Diary of a New Orleans Survivor
Forwarded to me this afternoon:
my friend who lived in new orleans sent this today. he's not prone to
drama, exaggeration or crying like a little twat. he's been struck by
lightening and shot in the stomach twice (not last week)....point is,
his opinion of bad ain't nothing to scoff at.
Greetings.
i will now try to transcribe somewaht our situation as
far as i can remember and if the order is screwy I
apologize.
Day 1.saturday
I attempted to dj a show for robert starnes benefit
but it was cancelled where then i was taken to a
private pty at a hotel to dj the night away thinking
we were still atm safe from any impending REAL danger
from the storm.
day 2 sun morning....
upon returning home i was immediately put on the very
real and very aware danger we faced as i talked to
friend after friend fleeing the city.communicating
with robert starnes (RS-from now on)
we met up with jason warwick to board my house and
flee to the proximus tower to the 10th floor to safely
ride the storm out. we had food water beer etc and me
being a native thought we would basically have a lil
flooding the usual power problems etc. NO BIG DEAL.
rs left for atlanta we hunkered down and time starts
to pass.
(THE STORM)MONDAY
at first it was super-normal in all respects. rain
wind, nothing uncommon in the many many hurricanes ive
been in. then it got closer and closer as the night
progressed. rain started to seep thru the walls due to
the sheer sideways motion and force on the winds. we
had power till roughly midnight being the last to lose
it since we were on the city hall and hospital
grid.(thinking at the time we would get it back first
as well)
winds hurl the wall unit air conditioner thru the
computer lab office and 180 mph winds rip thru the
office as i frantically try to reach out a 10 story
window to pull a window shut to no avail. we flee to
the bathrooms to barely sleep the remainder of the
storm out as the building shudders around us. the
computer office is a veritable vortex of debris and
water as we further ride the night out in sweltering
heat and wetness all around.the storm passes finally
and we walk out in to the tuesday morning.
Tuesday
A bomb has blown new orleans to pieces. when i say
glass i mean glass. every window is completely blown
to bits. the glass is everywhere cars are turned over,
all street lights are gone. girders from other
buildings are sticking out and thru the concrete walls
of other buildings.the hyatt looks like something from
independance day...all the curtians blow in the wind
cauce not one window remains in the 40 story
structure.we see maybe 5 guards men viechles, and not
much else of any other department.what you need to
realize now is that there isnt one working piece of
communication EQ left anywhere. this is where it
began, no one knew it yet though.the levee was
breached and filling the city but no one knew or could
warn them it was happening.the chinese restaurant up
the street might open, we try fail and return to the
tower. ppl zombified mill about slowly inspecting
things and are clueless as what to do atm. the roof of
the superdome is ripped to shreds and all we keep
hearing is go to the superdome, go to the
superdome...FUCK THAT! there are barely any police
around and rumors start to mill greatly about
everything imaginable..but most seems calm atm in the
cbd. we check out property in the 9th ward find it to
be basically intact and decide to stick it out in the
tower one more day thinking we will get power
asap.watching out the window till we fall asleep again
we assume the worst is over.we were wrong of course.
at this point i lose track of days so bear with me.
the streets fill with water rapidly.we all move out to
check on our house in the 9th ward to move camp there
asap. the water is roughly 3 feet atm.
house is ok we return to the tower to gather basic
belongings and jackies cats. we set out into the water
again the looting is everywhere. canal street is a
total riot zone. all and every store imaginable is
being ransacked, jewelry,clothes,shoe etc. NO ONE IS
TAKING FUCKING FOOD! OR WATER!
we get thru the french quarter and stop by the local
grocery store to see whats up. its overrun by the
basically peaceful looters. food, drink supplies etc.
the guard and police are there but quickly leave, the
manager of the store is there and even calls out that
its ok to supply ourselves but to plz not destroy the
place. some listen and keep orderly most do not. we
take out looted rations back to the house and head out
again for more. we have a good cache of food and
liquids atm and try to settle down for the night.
night travel is out of the question we are not armed
yet.
wednesday (i think)
we wake in the sweltering heat to ride out thru the
neighborhoods and to recon. now keep in mind the
majority of the populace and remaining citizns has
ALREADY!! returned to a semi-tribal and gang like
escape from new york like state. 2 fucking days!
we are wandering bands.
we see some of the ppl we are with now are staying for
the moment and we do more recon into the city. we loot
a circle k for electrolytes and carbs. a blind man
approaches me and aske me what way hes supposed to
walk up the street to avoid the debris.the way is
almost totally impassable, there is no way to go.
people stare at me in total fear in my uniform due to
my glover and mask. they scramble to me for answers i
do not have nor supplies to give.then i get yelled at
and most ppl leave in disgust. i am working for no
agency i keep repeating to no avail.everyone is lost
and there is no communication. most ppl still are
grabbing smokes beer liquor etc. we hit the walgreens
for jackies medicine and start passing out the heart
medicine and insulin to the sreaming old people in
kneew deep water trying to look for their
prescriptions. i have at this point donned my emt gear
and although not currently certified in LA i went
freelance to try to put and official face on for
calming ppl and to ward off would be attackers.we
basically take 3 sorties for supplies and return to
our neighborhood to clean,gather and do patrols for
safety.
at this point we are armed with brass knuckles,bats
knives and axe handles. most is quiet in the
neighborhood. we see no police,guard or anything just
non stop helicopters in the sky all day.it rains
somewhat to our relief to cool us and fill some
makeshift water catches i made. up the street there
are bonfires for meeting places, the neighborhood is
now heavily armed and point all weapons outward. we
are 1 block from m-16 armed navy guardsmen at the base
that do nothing for us but say stay away from the gate
and go back to their bottled water. no police no help
no anything. we hear on the radio that 2 levees are
broken and we might all flood out. in the 9th ward
where we are on the river we are pretty much the last
island left in the city. the french quarter is over
run,cops are looting just as bad as the ppl for
supplies setting up armed posts around the a&p and a
french quarter walgreens. the officials are losing it
on the radio. there is no communication there is
nothing, chaos fills the streets and danger at every
corner. fires are ripping thru the city, no FD, no
water to do anything. some police in our neighborhood
pull thru and rip open a small food mart and take lots
of beer then throw us all sorts of canned goods and
dry goods. they leave...we find a gun.
32 caliber hand pistol, the owners more likely. we
now have a gun, brass knuckles, an axe and large ice
picks. we look like frickin thunderdome.
a bbq is set up for that night at a local mans house 1
block away. he has a generator and is armed as well.
he has 10 ppl from st bernard parish in his home. a
whole family that was pulled thru an attic and left on
the nearest bridge to go where they were not told or
even pointed too. the mans house we were at found them
wandering in the dark and took them in to feed them
till he could get them in a direction. i tended wounds
and watched tv images for the first time in days (he
had a generator semi-working)we saw for the first time
how truly insane the situation we were in was.
night falls.
4am
a 500 foot high explosion roars thru the night sky
sending us from our beds. i run up the street to get
info. a propane and firework warehouse
?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
has blown sky high. the fire is still burning as far
as i know.the radio keeps saying go to the super dome
go to the convention center.
we see some of the first troops a humvee shines a
light on us and speeds away into the night maybe 5
soldiers.but they are all going to the cbd where the
concentration of ppl are. we start to hear of the
death filling the streets. i tend to wounds in the
neighborhood and dole out some penicillin. the sky is
still full of choppers and we see no troops or police
or anything anywhere. occasionally as i pass out
meager supplies i see a suv full of heavily armed
police drive by they stare at me in my uniform in
disbelief as to why it seems im bothering to do this.
i just keep quiet and moving along the streets.the man
with the generator has fled. all cars are being
siphoned or already are. city busses are being stolen
and driven thru out streets for fun by local thugs.
more steal forklifts and are playing crash derby in
the streets. things have fully progressed to madmax
and the warriors and every other goddamn movie you
could imagine of this shit but way fuckin worse. we
have sealed our blocks are tread like fuedal ninjas on
the streets ready to kill anyone and anything that
seems dangerous.
my brass knuckles and knives havent left my hands for
days, im patching wounded ppl up with my brass
knuckles attached...then you see a 8 year old ride
down the street on his bike like its a normal day.
bodies are floating up onto the median on st claude
st. packs of wild dogs are everywhere. more buildings
are exploding near the wharf and train tracks. i bring
more supplies to the lil girl up the street her
grandmother steals them from her. she is clinging in a
deathgrip to a wet ruined harry potter book. a man
rides by me saying there is a man trapped in a
building downtown with his leg rotting off...I CAN DO
NOTHING FOR HIM!
i havent the protection or supplies to even enter that
part of the city. the water = death, feces, bodies ,
typhoid, cholera, staph, hepatitus EVERYTHING!
more city busses are being stolen and they start to
crash into houses for fun and look for potential
looting spots. men run down the street with mink coats
as a woman screams for water and baby formula....
SAFE
we finally get the team together and ride out sat
afternoon it is like riding thru pictures of baghdad
or serbia or HELL....we are in hell...everthing is on
fire, bodies are everywhere.....WE STILL SEE NO PPL
TILL THE CBD....its all fucked....with the animals
intact. my dog is dead...say a prayer for akira
please...im crying.....................we saved 3
dogs... 2 cats.... dan, jay poggi, jackie mang, jason
warwick and myself...we are in baton rouge and leave
for ohio at noon tomorrow....
i must stop now
Forwarded to me this afternoon:
my friend who lived in new orleans sent this today. he's not prone to
drama, exaggeration or crying like a little twat. he's been struck by
lightening and shot in the stomach twice (not last week)....point is,
his opinion of bad ain't nothing to scoff at.
Greetings.
i will now try to transcribe somewaht our situation as
far as i can remember and if the order is screwy I
apologize.
Day 1.saturday
I attempted to dj a show for robert starnes benefit
but it was cancelled where then i was taken to a
private pty at a hotel to dj the night away thinking
we were still atm safe from any impending REAL danger
from the storm.
day 2 sun morning....
upon returning home i was immediately put on the very
real and very aware danger we faced as i talked to
friend after friend fleeing the city.communicating
with robert starnes (RS-from now on)
we met up with jason warwick to board my house and
flee to the proximus tower to the 10th floor to safely
ride the storm out. we had food water beer etc and me
being a native thought we would basically have a lil
flooding the usual power problems etc. NO BIG DEAL.
rs left for atlanta we hunkered down and time starts
to pass.
(THE STORM)MONDAY
at first it was super-normal in all respects. rain
wind, nothing uncommon in the many many hurricanes ive
been in. then it got closer and closer as the night
progressed. rain started to seep thru the walls due to
the sheer sideways motion and force on the winds. we
had power till roughly midnight being the last to lose
it since we were on the city hall and hospital
grid.(thinking at the time we would get it back first
as well)
winds hurl the wall unit air conditioner thru the
computer lab office and 180 mph winds rip thru the
office as i frantically try to reach out a 10 story
window to pull a window shut to no avail. we flee to
the bathrooms to barely sleep the remainder of the
storm out as the building shudders around us. the
computer office is a veritable vortex of debris and
water as we further ride the night out in sweltering
heat and wetness all around.the storm passes finally
and we walk out in to the tuesday morning.
Tuesday
A bomb has blown new orleans to pieces. when i say
glass i mean glass. every window is completely blown
to bits. the glass is everywhere cars are turned over,
all street lights are gone. girders from other
buildings are sticking out and thru the concrete walls
of other buildings.the hyatt looks like something from
independance day...all the curtians blow in the wind
cauce not one window remains in the 40 story
structure.we see maybe 5 guards men viechles, and not
much else of any other department.what you need to
realize now is that there isnt one working piece of
communication EQ left anywhere. this is where it
began, no one knew it yet though.the levee was
breached and filling the city but no one knew or could
warn them it was happening.the chinese restaurant up
the street might open, we try fail and return to the
tower. ppl zombified mill about slowly inspecting
things and are clueless as what to do atm. the roof of
the superdome is ripped to shreds and all we keep
hearing is go to the superdome, go to the
superdome...FUCK THAT! there are barely any police
around and rumors start to mill greatly about
everything imaginable..but most seems calm atm in the
cbd. we check out property in the 9th ward find it to
be basically intact and decide to stick it out in the
tower one more day thinking we will get power
asap.watching out the window till we fall asleep again
we assume the worst is over.we were wrong of course.
at this point i lose track of days so bear with me.
the streets fill with water rapidly.we all move out to
check on our house in the 9th ward to move camp there
asap. the water is roughly 3 feet atm.
house is ok we return to the tower to gather basic
belongings and jackies cats. we set out into the water
again the looting is everywhere. canal street is a
total riot zone. all and every store imaginable is
being ransacked, jewelry,clothes,shoe etc. NO ONE IS
TAKING FUCKING FOOD! OR WATER!
we get thru the french quarter and stop by the local
grocery store to see whats up. its overrun by the
basically peaceful looters. food, drink supplies etc.
the guard and police are there but quickly leave, the
manager of the store is there and even calls out that
its ok to supply ourselves but to plz not destroy the
place. some listen and keep orderly most do not. we
take out looted rations back to the house and head out
again for more. we have a good cache of food and
liquids atm and try to settle down for the night.
night travel is out of the question we are not armed
yet.
wednesday (i think)
we wake in the sweltering heat to ride out thru the
neighborhoods and to recon. now keep in mind the
majority of the populace and remaining citizns has
ALREADY!! returned to a semi-tribal and gang like
escape from new york like state. 2 fucking days!
we are wandering bands.
we see some of the ppl we are with now are staying for
the moment and we do more recon into the city. we loot
a circle k for electrolytes and carbs. a blind man
approaches me and aske me what way hes supposed to
walk up the street to avoid the debris.the way is
almost totally impassable, there is no way to go.
people stare at me in total fear in my uniform due to
my glover and mask. they scramble to me for answers i
do not have nor supplies to give.then i get yelled at
and most ppl leave in disgust. i am working for no
agency i keep repeating to no avail.everyone is lost
and there is no communication. most ppl still are
grabbing smokes beer liquor etc. we hit the walgreens
for jackies medicine and start passing out the heart
medicine and insulin to the sreaming old people in
kneew deep water trying to look for their
prescriptions. i have at this point donned my emt gear
and although not currently certified in LA i went
freelance to try to put and official face on for
calming ppl and to ward off would be attackers.we
basically take 3 sorties for supplies and return to
our neighborhood to clean,gather and do patrols for
safety.
at this point we are armed with brass knuckles,bats
knives and axe handles. most is quiet in the
neighborhood. we see no police,guard or anything just
non stop helicopters in the sky all day.it rains
somewhat to our relief to cool us and fill some
makeshift water catches i made. up the street there
are bonfires for meeting places, the neighborhood is
now heavily armed and point all weapons outward. we
are 1 block from m-16 armed navy guardsmen at the base
that do nothing for us but say stay away from the gate
and go back to their bottled water. no police no help
no anything. we hear on the radio that 2 levees are
broken and we might all flood out. in the 9th ward
where we are on the river we are pretty much the last
island left in the city. the french quarter is over
run,cops are looting just as bad as the ppl for
supplies setting up armed posts around the a&p and a
french quarter walgreens. the officials are losing it
on the radio. there is no communication there is
nothing, chaos fills the streets and danger at every
corner. fires are ripping thru the city, no FD, no
water to do anything. some police in our neighborhood
pull thru and rip open a small food mart and take lots
of beer then throw us all sorts of canned goods and
dry goods. they leave...we find a gun.
32 caliber hand pistol, the owners more likely. we
now have a gun, brass knuckles, an axe and large ice
picks. we look like frickin thunderdome.
a bbq is set up for that night at a local mans house 1
block away. he has a generator and is armed as well.
he has 10 ppl from st bernard parish in his home. a
whole family that was pulled thru an attic and left on
the nearest bridge to go where they were not told or
even pointed too. the mans house we were at found them
wandering in the dark and took them in to feed them
till he could get them in a direction. i tended wounds
and watched tv images for the first time in days (he
had a generator semi-working)we saw for the first time
how truly insane the situation we were in was.
night falls.
4am
a 500 foot high explosion roars thru the night sky
sending us from our beds. i run up the street to get
info. a propane and firework warehouse
?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
has blown sky high. the fire is still burning as far
as i know.the radio keeps saying go to the super dome
go to the convention center.
we see some of the first troops a humvee shines a
light on us and speeds away into the night maybe 5
soldiers.but they are all going to the cbd where the
concentration of ppl are. we start to hear of the
death filling the streets. i tend to wounds in the
neighborhood and dole out some penicillin. the sky is
still full of choppers and we see no troops or police
or anything anywhere. occasionally as i pass out
meager supplies i see a suv full of heavily armed
police drive by they stare at me in my uniform in
disbelief as to why it seems im bothering to do this.
i just keep quiet and moving along the streets.the man
with the generator has fled. all cars are being
siphoned or already are. city busses are being stolen
and driven thru out streets for fun by local thugs.
more steal forklifts and are playing crash derby in
the streets. things have fully progressed to madmax
and the warriors and every other goddamn movie you
could imagine of this shit but way fuckin worse. we
have sealed our blocks are tread like fuedal ninjas on
the streets ready to kill anyone and anything that
seems dangerous.
my brass knuckles and knives havent left my hands for
days, im patching wounded ppl up with my brass
knuckles attached...then you see a 8 year old ride
down the street on his bike like its a normal day.
bodies are floating up onto the median on st claude
st. packs of wild dogs are everywhere. more buildings
are exploding near the wharf and train tracks. i bring
more supplies to the lil girl up the street her
grandmother steals them from her. she is clinging in a
deathgrip to a wet ruined harry potter book. a man
rides by me saying there is a man trapped in a
building downtown with his leg rotting off...I CAN DO
NOTHING FOR HIM!
i havent the protection or supplies to even enter that
part of the city. the water = death, feces, bodies ,
typhoid, cholera, staph, hepatitus EVERYTHING!
more city busses are being stolen and they start to
crash into houses for fun and look for potential
looting spots. men run down the street with mink coats
as a woman screams for water and baby formula....
SAFE
we finally get the team together and ride out sat
afternoon it is like riding thru pictures of baghdad
or serbia or HELL....we are in hell...everthing is on
fire, bodies are everywhere.....WE STILL SEE NO PPL
TILL THE CBD....its all fucked....with the animals
intact. my dog is dead...say a prayer for akira
please...im crying.....................we saved 3
dogs... 2 cats.... dan, jay poggi, jackie mang, jason
warwick and myself...we are in baton rouge and leave
for ohio at noon tomorrow....
i must stop now
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