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."
Sure, they run overhead, but do a hell of a job when the call comes. I don't defend any lavish spending, but when disaster hits, they are there.
I'll take your word for it that the SA is a better choice and will likely redirect my donations that way. I do know the United Way will never get another friggin dime from me!
I'll bet that you cannot get flood insurance in New Orleans.
The stories that made me mad were the one where the kids went into a police station with their AK-47's and just shot it up for fun....and then another guy shot a cop in the head becuase he was afraid the cop was going to stop him from looting? Help the animals.
But, still, I agree, Gardener, it's hard to penalize everyone for the actions of a relative few.
There was a reason God hit this area hard.....
And the last Watts riot. Same M.O. Break the glass, storm the store (do not check to see if the place is locked first)...
If these people were carrying out things they needed to survive, that would be one thing, but make-up? televisions?
The sad part here is that many hard-working and honest people will be judged by the actions of these vultures, just because they may share a couple of physical characteristics.
I wouldn't want to go fishing in NO right now unless I was a cannibal.
Sounds like walmarts prices will probably be going up too.
I was very Lucky to get out of New Orleans on Saturday. If I would have failed in my effort or not had the means to leave or a place to go I would be out there looting for food and water at this moment. BTW-Winn-Dixie the city's largest Grocery store chain has "Invited" people into their stores to loot. Why should you who does not own a store that will be looted be concerned. Furtehrmore, I have a house and commercial property in NOLA that I expect to be flooded. Looting is the least of my concerns right now.
Won't the same thing happen in Houston that happened at the Superdome?
No, I believe in Texas you can shoot people stealing your stuff....
And what could that be?
BTW-You live in Florida and according to Your Theory God must not be happy with you.
""I don't mind sending money...to the RED counties.""
Did New Orleans vote Dem or Rep.
If they voted Dem. then F them, right.
Besides their traitors anyways.
Don't conceal it. Better yet, have a shotgun.
Concerning charity. I am from the Biloxi area and have lived through lesser storms in the past. I just wanted to let everyone know that the only help we ever received during recovery came from the Salvation Army. They came around with trucks full of water and sandwiches. Some of the breweries canned water instead of beer and distributed that through the Salvation Army also. My sister is there now and my parents are headed back in. They will need your help. They are good people that would never take from anyone. Please do not forget Mississippi and the good people that will need your help.
LOL :D Sorry. I'll chill.
That's the thing that strikes me about this. That the only thing separating a certain element of the population from overt crime seems to be a police presence. How many people out there among us only restrain themselves due to the fear of being caught, rather than a respect for right and wrong? Scary indeed.
It's amazing to me that Freepers always complain (and rightfully so) about the way the media slants stories; how they only report the bad news and never balance it with any good news. So now that the news stories are only showing the looting that's going on, they're horrified and will withhold any support that might go to the looters, in effect withholding it from everyone else. Many of you need to get some perspective.
I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that Russia has offered assistance.
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