For many people who watched the television images showing the devastation that Hurricane Katrina caused to three U.S. states, the horrifying pictures will not soon be forgotten.
But for Police Constable 849 Wellington Saunders who was trapped in New Orleans at the time of the disaster, the scenes may live with him for the rest of his life.
Constable Saunders is stationed in Grand Bahama, but has been on study leave for the past four years.
He is a senior at the Southern University of New Orleans where he was attempting to complete a Bachelorﾴs degree in Computer Information Systems with a minor in Business Administration.
Upon his return to Grand Bahama on Monday, Commissioner of Police Paul Farquharson arranged for the officer to fly to New Providence so that he could be presented with a small donation to assist him in picking up the pieces.
Constable Saunders, meanwhile, had a story to tell.
“I just want the Bahamian people to hear about my ordeal and how important it is to take heed to warnings during a hurricane,” he said. “I will never take another hurricane for granted as long as I live.”
According to Constable Saunders, the Sunday before the hurricane hit the state of Louisiana with full force he attempted to evacuate. But he said the bumper-to-bumper traffic prevented him from exiting the state.
After spending hours on the highway, Constable Saunders said that he was told to turn around by state troopers and police.
“I was forced to stay in my apartment and just wait Hurricane Katrina out. I was in my apartment when around 5:30 Monday morning the hurricane hit New Orleans. I never felt anything like that before in my entire life,” he said.
Constable Saunders described the horror he experienced in his three-story apartment complex during the wrath of the storm.
Within a matter of minutes the officer said that the first level of his apartment complex became flooded. The water quickly rose to the other levels, he said.
“There was a young lady on the first floor that was crying for help, but I was unable to help. I donﾴt know if she got out alive. But there was a next gentleman who had managed to get out and was holding onto a tree and I got a hose that I had in my apartment, tied it to the balcony and threw it to him and helped him up,” Constable Saunders said.
Both men then waited until the water level had reached the third floor and half of the roof had blown off before attempting to get on higher grounds.
It was at this point that Saunders said he and the man decided that the roof would be their best option for survival.
“We waited the hurricane out on top of the roof until it ended around 8pm that night. We ended up spending the night on the roof. About 6:30 am Tuesday morning I told the gentleman I donﾴt think that we will be rescued anytime soon so we have to try and make some provisions to get out,” Constable Saunders said.
He said at that point he went back into his apartment unit, broke off his refrigerator door, grabbed the broom and began to paddle for over two and a half miles to dry land.
“When I arrived on dry ground I walked about eight or nine miles to the Superdome. I was dehydrated; at times I had to sit on the side of the road to try and regroup and catch myself, but I knew I had to do it and I could not give up,” Constable Saunders said.
The officer also painted a horrific picture of scenes at the Superdome that was already crowded with thousands of displaced residents.
“It was something that I never dreamt to see. It was awful, lots of chaos with people fighting; there was one gentleman I watched jumped off the second level of the Superdome to his death. There was no food, no water, there was nothing. After spending a night there I knew I could not make it if I had stayed another day so I sneaked away and headed towards the airport,” he said.
Due to closed roads, Constable Saunders said he then had to trek through over 10 miles of bush following a railroad track as his guide to get to the airport.
“When I arrived at the airport I had just missed an emergency flight out to Tennessee,” he said. “The only thing I had with me was my passport [and] two pants and two shirts that had gotten wet from walking through the bush,” he said.
After spending a night in the airport he said he was finally able to catch a flight from New Orleans to Houston, Texas where he was escorted to the Astrodome.
However, he said the chaotic situation that was taking place in New Orleans was also occurring at the Astrodome.
“I couldnﾴt see myself staying there, not to say that I am better than those people, but the treatment was inhumane and I just could not stay there,” Constable Saunders said.
He said he was able to catch a ride back to the airport where he waited until his “guardian angel” came to his assistance.
According to Constable Saunders, a female supervisor of Continental Airlines came to his assistance by providing a secure place for him to sleep in the airport and also took him shopping for clean clothes the following morning.
“I was [grateful] for what she did for me. She told me that she would speak with her supervisors to see if she could get me some help. She asked me where I wanted to go and I told her to The Bahamas,” Constable Saunders said.
He said the airline personnel were able to get clearance for him to be flown to Miami or Fort Lauderdale.
He said he arrived in Miami this past Sunday and on Monday he took the Discovery Cruise Line to Grand Bahama.
Constable Saunders said he plans to return to Louisiana in a few weeks and complete his studies in a university in Sri Port, Louisiana.
Commissioner Farquharson assured that the police force will ensure that Constable Saunders completes his college degree.
“We will make sure that he gets some psychological counseling because thatﾴs an ordeal that he has gone through,” the commissioner said.
Bianca Symonette, The Bahama Journal
