I evacuated Sunday. It took me 7 hours to drive 75 miles to Baton Rouge. Every day since then I have awoken to more madness.
This morning, I turn the television to see my friend's condo on fire. It's directly across from the W and one block from my work and one block from the French Quarter. It's only a matter of time before the French Quarter is ablaze.
We in Louisiana have been begging for help. My roommates brother is a deputy in Chalmette, a NOLA suburb, and he was telling stories of bodies floating in the water the first day. He told tales of horrific sites and suffering. Where was the federal government?
Another friend's father died during the evacuation. He had cancer. The family has no home, no vehicles but have a corpse. They have no idea how they're going to have a funeral. Their city, Chalmette, is under water.
I am ashamed of President Clinton. Last night I watched him as he said nobody expected this to happen. That is BULLSHIT. We have expected this to happen for decades. We have been begging for evacuation routes. We have been begging for better levees. How can Clinton say nobody expected this when the mandatory evacuation specifically said the city cannot take a catetory 4 or 5 hurricane?! That such a storm will break the levee system.
How can you not have an evacuation plan when you know 100,000 residents don't have vehicles? How were they supposed to escape? Did 9/11 not happen? Was there no plan?
I lost my home; my job. I have 4 tshirts, two jeans and one pair of sneakers. And I can't even fucking mourn my loss b/c I see my city burning with no sign of this stopping. I can't mourn my loss because I am lucky. I have a family with a house 2 hours away.
Armed mobs are driving around New Orleans carjacking, robbing, looting and burning. The beautiful mansions on St. Charles are looted. No business is untouched. Bodies lay decaying in water and on sidewalks.
And what did Bush do? He stood up before America and said how much the federal fucking government is doing!! BULLSHIT BUSH. This city is burning and you are fiddling!
This is the greatest catastrophe in the last century. The end of an American city. And Bush has done NOTHING.
I lost my home. I lost my city. And I am fucking pissed off!
Update:--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
93.7FM just aired an interview of a NOPD officer that just walked off the job. He said you can not walk into the Dome w/o a respirator because of the sewage and decomposing bodies in the building. He said there is no cooperation from the National Government with NOPD, there is no communications, no leadership structure, there is no relief, no supplies, and night brings terror from the gangs.
Police officers are walking off the job. AWOL if you will. ABCnews radio is reporting that at least 8 NOPD officers have turned in their badges because of the chaos and lack of leadership and communication.