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| Rhoades D’Ablo Sept. 19, 2005 Interview By Lucky SugarBuzz Magazine |
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| Unless you have been living under a rock, you have heard about Hurricane Katrina and the devastation it caused. Thousands dead and homeless, complete areas wiped out of existence. And the toll keeps rising. What follows is a conversation with Rhoades D’Ablo that I had over the weekend. Rhoades was right there in the thick of things. He lives in New Orleans and gives us his first hand account of the tragic event. First Off Rhoades I want to say that I am so glad to hear you survived the horrific ordeal that was know as Hurricane Katrina. Lot's of people were worried about you and are breathing a sigh of relief that you are safe. So lets get down to it. How much advanced warning did you have before the hurricane and were you intimidated at all? I woke up on Saturday, hung over and irritable, my girlfriend comes up and asks me if I was gonna evacuate with her or stay...I was like, "huh?" Was there time to make preparations for the onslaught and if so what was done? I boarded up my front door and taped up the windows. I bought 6 gallons of water, and enough food for about a week, and I bought some beer, wine and pills.............. Can you describe for us folks that have never experienced a hurricane, what it was like? I Have been through about 10 hurricanes in my life and probably 6 to 10 earthquakes, but this hurricane was fucking insane. I watched my house ripple, several times, like the same shit you see during an earthquake. This storm was scary, but my cats were sleeping through it, so I figured I'd be all right. We've all seen the pictures form New Orleans, was your home and neighborhood flooded out as well? I was lucky to be in the 10% that didn't flood. My house didn't even get a broken window. It shook like Hell and vibrated, but it stayed intact. I really didn't know the extent of the flooding till I opened my front door and rode my bike around the area. It only got about 2 feet of water..... like I said, I was fucking lucky! The morning after the hurricane I understand you went out to check on the areas know as The French Quarter and The Marigny. Can you tell us what you saw? I saw trees uprooted, houses torn in half, homeless people looking really lost, stores looted, power lines laying everywhere, I saw one house that was torn in half and you could see the clothes in the closet, from the freakin' street. Were you a witness to the looting of stores? Yes, the cops opened several stores to us and just said, "be out by 6pm." I took food and water and some wine, other MORONS, took shoes and candy bars and stupid shit. What about utilities (water, electricity, gas) at you house, were they on? The water and gas was still on for the first 2 days after the storm, if they hadn't shut 'em off, I'd been able to hang for at least a month, but alas, that didn't happen. Were you forced to evacuate your home, and did you go the Super Dome like so many others were forced to do? If so what was the scene like at The Dome? |
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| The radio was saying the Dome was evacuating that day (Wednesday), and if you didn't make it, you were basically screwed. This news came the day the gas and water were compromised, due to the levee breach. I went to the Dome expecting to be late for the ride out, unfortunately, the radio was dead wrong and I spent 48 plus hours watching people die, getting shot at, being lied to by the National Guard, and seeing dead bodies in the water, among other atrocities. Worst tailgate party I'd ever been to...(bad joke.... but hey, I just got diagnosed with Acute Trauma Syndrome, or some shit like that.)
Was there any food or supplies being given away by agencies such as the Red Cross? What Red Cross? They didn't show up until after the Army regained control of the Dome. Fuck the Red Cross!!!! |
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| On what day were you put on the bus to Texas? Did you get a chance to go back to your house first before you left? I finally left Friday evening around 6:45pm, only because the Army saved the day. The day before I stood in line for over 10 hours and got nowhere!! That Friday, it took 45 minutes! Tell us about your Texas travels and experiences. It was a bus ride from Hell. The bus driver, although a nice enough chap, was the worst driver, nearly hit a state trooper, and an SUV, managed to lose our convoy and get lost somewhere in Louisiana. The toilet on the bus smelled like the friggin' Super Dome, the people on the bus were tired, pissed off, it wasn't my kinda party. I just heard that you planned to sneak back in to New Orleans and check on your living situation there? Was your home looted? How about your cats, how did they fare and have you seen them? My house was surprisingly fine, no looting, although the looters got as close as 2 blocks away. I got 2 of my 3 cats back, my guitars were fine! I still had some bottles of wine, and my 9mm was still cocked and ready to take down the thugs.....I was fuckin' lucky!!!! What are your feelings about how the disaster was handled by local law enforcement, the government, and other agencies? You mean MIShandled? Was the response time acceptable? Only if you wanted to watch people needlessly die all around you....Bush and FEMA are the most incompetent bunch of morons that ever had a hand in this country's downfall. This is just the first inning folks!!! So what is next? Are you able to move back home, or is the city still off limits? I have no desire to move back to a city that is about to fall victim to Haliburtin and other evil corporate take overs, real estate is out the box, it's gonna be like Las Vegas on the swamp.......it's gonna suck ass. I'm moving to Austin, and then in 2006 or 2007, my ass is moving to Spain. It's a pity, New Orleans, the last bastion of hope for this country, is now gonna fall into the hands of the Right Wing, and all the culture and beauty of my favorite city, will be only a memory. I only hope that I'm wrong.................... Rhoades, thanks for taking time out to talk to me... Good luck and keep us posted! |
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