re: Craziest/Shadiest/Scariest thing you saw in Katrina Aftermath

I saw it all, unfortunately.

There was a guy live streaming katrina downtown nola while he was trying to keep his datacenter up and running. He was like 8-10 stories up but I was GLUED to the video stream for 5 days straight. DIdn't get much work done. Now that was reality tv.

How thin the veneer of civilization is.

The beast man lurks at the edges, waiting to come out. All it takes is a few pangs of Real hunger in the belly. The power failing. The spreading fire in the brains of an angry mob.

Anything that shatters the thin sheet of civization that holds over an ocean of beast nature can set off that chain reaction.

Make no mistake, we are animals. Some breeds can hold it together better than others, but all can be pushed past the point of polite civility and into survival mode. And once we are in survival mode, we see the best of human nature from some, and the absolute worst from others.

We didn’t get flood damage and only minor wind damage but enough to where work was shut down for the week. Power was out so I took off and stayed with friends in Lafayette. I was 20 back then and still had a tiny bit of faith in humanity. I decided to be a good citizen and volunteered at a shelter in New Iberia.

Any bit of faith I had was gone after that day. There were very, very few adult males. It was all moms, aunties, and grannys with tons of children. I was handing out food which consisted of basic plate lunches that were cooked at the shelter and the church next door. Basically hamburgers and Mac and cheese. So many people turned their nose at it and wanted me to go get Canes for them because it was open or something out the vending machine.

We were handing out bottles of water which were in limited supply (but faucets obviously worked and we had plenty of cups). So many refused cups and wanted bottles. 4 out of 5 I’d give a bottle of water to would take a sip then throw the bottle away then come back 15 minutes later asking for another.

And fights. So many fights. Kids fighting. Adults fighting. Kids fighting with adults.

I got there at noon and by 4 pm I said frick it, left, and went get drunk never to go back again.

frick that noise.

My home room at Prairieville middle school doubling in size overnight. Went from 18 kids in home room to 40. Talk about a culcha shock.

SUV on top of the roof at a home in Violet.

First thought: OMG, the water floated that SUV up there.

Second thought: Damn that's a well built roof.

Hearing that they were trying to reopen MSY for "humanitarian flights" - A phrase we associate with third world countries

The gigantic cross someone had put up at the checkpoint on Paris Rd headed into St Bernard

The mud. Streets covered in dry, cracked mud inches thick.

The smell. A smell, no matter how hard I try, I will never forget. Having to smell that same smell after the BR floods was difficult for me (and I assume many others).

Things way up in trees that would never normally be 10', 20' or even 30' up in a tree. Propane tanks, ice chests, a door complete with casing, a fricking refrigerator!

I heard this story from an oilfield helicopter pilot that I know. I about 80% believe him.

He said that his company volunteered their helicopters and willing pilots to rescue people along with the national guard. While flying around the CBD people were taking shots at him. He flew back to the staging area at Zephyr Field and after telling the guard, they removed the side door from his little Bell 206 and a couple guys got in and told him to take them to where it was happening. When there they told him to hover and after a few burst from their M16s, the shooting from the ground/buildings stopped.

It seems outlandish, but it was an outlandish time.

Just the amount of destruction. Entire neighborhoods gone. Houses smashed. Stuff just washed away then deposited in random spots. Odd stuff in trees. Stairs to nowhere. Uprooted trees and debris everywhere. Just the sheer volume of destruction.

The constant sound of helicopters flying for those first few days after.

Showing up to work one day about a week after the storm to find a parking lot full of military vehicles. We ended up sharing our offices with men from Ft. Hood, Texas for a couple of months. Our conference room was more or less their command center. The office threw them a bbq before they returned to Texas.

Fight at a gas station.

Sitting at a stop light in Baton Rouge, waiting for it to turn green, and seeing a NYPD police car drive past.

Listening to WWL those first days after. Upset people calling in, hoping someone who is missing is alive somewhere, listening, and hoping they would call.

Mall of Louisiana parking lot chock full of bucket trucks from electrical companies from all over the country. Police from different parts of the country, too.