LA Times: Trapped in a Arena of Suffering (Superdome Horrors)

[BurtWorm]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-superdome1sep01,0,5958535,print.story?coll=la-home-headlines


KATRINA'S RISING TOLL
Trapped in an Arena of Suffering
'We are like animals,' a mother says inside the Louisiana Superdome, where hope and supplies are sparse.
By Scott Gold
Times Staff Writer

...

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.
The hurricane left most of southern Louisiana without power, and the arena, which is in the central business district of New Orleans, was not spared. The air conditioning failed immediately and a swampy heat filled the dome....