Shelter-seekers find long lines, noisy conditions in Superdome

[steve2470]

http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/nation/12508463.htm

BY DAVID OVALLE

Knight Ridder Newspapers



NEW ORLEANS - (KRT) - As Hurricane Katrina pounded relentlessly on its roof, the tourists and the vagabonds, the poor and the frail dozed awkwardly - if at all - in Mardi Gras-colored chairs in the giant Louisiana Superdome.

When they got hungry, there was not the beer-and-hot dog fare served up at Saints football games. More than 10,000 refugees from Katrina dined on the same instant meals as U.S. soldiers in Iraq, fitting because it was soldiers who were watching over them now.

They begged for water and bemoaned the stinking humidity that made it feel like a tropical forest. They stood in long lines to use the bathrooms, and complained there weren't enough. They shuddered at the howling winds and prayed the storm would not tear off the roof, which was leaking like a sieve.

Local officials called the Superdome a refuge of last resort, and after spending a tough 24 hours in nasty discomfort, many of the people understood why.

<snip>

[SoCalDem]

1. I did not see haley ordering a mandatory evacuation

When I saw him on tv before the storm, he did not strike me as being insistent that people leave.. Maybe I missed his other appearances..

Louisiana gov and mayor of NO were very forceful in their recommendations, but Haley seemed less so.