This is an account copy and pasted from the original email from some people who were at a conference in NO, and experienced the full, stunning aftermath. I repost it here since many of you guys won't have seen it.
**Update, 11th Sept**
If you've yet to read this or have come back to check out the comments, then please read the reply to this original article. I've posted it below the first so it's all on the same URL. The guys have written it in order to help clear up any queries from the original eg: the "c rations" point, etc.
I'm 1 degree of seperation from these people, so this is not email emoto-spam.
I think it may lose its power over time as it is forwarded to more people but I hope that many, many more people will soon be in a position to shout this stuff from the rooftops:
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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 been 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.
--------------
Ok, this is a reply which is also available on the news site for the Socialistworker.org website. can I just point out here that I do not support that organisation personally, and in fact only recently pointed out their failings in the UK to a friend who works with them in the US. I have no idea what the US organisation is like in comparison. Can I also just point out to any detractors who want to deny this account merely because it comes from people that obviously support this organisation, that you have to wonder if people conversely might ignore or deny anything *you* wrote about having lived through a natural disaster and its aftermath, because of your political affiliations ie: get off your high horse and accept these guys are decent enough people reating true events.
"
September 8, 2005
Thanks for all the wonderful and warm words of support and comfort that folks have sent our way. It
is very much appreciated.
Our apologies for the delay in responding. We lost our laptop (our only computer) while in New
Orleans. We literally got out with the clothes on our back. Consequently, we have very
intermittent access to the Internet on our friend's computers. We have been overwhelmed by the
response: 700 plus emails, phone machine is full, etc.
As to people's questions and comments:
1. Someone wanted corroboration on the rented buses. We do not know the name of the bus company.
Ronald Pincus, the vice-president of the Hotel Monteleone, found, booked, and fronted the money for
the busses. By the way, we can not say enough good things about the Monteleone workers and about
the vice-president. All went way beyond the call of duty and were simply incredible.
We have heard that there were several media reports about our commandeered buses. We had no
electricity, therefore, no way to see or hear those reports, so we are unable to direct you to those
links. However there were 500 of us waiting on those buses, so I expect others are sharing similar
experiences.
On the question of the buses: We do not necessarily think that it was wrong for the military to
commandeer our buses, if those buses were used to transport those in more need, such as the sick and
injured inside the Superdome. Just because we had cash, does not mean we should get to buy our way
out ahead of everyone else. But because there was little coordination and less communication by
FEMA and the military, we do not know, and will presumably never know, to what use those buses were
put.
It is interesting that Mr. Pincus was able to get on the phone and quickly find 10 buses to come to
New Orleans, while FEMA took days to rustle up any buses. In our opinion, FEMA should have
commandeered every bus within two days drive of New Orleans and used them to quickly ferry out those
who were stranded throughout the Gulf states.
2. That leads into another question that was put to us; "If you had those kind of resources, why
didn't you get the hell out before Katrina hit?" Those of us who did not make it out before Katrina
hit came from three sources:
i. Those like ourselves who were visiting (tourists/conference attendees) who had return airline
tickets and were unable to change our flights or had our flights cancelled. In our case, we kept
calling Southwest Airlines every hour to try to get an earlier flight, without success. Southwest
kept assuring us our scheduled flight (pre-Katrina) would go ahead, only to be cancelled at the very
last minute.
ii. About half of our group were employees of the hotels who management begged or ordered to report
to work to keep the hotels and the infrastructure running. To then turn around and blame those same
workers for not getting out sooner seems unfair.
One example; we came across a young woman crying hysterically on the street. Once we calmed her,
she was told us she was a 911 dispatcher who had been ordered to stay because she was an "essential
service" worker. Two days after the hurricane, she was driven to the city center, dropped off near
the convention center with no water, no toiletries, no nothing, and her bosses drove onto Baton
Rouge.
iii. The remainders were locals and tourists who couldn't get their cars out of the downtown parking
garages. New Orleans has scores of rooftop parking lots which use an elevator (requires
electricity) to take the cars up. In anticipation of flooding, many people opted to put their cars
in these roof top garages, only to find themselves stranded when the power went out.
3. Regarding corroboration: No, unfortunately, we did not have any video or audio tape recorder. We
saw some individuals with video cameras, but most of their batteries had long since died. (By the
way, we did write down most of the identifying number of Gretna Sheriff's patrol car that forced us
out of our freeway encampment (D522 or D552).
We know that thousands of New Orleanians were prevented from crossing the same bridge out of the
City and can corroborate that gut wrenching, heart ripping, depressing experience. That was an
experience that no one can forget or forgive.
The same holds true for the long, tedious, dehumanizing "refugee processing" at Lackland Air Force
Base. That treatment continues. On Monday, our neighbor received a call from a friend who had been
airlifted to San Antonio who was undergoing similar "refugee processing", before entering the
facility at Kelly USA. We certainly hope that the treatment inside the facility improved. We do not
know one way or the other, as we never went inside (contrary to media reports).
4) You ask why the Sheriff's Deputy took our food and water. We do not know. Perhaps he thought he
should remove it so we wouldn't return? Perhaps he is just an evil person? We do not know what was
going on inside this individual's head as he screamed and cursed at us. But, you can be sure that
the food and water did not go to waste. Someone got to eat those C-rations and drink that cool
water. It was not us and it was not the tired, thirsty and hungry New Orleanians who wandered back
and forth between the Superdome and the Convention Center looking for something to eat or drink or
feed to their kids.
For the record, we do not have a dislike for sheriff's deputies. We both have very cordial
relations with a number of San Francisco County Deputies and work quite well with all the time at
the San Francisco General Hospital. The Deputies are in the same union as we, SEIU Local 790, and
we collaborate well.
5) Regarding "c-rations". Yes they are technically called MRE (Meals Ready to Eat). We had never
heard of that term until we encountered them spilled on the freeway. We did not think anyone would
know what an MRE was and we grew up with the term, "c-rations", so we opted for that term in the
article. By the way, MREs are actually delicious (there are vegetarian versions). We have heard that
they can be ordered on line and last for 5 years. We strongly encourage anyone who lives in an
earthquake or flood zone to consider buying a case.
6) Re: Looting. Contrary to some media reports, we did not lead a band of affluent Europeans to loot
a Walgreens. Over time we did benefit from some of the food and water taken by others. In
hindsight, we wish we would have collected more first aid supplies and over-the-counter medications
from some of these stores to distribute to those in need.
7) A couple of folks charge us with being ideological in writing about our experience in New
Orleans. That may be true if by ideological you mean:
*Human beings should be treated with dignity, respect, and humanity, or
*People should not have their freedom of movement restricted purely on the basis of their skin
color, or
*Human beings should not be lied to by persons in positions of authority, herded around like rats,
forced to live in sewage and filth and then shot at for trying to walk out of New Orleans.
But we wonder if it isn't our critics' ideology that is the problem here? You grew up believing that
sheriffs don't behave as we have described, and that law enforcement officers don't steal food and
water in a disaster setting, or shoot at hurricane survivors. You may also find it difficult to
fathom that a law enforcement department openly and systematically discriminates against African
Americans.
So when events like ours go against your preconceived ideas, you want to dismiss our experience,
rather than change your ideas.
We can understand that our story is shocking. We do not know if we would have believed the story
ourselves, if it hadn't happened to us. We guess that is why we wrote about our experiences in the
first place. We were so shocked and bewildered and outraged and confused when we encountered this
treatment and witnessed this brutal racism.
Whatever you think about what happened to us in New Orleans, we only hope that we can all work
together to expose injustice, challenge racism, hold the Bush administration accountable for its
actions and in-actions and most importantly collaborate to build a better world for all of us.
We witnessed some terrible horrors in New Orleans, but we also caught a glimpse of what is good and
great in the human spirit.
Thank you,
Lorrie Beth and Larry
"
As I read this I cried.....I cried for the victims of this diaster.... I cried for each and every one of us as Americans. How can we as a United States of America let this happen... when and how are we going to place someone in charge who is not a racist; who thinks he can live by a different set of rules. Why were all these people not helped. Why are we not showing compassion for all in these United States - to make us a stronger nation. Why were these Americans not even given water! Shame on us-
Do you think God is watching - I certainly do.!!
I can't believe how agonizing it is to be involved with such a sinister president. It amazes me how incompassionate people might be. But as I read Deborah's post, it made me realize, many people think God will handle this in the end. I am afraid I believe you're mistaken. I think God is letting people dictate their own behavior, and there will not be an ultimate recourse. I think that if George Bush was in the same situation, his family stranded in the Superdome, and watching his wife and daughters be raped, he'd ultimately have a different perspective. However, he's not, he's sitting in the comfort of his own home, and he's going to oversee efforts to help the situation, but it may be too slow, and not soon enough, to save as many lives as possible. Even George Bush's successor in Texas, had people airlifted to Arizona, New Mexico, California, because the biggest state in the Union, could not afford to house 250,000+ evacuees and New Orleans residents. How shameful is that? Texas just put up a "No Vacancy" sign... I wonder when it will be more than 'USA, #1 superpower in the world.' And when it might be, 'USA, #1 superpower in the world, and striving to improve every aspect of humanity.'
Posted by: J Melton at September 7, 2005 09:12 PMthis sure seems slanted in one direction. i've yet to read in your blog what you could have done better. reading the insults, and blame aimed at the president is a hott as well.
buy a clue why don't you? when there is complete and utter lawlessness... why should YOUR GROUP out of many be trusted? it shouldn't. the events (if they are entirely true, yet i feel it's a bit embellished) did happen it's unfortunate. but, not unbelieveable in these circumstances.
Posted by: brad wilson at September 7, 2005 10:13 PMBrad, I think the point is that I do not run Federal Govt action committees. Or local action committees, who should have scenario planned this. Who should have had an emergency routine drilled in to local authorities. Who should have had access to emergency food and water from within the city.
Let's not forget that NO is in a bowl, below sea level, and is subjected to violent storms relatively often. The "what if" scenario ws plain to see.
Posted by: cait at September 7, 2005 10:30 PMunderstood. but, i could see complete lawlessness, and millions and millions of gallons of water to be "contra-indicated" to your vision of a perfect stragtegy.
again,are you going to offer a better solution, or simply criticize?
seems easier for you to do the latter, instead of the former.
Posted by: brad wilson at September 7, 2005 10:37 PMOk. Looking through the email / report sent by the two unfortunate conference goers, let's ignore the emotive language, which is understandable given the shock of their circumstances, and look at what they report as being factual.
1) Police should have been authorised to "liberate" emergency supplies an set up the equivalent of soup kitchens within a set number of hours eg: 12 as a maximum
2) If that had happened then a great dela of lawlessness would have been abated
3) I would have had some damned scenario planning worked out in the first place. It's not difficult. The British govt has done it and is continuing to do it extremely successfully on a number of different issues including London being bombed, if bird flu breaks out, etc, etc.If people are engaged in planning and put in a positive and supportive position to try and help, then they will
4) Oh yes, and I certainly wouldn't have lied to tax payers, who pay my wages, in a situation where no one knew when and where supplies / buses etc were coming . Particularly in a situation where lying to them and getting them to move on could have led directly to some of their deaths
To their credit,at least the law enforcement guys didn't tell the people involved to go to the dome, but they offered no local organised alternative - and it's just not good enough. Not by a long chalk.
Posted by: cait at September 7, 2005 10:49 PMall mute. it was a cat.5 storm the official order was to evacuate. remember? the ones who stayed behind. (oh and spare me the socio-economic crap) they stayed and took risks. they had no ability to leave, yet amazingly were able to steal 60 inch televisions.
BTW, what the heck were "tourists" doing sticking around for this anyway? they could charter a bus after the storm, but not before? stupid. anyhow, no one (including the president is so obviously to blame for this) could have forseen this. people shooting at rescue workers don't get the blame, only the rescue effort? ummmmm alrighty then, i can't say i get it.
this story is meant to incite, and it works for some (as already displayed) but not me.
next time someone says your city is about to fill up with water.... i'd bet you learned a valuble lesson, and leave as ordered to.
good day.
Well Brad, if you're in the same position, as people who don't have cars because they can't aford them, who can't hire cars because there are none left, and who can't afford housing insurance and are therefore scared their meagre possessions are going to be robbed..
Then I hope you will remember your comment about the "socio-economic crap".
Also from your obvious position of knowledge, would you care to pass on the percentages of people known to have ben looting anything other than food, water and clothing? You are obviously in a better informed position than I, and it seems from your description that 99% of those let behind seemed to be looting televisions, instead of wondering where their next meal was coming from, or where to find clean water to be able to make formula for their babies.
These are not simply emotional opinions, these are factual points. Perhaps overgeneralising and imagining that whole (black, perhaps? the word you ommitted to say) poor commiunities stayed to steal and loot works from your position. It doesn't from mine.
Posted by: cait at September 7, 2005 11:05 PMThere were four EMS people from my state at that convention, and they managed to get reports out to their bosses here, and from there to our local news. Those stories are accurate, unless there was a wholesale conspiracy on the part of 500 EMS people.
Posted by: Linkmeister at September 8, 2005 12:02 AMblack? white? who cares? the animalistic behavior exhibited by the "destitute" hampered the rescue effort. they shot at EMT's, and rescue helicopters. so what? what does being poor, without, food, water, and power do to create an animal? why does anoyone who behave in that manner get a "pass" on their behavior? they shouldn't. it is why other good people were treated less indignant while SOME FORM of infrastructure could resume.
wgat's next? will you make up a good excuse for the tired hungry person who raped, mutilated, and killed the 7 year old girl found in the freezer at the civic center?
why did did NONE OF THIS happen in biloxi miss.?
again: why was someone visiting and in a hotel even THERE FOR THE STORM? why didn't you LEAVE AS TRE AUTHORITIES RECOMMENDED???
why is the president to blame? did you know that he resides in texas when he's not at the WHITEHOUSE? of course you do.
your emotional and irrational statements are merely that. people would have been helped much more efficiently if people had remained "people" in the wake of this tragedy. blame them, no one else.
jesus.
Posted by: brad wilson at September 8, 2005 12:36 AMBrad -
I really don't want to get involved in this argument, but I have to address your comment of "why was someone visiting and in a hotel even THERE FOR THE STORM? why didn't you LEAVE AS TRE AUTHORITIES RECOMMENDED???"
My family happened to be vacationing in NO the week before the hurricane. We were fortunate enough to get out on Sunday before the storm hit, on what we were later told was the last flight out before they closed the airport. The lobby of our hotel that morning was filled with guests, tourists, upper-middle class white folk, who could not get to the airport. One couple had scheduled an airport shuttle to pick them up that never came, another group had hired a car for that morning but it never came. The hotel employees were frantically calling every cab service in town but were repeatedly told that no cabs were available. When our car did come, the driver told us that most of their drivers had not shown up for work that day. The highways were completely backed up (our driver, thank God, knew a lot of back roads and was able to work around most of the traffic). At the airport, there were huge lines of people who didn't even have tickets, who were trying desperately to get on any seat available. When our plane took off, everyone on board clapped.
Our only plan if the car or our flight had been cancelled? Try to get rooms at the Omni Royal Hotel, which several NO residents told us was on higher ground, had its own restaurant and would be staying open, providing rooms to guests and employees. There was nothing else that could be done.
Believe me when I say that getting out of New Orleans that weekend was not as easy as you think it was.
Posted by: Caitlin at September 8, 2005 02:28 AMcertainly must have been harder than the finger pointing you are currently doing.
why all the "class and race" talk?
sorry this happened to you all the same. but as you have YET to offer a more efficient plan. i'm CERTAIN that miracles were performed in spite of what MUST have been a formidable task.
i still lay blame on the people who obstructed the post storm effort, and nowhere else.
cheers.
Cait,
Thank you for speaking the truth. For those of us who are not close minded, this should fill us with dread.
About this brad character...You've tried but there's no one home. I'd recommend dropping the interchange with "brad." My experience with right wing bloggers is their minds are closed. He is not being honest in pretending to discuss something when his mind is completely made up.
Brad's trying to subvert or end a discussion, not participate. He's closed to any opinion that disagrees with his. He asks we learn from this but he is incapable of learning from the discussion. His all consuming hatred of anything he perceives as left is apparent. I'd recommend ignoring any more posts by him.
Posted by: Mark Collins at September 8, 2005 07:01 AMMark,
Came to the came conclusion myself.
However, ignoring Brad's comments for the mo (I'm not going to lamely delete them since they did at least stimulate debate for a while) thanks very much for your description, Caitlin, and I'm very glad you managed to get out with your family in time.
Posted by: cait at September 8, 2005 09:52 AMright winger? look, now you've pigeon holed me and you don't know me. of course, i could do the same and call you liberal left, as NONE of your rhetoric smells of reality. truthfully, i'm neither as i have my own mind to dictate my thoughts.
yet, still no one has offered a sure-fired better way to handle a tragedy as large as this one. no one has gotten a grip on why everyone was treated callously when there martial law being enforced. "oh, you seem like a nice mob of people, let me grab my car keys, and drive you all on out of here" so should say the sherrif? right? give me a break. not once, have i discredited your awful situation. i've only tried to get you to see how it happened.
not all my cooment were directed at the creator of this blog either. (although she took them personally) they were directed at the misguided folks who lashed out at president bush. i suspect they blame everything on him. blame blame blame. could things be learned from this? absolutely, and they will.
if there is anything you should take away from this, is to count your blessings.
how was i trying to subvert, or end a discussion? you guys didn't answer any of my questions. you see..... there would have to be an actual dialogue to have a discussion. i asked questions, you dodged them. too funny.
i'll leave you all to your rabid fingerpointing.
don't bother to actually offer up what you could have done better now.
B
Posted by: brad wilson at September 8, 2005 02:43 PMhmmmmm did a search on the authors of this "sensational" story.
http://www.tgblabor.com/news,aspx?newsID=35
larry bradshaw, and mary beth slonsky appear to be quite the union activists, and socialist agenda supporters.
bye bye credibility.
Posted by: brad wilson at September 8, 2005 03:01 PMTo reply directly to your points:
"yet, still no one has offered a sure-fired better way to handle a tragedy as large as this one"
-this is a personal blog, not a scenario planning workshop
-See a post of mine above which clearly stated some positive objectives I would have had installed in to the infrastructure as a matter of course long before this tragedy occurred. Have you got any criticisms of these direct, positive suggestions? What would you have done - done things in exactly the same way? That is simply not good enough - the evidence suggests that the way it was handled was not to put it mildly, ineptly.
"although she took them personally"
In what way did I take things personally? I thought we were having a debate?
"bye bye credibility"
-Why? Does being in a union mean that everything you say is suspect? That's dubious and needs backing up, to say the least. Can only people with absoluetly no political affiliations be listened to? It could be that, being activists, these guys felt more than others that they had a legitimate point that should be placed before the public eye. Many people imagine that the media etc are somehow untouchable. I say good for them. Certainly, one could query certain aspects of the language they use surrounding what they say are facts, but if one accepts a certain level of bias and the trauma of the events, they still actalogue an horrendous series of nightmares that no one should be made to go through- least of all traumatised everyday citizens. I think the best thingto do is look for corroborative evidence amongst other people who were there. certainly seems to be enough of it flying around.
I've replied given that your comments were fairly reasoned and debate worthy, however just to let you know, I have deleted your post insulting someone personally.
larry bradshaw, and mary beth slonsky appear to be quite the union activists, and socialist agenda supporters.
bye bye credibility.
Your credibility? Yes. Pathetic ad hominems tend to do that.
Posted by: nick at September 8, 2005 06:20 PMnot that it's worth the time.
i din't insult anyone persoanlly. it would be irresponsible not to correct myself if i said someone's name wrong wouldn't it?
cry me a river. people are in a bad situation. people took advantage of a bad situation. unless you are still refuting that the logistical nightmare wasn't helped greatly by them??
still no reasoning as to why people would murder children, and steal everything not nailed down, or defended with a gun. nope, nada, nothing.
only the whining that people were treated poorly in a sea of people acting poorly. (see biloxi example).
people are now complaining that the food doesn't taste good, and that their $2000.00 free money isn't coming fast enough. the same people that were on the dole anyhow?
your blog is quite entertaining.
Posted by: brad wilson at September 8, 2005 06:22 PMIn answer to your comments, Brad, I can only refer you again to earlier posts which answered your comments. Unfortunately you seem to be unable to take those discussion points on board, and continue to equate the entire population made homeless with looting, raping, murder etc, which is patently a ludicrous position.
It would be stupid of anyone to deny that those things have been happening, however, your position is not only illogical, but dangerous and reactionary.
I only hope that you and your family are never subjected to the horror, death, sickness and loss that these ordinary people have gone through.
Meanwhile, please stop commenting to my blog. If this was actually a debate, with facts involved, then I'd continue it, but it isn't. I realise you're going to want to have the last word, just "because" (hey, I'd do the same) so I just want to warn you that this is it. I don't want you to comment here again.
Meanwhile, thanks for the comments you made that were provocative and questioning. There were a few. And thank you for the compliment, which I will optimistically take positively.
Posted by: cait at September 8, 2005 07:26 PMDon't feed the troll
Posted by: sami fiedler at September 8, 2005 07:28 PMfair enough.
but, the whole article you've posted by mr bradshaw, and ms. slonsky is reactionary, and dangerous as well. i only pointed out their union status, and socialist slant to show their political motivations.
here's one person giving a thumbs up to all that are actually doing the heavy lifting down south, and getting aid to the people, not criticizing.
i'm sure you'll erase this as you need the last word. i'll not post again, so maybe you could just say something and move on.
Posted by: brad wilson at September 8, 2005 07:38 PMthis is for levity's sake.
type in this address but only if you have a sense of humor.
www.starterupsteve.com/flash/html/hurricane_katrina.shtml
Posted by: brad wilson at September 8, 2005 07:56 PMBrad,
I am a Historian, and the reports that are coming from all over New Orleans are similar to this. This is similar to the Holocaust in Nazi Germany. Reports came out from the people experiencing it, and a lot of the world could not believe it was happening. There are Historians to this day who believe it didn't happen!
People like yourself have a very obvious and scary Political bias, and would prefer to call these victims liars than look at the tragic facts of the situation, which might reflect badly on the President, who, it must be said, seems to be making the right noises, but has not listened to the advice of experts who warned him of this exact occurence. For Heaven's sake, this scenario has played out like a bad Hollywood Blockbuster disaster movie!
In case you accuse me of political bias, I am not an American. But one who with the world is looking on with disbelief and horror as this disaster unfolds.
I hope that you take your blinkers off in time to help rather than point the finger of blame everywhere, but at the man where the buck actually stops.
Posted by: Kate Bush at September 8, 2005 10:27 PMnazi germany? seriously? how dare you shame the innocents of judaism from the morons looting walmart for a television in hard times.
holy cow....
easy to do from a strange nation. what nation by chance? are you in a hurricane alley? no?
maybe you lay silent for now, as you have NO IDEA of what the south is like for everyday southern americans.....eh?
i live in the south. grew up in the south. endured many hurricanes, and vacated when instructed. your talk is minimal at best. even our blog hoster had probably rather you keep quiet. i'm angry for just this reason. (because people just like you...."who have no clue" how it is done down south) sit and point at another nation. lemme guess. england? canada? france? germany? what hurricane have YOU experienced lately?
none, of course.
i'd bet we all could agree on this. mind your own pacifist business. :)
i only pointed out their union status, and socialist slant to show their political motivations.
Sorry, brad, but that doesn't wash. Should I point out your status as someone who "live[s] in the south. grew up in the south" to show that you're obviously a Klan-loving cracker?
No? Put down your yard-wide tarbrush, then.
Posted by: nick at September 9, 2005 03:06 AMtoo funny..... the truth hurts some (you) i get it. not all black/white, etc...indifferent in the south acted the same. simply a group of opportunist in the area.
my father was right....
Bigot: a conservative, winning an argument against liberals. :)
and to think.... i'm libertarian.
The bright side of tradegey is that it gives us a chance to evaulate who we really are.
So rarely is that seen in good times.
So desparately do those who fear to look cling to what was.
Hey guys,
Let's give our effort and attention to the people in need of something other than pointless argument. They are legion. And many of us who understand why people were unable to or chose not to leave also know that people who evacuated in time and can't return are also very much in need.
Peace and anger,
MPC
What a terrible story. Domestic refugees in the US - hard to believe. I have trouble getting my head around the official line to residents of New Orleans that they should leave the city because its unsafe, against the idea that law enforcement officials shot above a crowd's head to get them to disperse and go back into the city. Unbelievable. I am only partly cheered by the compassion of Texans who welcomed the refugees. - Dave, Perth, Western Australia.
Posted by: Dave at September 9, 2005 03:10 PMyou guys are all insane. anyone with sense God gave geese would have left town when warned to do so.
anybody staying was too lazy to walk out. they have to be carried around or must have free buses or checks or tvs before they will save themselves?
if their survival plan was to stay in town and loot the walmart and shoot at rescue helicopters they deserve what they get.
the police were at fault for not distributing property stolen from the store? or feeding everybody fast enough? insane.
you're hungry, you feed yourself. you're poor and can't? you got a bad plan. that's nobody's fault but yours.
you blame george bush because those people are too stupid to haul ass out of town? unbelievable.
this is just the beginning of the end of civilisation.
Posted by: CM at September 10, 2005 04:23 AMYou're right, CM - this is just the beginning of the end of civilisation.
But not for the reasons you're stating. Rather for the sick mindset you've been exposing right here - this every-man-for-himself-and-God-against-all attitude that's always been a bit just under the surface of public life in the US but has been breaking out like a cancer ever since this administration came into power.
You care more about goods being stolen - goods that would have been left to rot and have been written off long ago - than human lives? Fine. Tell me how you'd pay for them when the shops are boarded up, the ATMs out of order and no-one at the check-out? Do you then simply decide you're not thirsty, or hungry, or you should let your baby die? Or that your grandma might as well do without her medication?
"Too lazy" to get out? Did you even read the original report that started this discussion? These people were more privileged than most of those who stayed - they sure had the financial means to get out, yet they couldn't either.
By the way - the shooting at the helicopter is nothing but hearsay. The FAA who's been tracking all airborne traffic there has *no* record of any such report. Get informed before you parrot the media.
You have *no* idea of what's been going on there this past week. No freakin' idea.
With all due respect, your kind is what's responsible for the nose-dive of the United States' reputation in the eyes of the world. Your kind is precisely the reason "why they hate us".
This story and some of the responses remind me of a movie I saw not too long ago. "28 Days Later" was a zombie movie which was actually frightening because it could so easily come true. Now it has. A deserted city. Terrified citizens who had to sacrifice their remaining humanity to survive. Roaming mobs hunting for food. Paranoid military units making their own laws. It could happen anywhere in any city, any state, any country.
Posted by: EYD at September 10, 2005 09:14 AMdan r, I'm scum? nope, just an american. there are 350 million just like me. you can't hack it on your own, gonna have the government save you, think living in a big city will still deliver what you need when it all falls down because the people who work and create it all have left, only leaving behind the parasitical poor, you're a fool. ain't gonna happen.
>attitude that's always been a bit just under the surface of public life in the US
again, nope. never had to be under the surface until recently. used to be mainstream usa philosophy. well get used to it. we're americans and we're back. get a job or starve. I don't care which.
Posted by: CM at September 10, 2005 09:36 AMCM: Thanks for proving my point, again.
Posted by: Dan R at September 10, 2005 10:03 AMI too read this story and was amazed... Where did they get "C-rations"? The military phased those out in the mid-1970s! Any Guard or Military unit would indeed be cruel to hand out food with an expiration date of 1975.
Perhaps they used slang to refer to MREs, the food that replaced C and K rations? Hmmmm, MREs have no metal parts so, that's not it...
Perhaps, they fabricated the story to push some other cause... lets see what a simple Google search turns up on our two faithful EMS workers... Oh look, they are regular contributers to a "socialist" website and newspaper that is attempting to overthrow Pres. Bush and the Republican party...
Question reality folks and don't believe everything you read!
Posted by: Justin at September 10, 2005 11:51 PMThanks for posting this.
I wanted to post this on my site, but wanted to make sure that the authors provided this account with an enabling license. Do you think you could help me to get in touch with them? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
RSK
Posted by: Ray at September 11, 2005 07:29 AMHi Ray,
I don't think the guys who wrote this Creative commons'd it, but i'm sure they have no problem with the distribution of it.
Also, I have updated this post this morning with a reply the people who wrote it have made, answering some of the points of criticism that have been made against them. as you'll see if you skip up and read it, their tone of voice has changed considerably, so I refer those who are sceptical to the point made earlier that they'd just gone through a terrible trauma and were therefore being er... 'fruitier' with their descriptions than they would have been normally.
Note also guys. this is my diary, and I am happy for a debate to be taking place, but I ***will not*** stand for personal insults in place of reasoned argument, and have therefore removed . edited a couple of posts this morning (note, one personally criticising a right wing guy, so you can't say I'm not fair!), as well as deleting a post which linked to a racist blog (called itself "Conservative") with no supporting comment. I'm not going to have my space used to promote racist agendas. You don't like it, do not bother to snipe or complain, because those posts will also be removed.
If you want to debate, and use reasoned, sensible argument, then please fire away.
Posted by: cait at September 11, 2005 10:51 AMjust read their mods to their original statements, basically retracting where they were called on outright lies. definitely socialists, thus unable to make any form of statement without an anti-American bias, get a clue guys, they've been at this reality-warp since Marx wrote his fantasy manifesto. I don't believe any of these particular socialists' statements without corroborating evidence, of which they have exactly zero, which is roughly my level of belief. of course I don't believe it. the cops are racist? I lived through the LA riots, and it wasn't eskimos smashing windows and pulling white people out of cars and smashing them with bricks. of course the cops expect certain groups to cause trouble, it's called memory. black is not a problem, black and shooting at helicopters and cops is a problem. poor is not a problem, poor and expecting to be carried everywhere you go because you're too lazy to walk upright like a human being is a problem. all humans "deserve to be treated with dignity and respect?" nope, only those who exhibit such qualities.
Posted by: CM at September 11, 2005 11:40 AMp.s. the woman Charmaine Neville, on the video you link to, says also that black young men were firing on police helicopters. is she just "parroting the media?"
Posted by: CM at September 11, 2005 11:55 AMCM, re:
"p.s. the woman Charmaine Neville, on the video you link to, says also that black young men were firing on police helicopters. is she just "parroting the media?"
Nope, and I have immense respect for what she went through, and those she was saving. You must admit that no one here has denied that black kids, for whatever reason (I'm assuming crack gangs for the most part, stupid bastards) were shooting andlooting in totally unacceptable ways. You will also notice that Charmaine Neville stated during her interview that whilst she was on the top of the school, helicopters flew overhead and *no one came to save them*. These people - and these are the ordinary people, who are like you and I, went through hell, because there was no organisation on the ground. No pre-planning, and the FEMA guys lied, and lied about when they were coming in (see other evidence linked to by me elsewhere).
*Because* there was no organisation. *Because* people ran out of food, out of medicine, out of clothes to wear, and became pray to those who are fucked in the head (who exist, by the way, throughout society, not simply in the poor balck community)- because of those things, looting, violence against women and children, violence by morons because of lack of gun control....
Jesus, this was not just the FEMA lack of organisation, which was criminally negligent; this was the city having made absolutely no provision for an emergency based on hurricane damage. We're talking about a region where they get more false alarms than I eat hot dinners. I've talked about this at the beginning of this discussion, but where was the damned scenario planning that would have predicted this? It's all very well a traumatised Mayor shouting about how everything's deteriorating part way through the week, but good god man, look to your own office as well. What did you not do to help prevent this horror?
The point here ultimately is things were given the opportunity to break down completely. They did, and people suffered. I say this to the right wing guys in particular. If you imagine that there are no crack roblems in poor white communities; if you imagine that there are no psychopaths, no rapists, no murderers and no child molesters waiting to take open opportunities n a natural disaster then yu really are way off the mark. Secondly, if you imagine that the national organisation would allow a natural disaster to fester long enough to allow a poor white community to descend in to the "Lord of the flies" chaos that happened here then you are also way, way off the mark.
All we're asking people like you to do is think beyond. Think beyond your immediate prejudices and accept that criticism exists on all sides, not simply the one you feel safest with.
and what would be the point of saying that "criticism exists on all sides," whatever that means? that is exactly that kind of nebulous reasoning that has led to the world situation, where the poor of whatever color are on a pedestal, and people of achievement are somehow "to blame" for the poor's lack of human initiative, and somehow they are "scum" because they don't see the point of working to keep the poor alive, when the poor themselves don't care enough to do that. what is good and decent is reviled, the wretched and crummy is somehow exalted. it's crazy the world is upside down! the really looney tune part of your post is where you somehow pin this on lack of gun control. what? i don't think there were too many guns in that situation, there weren't enough guns. they were in the wrong hands, and they were pointed the wrong direction, is all. i would feel much safer if only decent people carried weapons, instead of the systematic disarming of decent people that has led to our world of crime and looting and lawlessness. that all gets taken care of if the right people have guns.
Posted by: CM at September 12, 2005 07:26 AMJust read the whole blessed discourse. All I can say is, everybody's right and everybody's wrong. Whew!!!
Posted by: Ruth at September 13, 2005 04:04 AM...and on that note....
I declare this discussion closed.
Posted by: cait at September 13, 2005 10:34 PM