Posted on 09/13/2005 6:16:41 AM PDT by OB1kNOb
Evacuees Trying to Piece Lives Together
To hurricane survivors Richard Allen and Sandra Montegut, their recent arrival together at Camp Couchdale has been just another, albeit more comfortable, chapter in the struggle to gather the scattered jigsaw pieces of their lives in the wake of Katrina.
The pair, fellow residents of New Orleans' eastern district, finally landed at Camp Couchdale following a three-day bus ride. The neighbors spent a week in the horrifying post-storm conditions of the Superdome, sleeping in shifts and defending one another from the criminal element that quickly surfaced there.
"There was so much lawlessness," Montegut stated, her expression clearly affected by the memory of those seven hellish days. "Many people were getting drunk, stealing and running around like wild animals."
"They stole anything that wasn't nailed down," Allen recalled. "It was an absolute war zone. We finally ended up sleeping outside, leaving the 'animals' inside to fight amongst themselves."
"The saddest thing, though," Montegut added, "was all the guardsmen standing around the place, just aching for the order to straighten it all out. I felt so bad for them, because I knew they felt that was what they should've been doing."
Drowsily rubbing her sleep-starved eyes, she continued her story. "When we got there on Sunday before the storm, the place was spotless - we had running water and everything. By Monday, though, we got a huge influx of people; the city had nothing in place to handle so many."
Allen, a normally mild-mannered, softspoken retiree from the automotive industry, echoed Montegut's strong disappointment over the lack of preparation for Katrina. "The failure of our city and state government to take care of the people is absolutely amazing," he exclaimed in frustration. "For as long as 40 years, the local government had been aware that New Orleans had no chance against a level 4 or 5 hurricane without the proper walls and systems. I recall one proposed project from a few years back that carried the price tag of $20 billion dollars. That issue was simply ignored, and now it's too late to save thousands of people."
Both Louisianians placed the blame for New Orleans' societal breakdown squarely on the shoulders of the mayor and the governor. "It felt like they were in the middle of some big power play. They weren't concerned about the people at all," alleged Allen.
Montegut, an insightful social service/forensic specialist employed by Louisiana's prison system, had gazed at a parking lot full of unengaged Regional Transit Authority buses from her position at the Superdome, and wondered why they were not being used to evacuate people from the deteriorating conditions.
"[Mayor Nagin] blew it, throwing his hands up in the air and blaming Bush for days - all the while, he could've been taking care of obvious solutions like that instead of telling people who hadn't the means to leave simply to 'get out'." According to her, the RTA buses sat in their same spots even as school buses came to carry the storm-worn from the shelter.
"When they originally sent the RTA buses out to bring people into the Superdome, it was the feds who made those arrangements, not the local government. It was just unbelievable, the lack of preparation on the mayor's part - even when he knew about the possible severity of the approaching storm," she said, shaking her head.
As many harsh words as the two had for their government, an equal amount of praise was given to local volunteers they had encountered in the course of recovery efforts. "When I got here [to Couchdale], I could not believe how far these people would go to help us. They not only feed us and give us a place to sleep, but care for us mentally and emotionally," Allen elaborated. Camp officials are currently assisting him in relocating his wife, from whom he was separated before the storm.
"They have literally saved lives," he insisted, "and not just by providing for people's material needs. Anyone can say that they sympathize - their actions truly show what's in their hearts around here."
"Everybody finally seems to be coming into their own now," said Montegut, who is in the process of reaching family members as well. "[Camp director] Marion Fletcher has helped us help ourselves here. Before, I felt like a helpless child at the mercy of charity and circumstance."
"Everybody loves the volunteers here, but we want to eventually leave and stand on our own," added Allen.
And for the record, for those on the left that would try to twist this into something racial, the forensic specialist that was interviewed in this article is black and the automotive retiree is white.
If you appreciate the content of the article, I'd suggest you email the newspaper and let them know your thoughts. - OB1
Both Louisianians placed the blame for New Orleans' societal breakdown squarely on the shoulders of the mayor and the governor. "It felt like they were in the middle of some big power play. They weren't concerned about the people at all," alleged Allen.
A total failure of leadership...the troops and the common folk knew what to do...
Absolutely. The best course of action was obvious to those affected.
....one wonders if these two eyewitnesses will be allowed to speak in front of the commission....
That would be my desire come true.
bttt
Great! Many thanks. If the large market MSM won't report what the evacuees are really saying, then it's up to us FReepers to help the small market media get their reporting out in the public view.
Being non-military myself, I'll have to defer to our Freeper brothers and sisters who have NG experience, to answer that question. It made me wonder too, when I read it.
Of course NOT!!!
Poor Heather's never going to work at the New York Times.
I think your dead on. What you say would have required cooperation between city and state government officials. Corruption does not want to share power nor influence. They would rather protect their "kingdom" to the demise of their citizens....even when it floats away.
I bet she would take that as a high compliment.
BTTT
Yes, and it was meant as one!
bttt
They were sent to provide relief and to assist in the orderly entry into the dome. Most likely, although I don't know this for certain, they either did not have their weapons with them, or had no ammunition for the weapons. I don't recall seeing any armed Guardsmen before the storm hit, although I do recall seeing Guardsmen handing out water and MREs and doing some crowd management stuff prior to the arrival of the storm, right into Sunday night after the rains had started.
It does take a specific order to issue ammunition, it's not routine on disaster relief deployments, nor even on crowd control or riot control assignments.
Thanks for the info; it is appreciated.
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