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

I went to N.O. a couple days after Katrina with a flatbottom boat with my BIL and about 50 or 60 other boats from Lafayette to help with the rescue.

We drove to Metairie and a LA State Trooper was writing down everyone's names and info before we were allowed to go in as we were in line. He says, "Are you armed?" We said no, and he smirks and says, "Good luck." I said, "You think it's that bad?" And he says, "There's no way I would go in there not armed, but that's just my opinion."

So we go anyway. Had to cross the Huey P. Long bridge to the Westbank Expressway because I-10 was flooded after Metairie and enter downtown on the Crescent City Connection bridge. We were following the convoy of boats and cop cars looking for places to launch the boats. It was a complete clusterfrick.

We drove by the Riverwalk Mall and I saw looters coming out with bags full of stuff. I remember a black guy with a huge Eddie Bauer bag full of shite and saying, "Look at this shite! Blacks don't even wear Eddie Bauer." Saw a couple of bodies on the steps with sheets over them near there and 2 bodies floating in the water under the interstate overpasses.

We hooked up with some cops from the Morgan City PD who were trying to rescue a doctor from Morgan City at Charity Hospital . We put in an airboat at the on-ramp at 90 and Poydras and a couple of cops went with the guy in the airboat to go to the hospital while we waited for them with the other cops. I put the boat (belonged to my FIL) in the water and the engine was running like shite. Kept sputtering and dying. So anyway, the airboat comes back 20 minutes later with 2 prisoners from the hospital, no doctor. He had left somehow. They had been shot at were a little shaken. So then they want to go get a family from Morgan City at the Hyatt on Poydras. One of the cops gave me his bulletproof vest and another cop with an AR rode with me as we followed the airboat to the Hyatt. I was running over tops of cars with the motor driving the boat down Poydras. If you think an airboat is loud, you should hear one in a parking garage. We pulled up to the front doors of the Hyatt and the cops went in and came back a couple minutes later empty handed again. We went back to the on-ramp where our trucks were and loaded them back up.

As I'm loading the boat, a young hood rat wearing just shorts and brand new sneakers, with 2 more pair of brand new sneakers hanging around his neck says, "Hey man, give me some water!" So I said, "How about you drink one of those pairs of shoes you got there bro." He tells me "frick you" and I tell him to get the frick out of here before one of the cops shoots him.

As we're driving out, I see a young black guy carrying a hotel safe, I shite you not.

I threw a whole ice chest of water bottles and Gatorade to people with kids and the elderly as we drove out. Crazy day.

And I can't confirm who they were, Special Forces or SWAT team, but I saw several black Suburbans parked on the interstate near the Dome with dudes decked out in combat gear and heavily armed ready to roll.

I probably met you. It was crazy and unless you witnessed it's hard to explain. I still look back and can't believe I was there for 3 months. I agree, I will never be able to do anything like that again. I tried during the flood, but just couldn't bc of what I experienced after Katrina.

I assisted with helping 2 couples get married and 1 couple & their family were really awesome but the other were just greedy. I think the "bride" ended up conning a dress business out of 2 wedding dresses and a ridiculous amount of bridesmaid dresses. I had arranged for the jambalaya festival association to cook for the shelter but apparently that wasn't good enough for that couple and they wanted a honeymoon, they were like 40 years old. They somehow managed to get some brec cabin up north and then about 6 months later I received a call from a local policeman ( I could hear bridezilla in the background) asking if I had stolen their piece of shite car. When I told the cop who I was.. he laughed and apologized.

There were good people there like a one families that had been staying with their son & father (prison guard) at some prison in N.O. that had gotten overrun by the prisoners and there were 2 young kids that were really messed up. The adults (sons parents) were elderly and they never slept bc of what they witnessed. I never asked, but they were interviewed by many officers and the media was always trying to get to them but never got an interview. It was a horrific experience that went beyond Katrina.

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I saw y’all, Did y’all come in on the Tuesday afternoon after the storm..? We left Touro that Tuesday and had to come across the WB expressway to the HPL bridge... I saw a convoy of flatboats coming down the bridge just as we were going up back the Metairie..

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I honestly don't remember what day it was. Just know it was a couple days after the storm. There were probably several different convoys that went.

Unfortunately, the authorities didn't know how to utilize all these volunteer boats. We had to find a place to launch the boats and just happened to find the off-ramp by the Dome to launch. Many of the boats there didn't even launch.

There was a middle aged black guy begging me to go with him to pick up his mother in a home about a mile from the Dome. I explained to him how the motor was running like shite, plus my BIL didn't want to go nor any of the cops or the airboat. I wasn't going by myself with the motor issue, the chance of breaking a prop on something, or getting a wire or rope stuck in the prop and being stranded myself. I felt bad, but it was too risky alone.

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As I'm loading the boat, a young hood rat wearing just shorts and brand new sneakers, with 2 more pair of brand new sneakers hanging around his neck says, "Hey man, give me some water!" So I said, "How about you drink one of those pairs of shoes you got there bro." He tells me "frick you" and I tell him to get the frick out of here before one of the cops shoots him.

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srs

Living in Dallas, I didn't see much first hand weirdness.Getting all of the charges for four round trip Southwest flights, and four Fri. and Sat. reservations at the Comfort Suites in Gonzales, cancelled with two phone calls, is my crazy story.

I used to fly into NOLA, and drive over for four to five LSU games every year. That season I only made it to three games. Stayed in Vidalia for one game, McComb, MS for the second one, and did get a room out by BTR for the Arkansas game. Drove to Ruston, picked up my dad, and then drove to the game, and wherever we had to stay.

Also saw the people that got bused over to Dallas, sitting in Reunion Arena, while waiting for temporary housing. We had a truckload of bottled water for them. They had to wait in line to talk with someone about getting housing, and then sit until they found out where they were going. It was the first day they were there, and most of the people trying to help were volunteers that could only give them a minimum amount of info. Some of the larger families had to stay in different places. That meant they had to fill out multiple forms.

Two people that went through that, and one other lady that stayed with cousins, got sales jobs with the company where I worked. Two did real well, and were still there in 2010 when I left. We became friends, and were the only Saints fans in the office.

Shady was the Pilot gas station between Hammond and Baton Rouge charging $4 a gallon the day after the storm. They knew they were the closest working gas station coming from the Northshore to Baton Rouge. I read that they were reported and fined.

Interesting a couple of days after the storm when my brother-in-law and I were making a grocery run. We were sitting at a red light and saw a NYPD cruiser go past.

Scariest was the afternoon after the storm hit, driving from Baton Rouge to Madisonville. The closer we got to St. Tammany, the worse things looked. I didn’t know what to expect to find when I got home. I got very lucky.

Craziest was a month after when I went through Gulfport and Biloxi for the first time. I never thought I would see such destruction with my own two eyes. Overall the craziest thing was the destruction everywhere.

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A lot of people didn’t know that Mississippi gulf coast was flattened. As shitty as things were in NOLA, NOLA was very lucky

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Yeah, super lucky.

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It's amazing so many people heard first hand stories about snipers killing people

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gingerkittie's bf was the one doing it... NOFD Seal/SWAT team leader. I wish she would come back, we all have so many questions.