Posted on 09/02/2005 6:06:14 PM PDT by dennisw
TERRIFIED British students tell of dead bodies, rape, crack, gunshots, filth and a sickening stench filling the thick air. From Ryan Parry, Us Correspondent, Inside The New Orleans Superdome BRITISH students told yesterday how they stepped out of the horror of Hurricane Katrina into the hell of their Superdome "shelter".
A place of refuge became a terrifying trap, where knives and guns, crack cocaine use, threats of violence and racial abuse were rife.
Jamie Trout, 22, who kept a record of his four days there, said: "It was like something out of Lord of the Flies - one minute everything is calm and civil, the next it descends into chaos."
In one diary entry, he said: "A man has been arrested for raping a seven-year-old in the toilet, this place is hell, I feel sick. The smell is horrendous, there are toilets overflowing and people everywhere."
Brit diary-writer Jamie had been coaching football to disabled children as part of the Camp America scheme.
Jamie, who was with two friends, said: "We were in Miami for three or four days when Katrina first hit.
"We rode that storm out and then decided to go to New Orleans. We didn't realise the storm was heading that way."
He said of his eventual Superdome refuge: "There was a lot of heat from the people in there, people shouting racial abuse about us being white.
"The army warned us to keep our bags close to us and to grip them tight."
Jamie, an economics student from Sunderland, said he saw crack cocaine being used in the filthy toilets, youngsters breaking into soft drink machines and men brawling. Urine and excrement spilled into corridors where they were sleeping.
At one point, up to 30 British students gathered in the dome were so terrified of attack when the power went down that they set up a makeshift security cordon.
Zoe Smith, 21, from Hull, said: "All us girls sat in the middle while the boys sat on the outside, with chairs as protection.
"We were absolutely terrified, the situation had descended into chaos, people were very hostile and the living conditions were horrendous.
"We had to wash with tiny bottles of water, the sink was blocked and full of gunk. Even when we offered to help with the cleaning, the locals gave us abuse."
Some students said they saw an 18-inch knife confiscated from one man and many others had guns and other weapons.
Marisa Haigh, 23, from Guildford, who is studying at Birmingham University, and Claire Watkins, 23, a student from Bradford, had arrived in New Orleans last Saturday after a trip across the US.
Claire said: "We went out drinking on Saturday night and had an awesome time.
"On Sunday we had hangovers and hadn't heard or read anything about the hurricane coming in. We only realised there was something wrong when we went out in the street and no one was around, everywhere was shut or boarded up."
They were in the Superdome when Katrina hit. Marisa said: "There was a series of almighty bangs when the roof went and a panel flew off.
"There was a woman screaming, 'We're gonna die, we're all gonna die'."
Eventually many of the students were moved to the nearby basketball arena, thanks to Sgt Garland Ogden, a full-timer with the National Guard.
Jane Wheeldon, 20, said: "He went against a lot of rules to get us moved."
Yesterday Texas was ready to house 50,000 flood refugees - 25,000 of them in the Houston Astrodome, 350 miles away. The rest will go to San Antonio.
Rescue in some areas was suspended as looters ran amok.
Coast Guard Lt Cmdr Cheri Ben-Iesan said at emergency HQ: "Hospitals are trying to evacuate. At every one of them, there are reports that as the helicopters come in people are shooting at them, telling them, 'You better come get my family'. City leader Mitch Landrieu toured stricken areas and was besieged by rescued people begging him to pass information to their families.
His pocket was full of scraps of paper on which he had scribbled down their phone numbers.
He contacted a woman whose father had been saved and told her: "Your daddy's alive, and he said to tell you he loves you."
Landrieu added: "She just started crying. She said, 'I thought he was dead'."
In Britain, worried relatives of the Superdome students were told by the Mirror their loved ones were safe.
From details given to our reporters at the scene, we passed on messages to families nationwide.
Zoe Smith's mother Sharon said in Hull: "That's brilliant. It's been horrendous not knowing what on earth has happened to her. I have barely slept."
Fine art publisher Janet Murray, 55, from Frome, Somerset, whose daughter Hannah was stranded, said: "I had not heard anything, thanks so much for letting me know."
i feared for them when I saw them going in there
any nice looking black woman was at risk as well...as was her beau or husband
and the weak
I'm waiting for the newest reality show...
SURVIVOR: NEW ORLEANS
"dead bodies, rape, crack, gunshots, filth and a sickening stench"
If you added good music and food, you pretty much described New Orleans...
Or,
A rock concert, anywhere on the planet.
Hey I agree with you!!
Maybe I should join the Crawford Texas Ditch Witch and not pay taxes either!
Kill A Commie For Mommie
Seven Dead Monkeys Page O Tunes
I completely agree. I've seen some real jerks on these threads.
What would be helpful is to see black Americans condemn this kind of behavior. I don't criticize anyone for taking food, water, medicine or clothing. Under certain limited circumstances, I could even defend someone looting a jewelry store (jewelry is easily convertible to cash). But raping people in a shelter and shooting at those trying to evacuate a hospital are beyond the pale.
More black anger should be directed at the incredibly incompetent black power structure in New Orleans. It's not pleasant to be played for a fool over and over and over again.
When things calm down a bit, Americans also need to discuss the pernicious effect of black gangsta culture.
Exactly. Why not?
The above perfectly describes "Faaa" airport (and that's not a typo) in Tahiti.
I had the thrill of a refueling stop there in the middle of the night a few years ago. Of course, Tahiti is French territory...
This pales in comparison to how their distant relatives were abused in 1814 in New Orleans by Andy Jackson and company.
In case you hadn't seen this ...
The irony or sarcasm, I don't know which, is that young Brit and Ozzie world travelers are supposed to be immune to what's happening around them. It's their "world travel adventure" remembering when the Brits controlled the oceans all around the world.
These kids save up for two years to pay for their cheap around-the-world airfare. They stay in cheap hostels and work whereever they go, if they can.
They come home and tell the locals about their travels, compelling more teenagers to want to do it.
I don't think people who have no connection to something should have to apologise for anything. I do agree with your point about the gangsta culture.
They weren't after themselves, they were after theie oppressor: white people, preferably girls.
The Blunder Dome would be more apt.
"Somehow I don't think if there were thousands of white people trapped in the dome, they wouldn't be shouting racial epithets at the couple dozen black people sticking together."
My thoughts exactly. For some groups, civilized behavior is just a facade until they become a majority.
A good place to start would be Thomas Sowell's book about black redneck culture. (not sure of the title)
"Methinks this is a myth that many white Southern males take pride in believing..."
It is no myth.
However, by way of contrast this truth demonstrates the actual myth, that myth believed by today’s “metrosexuals” which goes as follows: abandon all forms of masculinity and thence you will be a true man who shows he is “not threatened.”
In fact the metrosexuals are just insecure wimps who seek to appear strong. They believe the fool’s motto: manhood equals false bravado therefore wimphood must equal true bravado. And, wimphood is so much easier.
The South is blessed with many who have escaped such phoniness.
".........Americans also need to discuss the pernicious effect of black gangsta culture."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yeah, like that's gonna happen!
After all, rappers are the "poets" of our time.
So sayeth Rev. Sharpton and there ain't a political leader out there that has the courage to go toe to toe with that POS.
Yep...after having worked in a few...my thoughts exactly
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