NEW ORLEANS — The last 300 refugees in the Superdome climbed aboard
buses Saturday bound for new temporary shelter, leaving behind a
darkened and stinking arena strewn with trash.
ROBERT GALBRAITH / AP
A
man is hoisted to the safety of a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter
after being rescued from the Superdome, Saturday in New Orleans.
|
The sight of the last person - an elderly man wearing a Houston Rockets
cap - prompted cheers from members of the Texas National Guard who were
guarding the facility.
"I feel like I've been here 40 years," said Louis Dalmas Sr., one of the
last people out of the arena. "Any bus going anywhere - that's all I
want."
Inside and outside the Superdome - including the concourse around it and
a 50-yard bridge that connects it to a shopping center - was a sea of
garbage up to 5 feet deep.
Among the food wrappers, abandoned shopping carts and upturned chairs
were personal items, including wedding albums, clothing, toys, a
PlayStation console, and a doll.
Jessica Montgomery left behind a suitcase and a pillow case full of
mementos. "I wanted it, but I just couldn't carry it any farther," she
said.
Capt. Joe Haines said the final day of evacuations went according to
plan. The dome's 10 acres was next to be searched to ensure there are no
bodies beneath the trash, while cleanup crews are to rake away the piles
to discourage rats.
Tina Miller, 47, had no shoes and cried with relief and exhaustion as
she left the Superdome and walked toward a bus. "I never thought I'd
make it. Oh, God, I thought I'd die in there. I've never been through
anything this awful."
In addition to five medical patients who had to be carried out, several
of the final refugees smelled of alcohol after having apparently
scavenged liquor bottles from the debris. One man was led away in
handcuffs.
The inside of the dome was pitch black as the last people left.
Bathrooms had no lights, making people afraid to enter, and the stench
from backed-up toilets inside killed any inclination toward bravery.
Capt. John Pollard of the Texas Air Force National Guard said 20,000
people were in the dome when the evacuation efforts began Wednesday.
That number swelled to about 30,000 when people poured in because they
believed it was the best place to get a ride out of town.
Many of the Superdome refugees were bused to Texas. Besides the 25,000
or so being brought to Houston, officials said another 25,000 would be
taken to San Antonio and other locations.
Tensions at the dome ran high ever since residents unable to get out of
the city ahead of as Hurricane Katrina used it as a shelter of last
resort. A near-riot broke out in the scramble to get on the first few
buses that arrived to ferry evacuees to Texas.
After that, lines of people a half-mile long snaked from the dome
through the nearby Hyatt Regency Hotel, then to where buses waited.
Babies were held over parents' heads, and the sun beat down mercilessly.
State troopers, making every effort to be cheerful, handed out bottles
of water and tried to keep families and groups together.
At one point Friday, the evacuation was interrupted briefly when school
buses pulled up so some 700 guests and employees from the hotel could
move to the head of the evacuation line - much to the amazement of those
who had been crammed in the Superdome since last Sunday.
