Bahamian police officer's amazing story

By Jasmin Bonimy,Guardian Staff Reporter

Hurricane survivor Wellington Saunders yesterday recalled his amazing escape from devastation-hit New Orleans after paddling to safety for two and a half hours on a refrigerator.

The former Olympic athlete was studying in the Big Easy for a bachelor's degree in Computer Information Systems (CIS) with Networking when the storm of the century struck on August 29.

Constable Saunders, who is stationed in Freeport, was even stopped from evacuating New Orleans by United States law enforcement officers just 12 hours before Katrina hit.

"It was Sunday afternoon when I started to evacuate. I drove in my car to I-10 towards to Baton Rouge," said Constable Saunders who was sent by the Royal Bahamas Police Force to study in New Orleans and had just four months to go before taking his final exams.

"The traffic was bumper to bumper so the state troopers and the police enforcement officers stopped everybody and we had to turn around to go back to New Orleans," added Constable Saunders, who was in The Bahamian sprint team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Recalling his seven days of hell, he revealed that his apartment was destroyed when a tree crashed through the window and that he saved a neighbour who was trapped outside during the hurricane.

His nightmarish journey first began in the early morning hours after Katrina struck. He put together a "make-shift" boat and paddled more than two miles through the flooded streets of New Orleans using his refrigerator.

After reaching dry ground he walked nine miles to the Superdome.

"I was dehydrated at times. I had to sit on the side of the road to regroup and try to catch my breath," Constable Saunders said. "But I couldn't just give up like that. So I just made my way to the Superdome."

He stayed until the next morning but could not handle the chaos he saw. "I couldn't stay there another day so I snuck out of the Superdome and made my way back to the I-10 highway towards the airport," he said. "I figured that if I reach the airport something good would happen for me but I couldn't get through the interstate because [a] piece of the highway was broken and flooded."

He then decided to trek along the railroad tracks. Traveling with only his passport, the clothes on his back, an extra shirt and two pairs of pants, he arrived at the airport on Wednesday night.

"I told the lady who was trying to get a flight out that I was from the Bahamas, I showed her my passport and she said she was going to see what she could do for me," he said.

Constable Saunders ended up spending the night at the airport but the next day he boarded a 3:30 Continental Airlines flight into Houston and was bussed to the Astrodome.

"The same thing that occurred at the Superdome was re-occurring to us. I couldn't see myself staying there [Astrodome], not to say that I'm better than people but the treatment was inhumane," Constable Saunders pointed out.

Making a snap decision, he decided to hitch a ride back to the Houston airport where he sat with tears in his eyes. Hoping for a miracle, it arrived in the shape of a second Continental employee.

"She asked me what had happened and I told her briefly my story and she gave me clearance to go behind security," he said. "She took me in the back in the break room where I spent the night.

"The next morning she asked me if I have any clothes [and] took me to Wal-Mart. She bought me a bag, a [pair of] pants, a shirt and some underclothes."

The same Continental employee arranged for Constable Saunders to fly out of Houston Saturday night and into Ft Lauderdale.

Friends there purchased a cruise ship ticket for him to return to Freeport.

He boarded the Discovery Cruise Liner on Sunday and arrived in Grand Bahama on Monday.

"I am so happy to be home. And I can say that God really looked out for me and I can't imagine what the people of New Orleans, who live there, are going through because they don't have a [home]," he said.