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."
I'm saying that the people you are seeing looting are in the minority
and you're saying that everyone should be punished because of them. I think that's shameful and not
very Christian like.
fishing in contaminated and polluted water for already dead fish? I could understand this if the police were handing out consumables for survival. But that is not what is happening.
What purpose will the jewlery serve that was stolen?
Unfortunately we saw the same thing here during the rodney king riots. It permanately changed some of my beliefs about people.
I suspect one of those was the guy that Shep interviewed before the storm hit, that when asked why he was still there, replied: "none of your effing business".
yes they (democrats) are showing their true colors...
This is a Democratic city...Democratic state..
and this is how they act...
Its truly sick...
"They're getting chain saws and fishing poles…”
Honestly, I can see these things as necessities in that environment.
No house, but still a mortgage; credit card bills, maybe a car payment on a second vehicle that you left behind. You are ruined financially and emotionally. You got your family to safety, but how and where do you start over?
This tragedy will take years, if not a generation, to recover from.
So you are punishing all the people in Miss., Alabama and those in New Orleans that are NOT looting because of what a small percentage of people are doing?
The best aid you can send is cash, just make sure it goes to a responsible organization. Many of those looters as scum who will have no claim or life to rebuild anyways. Hold off for a while until things get organized and there is some structure and planning in place.
If and when a manditory evacuation is ordered, evacuees can only take minimal food, clothes and perhaps bedding. If they want to get on the NG truck with a bag of DVDs or Nikes, no joy... If they refuse and stay, they're fair game.
Nothing.
Yup. If this teaches us anything, don't give up your guns.
You are the only one who will protect your home and family at times like this.
I know that there are actual victims here but most that have been shown who decided to stay in the "Big Easy" (now we really know what that stands for, don't we)are just lawless looters who deserve no pity at all!
owl eagle
"Many of those looters as scum who will have no claim or life to rebuild anyways."
they will claim they had a 20,000 sf home..and 10 million in cash....they will lie to get as much as they can...
Allowing this to go on unfettered will cost lives in the future, as it will cause even more people to try to stay behind in impending disaster zones either to take part in the looting, or to protect their property from looting.
To allow or defend this is extremely short-sighted.
I know, it's tragic. People doing what they are told and what they are supposed to do. I hope I'm wrong, but I have a feeling that when it comes to helping out with re-location, etc. these are the people that will be told they are too well off for help, or there is no more room for them.
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