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During the Storm
Although hotel employees had not suggested that they do so, Marilyn and Chandra pur-
chased bottled water and a flashlight. They remained in their room’s restroom away from
windows and exterior walls during the storm. They had filled the bathtub with water
before the storm struck and had packed their suitcases to enable a quick departure after
the storm, if necessary.
After the Storm
After the storm ceased but before flooding began, there was no available communication in
New Orleans such as land and cell phones or radio and television. Marilyn and Chandra had
airline tickets for their New Orleans departure on the day the storm struck. After the storm,
they contacted the front desk to learn how they might best get to the airport for what they
assumed would be delayed but available fights. Front desk staff indicated that it was not pos-
sible to hire a taxi and, even if they could, it would be a three hour trip to the airport (the
trip was normally less than an hour). The hotel’s general manager personally told selected
guests that he had tried to obtain buses but no buses were available. The women then
resigned themselves to at least another day in the city. To their surprise, when they walked
through the French Quarter, two taxi drivers said that they could take them anywhere they
wanted to go (there was no traffic) but that airport service had been discontinued.
When the flooding began on the second day after the storm, the New Orleans mayor
announced a curfew beginning at 7:00 p.m. Guests were told that they must be in the
hotel at that time because doors would be locked and chained (they were!) and that an
armed security guard would be patrolling the site to ensure that no one entered or left
the property (he did!). Surprisingly, this made many guests feel more secure because of
reports of looting and the lack of police control in the city at that time.
Flooding occurred in many parts of New Orleans, but French Quarter hotels were
spared because they were on relatively higher ground. Guests and the remaining food
from another hotel were transferred to Marilyn and Chandra’s hotel, because the other
property had received extensive storm and water damage. Some guests were beginning
to speculate that hotel managers had information but did not want to provide it for fear
that guests would be more terrified than they already were.
For weeks after the storm, news reports provided many anecdotes about people help-
ing strangers during the crisis. Marilyn and Chandra were able to leave town on the second
day of the flooding with help from someone they had just met. When they arrived at their
West Coast homes later that week, they phoned the hotel’s corporate office and learned
that all hotel guests had been able to leave the city before the end of the week. Except for
a skeleton crew of staff, hotel managers and employees had also vacated the building.