Katrina -an eye-witness perspective

I realize that this post has nothing to do with OSA treatment -I just found it to be very powerful and wanted to share it. I received this story from a colleague of mine who has friends that were in New Orleans when Katrina hit.

From: Society for the Scientific Study of Ethnic Minority Issues(Div45) [mailto:DIV45@LISTS.APA.ORG] On Behalf Of Vickie M. Mays
Sent: Tuesday, September 06, 2005 9:31 AM
To: DIV45@LISTS.APA.ORG
Subject: [DIV45] Eyewitness report - the truth from the other side (fwd)

Thought all should read this to better understand what people have experienced


>From another listserve....

Two friends of mine-paramedics attending a conference-were trapped in New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina. This is their eyewitness report. --PG

Hurricane Katrina-Our Experiences

Larry Bradshaw, Lorrie Beth Slonsky

Two days after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, the Walgreen's store at the corner of Royal and Iberville streets remained locked. The dairy display case was clearly visible through the widows. It was now 48 hours without electricity, running water, plumbing. The milk, yogurt, and cheeses were beginning to spoil in the 90-degree heat. The owners and managers had locked up the food, water, pampers, and prescriptions and fled the City. Outside Walgreen's windows, residents and tourists grew increasingly thirsty and hungry.

The much-promised federal, state and local aid never materialized and the windows at Walgreen's gave way to the looters. There was an alternative. The cops could have broken one small window and distributed the nuts, fruit juices, and bottle water in an organized and systematic manner. But they did not. Instead they spent hours playing cat and mouse, temporarily chasing away the looters.

We were finally airlifted out of New Orleans two days ago and arrived home yesterday (Saturday). We have yet to see any of the TV coverage or look at a newspaper. We are willing to guess that there were no video images or front-page pictures of European or affluent white tourists looting the Walgreen's in the French Quarter.

We also suspect the media will have been inundated with "hero" images of the National Guard, the troops and the police struggling to help the "victims"
of the Hurricane. What you will not see, but what we witnessed,were the real heroes and sheroes of the hurricane relief
effort: the working class of New Orleans. The maintenance workers who used a fork lift to carry the sick and disabled. The engineers, who rigged, nurtured and kept the generators running. The electricians who improvised thick extension cords stretching over blocks to share the little electricity we had in order to free cars stuck on rooftop parking lots. Nurses who took over for mechanical ventilators and spent many hours on end manually forcing air into the lungs of unconscious patients to keep them alive. Doormen who rescued folks stuck in elevators.
Refinery workers who broke into boat yards, "stealing" boats to rescue their neighbors clinging to their roofs in flood waters. Mechanics who helped hot-wire any car that could be found to ferry people out of the City. And the food service workers who scoured the commercial kitchens improvising communal meals for hundreds of those stranded.

Most of these workers had lost their homes, and had not heard from members of their families, yet they stayed and provided the only infrastructure for the 20% of New Orleans that was not under water.

On Day 2, there were approximately 500 of us left in the hotels in the French Quarter. We were a mix of foreign tourists, conference attendees like ourselves, and locals who had checked into hotels for safety and shelter from Katrina. Some of us had cell phone contact with family and friends outside of New Orleans. We were repeatedly told that all sorts of resources including the National Guard and scores of buses were pouring in to the City. The buses and the other resources must have been invisible because none of us had seen them.

We decided we had to save ourselves. So we pooled our money and came up with $25,000 to have ten buses come and take us out of the City. Those who did not have the requisite $45.00 for a ticket were subsidized by those who did have extra money. We waited for 48 hours for the buses, spending the last 12 hours standing outside, sharing the limited water, food, and clothes we had.
We created a priority boarding area for the sick, elderly and new born babies. We waited late into the night for the "imminent" arrival of the buses. The buses never arrived. We later learned that the minute the arrived to the City limits, they were commandeered by the military.

By day 4 our hotels had run out of fuel and water. Sanitation was dangerously abysmal. As the desperation and despair increased, street crime as well as water levels began to rise. The hotels turned us out and locked their doors, telling us that the "officials" told us to report to the convention center to wait for more buses. As we entered the center of the City, we finally encountered the National Guard. The Guards told us we would not be allowed into the Superdome as the City's primary shelter had descended into a humanitarian and health hellhole.
The guards further told us that the City's only other shelter, the Convention Center, was also descending into chaos and squalor and that the police were not allowing anyone else in. Quite naturally, we asked, "If we can't go to the only 2 shelters in the City, what was our alternative?" The guards told us that that was our problem, and no they did not have extra water to give to us. This would be the start of our numerous encounters with callous and hostile "law enforcement".

We walked to the police command center at Harrah's on Canal Street and were told the same thing, that we were on our own, and no they did not have water to give us. We now numbered several hundred. We held a mass meeting to decide a course of action. We agreed to camp outside the police command post. We would be plainly visible to the media and would constitute a highly visible embarrassment to the City officials. The police told us that we could not stay. Regardless, we began to settle in and set up camp. In short order, the police commander came across the street to address our group. He told us he had a solution: we should walk to the Pontchartrain Expressway and cross the greater New Orleans Bridge where the police had buses lined up to take us out of the City.
The crowed cheered and began to move. We called everyone back and explained to the commander that there had been lots of misinformation and wrong information and was he sure that there were buses waiting for us. The commander turned to the crowd and stated emphatically, "I swear to you that the buses are there."

We organized ourselves and the 200 of us set off for the bridge with great excitement and hope. As we marched pasted the convention center, many locals saw our determined and optimistic group and asked where we were headed. We told them about the great news. Families immediately grabbed their few belongings and quickly our numbers doubled and then doubled again. Babies in strollers now joined us, people using crutches, elderly clasping walkers and others people in wheelchairs. We marched the 2-3 miles to the freeway and up the steep incline to the Bridge. It now began to pour down rain, but it did not dampen our enthusiasm.

As we approached the bridge, armed Gretna sheriffs formed a line across the foot of the bridge. Before we were close enough to speak, they began firing their weapons over our heads. This sent the crowd fleeing in various directions. As the crowd scattered and dissipated, a few of us inched forward and managed to engage some of the sheriffs in conversation. We told them of our conversation with the police commander and of the commander's assurances. The sheriffs informed us there were no buses waiting. The commander had lied to us to get us to move.

We questioned why we couldn't cross the bridge anyway, especially as there was little traffic on the 6-lane highway. They responded that the West Bank was not going to become New Orleans and there would be no Superdomes in their City. These were code words for if you are poor and black, you are not crossing the Mississippi River and you were not getting out of New Orleans.

Our small group retreated back down Highway 90 to seek shelter from the rain under an overpass. We debated our options and in the end decided to build an encampment in the middle of the Ponchartrain Expressway on the center divide, between the O'Keefe and Tchoupitoulas exits. We reasoned we would be visible to everyone, we would have some security being on an elevated freeway and we could wait and watch for the arrival of the yet to be seen buses.

All day long, we saw other families, individuals and groups make the same trip up the incline in an attempt to cross the bridge, only to be turned away. Some chased away with gunfire, others simply told no, others to be verbally berated and humiliated. Thousands of New Orleaners were prevented and prohibited from self-evacuating the City on foot.
Meanwhile, the only two City shelters sank further into squalor and disrepair. The only way across the bridge was by vehicle. We saw workers stealing trucks, buses, moving vans, semi-trucks and any car that could be hotwired. All were packed with people trying to escape the misery New Orleans had become.

Our little encampment began to blossom. Someone stole a water delivery truck and brought it up to us. Let's hear it for looting! A mile or so down the freeway, an army truck lost a couple of pallets of C-rations on a tight turn. We ferried the food back to our camp in shopping carts.
Now secure with the two necessities, food and water; cooperation, community, and creativity flowered. We organized a clean up and hung garbage bags from the rebar poles. We made beds from wood pallets and cardboard. We designated a storm drain as the bathroom and the kids built an elaborate enclosure for privacy out of plastic, broken umbrellas, and other scraps. We even organized a food recycling system where individuals could swap out parts of C-rations (applesauce for babies and candies for kids!).

This was a process we saw repeatedly in the aftermath of Katrina. When individuals had to fight to find food or water, it meant looking out for yourself only. You had to do whatever it took to find water for your kids or food for your parents. When these basic needs were met, people began to look out for each other, working together and constructing a community.

If the relief organizations had saturated the City with food and water in the first 2 or 3 days, the desperation, the frustration and the ugliness would not have set in.

Flush with the necessities, we offered food and water to passing families and individuals. Many decided to stay and join us. Our encampment grew to 80 or 90 people.

From a woman with a battery powered radio we learned that the media was talking about us. Up in full view on the freeway, every relief and news organizations saw us on their way into the City. Officials were being asked what they were going to do about all those families living up on the freeway? The officials responded they were going to take care of us.
Some of us got a sinking feeling. "Taking care of us" had an ominous tone to it.

Unfortunately, our sinking feeling (along with the sinking City) was correct. Just as dusk set in, a Gretna Sheriff showed up, jumped out of his patrol vehicle, aimed his gun at our faces, screaming, "Get off the fucking freeway". A helicopter arrived and used the wind from its blades to blow away our flimsy structures. As we retreated, the sheriff loaded up his truck with our food and water.

Once again, at gunpoint, we were forced off the freeway. All the law enforcement agencies appeared threatened when we congregated or congealed into groups of 20 or more. In every congregation of "victims"
they saw "mob" or "riot". We felt safety in numbers. Our "we must stay together" was impossible because the agencies would force us into small atomized groups.

In the pandemonium of having our camp raided and destroyed, we scattered once again. Reduced to a small group of 8 people, in the dark, we sought refuge in an abandoned school bus, under the freeway on Cilo Street. We were hiding from possible criminal elements but equally and definitely, we were hiding from the police and sheriffs with their martial law, curfew and shoot-to-kill policies.

The next days, our group of 8 walked most of the day, made contact with New Orleans Fire Department and were eventually airlifted out by an urban search and rescue team. We were dropped off near the airport and managed to catch a ride with the National Guard. The two young guardsmen apologized for the limited response of the Louisiana guards. They explained that a large section of their unit was in Iraq and that meant they were shorthanded and were unable to complete all the tasks they were assigned.

We arrived at the airport on the day a massive airlift had begun. The airport had become another Superdome. We 8 were caught in a press of humanity as flights were delayed for several hours while George Bush landed briefly at the airport for a photo op. After being evacuated on a coast guard cargo plane, we arrived in San Antonio, Texas.

There the humiliation and dehumanization of the official relief effort continued. We were placed on buses and driven to a large field where we were forced to sit for hours and hours. Some of the buses did not have air-conditioners. In the dark, hundreds if us were forced to share two filthy overflowing porta-potties. Those who managed to make it out with any possessions (often a few belongings in tattered plastic bags) we were subjected to two different dog-sniffing searches.

Most of us had not eaten all day because our C-rations had been confiscated at the airport because the rations set off the metal detectors. Yet, no food had been provided to the men, women, children, elderly, disabled as they sat for hours waiting to be "medically screened" to make sure we were not carrying any communicable diseases.

This official treatment was in sharp contrast to the warm, heart-felt reception given to us by the ordinary Texans. We saw one airline worker give her shoes to someone who was barefoot. Strangers on the street offered us money and toiletries with words of welcome. Throughout, the official relief effort was callous, inept, and racist. There was more suffering than need be. Lives were lost that did not need to be lost.
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Gotta' say, I LOVED the bit about holding up flights for several hours when George swooped in for a photo op. God knows, George's photo op is wwaaaaaayyy more important than getting the folks flown out of New Orleans.

Unfreaking-believable! Thanks for the post!

Bush always gets bashed. May I remind you that Bush is a Texan and NOONE has done more for the victoms than Texas. The failure here was with the Democratic Mayer and Governor. Bush was not after photo ops, he is not running for reelection again. He would get criticized for not coming to visit the area, but he did. Instead of whining and placiing blame, be grateful that after the Mayer and Governor failed miserably, the Feds came in and quickly turned it around. Quit relying on the liberal and Republican bahing press and learn the facts. And it you don't want to make the effort, save your opinions for those that do.

I am attaching a great article for those that care enough to get the facts. I wonder how many of the victoms are cpapless. Maybe we ought to be constructive and donate the masks and machines we don't use.

Ben Stein on Katrina Bush-bashing
by Bill Roberts | 09/06/2005 9:29 pm

A few truths, for those who have ears and eyes and care to know the truth

Thus begins the inimitable Ben Stein in his latest column on the political and blame-fixing aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Below is a taste:
5.) George Bush had nothing to do with the hurricane contingency plans for New Orleans. Those are drawn up by New Orleans and Louisiana. In any event, the plans were perfectly good: mandatory evacuation. It is in no way at all George Bush’s fault that about 20 percent of New Orleans neglected to follow the plan. It is not his fault that many persons in New Orleans were too confused to realize how dangerous the hurricane would be. They were certainly warned. It’s not George Bush’s fault that there were sick people and old people and people without cars in New Orleans. His job description does not include making sure every adult in America has a car, is in good health, has good sense, and is mobile.
6.) George Bush did not cause gangsters to shoot at rescue helicopters taking people from rooftops, did not make gang bangers rape young girls in the Superdome, did not make looters steal hundreds of weapons, in short make New Orleans into a living hell.

7.) George Bush is the least racist President in mind and soul there has ever been and this is shown in his appointments over and over. To say otherwise is scandalously untrue.

8.) George Bush is rushing every bit of help he can to New Orleans and Mississippi and Alabama as soon as he can. He is not a magician. It takes time to organize huge convoys of food and now they are starting to arrive. That they get in at all considering the lawlessness of the city is a miracle of bravery and organization.

9.) There is not the slightest evidence at all that the war in Iraq has diminished the response of the government to the emergency. To say otherwise is pure slander.

Mr. Stein ends with this:
Is there any problem in the world that is not Mr. Bush’s fault, or have we reverted to a belief in a sort of witchcraft where we credit a mortal man with the ability to create terrifying storms and every other kind of ill wind?
Where did the idea come from that salvation comes from hatred and criticism and mockery instead of love and co-operation?

Well said, Ben.

R&R,

Thanks for adding balance to the account in the original post. I am very suspicious of the integrity of that first account... my guess it is all made up or at least embellished by the author. Not to say this was Will S's doing though. We all have to be careful to not fall for seemingly heart rending stories created for such political purposes.

Rock & Roll

Quit relying on the liberal and Republican bahing press and learn the facts.

Give me a break! You consider Ben Stein as a credible source of factual information? To use your words,

May I remind you that

Ben Stein is the guy who was in tears when his idol Richard Nixon, went down in disgrace. Ben Stein... laughable! You want to get yourself more credible sources. I'm STILL laughing! Ben Stein... STILL LAUGHING.

However, enough of that. Your perspective of the 'facts' is no more accurate, or inaccurate, than the article that I posted. We all see the 'facts' in different ways and, without doubt, the person writing the 'facts' writes them as he/she sees them.

Bush was not after photo ops, he is not running for reelection again. He would get criticized for not coming to visit the area, but he did.

Relax, would you? I made no comment about him running for re-election, I just commented on the photo op. Call it what you want; the guy showed up and had his picture taken hugging folks. Sure, he would have been critized if he did not show up and, he will be critized for showing up. The FACT here is that George showing up did shut down an airport simply because that is the way his security system/people works. That is where the disgrace is. Not with blaming the Mayor and Govenor, as you have suggested, but with an airport being closed down, for even a moment, so that George can get in, stand around, shake his head is dispair and hug some people who are worried for their very lives. Then, he gets back on his plane and flies out. His presence was in no way more important than the hours lost at a closed airport which should have been open and operating every second, getting people out.

Neither I, nor the article, blamed George for Katrina.

Sorry Rock & Roll, that last post was mine. Got 'guested' again.

Sometimes I'm logged in and get booted if the post that I am writing takes to long to type. I think the system must time-out the poster if there is inactivity.

Rock and Roll, I hate to weigh in here. First, having been stationed in Texas during the Viet Nam era, there is no question for me that the people of Texas are great.

The real issue is accountability. How people have been appointed to really important, difficult and challenging federal jobs in the United States. I would only like to ask one question. What qualifications would you want in the person that you were hiring to become the head of FEMA. Somehow Rock and Roll, I do not think you would hire a lawyer whose previous position was the head of a horse society to that post.

Another thing to consider is that you could drive into New Orleans from Texas, as the swift boat rescue crews from the various California city and county fire departments did. My son was one of those firefighter/paramedics that got there two days before any of the federal people did.

There is no doubt there is plenty of blame to go around, but when the governor of a state makes a request for assistance on the 27 August 2005 and a hurricane has developed in The Gulf of Mexico into a category 5 storm, you and I both know where the help must come from. Unfortunately there are no Harry Trumans around that really mean it when they say the buck stops here. I take that back, I think that the three star general that has taken charge might be up to it!

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): swift

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): swift

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): swift

Well Will Succeed,

Where is Canada's responce, two measly helos. France has given more and that is not much.

Go to Lone Star Times or lonestartimes.com if you want the truth.

I reinterate, Bush was ready, the Governor has to formally request before he sends in help, and she did not. Get the facts.

And I have been helping the victims in my area, I am supplying many a bed to them. I am not just talking, I am putting my money and time where my mouth is. Quit bashing bush and do something constructive.

Will, I'm certainly not going to sit here and defend any local, state, or federal official regarding the disaster that happened in New Orleans. But having said that, I too seriously doubt the validity of this story.

I don't doubt for a minute your sincerity about posting the story. I've just seen so many of these stories, regarding so many different issues over the years. They are almost always second, third, or more hand. If this was written firsthand by you I wouldn't doubt it for a second. I think you guys are are arguing over the points of a story that has been largely fabricated.

I did a Google search and found other people posting this story on the news groups. They are also saying that they got its second and thirdhand, etc. etc.. There are a lot of people on the Internet that prey on people's emotions especially in times like these. They have an agenda whether it be conservative or liberal. Most of these stories eventually end up on Snopes.com, and I'll bet this one does to.

Sincerely,
BP

Now ignorance is creeping in. I know that this ignorance comes from the American media, but if you do not know that Canada has sent ships and hospital equipment to the area, I am truly sorry for you. Not to mention that the initial calls from the nations of the world to offer assistance and aid were rejected by the administration. There is an actual list of the names of these officials on record. Later they all reconsidered and changed their minds.

At least so far the riverboats sent to pick up people that were evacuated to the levees of the Mississippi River have not been turned back like they were in the flood of 1927. Any American that has seen those images on film will not ever forget them. I have to agree with Brooks of the New York Times, who is a Bush supporter, that this tragedy and embarrassment to the American people will change things in the United States.

Rock & Roll:

Where is Canada's responce, two measly helos. France has given more and that is not much.

Can't say that I know what a 'helo' is but if I did, I'm sure that I would agree with you that they were 'measly'. I, and the rest of Canada, hang our collective heads in shame.

You are argueing with yourself and, likely, not doing your blood pressure any good. I've made no comment on how effectively anyone has responded or helped. I've also made no comment about blame for this tragic event or, blame for how the event has handled. All I've done is post a perspective (which may, or may not be accurate) and commented on the FACT, yes, I said "fact," that an airport which should have been running non-stop to get people out of New Orleans was NOT running non-stop because George and his entourage showed up.

I don't think he was there to rescue people or save lives or feed folk, he was there to see and be seen.

So, Rock & Roll, keep argueing this issue, with yourself, and continue doing all you can, in whatever way you can, for which, I applaud you.

Curses! Got 'guested' again.

Maybe I should change my name to "Guest."

Kartina seems to be bringing out the very best and shameful worst in people.
Those who hate Bush for hates sake will continue to do what they do best.
Hate Bush and be shrill.
RFK jr was one of the first to blame not signing Kyoto for the hurricane.
One of the most shameful shameful remark is by Hillary, but that is what she does.

In a time when comity and conciliation is needed most, divisiveniss and partisanship reigns.
The racist faction blames it on racism. A soapbox and a microphone is their forte.
Time for blame later. And there will be enough to go around.
Can't we all just get along- Rodney King
r/r congrats on your contributions
tomjax- in case i get guested in mid post

Would people complain about the N.O. airport being closed for AirForce One if it was carring President Gore or President What-His-Name?

I sure would. I don't think anyone's 'visit' is as important as getting the people out.