Superdome evacuation completed

NEW ORLEANS - The last 300 refugees in the Superdome climbed aboard buses Saturday bound for new temporary shelter, leaving behind a darkened and stinking arena strewn with trash.

The sight of the last person — an elderly man wearing a Houston Rockets cap — prompted cheers from members of the Texas National Guard who were guarding the facility.

“I feel like I’ve been here 40 years,” said Louis Dalmas Sr., one of the last people out. “Any bus going anywhere — that’s all I want.”

Inside and outside the Superdome — including the concourse around it and a 50-yard bridge that connects it to a shopping center — was a sea of trash up to 5 feet deep.

Evacuations of the last remaining refugees at the arena were halted before dawn Saturday as authorities diverted buses to help some 25,000 refugees at the New Orleans Convention Center, where officials said people had been waiting longer.

The Texas Air National Guard estimated that between 2,000 and 5,000 people remained at the Superdome early on Saturday amid a frightening scene of filth, violence and despair. Lt. Kevin Cowan of the state Office of Emergency Preparedness put the figure at 2,000, and said they had recently begun flocking there not for shelter, but to escape New Orleans after they heard buses were arriving.

Those left behind were orderly, sitting down after being told that evacuations were temporarily stalled. Cleanup crews raked away the piles of abandoned goods to discourage rats, and the scene was calm as the exhausted refugees patiently waited in five lines for their place on a bus.

Tina Miller, 47, had no shoes and cried with relief and exhaustion as she left the Superdome and walked toward a bus. “I never thought I’d make it. Oh, God, I thought I’d die in there. I’ve never been through anything this awful.”

The arena’s second-story concourse looked like a dump, with more than a foot of trash except in the occasional area where people were working to keep things as tidy as possible.

Bathrooms had no lights, making people afraid to enter, and the stench from backed-up toilets inside killed any inclination toward bravery.

“When we have to go to the bathroom we just get a box. That’s all you can do now,” said Sandra Jones.

Her newborn baby was running a fever, and all the small children in her area had rashes, she said.

“This was the worst night of my life. We were really scared. We’re getting no help. I know the military police are trying. But they’re outnumbered,” Jones said.