Victims of Hurricane Katrina rescued by boat in Metarie, La.
Posted 9/16/05
By Kevin Whitelaw
In New Orleans on Wednesday, August 31, two days after the storm, evacuees are still crowded into the Superdome; others have begun to head toward the convention center, which is on dry ground but has no relief supplies. Later, the second evacuations–from the city itself–begin. Meantime, help is hard to find in neighboring parishes. A timeline of the period from Wednesday to Saturday: Part I:How local officials prepared for Katrina Part II:Getting through the storm
Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco asks for additional troops from the president. Some questions have been raised about whether she requested federal or National Guard troops.
"She requested troops. Period," says Mark Smith, spokesman for the state's emergency preparedness office. "We didn't give a damn where we got them from just as long as we got some."
Meanwhile, search-and-rescue efforts kick into high gear, as reinforcements begin to arrive. It is also around this time when reports of looting and other violence come flooding in.
"The looting thing just blew me away," says Col. William Doran, operations chief for the state emergency preparedness office. The rumor mill goes into overdrive, especially with reports of rescue personnel getting fired upon.
"In none of our planning had the issue of sustaining gunfire at our rescue personnel and vehicles been planned for," says Smith. "It also came as a surprise that even with the graveness of the situation, some area residents still did not want to leave." Just how much shooting really happened, however, remains unclear. The rumors, however, are enough to slow down rescue and evacuation efforts. Even as EOC officials are asking FEMA for yet more buses to handle the crowds, many truckers and bus drivers refuse to enter the city without security after having heard the reports of violence on the radio.
"Suddenly, everyone is demanding security," says Doran. Blanco also issues Executive Order KBB2005-31 to use school buses from the state's parishes in the evacuation effort.
Trouble in evacuating the dome
Lt. Col. Jacques Thibodeaux, director of military support to civilian operations for the Louisiana National Guard, is handed the daunting task of organizing the evacuation of the Superdome even as conditions deteriorate further inside the stadium. Tensions rise amid shortages of food and water. There are only 600 soldiers to secure more than 30,000 people.
"Everyone was fed, but a lot of the less than desirable occupants began to prey on some of the weaker elements," says Capt. Euclid Talley, an operations officer for the Louisiana National Guard who was at the dome. But there is no easy route for buses to take into the dome with all the flooding. Even to come into the city still entails an hour-and-a-half detour. Soldiers have to secure the route. And Thibodeaux has to figure out how to get evacuees to dry land. He takes several soldiers out in a tall military truck through floodwaters to scout out the options.
Finally, he finds a solution–take them over on escalators in a covered catwalk to a shopping concourse inside the Hyatt hotel and down to Loyola Boulevard, which is still dry. The problem is getting enough buses.
