"I was in water in my house," said Lester Santa Marina, 63, of New
Orleans. "I thought it wasn't going to get any higher." But when the
flood waters rose, Santa Marina was trapped in his home, needing to be
rescued by the National Guard. He was one of the thousands shipped to
the Superdone, where "It was a mess. It's nothing I'd ever want to go
through again."
That man and thousands others started heading to the Dallas facility on
Wednesday. The Reunion tower and the Hyatt hotel are on the left in
this image, and the awning of the Reunion Arena are on the right, along
with many of the people from Louisiana who found shelter in Dallas.
Conditions in Dallas for hurricane victims were far, far better than
the chaos in New Orleans, Santa Marina said. Here's an example of how
well things went; these people were carrying pizza that had just been
dropped off at the arena, and were taking it for others to eat. There
was plenty for everyone, part of a major volunteer effort assisted by
the Salvation Army. A food vendor for that church said that, between
the Reunion Arena and the Dallas Convention Center where others were
being housed, they expected to feed 13,000 people each day.
