New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina

Well a few people said that taking the year off to go travelling would change me, I just didn't expect the change to be so quick.

For those of you you are not aware of the route that I have been travelling, I arrived in New York on 15 August for a few days. I then moved onto Philadelphia, St. Louis and Memphis for a few days each before arriving in New Orleans on Friday 26 August. What I wasn't aware of at the time (having not seen the news, or been informed by Greyhound or the Hostel management) was that Hurricane Katrina was also planning on a visit. I only found this out on the Saturday afternoon, whilst having a coffee in one of the hotels just outside of the French Quarter. However, by that time all transportation out of New Orleans had been cancelled, leaving only the people with private cars able to evacuate.

With a group of others at the hostel, we decided (after advice - finally - from the hostel management) to try an sit out the storm in the hostel. However, after seeing the news in a local bar (just about the only place where we could still get food) we decided that the hurricane was going to be stronger that we felt the hostel buildings could stand and hence we headed off to the Superdome. Little did we know that the storm was going to be the least of our worries.

After several hours queueing up to get in and having to hand across any potential weapons (which included items from my first aid and sewing kits and my knife/fork/spoon), we settled in for what we hoped was a day or two. Later that evening I had my first experience of MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat, otherwise known as Meals Rejected by Ethiopians). In reality they're not that bad!

There were a couple of anxious moments during the storns (the roof leaking, a couple of holes appearing, the shutters getting blown off and then being moved into the corridor areas as a precaution in case the roof had been damaged sufficiently to leave it vulnerable to collapse). However, all in all, the first hours / days were relatively benign.

However, by Monday night / Tuesday morning, with the influx of more survivors which basically tripled the population in the dome (we think there were 8000 people in the dome on Sunday, rising to about 25000 by Tuesday), things started to deteriorate. The drains had already stopped working and hence the toilets were in a very bad state, overflowing and with an incredible stench (not helped by the fact that there was no lighting in them, and that some people seemed to be just using the floor to relieve themselves). Incredibly, some people still 'camped' out on the corridor areas just outside the toilets, it being some of the only free floor space.

By Tuesday, the food and water situation was also beginning to worsen. Luckily, within our group, we had been conserving rations anyway (and we had brought some food in with us). However, the water was really a problem with the heat and the fact that by Tuesday the daily ration had been reduced to 1 litre per person (anyone who has seen the Sphere handbook will known that the internationally agreed minimum standard is at least 2 litres per day).

Also by Tuesday, the international elements of the dome were slowly being consolidated into a single area (although still within the general dome population). This was done so that if our embassies wanted to get in touch with us we would be easy to find. It also meant that we started getting some clear information from the National Guard, regarding the situation both within the dome and outside. It was via this that we started to hear about the first of the rapes (of a little girl) and of a suicide. The posture of the military was also noticeably changing - at first no weapons were held, then shoulder-slung behind them, shoulder-slung in front of them and then, by Tuesday evening (when we could hear the first looting of a soft drinks machine) the weapons were held in the ready position. Considering this, the news that the generators were expected to fail (and hence leave us in darkness) late on that night was not good news and hence we tried to organise ourselves in a smaller area, with the men and the larger backpacks being used as an outer perimeter.

By Wednesday, rumours started to spread that the food had run out and the tension in the dome really started to deteriorate. Luckily by early afternoon, we had been moved to the nearby Arena which was also serving as a Medical Area. This was a source of great relief. It also gave us to chance to help out with the evacuation of the sick and infirm (chatting to them to keep them calm, helping them with food and keeping them cool by acting as a giant human air conditioning unit, fanning them with whatever came to hand - cardboard, fast food signs, etc.). The situation within the dome had deteriorated to the point that the miltary had moved out and held a security perimeter outside the dome itself (a Guardsman was brought in later that night with a gunshot wound). A ray of light however, was the sight of a young boy helping in the Medical Area, this being more incredible when you realise that he had lost his entire family.

On Thursday we were 'smuggled' to a 'safe area', which was the basement floor of a large hotel. What we didn't know, at first at least, was that this was still only a few hundred yards from the dome.

Finally, on Friday morning we were evacuated from New Orleans to Dallas, Texas. The sight of the volunteers who welcomed us at the state border with hot food, cold drinks, fruit (the thought of which had been one of many food fantasies over the course of the previous few days), first aid, clothes and clean (!) toilets was extremely emotional and many of our group were moved to tears.

Saturday was spent in a hotel in Dallas (provided by the British Embassy - amongst others), starting the recovery process through discussions with members of the American Red Cross, and the embassy staffs arranging transportation either back home or to our next destinations. Whilst everyone was happy to be moving on, the breaking up of the group was probably almost the most difficult thin that we all had to endure. I finally got to Denver, Colorado, yesterday (Sunday) and it is from there that I am writing this.

If you don't mind me preaching for a few moments I want to leave you with a couple of messages. Whilst the situations in New Orleans and the dome were very bad, the vast majority of the people are good people trying to get though a very stressing period. The vast majority of the people helping us (the National Guard, the medical staffs, etc.) were doing so knowing that they didn't have a home to go back to (and in some cases not knowing for definate that their families were safe. Also the international group (including me) have in the wider scheme of things only lost a few days of our lifes. For the people of New Orleans (which had a very large minority living in poverty), they have lost their homes, their jobs and, for some, friends and family. This is not something that the city is going to recover from in weeks, it is going to take months, if not years. Anything that you can do to help, either through direct donations or by arranging events, would be very much appreciated.