They Thought They Were Just Abandoned

In October 2005 The Historic New Orleans Collection initiated Through Hell and High Water: Katrina's First Responders Oral History Project, partnering with local, state, and federal agencies to document their experiences.

In this interview Louisiana Department of Corrections agent Orville Lamartiniere discusses the evacuation of panicked inmates from chest-deep rising water in Orleans Parish Prison's Central Lockup. He also describes convincing escaped inmates from the fifth floor of an adjacent building to return to their cells for subsequent rescue. The remainder of his interview tells of inmates waiting days for evacuation buses to take them from the Broad Street overpass.

This interview is a part of the exhibition Katrina +5: Documenting Disaster, which serves as a reminder of the history made since August 29, 2005 and The Historic New Orleans Collection's ongoing efforts to record it.

Orville Lamartiniere, Lieutenant Colonel, Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, Louisiana Department of Corrections
March 24−25, 2009

"They thought they were just abandoned"

Photos courtesy of the Louisiana Department of Corrections, MSS 571

Excerpted from:
Orville LaMartinere oral history, March 24−25, 2009; interviewed by Mark Cave for the Through Hell and High Water: Katrina's First Responders Oral History Project, MSS 571, Williams Research Center, The Historic New Orleans Collection

Slideshow created by Kent Woynowski, Digital Assets Manager, The Historic New Orleans Collection for:
Katrina+5: Documenting Disaster
An exhibition presented by The Historic New Orleans Collection
May 12−September 12, 2010

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Hurricane Katrina
• Orville Lamartiniere
• flood
• oral history
• first responders

[Bruce1949919]

@darintj18 Learn to write English pal.

[PrimeTargetSecurity]

thats american ebonics from darintj18 it is english lol

[BassBoostedMega]

@RussianBear5OOO No. He learned to write from Huckleberry Finn...

[RussianBear5OOO]

@darintj18 fancy, did you learn how to write on a cotton plantation?

[darintj18]

man dats fucked up me nd my uncle was in jail during dat tyme. nd we was pose to get out da following week, on a weed charge, nd dey sent me to allen, nd dey sent my uncle to david wade. we both was beat by gaurds non stop daily. i was released 3 months lata nd my uncle stayed in tilll dey sent him to jp. yall kno yall gotta have beta plans fa wen shyt like dat happen