verbena-19

In Katrina's Wake, Refugees Wander the South

From the Sydney Morning Herald

Refugees flee at last, only to wander the South
By: Mark Coultan, Herald Correspondent in Baton Rouge
September 5, 2005

Soon New Orleans will be left to the dead.

At last, the evacuation of the city's desperate residents is working. The cavalry is arriving in the form of 7000 active-duty troops and 13,000 from the National Guard, as President George Bush gets the message in no uncertain terms: the victims of Hurricane Katrina can wait no longer.

The city's Superdome and convention centre were all but emptied yesterday, with more than 19,000 leaving the centre. Buses are streaming out of New Orleans, dispersing a tide of refugees across the southern states.

Many get on board without knowing where they are going. They might end up in shelters in Louisiana, Texas or Arkansas. More than 2000 sick people were flown even further away.

As America and the world tried to comprehend how the superpower took so long to rescue its people, the Homeland Security Secretary, Michael Chertoff, offered this explanation: "It was as if an atomic bomb was dropped on New Orleans."

The shell-shocked authorities simply were not prepared.

"This is probably the worst catastrophe or set of catastrophes ... in the history of the country," Mr Chertoff said.

It had "exceeded the foresight of the planners and maybe anybody's foresight".

Hurricane Katrina has already given Mr Bush some hindsight. Accepting that emergency relief was inadequate, he sent in the 82nd Airborne Division, crack paratroopers who are usually the shock troops in war. Convoys kilometres long drove into the city.

Senator David Vitter of Louisiana, a Republican, suggested the death toll could be 10,000 but admitted that was not based on any solid figures. "I hope and I pray we don't get near that."

Hurricane Katrina has ripped families apart.

At the River Centre in Baton Rouge, now home to 5000 people, Red Cross workers had a list of 28 children whose parents were looking for them; they had found only one.

In the rush to evacuate, some parents had sent their children out of the city with relatives, neighbours or friends. Some mothers were separated from newborn babies who became stranded in the city's maternity wards.

After the worst of human nature was on show in the days after the hurricane, the best is now coming out. At a rest stop for refugees in Alexandria, Louisiana, people were dropping off clothes, shoes, toiletries and medicines.

Authorities were preparing to provide morgues, as the city coroner's office was under water.

Anxiety mingled with relief on the streets of surrounding cities. Keisel Walker burst into tears when she saw her brother, George Bailey. "Thank Jesus, thank Jesus," she said, her arms wrapped around him as her five children stood on the street corner.

In the 38-degree heat, Kevin Bowden and his wife, Valencia, are living on a couple of square metres of concrete floor in Baton Rouge's River Centre, with their seven-month-old baby, Kevin jnr, and relative Valerie Sumas. They had driven all over southern Louisiana looking for a place to stay, finally being taken by a motel. They want to thank the manager and show her card - reading "Michele Barrett" - for giving them two nights without charge.

They are sure their house is gone. They lived near the 17th Street canal, close to where the levee bank broke. With only the clothes they could fit into the boot of their car, they have no idea what they will do next.

Jefferson Parish, near New Orleans, will allow residents to return on Monday but only to retrieve essential supplies.

The parish president said:

"They are not going to like what they see. But mother nature beat the hell out of us."

People would find Jefferson Parish a "three-day holiday in hell".

Sydney Morning Herald

posted by Annamarie at 4:19 PM