other essential items like diapers and some clothing. But those who looted jewelries, TVs and other electronics should be prosecuted and put in prison for a long time
Related to this story, I remember reading earlier that a hotel (maybe this one) which had secured buses to evacuate guests had the buses commandeered to get people out of the Superdome. Sorry, but I don't have a source.
Still, I wonder if it was the same people.
I think with the exception of Jesse Jackson, most of the world shares your sentiment.
I sure don't blame her.
I just want to say out loud -
"I despise Jesse Jackson and want to punch him in the face"
I haven't even read the thread yet (I'm a great FReeper traditionalist, I guess), but I can tell you why those folks in the hotel were evac'ed first ...
They were rich and/or white. That made them targets, with big ol' bullseyes painted on their backs.
I am not saying that all black people are racists. Not at all. I am saying that the animals in the Superdome are violent racists. They are savages, and the law of the jungle rules with them. They hate white people. They hate rich people. In fact, they probably hate anybody who isn't on the government dole.
These hotel people would have likely been hurt or killed had they not been shipped out of the area ASAP.
I am very sorry that things had to be this way, but I am sure that I understand why it had to happen.
I would very much have liked for all the rescue services to be on a first-come-first-served basis, but I don't believe that that response would have served the public safety needs. And that sucks. But that's just the way it is, I guess.
If this same fiasco had happened under Clinton they'd find a way to praise it.
No those are the "peeps" who should be allowed to starve to death or kill each other off.
HA HA. I have thought the same thing. This is perfect for that guy on the Dirty Jobs show on Discovery channel. Or maybe Fear Factor can use the clean up as one of their stunts.
Long before the Superdome, . Where the Saints of football play, . There's a city where the damned call home, . Hear their hellish rondelet: . . New Orleans! . Home of pirates, drunks, and whores... . New Orleans! . Tacky, overpriced souvenir stores... . . If you want to go to hell, you should take a trip . To the Sodom and Gomorrah of the Mississip': . . New Orleans! . Stinking, rotten, vomiting, vile... . New Orleans! . Putrid, brackish, maggotty, foul... . . New Orleans! . Crummy, lousy, rancid and rank... . New Orleans!
Tell me why they didn't organize to keep order and civility.
Tell me why they didn't organize to set up a food sharing plan for the babies and children.
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