Britons return to tell of anarchy in Superdome

Telegraph

Britons return to tell of anarchy in Superdome
By Marco Giannangeli
(Filed: 05/09/2005)


Britons finally returning to safety from New Orleans yesterday told of the anarchy that developed in the city's Superdome, where thousands had been sent after Hurricane Katrina.

As they landed at Gatwick airport, bedraggled holidaymakers described the terror that followed attempted rapes, violence and squalor in the sports arena.


Jane Wheeldon is greeted by her mother at Gatwick Airport
Will Nelson had been touring the United States after summer work for Camp America.

"I'm just relieved it is all over and glad to be back and away from there," he said. "There were mothers with their children lying in corridors in filth and the toilets and water stopped working.

"The smell was disgusting and there were old people just sitting down in the road as well as the sick."

The 21-year-old had been staying in a hostel in the city just before the hurricane struck and was told that he and fellow travellers had to evacuate to the dome.

"The first few days there was a group of eight of us together but by Thursday night all the travellers were together - there were 40 or 50 of us," he said. "The lads were on the outside and the girls were on the inside and we just made sure that we didn't leave any of our bags."

He described how backpackers had been surprised by the intensity of the hurricane. "We were all cramped into sections and could hear lots of crashing but we didn't have an idea just how massive it was," he added. "The army gave out food and water at first to people, but then the situation got worse."

Charlotte Scott, 19, described how she and her sister Rebecca, 20, huddled together with other travellers in the dome. "Throughout the three days we just grouped together because none of us knew what we were in for. I saw a couple of people getting taken away by the army and others were getting angry . . .