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 don't know if I can agree with that. This is the information age and I don't think being aware of issues is strictly a Southern thing.
maybe young black thugs are more multicultural in Oakland?
the first ever anti-white hostility from blacks I ever experienced was on the IRT in Manhattan.
now it's sort of standard fare in the thug culture and yes there is a bit of it in Cornel West circles
the greater irony is that urban white thuggery is only distinguished by skin color and is actually endemic and worse here in nashville and they think anyone who scorns them as I obviously do....is a racist since they view themselves as more or less "black"
I am not making this up.
God bless you... good luck down there.
I think they could expect not to be attacked for the crime of being white.
I agree with you on that. I saw Shep Smith make a big point about that, but I can understand that in a situation of anarchy, these 'upper class' and probably white folks would be the most vulnerable.
I'm a bit baffled by the hostility to these brit students on this thread. When I traveled, I'd go weeks without watching news or TV. Their experience seems to be an honest account of what it is like to be minority whites in a tense enclosed situation. If a riot breaks out, they would be prime targets.
OMG How embarrassing.
Four best friends: Smith & Wesson and Smith & Wilson.
If it's true that "a conservative is a liberal who's been mugged" then I'll bet these Brits undergo a sea change in their worldview as a result of this experience.
Like I said, they should be happy to be alive. Lots of other people are expecting not to be attacked either but they are. Plus tourists were getting special treatment anyway, ahead of old people and little babies.
I'm afraid our views on race and thuggery are divergent.
I don't expect you to agree with everything I say.
My views are a product of my experiences which are quite different than yours from many perspectives.
My truth may not be yours.,,,well, obviously it's not these days.
Since you're from Houston, (your tag line) you're going to need the first two. The last two will probably get a run for their money. Good luck and keep coming back.
What about those who could not get out because some of the airlines stoped service 24 hours before the storm hit?
Morons.
I'm sorry you have your own axe to grind.
I don't believe you are as oblivious to black on white racism as you are now acting...frankly.
Thats what I was thinking they were thinking.
Hey whatever. I've never lived in the South. This is a forum and I'm just giving my opinion where I'm obviously outnumbered (esp. this week).
How long before Sgt Ogden is branded a racist for giving the white kids special treatment?
I'm sorry you feel outnumbered....but yes...you probably do.
Little brother...and he's not a city leader, he's the lieutenant governor of the state. Mirror hacks and editors: Google is your friend. Lazy buggers.
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