EYEWITNESS REPORT FROM NEW ORLEANS

[Guest guest]

Eyewitness Report

From New Orleans

From Alicia Jrapko

ajrapko

9-6-5

 

On Saturday September 3, award-winning filmmaker Gloria La Riva,

internationally-acclaimed photographer Bill Hackwell and A.N.S.W.E.R.

Youth & Student Coordinator Caneisha Mills arrived in New Orleans as

an A.N.S.W.E.R. delegation to document an accurate account of the

situation and provide solidarity and support to those in need

 

The following is an eyewitness report of the crisis in the area

written on Sunday, September 4....

_____

 

Media reports on September 2 describe anarchy and general chaos as

the climate in all of New Orleans. The national media reports that

hope, supplies and food were now being distributed in the area.

However, once we arrived in the Algiers district of New Orleans after

seven checkpoints, the reality shows otherwise.

 

Algiers

 

While 80 percent of New Orleans was submerged in water, Algiers is

one of the few districts that has been spared as it sits higher than

most of the city. An historic district established in 1719, Algiers

is on the west bank of the Mississippi river, across from the French

Quarter. Probably 15% of the residents still remain behind, most of

them determined to stay in their homes. The majority of homes are

still intact, although many have suffered damage. While their houses

survived, the peoples' chance of survival seemed very bleak since

there was no electricity or disbursement of food, water or other

supplies.

 

" Imagine being in a city, poor, without any money and all of a sudden

you are told to leave and you don't even have a bicycle, " stated

Malik Rahim, a community activist in the Algiers section of New

Orleans. " 90% of the people don't even have cars. "

 

One woman told us it was not possible for her to evacuate. She

said, " I can't leave. I don't have a car and I have nine children. "

She and her husband are getting by with the help of several men in

the community who are joining resources to provide for their

neighbors.

 

The government claims that people can get water, but residents have

to travel at least 17 miles to the nearest water and ice distribution

center. Only one case of water is available per family. Countless

people have no way to drive.

 

There is a huge military and police presence but none of it to

provide services. All of them, north and south of the river, are

stationed in front of private buildings and abandoned stores,

protecting private property.

 

The goods they are driving in are for their own forces.

 

Not one of them has delivered water to Algiers or gone to the houses

to see if sick or elderly people need help. There is no door-to-door

survey to see who was injured. The overwhelming majority of people

who have stayed in Algiers are Black but some are white. One white

man in his late 50s in Algiers pointed across the street to a 10-acre

grassy lot. It looks like a beautiful park. He said, " I had my

daughter call FEMA. I told them I want to donate this land to the

people in need. They could set up 100 tractor trailers with aid, they

could set up tents. No one has ever called me back. " He is clearly

angry.

 

Although some of the residents do express fear of burglaries into

houses, acts of heroism, sacrifice and solidarity are evident

everywhere.

 

Steve, a white man in his 40s, knocks on Malik's front door. He tells

us, " Malik has kept this neighborhood together. We don't know what

we'd do without his help. " He has come in because he needs to use the

phone. Malik's street is the only one with phones still working.

 

Malik and three of his friends have been delivering food, water and

ice to those in need three times a day, searching everywhere for

goods.

 

There is a strong suspicion among the residents that this is a

deliberately forced removal. Algiers is full of quaint, historic

French-style houses, with a high real estate value, and signs of

gentrification are evident.

 

Downtown New Orleans

 

Although entry is prohibited into downtown New Orleans north and east

of the Mississippi, because of extensive flooding and the almost

total evacuation, we were able to get in on Sunday.

 

The Superdome is still surrounded by water and all types of military -

helicopters, army trucks, etc - are coming in and out of the area;

however, most of the people have already left. On US-90, the only

road out of New Orleans, convoys of National Guard troops are pouring

into the city, too late for many. According to an emergency issue of

The Times-Picayune, 16,000 National Guard troops now occupy the city.

 

Water is premium and not available. One African American couple

approached our car. The woman asked us, " Do you have water you could

give us? We have four kids. When they told us to leave before the

hurricane we couldn't. We have no car and no money. "

 

Undoubtedly it is similar in the other states that got the direct hit

of Katrina, Mississippi and Alabama. On the radio we hear reports of

completely demolished towns. What differentiates the rest of the Gulf

coast from New Orleans is that the many thousands of deaths in New

Orleans were absolutely preventable and occurred after the hurricane.

On everyone's lips is the cutting in federal funds to strengthen the

levees of Lake Pontchartrain.

 

Two reporters from New York tell us they just came from the New

Orleans airport emergency hospital that was set up.

 

New Orleans International Airport

 

The New Orleans International Airport was converted into an emergency

hospital center. Thousands of people were evacuated there to

getsupplies and food, and for transportation that would take them out

of the city. Many people arrived with only one or two bags, their

entire lives minimized to a few belongings.

 

Some people did not want to leave their homes, but say they were

forced to do so. For example, one white woman and her husband,

Pauline Noble and Jerome Hill, were forced to evacuate. Pauline

said, " The military told us that we had one minute to evacuate. We

said that we weren't ready and he said they can't force us to leave

but if we don't leave anybody left would be arrested . but it was the

end of the month. The two of us have been living for a couple of

months on $600 a month and rent is $550. At the end of the month, we

only had $20 and 1/8 of a tank of gas. There was no way we could

leave. "

 

When it became apparent that nobody was coming back to pick them up,

the couple walked five miles to the airport to see if they could get

help.

 

Disaster Medical Assistance Teams, doctors, nurses and community

organizations came from as far as San Diego, California and Kentucky

to provide support during the crisis. None of them were dispersed

into the community. When we arrived at the airport on Sunday,

September 4, there were approximately 20 medical people for every one

patient while people in regions such as Algiers and the 9th ward were

left to fend for themselves.

 

The majority of people in New Orleans blame the local and national

government for the catastrophe. One young Black man said, " The

government abandoned us . [it's] pre-meditated murder. " Another

said, " Why would you [the government] protect a building . instead of

rescuing people that have been without food or water for three or

four days? It seems like that was the plan. . We couldn't starve them

out, the hurricane didn't kill them, it seems planned. "

 

Baton Rouge

 

As we drive to Baton Rouge tonight to visit evacuated people, we hear

on local radio that possibly 10,000 people have died in the flooded

areas of New Orleans. Tonight in one announcement, we hear the names

of some of the missing people still being searched for, a 90-year-old

woman named Lisa, a man 102 years old, two women 82 and 85 years old.

The elderly, the most vulnerable, left to their own devices.

 

Bodies are lying everywhere, and hidden in attics and apartments. The

announcer describes how one body, rotting after days in the sun, was

surrounded by a wall fashioned from fallen bricks by survivors, and

given a provisional burial to give her some dignity. The sign placed

next to her body said, " Here lies Vera, God Help Us. "

 

At a Red Cross shelter outside of Baton Rouge, we meet Emmanuel, who

can't find his wife and three sons after the floods. His story is

shocking. His home is near the 17th Street Canal, where the

Pontchartrain levee broke through.

 

" I stayed behind to rescue my neighbors while I sent my wife and kids

to dry land, " he says. It is difficult for him to relate what

happened. He had a small boat so he went from house to house picking

up neighbors. While doing so, he encountered many bodies in the

water.

 

" My best friend's body was floating by in the water. One mother whose

baby drowned tied her baby to a fence so she could bury him after she

returned. " Because troops kept driving by him and others without

helping them, he had to walk 30 miles north until he was picked up.

 

This crisis is a crime of the highest magnitude. The Bush

Administration is always able to find money to fund wars that will

benefit the rich of this country; however, when it comes to providing

aid to respond to a disaster of this magnitude, funds, supplies and

resources are lacking. From Bush on down, they should be indicted.