Posted on 08/31/2005 7:09:41 AM PDT by End Times Sentinel
NEW ORLEANS - At first it just seemed that the Wal-Mart in New Orleans' Lower Garden District was doing a very brisk post-hurricane business yesterday: The parking lot was full, people were leaving with brimming baskets, and city police and firefighters were there as if to oversee it all.
But people weren't going through the front door. They were squeezing between boards meant to protect the now-shattered glass from Hurricane Katrina's winds. One man was packing his van so full of computers, televisions and DVD players that he had trouble closing the rear doors. One woman was carrying three jugs of laundry detergent in a city with no power to run a washer.
As in so many past disasters elsewhere when crisis and chaos have replaced order and normalcy, a beleaguered New Orleans was beset by looters.
The widespread plundering started before Katrina had finished its onslaught Monday. That afternoon, looters broke into an emptied sporting-goods warehouse in Mid-City, a grocery in Treme, and the hardware center Uptown. In one instance, witnesses said, police were called but did nothing until one man shot another.
People said they had heard Wal-Mart had opened its doors to provide supplies for law-enforcement agencies sheltering the 10,000- plus people in the Louisiana Superdome. A Wal-Mart spokeswoman, Sharon Weber, said law enforcement, emergency-management teams, and relief agencies had "unwritten permission" to help themselves to whatever they need from Wal-Mart stores in times of crisis, but that standard procedure was for the police or aid officials to "leave us a list of what they take so they can pay us later."
At the Lower Garden District Wal-Mart, among the items seen being loaded into police cars were dozens of T-shirts, DVDs, and dog food.
But when law-enforcement officials went to get their goods, others - people of all ages and races - followed.
"They just came and no one could stop them," said David Brown, 38, a Port of New Orleans employee.
Brown and a coworker were filling their vehicle with dozens and dozens of canned goods - stews and chilis and Spaghetti-O's. Brown said the food would be used to feed the port's police and its employees, many of whom, like him, had worked nonstop since Saturday.
They were only taking essentials, he said, though a copy of Queen Latifah's Beauty Shop movie had apparently made that list.
Brown said the work showed no sign of easing.
"It's pretty bad," he said. "They've been calling for body bags all day."
Most streets in New Orleans were empty yesterday except for the hub around the Wal-Mart, in a section of the city that remained dry. People were everywhere: in cars and trucks, pushing goods in carts and baby carriages, dragging full trash cans and laundry baskets. The steady stream of cars caused a traffic jam on the streets near the store - the type of traffic jam last seen here when people tried to evacuate.
"Is everything free?" asked a woman who pulled up in a red car. Hearing "yes," she started to chant: "TV! TV! TV!"
Inside, a teenage boy held up a pair of blue lacy panties and snickered, "I want to see somebody in these so bad," before tossing them in his basket.
Another man used a table to break into one of the last unscathed jewelry cases.
A rumor that the National Guard had arrived sent people running toward the store's exit, shouting: "Come on! Come on!" But no one put down any merchandise, and the Guard rumor turned out to be false.
Some shoppers were oddly selective. One woman said she was taking only facial-care products. Another was pushing a cart filled with silk roses and baby's breath. In the pharmacy aisle, she leaned over the handle, pushing it slowly as she read labels the way a paying customer would.
But the overwhelming feeling was one of chaos - angry shouting, carts ramming, fast grabbing. When a teenage girl passed out face down between the baby clothes and a women's-sock display, people pushed past or stepped on her.
Joseph LoCascio of Picayune, Miss., stopped to try to help the girl. He rolled her over, and she vomited pink liquid all over her face and hair. He then rolled her back.
"People just walking around like they don't care," he said.
He and his friend Sandi Nolan, 21, of Baton Rouge, tried to revive the girl by pouring water, Gatorade and soda over her face and neck. It only left her shirt and hair soaked.
LoCascio tried to get a man in a firefighter T-shirt to treat the girl, but the man hesitated, saying: "She's breathing. If I took her, where would I take her?"
About 15 minutes later, a firefighter medic arrived and began checking the girl. Still, LoCascio and Nolan were furious at their fellow looters.
Both have infants being treated at Children's Hospital, New Orleans, and had come to get baby food and supplies.
"I've never seen people like this. I have drinks and chips, things I need," Nolan said. "They're getting chain saws and fishing poles, anything they can get for free."
As she and LoCascio left, she noticed he had at least a dozen DVDs in his basket, as well as baby formula and baby food. She laughed and pointed it out to him.
"They're for the kids, so they can watch them," he said. "Things like Finding Nemo."
Nolan laughed. "Don't worry," she said. "I got a few too."
What a load of crap! There is all sorts of aid, equipment, building teams, cash etc. being organized from every single provence in Canada. In fact, I was listening to a Canadian talk show yesterday: "They are our brothers and sisters, human being just like us, and need our help. In times like these we set aside politics and do what needs to be done as we have always done, and they have always done when we were in need". Is what the host ended the show with. An American hating lefty phoned in, and said that aid should be attached to political grievences. NOT ONE person who called into the show agreed, in fact it turned into a lefty bashing show, and how moraly bankrupt the left is. So, before you make rediculous statements, check to see if facts back it up.
Makes me wonder - How are they planning on getting all of this stolen loot out? There is a 2 day evacuation order which means they will probabaly report to the Superdome and hop on a bus or duece and a half and take the only road out of town. I don't think the National Gaurd loading those trucks are going to allow people to bring on microwaves, DVD players, and HD TV's.
OK, OK...nobody is condoning looting the big ticket items. We all know it is a small minority doing this and to withhold help because of that is mean and unjustified.
I have seen very little television coverage but what I did see showed only black looters - mainly young black male looters, although some were female. Do you think camera crews are being selective?
There has to be relief operations aimed at those who evacuated set in place. Obviously, the rescue of those in harms way is paramount, but there are others displaced who can't be forgotten.
What is even more distressing is that most of these people will be relocated to a city near you.
Yea, I'm longing for trouble. For all you Al Quaida members monitoring this website, forget what I said....
Yea, I'm longing for trouble. For all you Al Quaida members monitoring this website, forget what I said....
You know, Owl Eagle...kinda hard to disagree with you. Pathetic people...
I would be shocked if almost everyone didn't have family that would help them in a time of need.
How many white people have you seen in ANY of the pictures of NO? The only ones I have seen are rescue, fire or police.
I always love the elitist Libs who crow about the nobility of the common man. ("Why, the downtrodden would NEVER misuse Welfare!") When it comes to human nature, I believe neither the worst or the best...I follow what Reganis Maximus said: "trust, but verify."
I don't know about you, but I think of Huey Long and the minor bosses, bleeding the system, rather than actually doing what they claimed to do.
Homeowners insurance does not cover flood damage.
Most people do NOT have separate flood insurance.
My daughters are beginning a project to collect cash from our church and schools. The plan is to try to get local companies match the funds raised dollar for dollar.
We'll be picking a church in the LA area and sending the funds directly to the pastor to distribute to his parishoners in need. This way, we'll know that every single dollar will go to those in need and not to administrative costs.
Proof that New Orleans has been destroyed. Only the human refuse would live there now.....when the water is drained....IF it is drained....what's left will probably be a ghost town, or else inhabited only by the stupid or the criminal.
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