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."
Soon to be playing at a city near you.
Prepare yourselves and your families against these mutants. The worst is yet to come.
Lock and load!
Here is another connection with Lord of the Flies...by Brits in the Superdome.
I've been calling the place Thunder Dome for two days now.
Gad!!!
Actually, make that a "Gaaack, hairball"!
Actually, I've gotten into a pickle by not watching the news or reading a newspaper while traveling. Once I got stranded in Southern Italy when there was a huge railway strike. When I asked why the train station was closed the Italians were dumbfounded by my stupidity ... "haven't you been reading the newspaper or watching TV ... they've been warning of this for a week!"
Well, no, I hadn't. And I also don't read Italian so I paid no attention to the front pages of papers as I passed by on the streets either.
When vacationing tourists sometimes forget the real world is NOT on vacation with you
Lesson Learned? When told to evacuate...GET THE @$#% OUT! No excuses..PERIOD! Mountain climbers on Mt Hood and Ranier know the risk, and when they have to be rescued they are most often responsible for the costs. The inhabitants of New Orleans who chose to ignore the mandatory evac order should be held accountable for their own disobedience. If anyone disagrees with this, I say that you can pay too.
If they want to complete their "American" experience, I suggest suing their travel agent for withholding material information and dumping them in ground zero.
That's why when I travel I always travel with my 2 best friends, Smith & Wesson.
An African-American man drove me today to where I had to go. He hugged me, and his tears are still on my shirt. I only spent 30 minutes with him, but I will never forget him. He is a brother in the Lord Jesus Christ, and I will see him in the next life.
I am working with FEMA tonight, and we are bringing in aid. Air Mobility Command has mobilized in a massive way. The tide is turning, but we have much to do.
Jim--thank you for this forum. Thank you for your patriotism, and what you and you wife did last weekend.
God's speed.
Sorry, but I'm hearing crickets!
Zoe Smith, 21, from Hull, said: "All us girls sat in the middle while the boys sat on the outside, with chairs as protection.
Thank the Lord that they had their own gang. Any fewer they may have been the entertainment for the evening.
Tell me where this guy's going next. I'll go the other direction.
I am truely ashamed and regretful for the treatment shown to your countrymen by my countrymen. Please let them know that the vast majority of Americans deplore what they were put through. My only joy is that they escaped without physical harm.
lol, classic
Dunno, but my guess is this will never make the news, nor will we hear this from any liberal, nor will we hear anything from Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpon about this.
The point is, yes, racism is a sin, but there are those who, for the expediency of their own political agenda, refuse to acknowledge that people other than whites can have the deep seeds of racial hatred within their heart, Unless and until this is owned up to, there is not much hope of things ever getting resolved racially.
Liar, thought that it was cool to ride out Hurricanes....HELLO!!
I kinda thought that when I read the article, too.
They sound like the kind that could have gotten off their butts and walked out. It's not like they had homes to leave or anything.
"There was a lot of heat from the people in there, people shouting racial abuse about us being white."
These girls should thank the Lord they weren't raped or murdered by these black thugs.
ROFL!
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