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Aug312005
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Hurricane Katrina: Chaos, Desperation, Lawlessness… |
Yesterday afternoon Dad decided to stay at the hotel through today. He had to (try and) make a lot of phone calls to friends, business associates and creditors. I’m not sure he got a lot accomplished. I was in the hotel room most of the day, watching the news and whatnot. With whatever weather damage put aside in a respect I can’t quite describe, our concerns and a lot of news attention turned to the rampant chaos and lawlessness taking place in New Orleans. The looting of businesses has escalated incredibly. Armed gangs now roam the street of New Orleans, ransacking businesses and homes, terrorizing, perhaps murdering survivors and carjacking vehicles. Seeing a beloved city become a disaster area overnight was pretty hard to comprehend in itself, but seeing New Orleans descent into a war zone in incredibly disheartening. Along with the worst in humanity on display, the best is there as well, although not as prevalent in the news media of course information is still at a premium. Thousands of people have been rescued by boats and helicopters from rooftops. I would assume a lot of the rescuing is taking place in New Orleans East, where the flooding is pretty bad. While I still think it was really stupid of anyone to with the means to evacuate to stay in town, I still feel pretty bad for the tens of thousand who are clamoring for food and water not that that’s worth anything. Even though we’ve probably lost our home and livelihood too, I almost feel guilty as I sit in our air-conditioned hotel room sending emails regarding eBay purchases I won’t receive and wondering why I didn’t pack my lint roller. Dad heard from Stephanie today, one the nurses. She is in Dallas with her family. We know Bianca [last] is in Lafayette. Stephanie said Diedra, who was with her husband who works at the Ritz-Carlton, went home with her kids after the storm and soon after had to be rescued from a roof top. I think Dad said they are all in Houston now. I heard from Bianca online this evening. We had not spoken since Sunday night, when she and her mom evacuated, but only as far as Hattiesburg. She managed to get internet access this evening, even though Hattiesburg is not in good shape. There is no power, water or phone service there, either cell or land line. She said they may leave soon to someplace with better circumstances. I did get out of the hotel room fo a good while this evening. I talked to Khadijah in Florida on the phone for the first time in about a week while sitting outside on the 9th floor pool deck as the sun set. We talked for a couple hours. I guess it goes without saying what the subject matter was. I took a couple pictures of the parts of the city we can see from the hotel. I also walked a mile on a treadmill while I was still talking to Khadijah. Late in the evening I had an IM conversation with Mylena in Costa Rica. She said she hasn’t heard from her boyfriend who lives in New Orleans since Sunday. His family intended on evacuating though. Cell phones are still not very useful so I’d imagine he’s just been unable to reach her by phone. I got to bed shortly before two.