The West Bank was not going to become New Orleans

Thanks to NS for pointing me to this heart-breaking and infuriating personal account of Katrina's aftermath.

Money quote -- A large group of people who had been locked out of their hotels were told by a senior police official that evacuation busses were waiting across the greater New Orleans Bridge on the Pontchartrain Expressway:

"As we approached the bridge, armed Gretna sheriffs formed a line across the foot of the bridge. Before we were close enough to speak, they began firing their weapons over our heads. This sent the crowd fleeing in various directions. As the crowd scattered and dissipated, a few of us inched forward and managed to engage some of the sheriffs in conversation. We told them of our conversation with the police commander and of the commander's assurances. The sheriffs informed us there were no buses waiting. The commander had lied to us to get us to move. We questioned why we couldn't cross the bridge anyway, especially as there was little traffic on the 6-lane highway. They responded that the West Bank was not going to become New Orleans and there would be no Superdomes in their City. These were code words for if you are poor and black, you are not crossing the Mississippi River and you were not getting out of New Orleans."