Godless Mom in the Bible Belt

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

One man's story.

Eric bought a new house two weeks ago. A beautiful thing, almost 160 years old. The quality of the construction was remarkable, it was framed out of hardwoods which were salvaged from old ships. Eric and his wife Lynn were out shopping for a new stove for their new home when he received a call on his cell from his mom. She was wondering if they were going to evacuate the city. Eric's new home sat on some high ground at the edge of New Orleans, it was Saturday morning.

By Sunday morning it was evident that Katrina (which had become a category 5) was going to hit New Orleans. Anyone with half a brain knows that a category 5 hitting New Orleans IS the worse case scenario and by mid day Sunday Eric had packed up his pickup and sent Lynn, their son and their dogs to Houston. Eric chose to stay in their new home and try to protect their investment.

The storm hit Monday morning and the old house weathered it beautifully. By Monday evening Eric's power was still out but his water and gas still worked without problem, he even took a bath and cooked some dinner. Tuesday morning came and he went out into his neighborhood to help begin clearing some of the fallen trees and talk to the neighbors, they were able to listen to the news on a battery powered radio and it was evident that the nightmare scenario had taken place overnight. Unable to contain the water from the hurricane the levees had broken and New Orleans had flooded.

Tuesday night the looting started, Eric slept in front of the main door into the house and watched all night as people came onto his porch and shined flashlights into his house, looking for houses that were unoccupied. Once they realized that there was someone on the premises they would quickly move on to the next house. By Wednesday their good manners had passed. People were hungry and thirsty and were looking for shelter and things were getting very ugly. Gangs roamed the streets carrying guns and shots rang out all over the city. Erik hooked up with two of his neighbors, two strong and healthy men, and ventured out of the neighborhood for supplies. They heard rumors that Walmart was being looted so they walked over to take a look. There were police there but they weren't acting like police, they were beating the crap out of everyone who ventured into Walmart, including little kids.

They made their way to the Convention Center because they heard it was being used as a shelter. They took turns guarding their shopping cart full of possessions and looking for water. Erik helped an old man who was sitting on the sidewalk in a folding chair, after he returned from a water finding trip he went to give the man some water and found that he had died. Someone had put a blanket over him and left him there. The bathrooms were unbelievable, the water had quit working on Monday night yet people continued to try and use the facilities, there was a dead body sitting in the corner of the room.

After a few hours at the Convention Center it became obvious that no help was coming. Erik and his two neighbors decided that if they were going to survive they had better start walking. They had heard of a way out of the city, toward Hammond, Louisiana around the western edge of Lake Ponchartrain. They managed to find fresh water in an office building water cooler and managed to disguise it by filling up several coffee cans. Chances were good at this point that if you had water you would be killed for it. The three men walked from New Orleans to Hammond, hundreds of people passed them by in vehicles fleeing the city and the forest pressed right up against the edge of the road, leaving them very little room to walk. There were several close calls where they were almost hit by the traffic but by the early morning hours on Thursday they had managed to make it to I-12. They bribed a man with 200 dollars and a tank full of gas to bring them into Houston in the back of his pickup. Eric was reunited with his family on Thursday.

Eric broke down several times while relaying this story to my husband, Scott. He said he saw things that were too horrible to speak of but the images run through his head at night in his dreams. Eric's son has been sent to New Mexico to live with his grandparents and go to school for the time being but Erik and Lynn are determined to return home to New Orleans when circumstances allow.

He fully acknowledges that he was stupid to stay in the city when he had the opportunity to leave, good ol' 20/20 hindsight. Eric isn't a rich man but he had the financial resources to buy a house out of the flood zone and to bribe his way out of Louisiana. He had the health and stamina to find supplies and walk out of harms way and he didn't have to worry about caring for sick, old or young family members. Many were not so lucky.
posted by GodlessMom, 3:07 AM

12 Comments:

Blogger dAAve said:

There are so many stories coming out. Some, like this, are relatively good ones. Someone should put a book together.
hmmmmmmmmmmm...

A recurring theme I hear is that people are admitting they were too hard-headed to evacuate. I fear that this lack of action has killed way too many. Yet the government will be blamed for their deaths.
Posted at 9:10 AM  

Blogger United We Lay said:

If there's anything we cn do for Eric...
Posted at 9:53 AM  

Blogger BarbaraFromCalifornia said:

What a powerful story. I am glad that Eric is alive to tell about this and put a human face on the tragedy and devistration that has hit the Gulf Coast.

I hope he is able to rebuild his life in a meaningful way.
Posted at 10:54 AM  

Blogger Zeppellina said:

Eric is a lucky man, all things considered.
The police were based in Wallmart, according to news reports, but they had no food or water supplies either, so they ate their way through the stock on the shelves to survive.

There are some pretty horrendous stories regarding treatment by authorities.
Saw footage of a very frail old black lady, obviously in considerable distress, approaching a police car asking for help. The officer pointed a shotgun out of the window into her face and shouted at her to back away from the car.
Another woman, sitting beside the covered body of her husband at the side of the road said she had tried to stop various police cars for assistance as he was dying, but none stopped. After he died, one stopped and told her to move the body, as it would smell and become a hazard.
Should the goverment be held accountable for this 3rd world mess?
Being the richest country in the world...damned right they should.
The US always claimed it could survive a nuclear disaster. They have asked the UN, EEC and NATO for Ration packs.
What is deplorable is that FEMA trucks were loaded on MONDAY, but not allowed to go in until FRIDAY.
Just outside New Orleans was a military ship, with doctors, equipment food, and the ability to make 100,000 gallons of water a day, but they did not get permission to act.
It`s shocking as to how many people survived Katrina, but died from neglect and lack of assistance afterwards.
I am shocked, too, at the number of Americans stillprepared to make excuses for the Bush administration.
Posted at 11:19 AM  

Blogger Lucy Stern said:

I'm glad to hear that Eric survived. I hope, one day, that he will be able to sleep again at night without seeing the horrific images in his head. He will, more than likely, need some treatment. I am grateful that his wife and child did not have to go thru that mess. I am sure their are thousands of stories out there. The thing that discusts me is how horriable some people act in a time of stress. People should have been helping each other instead of looting and thinking only of themselves. Eric sounds like he helped others along the way. I wish him well.
Tell us more stories as you get them.
Posted at 11:57 AM  

Blogger dddragon said:

Glad to hear that Eric and his family and friends are safe now. There are many stories and lessons in all of this - and I hope the Government learns from it.
Posted at 12:17 PM  

Blogger pack of 2 said:

People don't evacuate because they can't afford to & because they have been through too many hurricanes in the past, because they don't want to leave pets behind, because they have family that can't evacuate because of health reasons, etc.

I lived in Houston for 13 yrs & never once did we evacuate when a hurricane hit. We rode it out as most Houstonians do. People in the south are so used to hurricane warnings that after years & years, they do forget that you can die in one.

I think most folks believe that there will be some damage but not to the degree that we saw in New Orleans. I also think most Americans (die hard Bush lovers excluded) thought that Americans would not be allowed to die in the streets waiting for help.

People who want to make excuses for this administration are sick.

Even if people didn't evacuate, the feds did a terrible job getting help to the people who needed it...left them desperate & alone & dying for 5 DAYS!!!

We should all be concerned if some natural disaster hits our state & we should need help...clearly the govt will not be there to help.

I am sickened by the people who want to support Bush. For this & many other reasons...he should not be in the White House but rather the big house. He is a criminal in every sense of the word.

His mother made a statement saying that the people who are in the Astrodome are poor & used to poor conditions so they should be right at home there.

For all the people who claim to be christians...they sure are a cold hearted bunch...That is the recurring theme I continue to see in America today...

Shelly
Posted at 12:32 PM  

Blogger United We Lay said:

Pack of 2,
Very well said!
Posted at 2:00 PM  

Blogger TLP said:

Wow. What a story. As you point out, Eric had some resources. Most of the people who stayed in the city didn't have those resources.

Our government failed. It's that simple. What if this had not been a storm, but an attack? New Orleans is a major shipping city. It could be attacked. WE DON'T HAVE A PLAN.
Posted at 2:52 PM  

Blogger Lila said:

What a heart-breaking story.
Posted at 4:20 PM  

Blogger Fred said:

Eric is indeed very lucky.

I can remember after Hurricane Andrew, we heard gunfire at night. Those that stayed in their houses (no flooding) all slept in one house, with two people up at night at all times. With no lights, it was very scary.
Posted at 5:59 PM  

Blogger Saur♥Kraut said:

One of many amazing stories, I believe. Someone will compile them and write a riveting book.

How wonderful for him that everyone in his family survived. His wife must've been worried SICK about him. I know I would've.
Posted at 8:06 PM  

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