Post by Amber on Sept 4, 2005 2:22:27 GMT -5
It seems our friends and neighbors are doing what they can to protect our property until we can get back to it. I recommend we all start thinking of some way that we can thank these people when we get back.
From NOLA.com:
Algiers pair tries to protect neighborhood
By Paul Purpura
West Bank bureau
The military and Coast Guard helicopters thundered overhead frequently
Friday as their crews ferried people and supplies between the Belle
Chasse Naval Air Station and New Orleans.
Convoys of buses and military and emergency vehicles headed toward the Crescent City Connection through the day, most destined to remove Katrina’s evacuees.
And at the corner of Eaton and Berkley streets in Algiers, Johnny Bear and Leonard Green stood their posts.
Besides them, leaning against a hydrant at the southwest corner amid
the mounds of tree debris that now is an unavoidable landscaping feature in the area, was their warning to strangers who might venture in with ill intent: a piece of plywood on which Bear spray-painted in black letters, “We shoot looters.”
A physician who lives in the 5200 block of Berkley, Bear sheepishly
acknowledged Friday evening that he’d back that statement with action.
Green, now armed with one of Bear’s shotguns, agreed.
“You’ve got to do something,” said Bear, who with Green has adopted a
stretch of Berkley, from Eaton to Hyman, intent on preventing looters
from entering homes in an area they call home. Bear said he did not want to have to shoot anyone. “Hopefully, this is a deterrence,” he said.
Their vigilance, however, hasn’t been completely successful. Bear
pointed to the front door of the gray brick home at the southwest corner of Eaton and Berkley, its double front doors wide open. Looters had apparently been there, Bear said.
“That one happened today,” he said, shortly after chatting with two
New Orleans police officers who stopped by to check on them.
A sweet-natured German shepherd, whose owner apparently it left behind before Katrina struck Monday, sniffed the ground around the men. Bear said he has adopted the dog.
The area around Aurora Gardens and Huntlee Village is sparcely
populated with residents who either rode out the store in their homes or returned shortly afterwards. At the corner of Eaton Street and McArthur Boulevard, a resident attempted normalcy Friday as he cleaned tree debris from his manicured lawn. He carried a bow saw. He kept a semi-automatic pistol holstered on his right hip as he glared at a passing stranger.
The New Orleans police presence was prevalent, but several officers
Said Friday that the area isn’t safe after sundown. A police officer who lives in the 4000 block of Lennox Boulevard, dressed in civilian clothes but armed nonetheless, said he’d already run people out of his neighborhood, itself the scene of massive mounds of trees and debris.
The nights are dark, as there is no electric power, said Bear, who
returned to his home shortly after Katrina passed. The nightly violence in the area lately “hasn’t been too bad,” Bear said.
He recounted, though, how earlier in the week he went to Hope Haven in
Marrero to inquire if his medical services could be used. A gunfight
erupted nearby. “I thought it was the Fourth of July,” he said.
New Orleans police and fire personnel set up a command center at the
Sisters of Mercy property at Gen. de Gaulle Drive and Woodland
Highway.
In neighboring Plaquemines Parish, entry is blocked by deputies and
deputized civilians, armed with shotguns and semiautomatic rifles, who manned a checkpoint on Belle Chasse Highway near Engineers Road. Deputies question and record the names of everyone entering Plaquemines there and on Woodland Highway.
Many residential streets in Algiers are impassible; mounds of tree
Limbs, higher than cars block passage. On some streets, motorists are forced to wind their way through the mounds, creating trails on streets that just last week were flush with residents bringing their children to school.
At Alice Harte Elementary and St. Andrew the Apostle School on Eaton,
both of which appeared to have little or no storm damage.
Most homes in the area appeared to have survived the hurricane intact,
though trees leaned against some roofs or cars. Some streets had
flooding, as evidenced by wavy debris lines left on front lawns, but no homes appeared to have been affected by water in the area.
Green, who lives at Berkley and Hyman, said he is prepared to remain
and see his neighborhood return to life.
“It’s going to stay blessed,” Green said. “It’s going to take a while
to settle in.”
From NOLA.com:
Algiers pair tries to protect neighborhood
By Paul Purpura
West Bank bureau
The military and Coast Guard helicopters thundered overhead frequently
Friday as their crews ferried people and supplies between the Belle
Chasse Naval Air Station and New Orleans.
Convoys of buses and military and emergency vehicles headed toward the Crescent City Connection through the day, most destined to remove Katrina’s evacuees.
And at the corner of Eaton and Berkley streets in Algiers, Johnny Bear and Leonard Green stood their posts.
Besides them, leaning against a hydrant at the southwest corner amid
the mounds of tree debris that now is an unavoidable landscaping feature in the area, was their warning to strangers who might venture in with ill intent: a piece of plywood on which Bear spray-painted in black letters, “We shoot looters.”
A physician who lives in the 5200 block of Berkley, Bear sheepishly
acknowledged Friday evening that he’d back that statement with action.
Green, now armed with one of Bear’s shotguns, agreed.
“You’ve got to do something,” said Bear, who with Green has adopted a
stretch of Berkley, from Eaton to Hyman, intent on preventing looters
from entering homes in an area they call home. Bear said he did not want to have to shoot anyone. “Hopefully, this is a deterrence,” he said.
Their vigilance, however, hasn’t been completely successful. Bear
pointed to the front door of the gray brick home at the southwest corner of Eaton and Berkley, its double front doors wide open. Looters had apparently been there, Bear said.
“That one happened today,” he said, shortly after chatting with two
New Orleans police officers who stopped by to check on them.
A sweet-natured German shepherd, whose owner apparently it left behind before Katrina struck Monday, sniffed the ground around the men. Bear said he has adopted the dog.
The area around Aurora Gardens and Huntlee Village is sparcely
populated with residents who either rode out the store in their homes or returned shortly afterwards. At the corner of Eaton Street and McArthur Boulevard, a resident attempted normalcy Friday as he cleaned tree debris from his manicured lawn. He carried a bow saw. He kept a semi-automatic pistol holstered on his right hip as he glared at a passing stranger.
The New Orleans police presence was prevalent, but several officers
Said Friday that the area isn’t safe after sundown. A police officer who lives in the 4000 block of Lennox Boulevard, dressed in civilian clothes but armed nonetheless, said he’d already run people out of his neighborhood, itself the scene of massive mounds of trees and debris.
The nights are dark, as there is no electric power, said Bear, who
returned to his home shortly after Katrina passed. The nightly violence in the area lately “hasn’t been too bad,” Bear said.
He recounted, though, how earlier in the week he went to Hope Haven in
Marrero to inquire if his medical services could be used. A gunfight
erupted nearby. “I thought it was the Fourth of July,” he said.
New Orleans police and fire personnel set up a command center at the
Sisters of Mercy property at Gen. de Gaulle Drive and Woodland
Highway.
In neighboring Plaquemines Parish, entry is blocked by deputies and
deputized civilians, armed with shotguns and semiautomatic rifles, who manned a checkpoint on Belle Chasse Highway near Engineers Road. Deputies question and record the names of everyone entering Plaquemines there and on Woodland Highway.
Many residential streets in Algiers are impassible; mounds of tree
Limbs, higher than cars block passage. On some streets, motorists are forced to wind their way through the mounds, creating trails on streets that just last week were flush with residents bringing their children to school.
At Alice Harte Elementary and St. Andrew the Apostle School on Eaton,
both of which appeared to have little or no storm damage.
Most homes in the area appeared to have survived the hurricane intact,
though trees leaned against some roofs or cars. Some streets had
flooding, as evidenced by wavy debris lines left on front lawns, but no homes appeared to have been affected by water in the area.
Green, who lives at Berkley and Hyman, said he is prepared to remain
and see his neighborhood return to life.
“It’s going to stay blessed,” Green said. “It’s going to take a while
to settle in.”