Hitchhiking From Squalor to Anywhere Else

Hitchhiking from squalor to anywhere else
By Anne Hull in New Orleans
September 4, 2005

The woman and child walked towards the interstate exit ramp. She held his hand and he held a box of Scooby Doo cereal. "Granny," he said, "where are we going?"

Adrienne Picou didn't know the answer. The noon sun beat down on the ghostly and littered streets of New Orleans on Friday, as she tried to think. Houston is over there and Baton Rouge is up there.

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Friday was another day of false hope for tens of thousands of New Orleans residents waiting for relief. Some, like Mrs Picou, decided to choose one hell over another by trying their own luck at getting out of New Orleans.

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"I need to figure out what we are gonna do before dark," Mrs Picou said, taking a sip of water. Her hands were trembling. If she could have one wish, she said: "I would like to have all my people in a safe place. All the people in the Convention Centre in a safe spot. All the people in New Orleans in a safe spot."

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/hitchhiking-from-squalor-to-anywhere-else/2005/09/03/1125302783621.html