From the daughter of an aunt's classmate:
Sam,
First let me thank you for saving my life and the lives of those very dear to me, specifically, A., R. L., and his crew of thirty-two men. The past few days have been life changing for me. I’ve seen the worst in humankind, but I’ve also experienced the very best.
As you know, we went down to New Orleans on Tuesday, August 30th. R. L. organized his men and secured nineteen flat bottom boats, one bay boat, and a jet ski. He equipped each with chain saws, axes, sledgehammers, spotlights, life jackets (enough for the capacity of each boat), and other tools essential for search and rescue. Additionally, he brought a fuel truck and a tool truck. Included in his crew were electricians, laborers, mechanics, plumbers and pipe fitters, and two medics. He also provided enough food and water for at least a week. Needless to say, we were well equipped to handle a search and rescue mission for an extended period.
Louisiana and the people of this state are very dear to me. There is not much I wouldn’t do to make it better. When this tragedy occurred, there was not a question in my mind regarding my responsibility to those in need. We organized rather quickly and made our way to New Orleans by mid afternoon.
The devastation was immediately evident and we were all deeply wounded by what we saw. State Police who were so thankful we had come and eagerly waved us through the barricade at LaPlace initially greeted us. Our first stop was on I-10 at a checkpoint manned by Wildlife and Fisheries.
We were then sent to a staging area, where approximately 50 boats had been accumulated since at least noon. We waited in line for approximately an hour and a half and then moved downtown, around Harrah's Casino, the NOPD’s command center. We waited in that line for another two and a half hours. We met with Lt. D. with the NOPD, who appeared to be in charge. He sent us to a location in the 9th Ward that was manned by Wildlife and Fisheries. Once we arrived we were told that the search and recovery was being suspended for the day.
We went back to the command center, met with Lt. D. and determined that we would be sent out at dawn on Wednesday, August 31st. We slept on
Canal Street on the street and in our boats but wanted to be located close to the command center.
Early Wednesday members of the NOPD met with us and determined they would also work in our boats. With no one in charge and no apparent system or plan in place, we fell in line.
We followed the NOPD through downtown and got onto I-10. The initial sights and sounds were almost unbearable. So many people were camped on I-10, many with small children and elderly with obvious medical needs. Few had any protection from the sun and all were desperate. Many begged for water and food and many begged us to take them away from the city. At one stopping point we were begged by a husband to take his pregnant wife to a medical facility. She was in labor. We couldn’t leave our caravan and were forced to leave them behind.
We were taken to an area off Chef Menteur Hwy and split into three groups. Of the many officers working with us, there were at least four officers who were attempting to locate and evacuate their own family members and friends. Very few of their boats were running and their supplies and tools were almost nonexistent. Our fully equipped boats became the main recovery vessels.
In the initial instructions provided by the NOPD we were told to break into any business and take whatever we needed. They were poorly equipped with personal needs, such as food and water, and with tools and supplies necessary for search and rescue. We had plenty and shared what we had with the officers and also the many we rescued.
Our personal firsthand experiences with those so very much in need provided all of us with a better understanding for the current bad behavior of some of those being evacuated and placed in shelters.
Early in the day I started by retrieving people from the boats and moving them to areas where they would be loaded into buses and trucks and moved to shelters. Many of our guys plucked people off roofs, some who had been there for over two days. Many had seen their family members perish and many had not had food or water for days.
One elderly lady had been in her attic with her son, who was terminally ill with cancer. During the days in the attic the son died. Our guys had to cut into the roof to remove her, but she was hesitant to leave her son’s body. The woman cried and begged for our help to get her son’s body. There was nothing we could do but hold her and try to reassure her that she would survive this tragedy.
We removed so many small children, many covered with mosquito bites and so many terrified of the high water. So many elderly were physically carried from the boats. Many had no time even to gather their medicine. They escaped the floodwaters with only the clothes on their backs. All were in bad need of clean water, food, shelter, and most of all compassion. I’m very sad to say few of them got any of these things from those in charge, least of all compassion.
At noon I was switched to man the boats. We removed so many found in the water. They managed to escape their attics and were desperate enough to enter the water to get to dry land. The floodwaters were overridden with dead animals and debris. The smell was almost unbearable at times.
While pulling two elderly men from the water, I heard screams for help in a 15-floor building. When we approached the building we determined it was an elderly high rise. The managers and staff of the facility had told them they were on their own and the staff evacuated. Many of the people were disabled, mostly in wheelchairs, and many with other age-related ailments. Some were on oxygen and had recently run out. Needless to say, they needed medical attention, as much as to be evacuated.
It was determined that we needed a staging area within the complex and a system to evacuate the facility. We loaded our boats to capacity with some of them who could make it downstairs on their own. We brought these evacuees to dry land and retrieved A. and a NOPD officer and went back to organize the rescue of that complex.
As we evacuated floor after floor, Andy told me that transportation from the drop-off area was slow at best and nonexistent in some cases. Many whom we pulled from the complex were sitting out in the heat with no protection from the sun and no supplies or much-needed medical attention. There were not enough people to assist with ground transportation and surely not enough medical personnel. Late mid-afternoon we were told that there would be no more ground transportation to the shelters and we could not evacuate anyone else.
We evacuated all but seven individuals, who were in serious need of medical attention, approximately 200 people from that one location. Many had to be carried down many flights of stairs and through the floodwaters to rescue. One elderly gentleman, Mr. Pearson, from the 5th floor, followed me around and helped me locate those in the most need of being evacuated. He was quick to tell me about the lady on the 14th floor who needed oxygen and the lady on the 6th who had a stroke and was paralyzed. Throughout the day he urged others to take a place on the boats because they were more in need.
Toward the end of the day Mr. Pearson went into a diabetic coma. He had run out of insulin. We attempted to locate either medical personnel or insulin but there was none back at the drop site. Because of this and ground transportation had ceased we were forced to leave Mr. Pearson behind. We informed the officers of those left behind and their specific needs.
The scene back at the drop site was chaotic. The evacuees were hot, thirsty, and hungry. To help some of the elderly during the evacuation many of our guys gave up their hats to protect them from the sun. Even their spare hats were donated. Unfortunately, the hats were the only shelter some of them got. Eventually, they were placed in buses and trucks and brought to shelters. I understand that they were transported to the Convention Center. I shudder to think about some of the elderly people rescued from their apartments fighting for their lives at the Convention Center.
After the rescue was called off for the day a caravan took us back to the command center. The tension of those displaced had obviously escalated. We didn’t even make it to the interstate before we encountered a human barricade. We were stopped for approximately 30 minutes while the NOPD moved the evacuees to the side of the road.
We again passed the thousands of now homeless camped on the interstate. Many who hollered angrily at us as we passed and many of whom begged for help to get out of the city. We unfortunately exited I-10 at the Convention Center, where we were stopped for at least 45 minutes. The crowd was massive, angry, and obviously becoming empowered. That was my first sign that the situation was too dangerous for unarmed volunteers.
We were again brought to the command center and parked on Canal. Small- to medium-size groups of evacuees were beginning to move throughout the streets and around the command center. I’m sure it was apparent to those evacuees that the officers had food and water. Some of the groups were vocal and shouted at us and at the officers.
Although we had planned to stay throughout the holiday weekend, it became clear that we were in danger and needed to leave. At that point a fight erupted within and among the NOPD, a physical fight. We soon found out it was between the S.W.A.T. team and the beat officers. The S.W.A.T. team had lost contact with two of their team members and wanted the NOPD to search for them. When it was determined that the other officers would not participate, one of the S.W.A.T. team members came to our group and demanded that we relinquish three boats and also took three of our guys. We had determined that we needed to leave the city but realized that we would be delayed. Keep in mind they are heavily armed with assault weapons and have body armor as well.
We were told this was martial law. Members of the S.W.A.T. team led off our men and their boats.
By this time the violence had escalated. You could hear screaming and gunfire. We started texting you and others for assistance using our cell phones (our only means of communication). I have to believe that the call from the Chief of Police to the captain of the S.W.A.T. team made the difference. His attitude became apologetic and accommodating but our guys were still out in the water, in a bad area, and in the dark. And we were not leaving New Orleans without our entire team.
All hell then broke loose at the Convention Center with gunfire. It cleared the command center and the S.W.A.T. team. More and more evacuees were moving around the Quarter. We knew we had to leave, and quick. Finally the S.W.A.T. unit returned with their missing team members. Our guys had managed to locate and return to safety the two missing officers. We were all very thankful for their safe return although concerned that our guys had not returned and also unhappy with how we were treated by the S.W.A.T. team. About an hour and a half later our guys returned and we managed to escape the city by 2:00 a.m. on Thursday.
My purpose in writing this is to first thank you for your help with this very desperate situation and most of all for your true friendship.
Secondly, I felt it could greatly benefit you and the Governor’s office to have a first hand view of the situation. I’ve also attached an outline of some things you may want to consider (if it hasn’t been considered already) in dealing with this crisis situation and for dealing with similar situations in the future.
Although I don’t plan to go to New Orleans anytime soon to work with the volunteer effort, I will continue to work for their benefit, locally. I’ve met with some of our local leaders yesterday and will participate in meetings today regarding dealing with the evacuees. I hope to incorporate some of the shelter ideas into our local plan.
Again, you are so very dear to me and I can’t thank you enough. Please let K. know that she is in my thoughts and prayers. Anything I can do to help with this situation or with anything else, I am happy to do.
Yours very truly,
S. R.
Westlake, LA

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