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In the Superdome, thousands without the means to leave

By AARON SHAROCKMAN
Published August 28, 2005

NEW ORLEANS - While thousands of residents streamed out on clogged highways Sunday, thousands more made their way to the Superdome seeking refuge from Hurricane Katrina.

They were the poor, homeless, frail or forgotten, those without the means to leave.

They waited in long lines to enter the massive indoor football stadium. Once inside, they were told, they might not be able to leave for two days.

No one knew what their city would look like by then.

After 18 years as a Tulane University groundskeeper, after paying off the furniture and television, after helping his relatives make ends meet, Hipolito Valdes, 62, was only assured of what he carried with him Sunday.

"What can we do but hope?" said Valdes, who brought a towel, a cell phone and a case for his glasses. "Hope may be all we got."

By 2:30 p.m., more than 10,000 people were in the dome or waiting in a line that stretched the length of the stadium. Emergency management officials expected thousands more to flow in.

Armed National Guardsmen searched everyone and their bags. They seized guns, knives, drugs.

Electricity was sure to go, and running water might, too, said Col. Terry Ebbert, New Orleans' Homeland Security Director. The Superdome field was vulnerable to flooding, so evacuees were sent to concourses and upper seats.

From there, they were on their own: no water, no food, nothing but the roof over their heads.

It was shaping up to be the first of at least two miserable nights.

Officials said residents will be locked in until Tuesday morning at the earliest. They may leave then, but perhaps only for another shelter, Ebbert said.

"It's going to be very uncomfortable," Ebbert said. "But that's not why we're here. We're here to make sure that on Tuesday, people are still alive."

Vernell Phillips, 59, arrived at the Superdome with the clothes on his back, a faded brown weather watch, and his wallet.

Currise Taylor, 39, hauled Pepto Bismol, Lysol and Alka Seltzer in a cart with a Butterball turkey, sandwich bread and enough clothes for a few days.

Women carried two unopened gallons of milk, while a man used a guitar as a pillow while he slept amid the commotion.

People came on buses, or walked, or parked their cars nearby.

"I don't know what to do," said Reshekka Philson, an 18-year-old who has an 11-month old son named Markquise. "We don't have a car. We tried calling hotels. But they were either filled or they wouldn't take us."

Chris Tisch contributed to this report.

[Last modified August 28, 2005, 20:10:03]