RE: “Flood scene,” by Elayne Clift [The Commons, Sept. 7].
Beautiful story. It's still important, though, that some Hurricane Katrina myths be laid to rest, as people still perpetuate these ideas after six years.
Here are some facts:
• While we in the Superdome believed the rumors of murders and rapes, in reality these could not be verified. There was a suicide, a couple of drug overdoses, and about five deaths of medical patients.
• The Airport, Amtrak, and Greyhound shut down prior to the evacuation of New Orleans. Many of us could not get out of town and ended up at the Superdome or Convention Center.
• The approximately 85 percent of residents who did evacuate is a higher level than most evacuations of its kind in the U.S.
• Those infamous flooded busses would have only evacuated about 5,000 people, as only half were operable and who was going to drive them? Most of the locals had been forced to evacuate.