This is one of a number of similar stories we're getting in our press from Aussies who've managed to contact friends and family back here. Some made initial contact but haven't been heard from since, after being robbed of money, mobile phones and other things by thugs in the Superdome. According to other reports, the tourists were taken out by US troops who feared the tourists would be harmed if they stayed there.<br /><br />Tourist tells of 'murder and rape'<br />Kevin Meade and D.D. McNicoll<br />September 03, 2005<br /><br />AN Australian backpacker stranded in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina has told his parents he witnessed horrific scenes while sheltering in the city's Superdome, including murders, rapes and stabbings.<br /><br />John McNeil, a 20-year-old university graduate, rang his parents in Brisbane yesterday from a payphone in the foyer of the New Orleans Hilton, where about 60 foreign tourists, including 10 Australians, were sheltering under armed guard after they were rescued from the Superdome by US military personnel. <br /><br />In a brief telephone call, John told his father, businessman Peter McNeil, of chaos and lawlessness in the Superdome, where more than 20,000 refugees sought shelter after the hurricane. <br /><br />"He saw murders, stabbings and rapes in there," Mr McNeil said. <br /><br />Mr McNeil said about 100 military personnel and police in the dome were struggling to cope with the huge crowd. <br /><br />"It was just getting worse by the hour and there were gangs in there who were killing each other," he said. <br /><br />Mr McNeil claimed African Americans in the Superdome had abused foreign tourists and demanded they be rescued ahead of them from the crowded football stadium, where conditions were stifling. <br /><br />The 60 foreign tourists were escorted from the Superdome by military personnel. They spent one night at a medical aid post in a nearby building before they were moved to the Hilton. <br /><br /> http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16475025^2703,00.html <br /><br /><br />And now for some real heroes in New Orleans. The last paragraph says it all about the quality and courage of these officers.<br /><br />This comes from a phone call to his parents by an Australian serving with the NO police.<br /><br />It's in a newspaper here but not on its website, so I'll summarise it.<br /><br />NO police officers were forced out of their station by armed gangs. 31 of them moved to a motel as a temporary station. <br /><br />One officer was fatally shot in the back of the head as he walked away from looters. <br /><br />They are under threat from gangs armed with assault rifles while the police have only handguns.<br /><br />They are trying to police the Convention Centre. A 50 year old woman was raped and murdered there. A man was murdered. Dead children were lying in the street outside the Centre. <br /><br />The police can't arrest criminals because they're often outnumbered and outgunned. They don't have anywhere to hold them, anyway.<br /><br />Late Thursday the precinct captain told the officers to abandon their posts.<br /><br />Most refused to obey.<br /><br />The officer told his parents that the officers at the Convention Centre won't leave because they feel it's their duty to protect the people and help them to safety.
<br /><br />I recall some reporter saying, in essence: "New Orleans is the seediest, scumiest, filthiest city in the US".<br /><br />He caught allot of heat for that.<br /><br />Having lived there, I can attest to the accuracy his words. It was a cesspool before the toilet overflowed.