Riding out the storm: Part 2

At about 6 a.m. Monday, I woke up after my first night in the Superdome. Within a few minutes, the electricity in the stadium went out as we had been told it would when Hurricane Katrina first struck. The generators were quickly switched on, and significantly fewer spotlights were lit. \nWe could hear the incredible howling of the wind across the massive dome roof. Soon, the panels in the roof began to rattle wildly, and light penetrated the small holes of the bolts and screws that were failing as the panels began to give way. The first roof panel broke off and was followed by a couple of others. \nLoud screams of wind and sporadic bursts of pressurized water vapor breached the destroyed parts of the roof. I counted six places where the roof sustained damage. The fear of falling debris and rain water convinced the military to let people relocate themselves onto the first level. The second and third seating levels of the stadium were still cordoned off, as was about one-third of the first seating level. \nThe damage to the roof revealed the strength of the hurricane and the vulnerability of the Superdome most of us inside had underestimated. The floor and cushion seats throughout most of the first-level seating area became drenched with rainwater. The winds died down by evening, but even afterwards some people were visibly shaken by the strength of the wind's force. With the chairs damp, many people moved into the hallway that surrounded the field and seating area. \nIn the hallway -- from which the already clogged and stinking bathrooms branched off -- people lay on cardboard boxes, paper, blankets and some, like me, on the bare floor. \nOur first choices for a bed that evening were: a wet floor, damp chair or in the reeking but dry hallway. Despite the surrounding wretchedness, many were comforted in thinking the worst was done and we would be able to leave the next day by at about noon. After all, we had just survived the hurricane. \nTuesday morning, I woke up and realized my T-shirt was soaked from the water in my chair. We had become familiar with the routine of lining up for about 40 minutes for the daily food handouts at breakfast and dinner. For every mealtime, each person would get a bottle of water and a military food ration known as a "meal ready to eat." \nBy late afternoon, people were visibly agitated and some of the soldiers expressed concern for their own safety. Most of the soldiers started unarmed Sunday. By Monday most carried side arms and on Tuesday many were carrying automatic rifles. \nI was still with the group of about 15 backpackers from the hostel. I was the only non-Caucasian among them and began to notice that our group stuck out in the crowd of mostly black people. Some young Caucasian soldiers also seemed to notice our "odd" group and would come sit on the floor and chat with us and later periodically check on us. Other people noticed we were not the only group receiving "special" attention. I came to learn that some soldiers had taken some of the girls from the group on tours of the stadium and even showed them the executive booths that were on the cordoned-off second seating level. \nAt a later point, some soldiers brought bottled water, which usually required a 40-minute wait at breakfast or dinner, to the girls. Some of the people around the girls loudly and rightfully decried what was blatant preferential treatment. The girls in the group began to seriously fret about their safety and would not let up with their complaining. By then, we had all heard rumors of fights, rapes and suicides. An officer passed by the group and gave one of the girls a walkie-talkie to communicate with him if they felt threatened and warned us not to wander around by ourselves. At that point, I decided I had had enough and left the group. \nI began to aimlessly roam the hallway of the second floor, which was now open to the public, simply observing the situation as I had done a couple times before. I came across an old lady stretched out on the floor who was trying to get up and was frantically searching for her best friend, whom she referred to as her sister. I assisted two soldiers who took her to a small section of the second seating level which was set aside for people with special needs. After a few hours, the two friends, who turned out were also roommates, were reunited. \nThe special needs area mainly contained people from local nursing homes. They included people who were wheelchair bound, delusional, diabetic and who had a wide range of other ailments and complications. Some were in an unresponsive vegetative-like state, while others needed constant oxygen supply and took wild, frightful gasps. Tuesday, when I came across the section, there were about 80 special needs persons. There were four health care providers who were quite literally overwhelmed with the situation. \nI decided to help out and began taking orders from the health care professionals. There was a lot of confusion about how to assist the "patients," especially the unresponsive ones, as many were simply dumped at the Superdome and we did not know their names or care orders. \nThe people in the special needs section were given priority when evacuations from the Superdome first started. By Tuesday evening, all but 30 immobile special needs persons remained, and they were laid out on military issued cots. \nTwo highly dedicated and deeply concerned military nurses remained with the patients that evening. They told me something that sent shivers down my spine. They very somberly said they wanted to help me. So they informed me that after midnight, the generators were expected to fail and plunge the Superdome into unannounced pitch darkness. They added when that happened, the soldiers would withdraw because they would be incapable of maintaining order or defending themselves. The nurses urged me to find a hiding place inside the stadium or to head out in the waist-deep water that surrounded the Superdome and seek shelter elsewhere. That night, I kept pacing between the special needs area and the small concourse outside the Superdome. \nI understood that if the lights went out in the Superdome at night, pandemonium would break out and a horrific stampede would follow. I finally understood why the soldiers had earlier positioned a few concession stands as a makeshift barricade around the special needs group. I sat on a bench off the empty concourse of the Superdome, which was usually packed during the day, waiting for the lights to fade out and the screams to begin. For the first time, I thought to myself, this could be the day I die. At 4 a.m., I dozed off without realizing it.