LA Times article about the hell and chaos inside the arena

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Article here

Small excerpt:

NEW ORLEANS — A 2-year-old girl slept in a pool of urine. Crack vials littered a restroom. Blood stained the walls next to vending machines smashed by teenagers.

The Louisiana Superdome, once a mighty testament to architecture and ingenuity, became the biggest storm shelter in New Orleans the day before Katrina's arrival Monday. About 16,000 people eventually settled in.

By Wednesday, it had degenerated into horror. A few hundred people were evacuated from the arena Wednesday, and buses will take away the vast majority of refugees today.

\"We pee on the floor. We are like animals,\" said Taffany Smith, 25, as she cradled her 3-week-old son, Terry. In her right hand she carried a half-full bottle of formula provided by rescuers. Baby supplies are running low; one mother said she was given two diapers and told to scrape them off when they got dirty and use them again.

At least two people, including a child, have been raped. At least three people have died, including one man who jumped 50 feet to his death, saying he had nothing left to live for.
 
I guess there's no way of knowing if all of the horrors accounted for in that article are true; however, I know this: they were all created by the people instead the Dome. The rapes, crack vials, pools of urine, feces on the wall. The National Guard didn't do any creative decorating before hand.

I have no doubts that the vast majorit of the people in the Dome are decent people who are trapped in an awful situation. The others... well... it's why my family won't be returning.
 
what did one expect?

It was made pretty clear early on that it was a shelter of 'last resort'...that it was essentially going to be just one step above drowning in your attic..Even the mayor said that it would be hot, food would run out, water & toilets would not work, and that people might expect to be trapped for at least a week. At some point people have to take responsibility for their decision making and accept their choices as theirs.
 
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