Posted on 09/21/2005 10:49:49 AM PDT by 300magnum
NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - After the storm came the carjackers and burglars. Then came the gun battles and the chemical explosions that shook the restored Victorians in New Orleans' Algiers Point neighborhood.
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"The hurricane was a breeze compared with the crime and terror that followed," said Gregg Harris, a psychotherapist who lives in the battered area.
As life returned to this close-knit neighborhood three weeks after Hurricane Katrina, residents said they hoped their experience could convince political leaders to get serious about the violence and poor services that have long been an unfortunate hallmark of their city.
"I think now it's a wake-up call," Harris said.
After the storm, the neighborhood association had to act as law enforcement and emergency response unit as city services collapsed and the police force was unable to protect them.
Citizens organized armed patrols and checked on the elderly. They slept on their porches with loaded shotguns and bolted awake when intruders stumbled on the aluminum cans they had scattered on the sidewalk.
Gunshots rang out for days, sometimes terrifyingly close.
For Harris, the first warning sign came on Tuesday, the day after the storm, when two young men hit his partner, Vinnie Pervel, over the head and drove off with his Ford van.
"A police car drove up behind me and saw it happening but he didn't do anything," said Pervel, who heads the 1,500-household neighborhood association.
Then residents heard that police vehicles were being carjacked and looters were taking guns and ammunition from nearby stores.
"We thought, 'Perhaps this is going to get really ugly,"' said Gareth Stubbs, a marine surveyor who lives across Pelican Street from Harris and Pervel.
A Texas woman who runs a Web site called Polimom.com served as a link between those who stayed and those who had left. With her help, they stockpiled an arsenal of shotguns, derringer pistols and an old AK-47.
They were put to use the next day.
"Some looters came up and pulled a gun on the wrong group of men," said Harris, who said he did not fire a gun himself and declined to say who else was involved in the battle.
"Two men were shot right there," Harris said, pointing down the street as he watered his rose bushes. "One was shot in the back, the other in the leg, and the third I was told made it a block and a half before he died in the street. I did not go down to see the body."
The next day a nearby stockpile of chemicals exploded, shaking the houses and sending a fireball 300 feet into the sky. The fire burned for another three days, Harris said.
"For five days we didn't need FEMA, the Red Cross or the National Guard," Harris said. "The neighborhood took care of itself."
"Ever been to SE Houston?"
Actually, no.
I might be wrong now that I think about it.
Is it a city full of scum?
And the Liberals say we shouldn't have the right own firearms? And the Second Amendment is old and antiquated and not needed anymore because the government will protect us?
Yeah, right!
I heard it's not a good idea to be in that area after the sun sets.
All these type of reports simply add to the confirmation of the real problem in Louisiana during and after Katrina - horrible local and state leaders and the residue of the "government plantation society".©TomPainter
You are right.
I have packed for years, and never needed it. But it is there, always. And no one should challenge me to see if I will or I won't. I will...to protect my family, property, the young, the ill and the infirm.
Semper Fi! Death to Terrorists (foreign or home grown) Looters and Carjackers included!
Waitin' on Ritaaaaaaaaaaaa!
It surely does not speak well for the criminal "justice" system, when the only time that justice is meted out effectively (no parole board will turn these people loose again), is when the authorities are totally absent from the scene. Maybe they should get out of the way more often.
I think the Texicans are heavily armed and fairly dangerous if/when provoked
They're talking about us.
Our justice system has turned into a business. Judges and lawyers out to make a fortune.
Did y'all see this article from last week?
From San Francisco, no less!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1484191/posts
(link to original: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2005/09/14/cstillwell.DTL )
Yeah, I made note of that too. May also want to add some fishing line to loosely tie them together with, and to tangle it around so as to decrease the chances of them being able to avoid jingling the cans.
Also, get a good dog that'll bark when people come on the property. Mine is useless that way - she's a very sweet and elderly yellow Lab who I often have to go in and wake up when I come home.
LQ
These hurricanes are one of, if the THE STRONGEST arguments against so called assault weapons bans.
If I am stuck in a neighborhood running wild with gun toting thugs stealing everything in sight, I want an AK-47, an AR-15, or an FN-FAL.
It's just fair...you know?
Right now, I have two high capacity handguns,a 357 revolver, two shotguns, and a high powered rifle. Now, I need more shotgun shells, 45acp and 9mm ammo.
In the coming months I will shop for a Bushmaster M-4 style rifle or one of the many semi auto versions of the AK-47. I think I want the folding stock model, in case I need to hide it on the way out of town.
Ammo is cheap at Wal Mart, Dick's Sporting goods, and other discount stores. It doesn't cost a lot to buy a couple of boxes each month.
Have you folks stocked up?
Yes, but I am considering boosting .223's
Yes, they are.
I dont buy my ammo by the box.
I buy it by the case. Why pay $20 for a box of 20 when you can pay $100 for a box of 1000?
To defend your home and your family, you actually dont need anything but a good old 12ga pump and a big bucket of buckshot.
I have more than a case of 9mm from Y2K, and need a case of 45acp. I'm thinking of a high capacity 45 auto for such occasions. I had the Glock 21, but it was even too large for me, and I like 1911s.
I agree on the shotgun point. I want to get at least one more 870 to put ghost ring sights and a surefire light on it for taking out of the house. A couple of guys with shotguns backed up with a good rifleman on the roof with even a 50 year old 7mm Mauser could discourage looters very well.
The answer is most likely zero. People in Texas already know what would happen to you if you pulled the same stunts that were done by the thugs in N.O.
As people stock water and food, they also clean their rifles.
I am told that a fair number of bad guys in New Orleans mysteriously drowned. Many with holes in them.
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