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Katrina: 1 000s in Superdome
29/08/2005 15:01 - (SA)
New Orleans - As Hurricane Katrina's wind howled outside, thousands of refugees waited in the Louisiana Superdome.
The 77 000-seat stadium, home of the NFL's New Orleans Saints, provided few comforts, but at least had bathrooms and food donated by charities.
"They hadn't opened up and let us in here, there'd have been a lot of people floating down river tomorrow," said Merrill Rice, 64. "If it's as bad as they say, I know my old house won't stand it."
Power failed in the Superdome at about 05:00
(10:00 GMT) on Monday, triggering groans from the crowd. Emergency generators kicked in, but the backup power runs only reduced lighting, not the air conditioning.
As the wind pounded the dome early on Monday, it could be heard only along the second-floor concourse - not farther into the dome. No problems
"Everybody slept last night. They didn't seem to have any problems," said Dr Kevin Stephens sen, in charge of the medical shelter in the Superdome. "They slept all over the place."
The Superdome opened its doors at noon on Sunday, and New Orleans' most frail residents got priority. The stadium is by far the most solid of the Big Easy's 10 refuges for the estimated 100 000 city residents who don't have the means, or strength, to join a mandatory evacuation.
Residents lined up for blocks, clutching meagre belongings and crying children as National Guardsman searched them for guns, knives and drugs.
Then Katrina's rain began, drenching hundreds of people still outside, along with their bags of food and clothing. Eventually, the searches were moved inside to the Superdome floor, where some people wrapped themselves in blankets and tried to sleep. 'It's been busy'
"We've got sick babies, sick old people and everything in between," Stephens said. "We're seen strokes, chest pain, diabetes patients passing out, seizures, people without medicine, people with the wrong medicine. "It's been busy."
Thornton worried about how everyone would fare over the next few days, especially if water pressure fails.
"We're expecting to be here for the long haul," he said. "We can make things very nice for 75 000 people for four hours. But we aren't set up to really accommodate 8&nbsep;000 for four days."
The refugees were not allowed to spread out on the football field, sitting instead in stadium seats in case of flooding.
"We don't expect to take any water," Thornton said. "But we wanted them up higher in case."
- AP
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