New Orleans' Abandoned Prison - Closed Since Hurricane Katrina

Thanks to Brightland for sponsoring a portion of this video.

In this episode, we explore an abandoned prison tower that has been closed since Hurricane Katrina. This building was known as the Community Correctional Center and it was one of many at the Orleans Parish Prison that flooded during the storm. Inside, inmates were locked in and essentially abandoned for up to 3 days with no food or water.

Here are the 400 testimonials from inmates who were inside the prison, if you want you can enter "community correctional center" in the search box to see only testimonies from inmates who were in the particular building we explored:

Another good read, this document talks about the suspension of habeas corpus following the storm and the collapse of New Orlean's justice system which lead to many inmates arrested for extremely minor offenses to spend several months behind bars:

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Thanks to Musicbed for providing the music in this video.
Tracklist for this video:
Read em and Weep by Ryan Taubert
Year Zero by Ryan Taubert
I Am Not a Tyrant by Ryan Taubert
Foreward by Anton Belov

[TheProperPeople]

Here are the 400 testimonials from inmates who were inside the prison, if you want you can enter "community correctional center" in the search box to see only testimonies from inmates who were in the particular building we explored:

Another good read, this document talks about the suspension of habeas corpus following the storm and the collapse of New Orleans' justice system which lead to many inmates arrested for extremely minor offenses to spend several months behind bars:

[SceneFreaks]

The drywall is all cut off at the same height due to the water/ mold damage. It's a sign that at one point they considered saving the building but have since given up. Just about all flooded buildings seem to have this

[jaydrako]

I was incarcerated one week after hurricane Katrina in Jefferson parish. They sent us & most from O.P.P. up to Elaine Hunt Correctional Center. The ones from O.P.P. were taken from the hell if that jail to the literal ‘big yard’ to sleep outside for over a week. They only fed these inmates 3 bag lunches a day & only brought the right amount for everyone. Thing about that, they did not pass them out. They threw the bag lunches over the fence & people who ran in gangs were stabbing people BECAUSE THEY WANTED TO EAT THEIR OWN BAG LUNCHES! Then the other ones, like the group I was in, was made to live three people in a ONE MAN CELL! You were literally standing on someone’s bed in order to piss. That was some of the most horrible experiences I have ever had in my life. Then a spider bit me in the inside of my nose & after both eyes had swollen shut a week later they finally brought me to the infirmary to be hooked to a 24 hour antibiotic drip in a room by myself for 7 full days. After that they brought me to the dorms, which was a good thing because now I did not have to be in the insane cell block conditions. As I was 17 years old, they were not supposed to put me in the dorm until I was 18. Because of the State of Emergency they bent a lot if the rules. When we rolled in we were given an Evacuation number if we were not already convicted felons with a DOC number. Well, after I got a paid lawyer on my case who attempted for 10 months to get me shipped back to the parish of my arrest, they could not ‘find me’ in the system. After the insane experience with the spider bite, they changed my Evac number without my knowledge & lost me in the system. Even though when I called & spoke to my lawyer on the collect phone call with the recording stating that I was in Hunt’s Correctional Center, they ‘could not locate me in the system.’ It took me over a year to finally make it back home. That was when I learned about the horrible side of human nature in regards to violent & perverted inmates & the cruelty express by the guards. They are titled ‘Correctional officers, ’ but the truth is that some of them can be worse than the inmates

[natgund]

I live in new orleans, and unfortunately this is just the tip of the iceberg. Stories like this are echoed throughout the city on countless occasions, take the case of Charity hospital for example. The corruption and injustice runs so deep in this city, it's just a fact of life here. Massive abandoned structures all over the city (Six Flags, Charity Hospital, Plaza Tower, Lindy Boggs Medical Center, Poland Ave. Navy Base)... literally full-scale buildings, hospitals, schools, factories, and theme parks, just completely abandoned in the middle of the city. Even in the most populated areas, some of the most high-traffic parts of the city, there are countless abandoned buildings. The infrastructure and justice in this city is unlike anywhere else in America, and the people of new orleans have gravely suffered the consequences.

[friendofthelowly]

Some of those testimonials were insane after reading. Out of all of them, one epic one remained. I quote: "Some
inmates succeeded in popping open their cells, and one inmate managed to get into the security
booth. That inmate opened all of the cells on the tier." What a boss. Like a secret agent opening his cell door and trying to access the the security booth and find out how to free everyone. What a hero

[stonedperson]

"In some cases, inmates banded together to protect juveniles from sexual assault"
Bravo to those inmates👏

[CuntLucifer]

Thank you for treating that guy with respect and leaving him be, and not writing a clickbait title about it. Also props for blurring his face and altering his voice. Respect to you both. This is why I watch your content, always deliver top notch content with much respect and love.

[kyriannabaumert]

I just spent over an hour reading 17 pages of the testimonies and my god. I have no words. The absolute atrocities that were happening in the prison- each and every one of those deputies and higher ups should be put on trial.

[jocelynborden]

The letters and pictures of family and friends of the prisoners really broke my heart. They were already dealing with so much in their lives before Katrina even happened, and they never really got justice for any of what they went through. I hope their families are doing well now, 17 years later.

[kristeno]

I live down the street from this prison. At night when I sit on my porch, I can see it and it’s so dark and eerie. All you can hear is this chain swinging and hitting a fence or something. Definitely feels like there’s some spiritual unrest in this place.

[alienreprisal]

It says a lot when the inmates had more human decency to protect children than their own guards were to protect them

[jfuller]

The sheriff's words are absolutely chilling. Just goes to show you that the justice system doesn't see inmates as actual humans

I'm from South Africa, and prisons here in Africa are pretty brutal but this absolute disregard for the prisoners is just shocking for a wealthy country like America, and for the guards to have abandoned 10-year-olds is beyond comprehension.

[shelmarie]

Thank you for making this video and sharing this information. My brother was in the st bernard jail for a simple fight and was transferred to this prison for Katrina. The sheriff had NO emergency plans set and made the terrible decision to keep them there and not evacuate. He spoke of those people like they were trash when many of them were in there on simple charges or a small bad decision (like my brother). That hole at 19 minutes was broken through by the prisoners trying to escape for their lives. My brother was in that area and escaped with them to get to a higher area. Hearing his account of that whole ordeal was terrifying and actually seeing where he was in this video really hits home. For weeks we didn't know where he was or even if he was alive. I don't want to go into too much detail here for his sake but he's doing way better now and staying out of trouble but that's a day that he'll never forget. To hell with that sheriff (who only JUST got voted out) and that corrupted city. We left for good after losing everything in the storm and never looked back.

[amyfisher]

The saddest part of all this were the juveniles left to fend for themselves in the dark, with flood waters rising, without any resources and no help except for some adult prisoners. It’s bad enough to abandon adults, but children as well?

[gabrielcamacho]

The letter you guys found that mentioned “fans” is addressed to C Miller. 5 lines or so down it also mentions C Murder.

The letter is written to C Murder (Corey Miller) who is actually a well known rapper based out of New Orleans. He is also rapper Master P’s brother, and has songs with major artists like Snoop Dogg, Gucci Mane and many more. He’s serving life for murder of a 16 year old, however has case may be overturned after many years because the witness have recanted their statements.

Really crazy coincidence. As soon as I saw C Murder, it clicked.

[respectultimate]

a old prisoner out their has saw a letter from their family that they never read and are probably viewing this video and are pausing the video reading the letters and it warms my heart

[Natmfe]

The poor guy apologizing for being there is depressing. Homelessness is so screwed up. Sleeping in an abandoned prison.. ugh.

[TimFilmsCars]

Some of these prisoner testimonies are shocking. Big props for calling this out while doing this exploration, good stuff.

[Alyssa-cvii]

I helped clean up from Katrina as a teen. It was heartbreaking to find dolls, bears, frames, seeing waterlines 20 feet in the air; hearing the first hand accounts of those who couldn’t leave still haunts me.