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.
Perhaps you missed the posts about the group of 10 men who beat to death a man who raped a 13 year old.
LOL! This being FR, I was anticipating a flurry of calling each other names of car parts.
Glad to see that I wasn't mistaken. :-)
Is that the one with the razor blade?
Roger that. I think I'll take a miss, too.
radiator!
Thanks Howlin--but the folks in the New Orleans and Gulfport are the heroes tonight. Also, if NO didn't flood, Mississippi would have been the primary focus of this emergency. MS took the hurt of this Hurricane--directly. Their infrastructure is just terrible.
We have to work the dead next---it is going to be hard. The 82nd is going door to door, and they are Title 10. Do you all know that distinction?
Title 10 troops are Federal, and they do not have law enforcement authority. National Guard troops are Title 32, and they do have authority when authorized by their Gov.
THIS IS A BIG ISSUE WITH US NOW.
The Posse Comitatus Act rightfully is a brake on Federal authority here, but it will LIMIT what the military can do. People must know this.
A vacation in Hell. Thank God all the Aussies got out all right.
What a dismal tale to tell of the barbarians in the USA.
The governments of NO and LA should be ashamed.
Step into my shoes.
I believe they mean the fact they were foreign, strangers in a straaaaaaange land.
It is racist to resist such advances in the first place; it's saying that a minority rapist is not as good as her husband. Such a thing is damaging to a rapist's self esteem and is impermissible in our enlightened society.
Why yes, I am radiant today- timing chain.
Thursday, Sept. 1, 2005 11:05 p.m. EDT
Doc: 6 Murders, 12 Rapes Inside Superdome
A doctor who's been tending to the sick and wounded inside the New Orleans Superdome for the last two days described a horrific scene Thursday night.
Asked about the level of violence among the 20,000 displaced residents who sought shelter inside the giant stadium, Dr. Charles Burnell told Fox News Channel's Greta Van Susteren:
"We had three murders last night. We had a total of six rapes last night. We had the day before, I think, there were three or four murders. There were half-a-dozen rapes that night. We had one suicide last night. We had one military policeman shot."
Dr. Burnell described the Superdome situation as "very unstable, very high tension, a very dangerous environment."
While National Guardsmen were on hand for protection, he said that "every time there was an incident that broke out, they had to tend to that, which left us uncovered."
Burnell said the task of treating people inside the stadium became impossible after they ran out of supplies. "We did not have oxygen, we did not have any medications to speak of," he said.
But what forced the New Orleans doc to finally abandon the giant evacuation center was the threat of violence.
"Until I can insure that I'm not putting my life in any significantly dangerous situation as I was before - I will not be back in the Superdome," he told Fox.
(from Newsmax web site http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/9/1/230732.shtml)
These gangs of animals must be hunted down and killed. There is no other solution.
To: Lorianne
What do you mean by "our" Women? White? I object to this.
None of us can speak for the Australian man as to just what exactly he meant however, it would be quite reasonable to think he might have meant the women from their group of people banded together. Much like someone might say "our women folk" and meaning our family women, our church group of women, or maybe our country women folk. To necessarily "think" it is a racist remark is jumping to wrong conclusions on this. Just my take on the interview.
"“The atmosphere was extremely intimidating,” the Lancaster University student said. “People stared at us all the time and men would come up to me and stroke my stomach and bottom. They would also say horrible, suggestive things. The worst time came when there was a rumour that a white man had raped a black woman. We were scared that we would be raped, robbed, or both. People were arguing, fighting and being arrested all the time.”
Doesn't sound realistic (sarcasm off).
You're damn right I don't like your message. This is not about their race, it is about their propensity to commit crime.
I should have posted that the wounded Guardsman is "recovering," from that same brief. I realise I left that hanging. -C18F
New Orleans has been a thin blue line away from total anarchy for a long time. No surprise at what happened, even with the police around the neighborhoods a lot these people live in are a war zone.
"The General also is the most eloquent cusser since Gen Patton in the history of the United States Military"
Love it. Can't wait for him to give hell to some namby pamby reporters.
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