Posted on 09/04/2005 6:52:12 PM PDT by Lorianne
AUSTRALIAN survivors of Hurricane Katrina told last night of their dramatic escape from New Orleans and the unfolding civil disaster in city.
The group, joyful at fleeing the nightmare of the Louisiana city, lauded one of its members as a hero. Bud Hopes, of Brisbane, was praised for saving dozens of tourists as the supposed safe haven of the city's Superdome became a hellhole.
"I would have to say that Bud is solely responsible for our evacuation," Vanessa Cullington, 22, of Sydney, told the Sunday Herald Sun by mobile phone from a bus carrying 10 Australians to safety in Dallas, Texas.
"I dread to think what would have happened if we hadn't got out. It's so great to be free."
News of the group's escape came as reports said as many as 10,000 people might have been killed by the hurricane and its aftermath, and President George Bush ordered more troops and an increased aid effort for the stricken Gulf of Mexico states.
As the Australians left the Superdome, food and water were almost non-existent and the stiflingly hot arena was filled with 25,000 people and the stench of human waste. Gangs stalked the tourists and women were threatened with rape.
"Bud took control. He was calm and kept it together the whole time," Ms Cullington said.
Mr Hopes, 32, said: "That was the worst place in the universe. Ninety-eight per cent of the people around the world are good. In that place, 98 per cent of the people were bad.
"Everyone brought their drugs, they brought guns, they brought knives. Soldiers were shot.
"It was like a refugee camp within a prison.
"It was full on. It was the worst thing I have seen in my life. I have never been so frightened."
Realising that foreigners were a target, Mr Hopes and the other Aussies gathered tourists from Europe, South America and elsewhere into one part of the building.
"There were 65 of us, so we were able to look after each other -- especially the girls who were being grabbed and threatened." Mr Hopes said.
He said they had organised escorts for the women when they had gone for food or to the toilet, and rosters to keep guard while others slept.
"We sat through the night just watching each other, not knowing if we would be alive in the morning."
John McNeil, 20, of Brisbane, said the worst point had come after two days when soldiers had told them the power in the dome was failing and there was only 10 minutes worth of gas left.
"I looked at Bud and said, 'That will be the end of us'," Mr McNeil said.
"The gangs . . . knew where we were. If the lights had gone out we would have been in deep trouble. We prayed for a miracle and the lights stayed on."
Mr Hopes said the Australians owed their lives to a National Guard Staff Sgt Garland Ogden, who had broken the rules to get the tourists out of the dome, with 60 people being evacuated to a medical centre.
"We did some shifts at the hospital to help nurse the sick to say thank you. It was a real Aussie thing," he said.
As the bus carrying the Australians crossed the Texan border, spirits were high.
"We've had hotdogs and chips and everyone is laughing," Mr Hopes said.
Later, the bus arrived at Dallas Convention Centre, where the Australians were processed.
Family and friends gathered at the Brisbane home of Mr McNeil's parents, Peter and Mary, where they were joined by Mr Hopes's sister, Debbie Browne.
Mrs McNeil broke down when she saw images of her son leaving New Orleans.
"There have been times during this past week when we didn't know if we would see him again," she said.
Mr McNeil said he could see a change in his son.
"They've been traumatised," he said. "I think they've witnessed several atrocities."
The other Australians on the bus were Emma Hardwick, of Sydney; Simon Wood, of Wyalkatchem, WA; Michael Ryan, of Lithgow, NSW; Yasmin Bright, of Newcastle; Michelle and Lisa van Grinsven, of Sydney; and Elise Sims, Tea Tree Gully, Adelaide.
Meanwhile, three Australian couples were safe in Los Angeles, awaiting flights home after being rescued from New Orleans by a Channel 7 news crew.
Tim and Joanne Miller, of Rockhampton, Garry and Cynthia Jones, of Brisbane, and Jack and Gloria Slinger, of Perth, crammed into a four-wheel-drive vehicle with reporter Mike Amor and two colleagues for the early morning dash.
The crew had arranged to pick up two couples from the building where they were holed up and found the Slingers on the streets.
"They were very wary about about coming out of the building. It was a pretty frightening scene -- bodies, shootings, looters," Amor said.
A phone call in the middle of the night gave hope to relatives of Brisbane's Fiona Seidel and her sister-in-law, Katie Maclean.
Mrs Maclean's husband, Andrew, was contacted by a New Orleans police officer who said he had seen the pair get on a bus.
Oh, get over the PC crap. I object to you being offended at what is apparently an honest story and viewpoint. "Our"......probably meant Aussi......
"We 'radiators' need to take a leak every now and again."
I heard most leaks come from your hose. Be careful so your engine doesn't overheat.
Dipstick.
Oil Filter.
Low on OIL
Spark Plug Radiator
Oil Pan
Just an old jalopy here
I am!
"Will you be going to Mardi Gras?"
I think it is safe to say that no one with late teenage or early twenty something daughters is going to sit quietly by if the kids decide to go to the first Mardi Gras held after this fiasco.
I don't care how old they get, I'll sit on 'em if I have to.
Why did the population of this superdome, stop the bad guys? Why did the good people not stop the bad people? Why did the good people not finger the bad people when the NG showed up? Why was no one incarcerated? Why did no one defend the helpless?
I'll wait for your answer before I log off...
He apologized. Please see post 34.
Like I said, it is cultural. The problem is we excuse it because MOST of them are black and have been oppressed. Well, I'm sorry to say, the black people I have worked for, with and have had work for me are not like that. So it isn't racial. It IS cultural and we have got to do something about it before it erupts into a war between the good and the evil. Those poor, deprived, welfare pimps, such as we saw in NOLA will be cut down like a lawn of grass if it happens and there is no need for that.
It may seem like "always" now, but New Orleans had no real crime problems until the late sixties and the ushering in of LBJ's Great Society programs. They built large housing projects near the French Quarter where the welfare moms and their broods and their live-in boyfriends congregated. Soon the idle young bucks would stroll into the Quarter and act like they do all over the country. When that started affecting the tourist traffic the city cracked down for awhile but political correctness and the NAACP, ACLU, and other leftist organizations stepped in and back to bad it went.
Another liberal social program success. Actually it is a success for them because turmoil is what they want. Helping the poor and the minorities is just their pitch, their front. Turmoil and the demand for more government action is what they want. More government can be used on anyone.
No, that would be "sleepy".
"while the politicos dream about a melting pot of diversity.", while living in guarded, gated-communities, and working in guarded, restricted access office buildings and sending their children to private schools.
* bump *
I do object to calling this bad PR for the US because nobody with half a brain will see the SuperDome/Katrina incidents as protoypical US conduct. The bad PR accrues to cities that tolerate and cultivate civil unrest and criminal conduct.
Condescension is not appreciated.
I never said there was no crime, no looting, no rape. I'm sure there was some. New Orleans has a lot of criminals. But some of the media has been fueling hysteria based on rumors, making it sound like a Mad Max wasteland with rampant rapes and murders. That is the problem. There was a hysterical report on one of the news channels last night or the night before (I'm losing track) about firefighters holed up in the Bell South building, a deputy killed, taking fire from all sides, etc. Then a report today saying that was untrue.
My point is not that crimes haven't happened. It's that they're being magnified beyond reality by rumor and hysteria.
The mayor said the same thing in a presser yesterday. Called LTG Honore "this John Wayne dude." I get the impression that the mayor -- who, by the way, y'all, was Republican till he ran for this seat in a 90% democratic city -- is not a bad guy, just OBE as we say in the Army (Overcome By Events), and maybe not a born genius.
We are moving tons of stuff in the next 24 hours. We are almost approaching a changing state of what the mission is. The people in NO are out, now we will change to recovering the dead, and rebuilding and reconstitution.
I hope someone is going roof to roof in the flooded residential area under the highway... there were folks in there banging on the roofs from inside (a couple of days ago). Dumb MFs went up into the attic with no way out and are stranded there.
By the way, the Army tradition of working the staff until they drop and beyond is one tradition we can lose. Set up a rest plan, please. You will make better decisions, and someone can cover for you while you rest (and then you cover him). Yes, what you are personally doing is important, but the whole Army is built on the idea that any one of us can get tagged at any time and the rest of the guys will drive on. Charlie Mike as it were.
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
And if your assumption is right, then answer me this: what would the non-criminal do to the gang of thugs? How does the lamb attack the wolf?
Why did the good people not finger the bad people when the NG showed up? Why was no one incarcerated?
You're assuming facts not in evidence. Do you know for a fact those things did not happen? The NG was there the whole time, btw, they conducted the searches as the folks were admitted before the storm. If their presence did not deter those six rapes, what would unarmed citizens be able to do?
Okay, we wheel.
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
A funny correlation, but true - some good from even extreme ugliness.
My heart breaks at the thought of the innocent victims who did not get out. The good folks of this country need to kick some butt.
Actually that's a great idea!
The media should start reporting that the "snipers" and "looters" are racist rednecks with rebel flags!
Then Hollywood will make the blockbuster Oscar award winning movie!
Bud Hopes, the hero in this article, can be played by Kanye West!
It will make millions! **
No doubt a cleansing for the city of N.O. Most of the poor Blacks will never return. Doesn't bode well for the Mayor's career. Ratio of white to black may become even or reverse. Not sure how this migration will effect the rest of the country. Hopefully most that choose not to return will find better lives and become productive citizens in their new found communities.
Many will wind up committing new crimes in new places. They will discover lawmen and justice systems much more efficient in putting them away.
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