An Interview to Remember 0
Dan Rubin on Blinq has a powerful interview with a Natalie Pompilio, a reporter who was on the scene in New Orleans. You can find it here.
Here’s how Mr. Rubin introduces it:
Just back from New Orleans, after nearly two weeks of watching her old city fall, Natalie Pompilio sat down this week with BLINQ and talked about what it was like covering the worst natural disaster of our time. It was worse than Iraq, she said, and she knows from experience.
In nearly six years at The Times-Picayune, Natalie had covered her share of hurricanes. The Inquirer city desk reporter flew down the Sunday before Katrina hit, played cards with friends as the wind howled, expected this one to be like the others. Then the levee broke.
She tells how she lost her car, her money and ID. How she moved from place to place, happening upon the sacking of Wal-Mart, the exodus across Interstate 10. She describes the people desperate for human touch, the roving gunmen, a bicycle trip through dark waters, and the strange new sounds of The Big Easy. Click on the links to hear the interview.
It is well worth a listen, especially Part 2, which may explode preconceptions about who the “looters” were. (Spoiler: they included everybody, all races, colors, and professions.)
I recommend it highly.
