Professor's experience in New Orleans

[busaunit 0]

Subject: Professor's experience in New Orleans

> Two days after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, the Walgreen's store at the corner of Royal and Iberville streets remained locked. The dairy display case was clearly visible through the windows. It was now 48 hours without electricity, running water, plumbing. The milk, yogurt, and cheeses were beginning to spoil in the 90-degree heat. The owners and managers had locked up the food, water, pampers, and prescriptions and fled the City. Outside Walgreen's windows, residents and tourists grew increasingly thirsty
> and hungry. The much-promised federal, state and local aid never materialized and the windows at Walgreen's gave way to the looters. There was an alternative. The cops could have broken one small window and distributed the nuts, fruit juices, and bottle water in an organized and systematic manner. But they did not. Instead they spent hours playing cat and mouse, temporarily chasing away the looters.
>
> We were finally airlifted out of New Orleans two days ago and arrived home yesterday (Saturday). We have yet to see any of the TV coverage orlook at a newspaper. We are willing to guess that there were no video images or front-page pictures of European or affluent white tourists looting the Walgreen's in the French Quarter.
>
> We also suspect the media will have been inundated with "hero" images of the National Guard, the troops and the police struggling to help the "victims" of the Hurricane. What you will not see, but what we witnessed, were the real heroes and sheroes of the hurricane relief effort: the working class of New Orleans. The maintenance workers who used a fork lift to carry the sick and disabled. The engineers, who rigged, nurtured and kept the
> generators running. The electricians who improvised thick extension cords stretching over blocks to share the little electricity we had in order to free cars stuck on rooftop parking lots. Nurses who took over for mechanical ventilators and spent many hours on end manually forcing air into the lungs of unconscious patients to keep them alive. Doormen who rescued folks stuck in elevators.
>
> Refinery workers who broke into boat yards, "stealing" boats to rescue their neighbors clinging to their roofs in flood waters. Mechanics who helped hot-wire any car that could be found to ferry people out of the City. And the food service workers who scoured the commercial kitchens
> improvising communal meals for hundreds of those stranded. Most of these workers had lost their homes, and had not heard from members of their families, yet they stayed and provided the only infrastructure for the 20% of New Orleans that was not under water.
>
> On Day 2, there were approximately 500 of us left in the hotels in the French Quarter. We were a mix of foreign tourists, conference attendees like ourselves, and locals who had checked into hotels for safety and shelter from Katrina. Some of us had cell phone contact with family and
> friends outside of New Orleans. We were repeatedly told that all sorts of resources including the National Guard and scores of buses were pouring in to the City. The buses and the other resources must have been invisible because none of us had seen them.
>
> We decided we had to save ourselves. So we pooled our money and came up with $25,000 to have ten buses come and take us out of the City. Those who did not have the requisite $45.00 for a ticket were subsidized by those who did have extra money. We waited for 48 hours for the buses, spending the last 12 hours standing outside, sharing the limited water, food, and clothes we had. We created a priority boarding area for the sick, elderly and new born babies. We waited late into the night for the "imminent" arrival of the buses. The buses never arrived. We later learned that the minute they arrived at the City limits, they were commandeered by the military.
>
> By day 4 our hotels had run out of fuel and water. Sanitation was dangerously abysmal. As the desperation and despair increased, street crime as well as water levels began to rise. The hotels turned us out and locked their doors, telling us that the "officials" told us to report to the convention center to wait for more buses. As we entered the center of the City, we finally encountered the National Guard. The Guards told us we would not be allowed into the Superdome as the City's primary shelter had descended into a humanitarian and health hellhole. The guards further told us that the City's only other shelter, the Convention Center, was also descending into chaos and squalor and that the police were not allowing anyone else in. Quite naturally, we asked, "If we can't go to the only 2 shelters in the City, what was our alternative?" The guards told us that that was our problem, and no they did not have extra water to give to us. This would be the start of our numerous encounters with callous and hostile "law enforcement".
>
> We walked to the police command center at Harrah's on Canal Street and were told the same thing, that we were on our own, and no they did not have water to give us. We now numbered several hundred. We held a mass meeting to decide a course of action. We agreed to camp outside the police command post. We would be plainly visible to the media and would constitute a highly visible embarrassment to the City officials. The police told us that we could not stay. Regardless, we began to settle in and set up camp. In short order, the police commander came across the street to address our group. He told us he had a solution: we should walk to the Pontchartrain Expressway and cross the greater New Orleans Bridge where the police had buses lined up to take us out of the City. The crowd cheered and began to move.
> We called everyone back and explained to the commander that there had been lots of misinformation and wrong information and was he sure that there were buses waiting for us. The commander turned to the crowd and stated emphatically, "I swear to you that the buses are there."
>
> We organized ourselves and the 200 of us set off for the bridge with great excitement and hope. As we marched past the convention center, many locals saw our determined and optimistic group and asked where we were headed. We told them about the great news. Families immediately grabbed their few belongings and quickly our numbers doubled and then doubled again.
> Babies in strollers now joined us, people using crutches, elderly clasping walkers and others people in wheelchairs. We marched the 2-3 miles to the freeway and up the steep incline to the Bridge. It now began to pour down rain, but it did not dampen our enthusiasm.
>
> As we approached the bridge, armed Gretna sheriffs formed a line across the foot of the bridge. Before we were close enough to speak, they began firing their weapons over our heads. This sent the crowd fleeing in various directions. As the crowd scattered and dissipated, a few of us inched forward and managed to engage some of the sheriffs in conversation. We told them of our conversation with the police commander and of the commander's assurances. The sheriffs informed us there were no buses waiting. The commander had lied to us to get us to move.
>
> We questioned why we couldn't cross the bridge anyway, especially as there was little traffic on the 6-lane highway. They responded that the West Bank was not going to become New Orleans and there would be no Superdomes in their City. These were code words for if you are poor and black, you are not crossing the Mississippi River and you were not getting out of New Orleans.
>
> Our small group retreated back down Highway 90 to seek shelter from the rain under an overpass. We debated our options and in the end decided to build an encampment in the middle of the Ponchartrain Expressway on the center divide, between the O'Keefe and Tchoupitoulas exits. We reasoned we would be visible to everyone, we would have some security being on an elevated freeway and we could wait and watch for the arrival of the yet to be seen buses.
>
> All day long, we saw other families, individuals and groups make the same trip up the incline in an attempt to cross the bridge, only to be turned away. Some chased away with gunfire, others simply told no, others to be verbally berated and humiliated. Thousands of New Orleaners were prevented and prohibited from self-evacuating the City on foot.
>
> Meanwhile, the only two City shelters sank further into squalor and disrepair. The only way across the bridge was by vehicle. We saw workers stealing trucks, buses, moving vans, semi-trucks and any car that could be hotwired. All were packed with people trying to escape the misery New Orleans had become.
>
> Our little encampment began to blossom. Someone stole a water delivery truck and brought it up to us. Let's hear it for looting! A mile or so down the freeway, an army truck lost a couple of pallets of C-rations on a tight turn. We ferried the food back to our camp in shopping carts. Now secure with the two necessities, food and water; cooperation, community, and creativity flowered. We organized a clean up and hung garbage bags from the rebar poles. We made beds from wood pallets and cardboard. We designated a storm drain as the bathroom and the kids built an elaborate enclosure for privacy out of plastic, broken umbrellas, and other scraps. We even organized a food recycling system where individuals could swap out parts of C-rations (applesauce for babies and candies for kids!).
>
> This was a process we saw repeatedly in the aftermath of Katrina. When individuals had to fight to find food or water, it meant looking out for yourself only. You had to do whatever it took to find water for your kids or food for your parents. When these basic needs were met, people began to look out for each other, working together and constructing a community.
>
> If the relief organizations had saturated the City with food and water in the first 2 or 3 days, the desperation, the frustration and the ugliness would not have set in. Flush with the necessities, we offered food and water to passing families and individuals. Many decided to stay and join us.
> Our encampment grew to 80 or 90 people. From a woman with a battery powered radio we learned that the media was talking about us. Up in full view on the freeway, every relief and news organizations saw us on their way into the City. Officials were being asked what they were going to do about all those families living up on the freeway? The officials responded they were going to take care of us. Some of us got a sinking feeling. "Taking care of us" had an ominous tone to it.
>
> Unfortunately, our sinking feeling (along with the sinking City) was correct. Just as dusk set in, a Gretna Sheriff showed up, jumped out of his patrol vehicle, aimed his gun at our faces, screaming, "Get off the fucking freeway". A helicopter arrived and used the wind from its blades to
> blow away our flimsy structures. As we retreated, the sheriff loaded up his truck with our food and water. Once again, at gunpoint, we were forced off the freeway. All the law enforcement agencies appeared threatened when we congregated or congealed into groups of 20 or more. In every congregation of "victims" they saw "mob" or "riot". We felt safety in numbers. Our "we must stay together" was impossible because the agencies would force us into small atomized groups.
>
> In the pandemonium of having our camp raided and destroyed, we scattered once again. Reduced to a small group of 8 people, in the dark, we sought refuge in an abandoned school bus, under the freeway on Cilo Street.
> We were hiding from possible criminal elements but equally and definitely, we were hiding from the police and sheriffs with their martial law, curfew and shoot-to-kill policies.
>
> The next days, our group of 8 walked most of the day, made contact with New Orleans Fire Department and were eventually airlifted out by an urban search and rescue team. We were dropped off near the airport and managed to catch a ride with the National Guard. The two young guardsmen apologized for the limited response of the Louisiana guards. They explained that a large section of their unit was in Iraq and that meant they were shorthanded and were unable to complete all the tasks they were assigned.
>
> We arrived at the airport on the day a massive airlift had begun. The airport had become another Superdome. We 8 were caught in a press of humanity as flights were delayed for several hours while George Bush landed briefly at the airport for a photo op. After being evacuated on a coast guard cargo plane, we arrived in San Antonio, Texas.
>
> There the humiliation and dehumanization of the official relief effort continued. We were placed on buses and driven to a large field where we were forced to sit for hours and hours. Some of the buses did not have air-conditioners. In the dark, hundreds if us were forced to share two filthy overflowing porta-potties. Those who managed to make it out with any possessions (often a few belongings in tattered plastic bags) we were subjected to two different dog-sniffing searches.
>
> Most of us had not eaten all day because our C-rations had been confiscated at the airport because the rations set off the metal detectors. Yet, no food had been provided to the men, women, children, elderly, disabled as they sat for hours waiting to be "medically screened" to make sure we
> were not carrying any communicable diseases.
>
> This official treatment was in sharp contrast to the warm, heart-felt reception given to us by the ordinary Texans. We saw one airline worker give her shoes to someone who was barefoot. Strangers on the street offered us money and toiletries with words of welcome. Throughout, the official
> relief effort was callous, inept, and racist. There was more suffering than need be. Lives were lost that did not need to be lost.
>
> Joel Stillerman, PhD
> Assistant Professor
> Dept. of Sociology
> Grand Valley State University
> 2166 AuSable Hall
> Allendale, MI 49401
>

[namgrunt 0]

AND YOU TRUST THE GOV.
WEATHER ITS CALLED REP.,DEM.,IND. ETC.
THEY ALL SUCK




..

59 YEARS,OVERWEIGHT,BALDIND,X-GRUNT
LAST MIL. JUMP VIET-NAM(QUAN-TRI)
www.dzmemories.com

[rehmwa 2]

Quote

Subject: Professor's experience in New Orleans

> On Day 2, there were approximately 500 of us ..... came up with $25,000 to have ten buses come and take us out of the City 50 people per bus - does that sound right?. .... We now numbered several hundred. ...the 200 of us set off for the bridge with great excitement and hope....... quickly our numbers doubled 400 and then doubled again 800...... seek shelter from the rain under an overpass 800 people fit under an overpass?. ...... Let's hear it for looting! ......recycling system where individuals could swap out parts of C-rations (applesauce for babies and candies for kids!)....... grew to 80 or 90 people grew to 90 people from 800 - nice ...... > There the humiliation and dehumanization of the official relief effort continued. ..... our C-rations had been confiscated at the airport because the rations set off the metal detectors are those metal foil bags or mylar?. ...... Throughout, the official
> relief effort was callous, inept, and racist.
>
> Joel Stillerman, PhD
> Assistant Professor
> Dept. of Sociology
> Grand Valley State University
> 2166 AuSable Hall
> Allendale, MI 49401
>

He hit all the major points - getting shot at, officials stealing his food, recycling, groups working to be visible to the media (instead of getting somewhere safe), racism, not having air conditioning, babies being starve, dogs sniffing, looting, Roscoe P Coltrane the sherriff stereotypes. He muct be very proud.

I do believe that once he got out it was a group of 8, (not 800 or more), I do believe his tiny group was obnoxious and was upset at not getting A/C. I do believe locals were either asswipes or overwhelmed or just plain corrupt and likely different groups suffered from different aspects of any of the above.

Bet they give him tenure for that one in some sociology department somewhere.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[busaunit 0]

well this sad joke i heard the other day, dosent sound that funny any more

who said the yanks were dumb?they build an underwater city,then fill it with black people! thats genious.


then i heard this comment on tv

i love my country and i love my president but there not doing anything to help us?


what is going on, got to hurt the sepos that think for themself.


They should of got out when they had the chance?still the dumbest come back i have every heard.

[busaunit 0]

Phone: 616-331-3129
> Fax: 616-331-3735
> e-mail: [email protected]


ask him yourself

[rehmwa 2]

THANKS

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[wmw999 2,148]

I have a degree in sociology
Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[kallend 1,647]

Quote

I have a degree in sociology
Wendy W.

But, but... it doesn't take a rocket scientist...

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[billvon 2,434]

>He hit all the major points -

His story was corroborated by an EMT who was there for an emergency medical convention. The EMT's stayed because they thought they could help. Afterwards, he joined this group and was stopped at the bridge. But because he knew local emergency workers, he was able to get on a borrowed phone and get his group permission to leave the city.

[skycop 0]

This guy had an agenda from the beginning. I'm sure this whole situation was a cluster, disasters usally are until things get organized. There is plenty of blame to go around, but some people (especially the left) have WAY to much confidence in the govt.
I like when he said "i guess we are on our own", gee, what a concept.

Let's look at his time line, he was evacuated it appears on Thursday. I'm sure he wasn't comfortable but, he certainly did'nt starve and was evacuated in four days from the worst natural disaster in American history.

We will learn lessons from this and hopefully not repeat the same mistakes again. The main screw-ups in my opinion are at the local and state level. Let's face it, N.O. has always had one of, if not the most corrupt local governments in the nation. This could not have happened at a worse location for several reasons.

The finger pointing needs to stop and we all need to roll our sleeves up and fix the many problems.
IMHO

"Just 'cause I'm simple, don't mean I'm stewpid!"

[kallend 1,647]

Quote

This guy had an agenda from the beginning. I'm sure this whole situation was a cluster, disasters usally are until things get organized. There is plenty of blame to go around, but some people (especially the left) have WAY to much confidence in the govt.

Really? I find that most on the left have no confidence at all in the current Federal government.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[FallRate 0]

One of the EMT's and another woman in the group were interviewed on NPR. It's worth a listen if they have posted it on the their site.

Apparently the partner of the EMT who was interviewed was able to contact his union president and that person knew someone in FEMA who made a special allowance for the EMT's to cross the bridge. At the bridge, the EMT's were told that only immediate family was allowed out...so the EMT's were a little creative were able to get about 5 others out.

This is one of many stories that will come out of this, but this has been enough to make me ill.

FallRate

[skycop 0]

This would have been just as screwed up under ANY administration. Your agenda comes shining through.

The main problems were with the local and state govts., your a smart guy, read my post.

"Just 'cause I'm simple, don't mean I'm stewpid!"

[billvon 2,434]

>This guy had an agenda from the beginning.

Perhaps, but the basics of his story are accurate, since they have been corroborated independently by someone else in that group.

>Let's look at his time line, he was evacuated it appears on Thursday.
> I'm sure he wasn't comfortable but, he certainly did'nt starve . . .

No one is saying he did. It is noteworthy that he was forced at gunpoint to turn around and go back INTO New Orleans. Which is an interesting alternative to the 'blame the victims' position that some on the right have taken.

>The main screw-ups in my opinion are at the local and state level.

I think there were screw-ups at all levels. Bush has already admitted that the federal response was a colossal failure.

>The finger pointing needs to stop and we all need to roll our
>sleeves up and fix the many problems.

I agree! And furthermore I hope we've learned our lesson, and that our preparations for Rita (at both state and federal levels) is a bit more competent.

[wmw999 2,148]

Quote

our preparations for Rita (at both state and federal levels) is a bit more competent.

Galveston beginning and helping with voluntary evacuation

Looks like Galveston is trying to work on it. I'm sure they won't get everything right, and there will be much finger-pointing at what a clusterfuck it is.

If people are evacuated, and the hurricane doesn't come, well, then a lot of people are going to be pointing different fingers. Sometimes it probably sucks to be in public service. It's easy to say "if you can't take the heat get out of the kitchen." But, ya know, if the heat keeps getting turned up, only the stupid and incompetent are going to keep trying. Heck of a system, that.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[skycop 0]

There was no colossal failure on the federal level. Bush took responsiblity for a slow federal response.
There was a colossal failure of leadership at the state and local level from the very beginning. From the govenor crying during the storm, to the mayor of N.O. having a temper tantrum on a local radio station. These failures set the tone of utter dependence from the very beginning. Calm and collected leadership could have prevented many things from steamrolling into what it did, chaos.

"Just 'cause I'm simple, don't mean I'm stewpid!"

[billvon 2,434]

>There was no colossal failure on the federal level.

You'll have to take that up with Bush and the other republicans who are describing the federal government's response as "an embarrassment" and "unacceptable." He's taken responsibility for his mistakes; it's unfortunate that some of his followers can't accept that.

>There was a colossal failure of leadership at the state and local
>level from the very beginning.

I'd also call appointing an incompetent Arabian horse judge to be head of FEMA as a pretty colossal failure. But to Bush's credit, he has admitted he made mistakes and is now willing to fix them (which so far has included canning the horse judge.)

>Calm and collected leadership could have prevented many things
> from steamrolling into what it did, chaos.

Agreed. Especially from the organization who was legally obligated to direct aid efforts - FEMA.

[skycop 0]

Thousands of people DID NOT die, starvation did not and is not going on. THAT would be a colossal failure. The response was at the most, 48 hrs late. The bitching and finger pointing started much sooner. That is a failure at ground zero by the first layer of leadership.
The head of FEMA screwed up and was replaced, valuable lesson learned. He perfomed acceptably during last years hurricane season.
FEMA is legally obligated to direct aid efforts only after initial steps have taken by local and state officials.

"Just 'cause I'm simple, don't mean I'm stewpid!"

[billvon 2,434]

>Thousands of people DID NOT die . . .

Really? Death count is at ~1000 now and rising. I hope you're right, but there are still huge parts of New Orleans that haven't been searched.

>The head of FEMA screwed up and was replaced, valuable lesson
>learned. He perfomed acceptably during last years hurricane season.

Agreed there.

>FEMA is legally obligated to direct aid efforts only after initial steps
> have taken by local and state officials.

And after a disaster area is declared, right. All that happened.

[cloudseeker2001 0]

It is wonderful that this person was fortunate enough to get a first hand look at what happens when complete anarchy occurs. I think New Orleans could be a perfect model of any city in the US when ANY type of disaster strikes because America is easily fooled by a false sense of feeling secure and the idea that the government(local, state and federal) will help. No doubt the local law will only differ from the local thugs by their uniforms and they will provide no help to you, as an unknown idividual, whatsoever. New Orleans became a real life Escape from New York for the 48 hours or so before the military began to move in.

I have heard stories from medical people who volunteerd at the Astrodome of exactly what the government, in all forms, did and did not do for those people. It is sickening.

I hope this guy writes a book, I would like to read it.

"Some call it heavenly in it's brilliance,
others mean and rueful of the western dream"

[cloudseeker2001 0]

Quote

Thousands of people DID NOT die, starvation did not and is not going on. THAT would be a colossal failure. The response was at the most, 48 hrs late. The bitching and finger pointing started much sooner. That is a failure at ground zero by the first layer of leadership.
The head of FEMA screwed up and was replaced, valuable lesson learned. He perfomed acceptably during last years hurricane season.
FEMA is legally obligated to direct aid efforts only after initial steps have taken by local and state officials.

The bitching and finger pointing is what got GWB off his ass to realize this is a problem of Titanic proportions and could only be solved through the federal government. I feel the Gov of LA and the mayor did a great job of doing exactly what they had to do to get America and Washington to realize this is not a TV show, it is for real!

"Some call it heavenly in it's brilliance,
others mean and rueful of the western dream"

[FallRate 0]

Quote

>There was no colossal failure on the federal level.

You'll have to take that up with Bush and the other republicans who are describing the federal government's response as "an embarrassment" and "unacceptable." He's taken responsibility for his mistakes; it's unfortunate that some of his followers can't accept that.

"His followers" may be willing to accept that the Federal Government could have reacted better to this crisis and that Bush has taken responsibility for this, but "his followers" are generally unwilling to accept the allegation that this was almost entirely Bush's fault. An accusation you have made in a round-a-bout manner by calling the federal response a colossal failure.

The failures seen at the state and local levels far outshine those of the federal response.

FallRate

[billvon 2,434]

>but "his followers" are generally unwilling to accept the allegation that
>this was almost entirely Bush's fault.

No one has asked them to. It would just be nice, for once, to see an acceptance of what the guy said without an immediate slam of someone else to deflect the blame away from him.

>The failures seen at the state and local levels far outshine those of
>the federal response.

Of all responders in this crisis, by far the fastest and hardest-working have been the blamehounds desperate for a scapegoat to deflect responsibility away from 'their guy.' Congratulations on finding a good one in Louisiana and New Orleans. Best start preparing for Rita.

[rickjump1 0]

Quote

The bitching and finger pointing is what got GWB off his ass to realize this is a problem of Titanic proportions and could only be solved through the federal government. I feel the Gov of LA and the mayor did a great job of doing exactly what they had to do to get America and Washington to realize this is not a TV show, it is for real!

I disagree. The City of New Orleans has had at least 2 dress rehearsal evacuations before this (real storms that changed course thank God) that did not go well because the Mayor's decision to evacuate the city came too late. The professor needs to watch the weather channel during hurricane season.

Do your part for global warming: ban beans and hold all popcorn farts.

[Michele 1]

Um, I have a question about this, corroborated or not...

He opens with the sentence "Two days after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, the Walgreen's store at the corner of Royal and Iberville streets remained locked."

Which means he stayed in NOLA after the mandatory evacuation orders were received...

and then, he goes on to say:

Quote

We decided we had to save ourselves. So we pooled our money and came up with $25,000 to have ten buses come and take us out of the City.

All right, so why did he stay again? What was the purpose of intentionally staying in an evacuation area? Apparently, he was able to get the money to leave, so why didn't he? What on earth was the purpose for him staying?

And if there were enough people to raise $25,000, why wasn't any of this done ***before the damned hurricane*** in the first place? (I mean, get together, pool cash, get the fuck out of the time bomb...)

Sigh.....just my thoughts. Take it, leave it, whatever.

Ciels-
Michele

~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek
While our hearts lie bleeding?~