Posted on 09/05/2005 9:07:51 AM PDT by linkinpunk
JENNY SACHS
Jenny Sachs, of Sheffield, told how soldiers had to smuggle her out of the Superdome in secret.
She said they had told her the lights would go out before the rescue, and warned her not to use a torch for fear of attack.
She was one of about 30 Britons who, realising they could not escape the city, fled to the stadium for shelter.
The military got us out, which we were all thankful for
"It has hit me more now I am at home, when you can have clean water, how bad it was," she said.
She said people had been raped and that others were beaten up.
"One of the soldiers did get shot and he was brought in," she said.
"A guy was brought in who had seven stab wounds and was covered in blood."
The military told all non-US citizens to stay together for safety, Ms Sachs added.
They later told them they would be secretly smuggled out in groups of 10 under cover of darkness as it had become too dangerous for them to remain in the stadium, she told BBC News.
"When we were leaving, people were going 'Where are you going?' and giving us looks.
"But the military got us out, which we were all thankful for."
I was telling people, 'Do not worry. She will be OK. She is in the best resourced, best organised country in the world. They will look after her'
Ms Sachs' American father, Bruce, said "the extent all this fell apart so quickly" had left him "totally shocked and very embarrassed" to be a US citizen.
"At the point where the hurricane started, I was telling people, 'Do not worry. She will be OK. She is in the best resourced, best organised country in the world. They will look after her'."
GED, SANDRA AND RONAN SCOTT
After looters had broken into New Orleans' Ramada Hotel, bus driver Ged Scott, 36, of Liverpool - stranded with his wife Sandra, 37, and their seven-year-old son, Ronan - had waded waist-deep through the filthy water to barricade the hotel's doors, he told BBC News.
"It was like wading through an open sewer.
"It reeked to high heaven and made you want to vomit.
"Outside I could see bodies floating in the water."
Mr Scott told BBC News he had ripped wires attached to speakers from the walls of the flooded hotel bar and tied tables and chairs together as makeshift barricades.
Hotel guests had already managed to chase one group of looters from the building, he added.
They had then taken turns patrolling the hotel's corridors with a torch, Mr Scott told BBC News.
JAMIE TROUT
Jamie Trout, 22, of Sunderland, told BBC News the five "horrific" days he and his two female friends had spent in the Superdome, before being freed by the US National Guard, had been "like something out of Lord of the Flies".
"It was very dangerous - rioting, looting of vending machines, racial abuse, absolutely terrible sanitary conditions."
They had been "intimidated by large groups of men" and, Mr Trout added, he had feared he would be killed.
The group had heard a child had been raped and found in the toilets with a broken neck, Mr Trout told BBC News.
"That was a really hard time. It made us all feel sick.
"The girls were terrified to go to the toilet.
The group had called the British embassy in Washington from a mobile phone, Mr Trout added.
But embassy staff had told them to contact the British consulate in New Orleans
When they had pointed out it was "15ft under water", the embassy staff had simply repeated they should contact the consulate, Mr Trout told BBC News.
"That was obviously very difficult to take."
"But look who the leadership there is"
1. A governor that cries
2. A mayor that cusses
3. A senator that threatens a President
Just makes a NO citizen feel warm and fuzzy I bet.
When it all shakes down there is going to be some local hell to pay.
IMO there'd BETTER be!
As far as to what's worth salvaging in New Orleans? There is no "there" that is there. Fini....gone....wasted....and why? Look at the local and state yoyos that were running things ...'nuff said!!!
We could see a huge hit to tourism for a long time after this, I lived overseas, and I know most average folk's impression of what the country is like is from movies and TV, and often they believe rumors and urban legends (just like here).
How many tourists see this, and are going to decide, "Nope, we'll go to Greece or Italy instead."
Sad. This country needs to start dealing honestly and effectively with the thug culture, or they'll bring it all down around our ears every time the power goes out.
Don't stop there... From reports I have seen the damage to all areas from this storm equal the size of Great Briton. So imagine the entire country in the situation the US is facing...
This is the problem I have with blaming anything on the administration. NOLA is being reported on the most but there was a lot more for FEMA to do besides just take care of NOLA.
It's not really a matter of more civilized, it's a matter of better governed. What happened in New Orleans was Third World.
"Just makes a NO citizen feel warm and fuzzy I bet."
Makes you want to go right out and pet a crocodile. LOL.
I agree! We are in trouble if we don't reign in the culture...As it is now we are raising a couple of generations with little or no regard for life...
I lived in Alexandria LA for two yrs while in the military...Made several trips to NO and always had a blast...But like you this was a long time ago. (84-86) It's a shame it's gone so far down hill...
The buses were supposed to go out of town starting 24 hours ealier when Nagin had adequate warning to evacuate the city. Thats what. And it doesn't take a rocket scientist. I actually know a few of them so I can say that with authority. Nagin was too late, even though he had primary responsibility to call the shots. Then he went looking for scapegoats.
Are you dense today or every day? Where did the hundreds of thousands of other people from NO go? Just about anyware that is above sea level would have done huh?
"Here's the southeast Louisiana evac plan supplement, most recently revised in 2000. Go to page 13, read paragraph 5. It states:
5. The primary means of hurricane evacuation will be personal vehicles. School and municipal buses, government-owned vehicles and vehicles provided by volunteer agencies may be used to provide transportation for individuals who lack transportation and require assistance in evacuating."
http://junkyardblog.net/archives/week_2005_08_28.html#004752
Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
And while I frequently stray over the bounds of PC when it comes to subjects such as this I can slightly disagree with you. I worked in the area for a year back in the mid Eighties and out of the ethnic/racial groups I found the black people the friendliest of all. So when this crap surfaced this week I was shocked and saddened for all of NOLA.
I'm sure the kiss of doom will soon descend, but meanwhile.
In the name of Jesus have you no compassion for those poor people. Left to rot and die by inches in the street. The world is watching in total horror as you let your poor starve in the street and make jokes about rap music.
I don't even know what to say to you as a Christian if you don't see the problem with letting the people without valid credit cards starve in the street.
Number of murders to mid-August: 192 - which annualises to 294 or 0.8/day.
Number of bodies found at Superdome after 6 days: 10 - of which three or so are widely reported as having died of thirst or pre-existing conditions of old age, and certainly more will have. And we don't know whether the 10 include two alleged to have been killed by police.
Number of corpses found at the Convention Centre: Gary Yonge, debunking rumours, says zero but other apparently eyewitness accounts differ.
There was certainly a lot of rumour-mongering, both among the refugees and by cops and in the media. It seems to me that some of the "we saw" accounts may turn out to mean "we all, we stuck here saw... someone told me".
So - not counting police killings - NO does so far appear to be in the ballpark of the background rate. (MH)
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