In the parking lot of the Blood Center Thursday (Jan. 2) morning, more than 50 people lined up or perched in folding chairs at an emergency blood drive following the deadly truck attack on Bourbon Street in the early hours of New Year’s Day.
Stephanie Williams, of Metairie, said she was “hell-bent” on showing up Thursday, no matter the wait time to give blood.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a hurricane [or] COVID — if you’re able to, we get out to help each other,” Williams said. “They said it was about a three-hour wait. But that doesn’t deter you when you care about people and you know you’re doing the right thing, and there’s plenty of these victims that need it. Time is a very small price to pay to be able to help save some lives.”
Officials say a U.S. Army veteran killed at least 14 people and injured at least 35 more when he drove a pickup truck through a crowd of people celebrating the new year in the French Quarter before dying in a gunfight with police. The FBI is investigating the attack as an act of terrorism. Local and state officials have said they are marshaling public safety resources ahead of a lengthy Carnival season and the Super Bowl in February.
In the aftermath, New Orleanians have mobilized, putting together blood drives, fundraisers, resource guides for victims and survivors and counseling services for affected hospitality workers.
The Blood Center, a central blood provider to area hospitals, was organizing emergency blood drives on Thursday. Billy Weales, the center’s president and CEO, said turnout was “phenomenal.”
Weales emphasized the importance of continual blood donations to prevent these kinds of shortages in the future.
“It’s great that all these people are turning out now, but I want everybody to understand I’m going to need it tomorrow, I’’m going to need it the next day,” Weales said. “I need it every week.”

‘People also need time to grieve’
The attack took place as New Orleans was gearing up for peak tourism season, and local and state officials have tried to strike a balance in the attack’s aftermath, expressing sympathy and sorrow for the victims even as they emphasize that future visitors to the city shouldn’t fear for their safety.
Williams, the blood donor from Metairie, said she was “embarrassed” for the city after watching press conferences from New Year’s Day.
Williams said she was also frustrated about how officials discussed the Sugar Bowl, set to be played at the Superdome on Jan. 1, in the context of the attack. The College Football Playoff quarterfinal was rescheduled to Thursday afternoon.
“I felt like it had a lack of empathy,” Williams said. “I was embarrassed for us when we’re worried about a game that should be played and if people should go or not. It’s not about the money, it’s about the safety of everybody.”
Others said the city is doing well to balance economic interests with local ones. Loreal Ivory, an educator from Gentilly, said she supports the reopening of Bourbon Street as long as safety measures are in place.
“So I understand from an economic standpoint why we have to open, I also understand from a tourism standpoint as well,” Ivory said. “We want people to feel better, feel safe, do what they love again. But I don’t know, it’s kind of bittersweet, because people also need time to grieve.”
Leiana Quintero of New Orleans, who arrived at the St. Vincent de Paul building on Canal Street to donate blood Thursday, said she was surprised by the attack, especially in a city known to be so welcoming and personable.
“We have the sense that the good vibes and the love and the sense of community we have here is going to really protect us [from] what most other places go through. But I guess that’s not always the case,” Quintero said.
Quintero said she would like to see increased safety precautions taken by the city, such as ensuring that bollards are up and functioning and more police presence in the French Quarter.
Back to business
Though the French Quarter is typically quieter during the day, Thursday morning was particularly subdued.
A bartender at Lafitte in Exile buried her face in her hands before bemoaning that yet another terrible thing had happened to New Orleans. Outside St Louis Cathedral, a brass band unloaded their instruments and began warming up. They felt safe, members of the band said, but the mood was off. A canvasser half-heartedly tried to collect signatures from passersby.
Few people — residents, workers or tourists — were in the mood to talk to reporters.
Police had barricaded off Bourbon Street, creating a boundary from Canal to Dauphine to St Peter to Royal Street. Occasionally, officers made way for a pedestrian who needed to go to their hotel room or show up for their shift at work. Tourists decked in University of Georgia and Notre Dame gear streamed by on their way to the Superdome.

By the afternoon, the French Quarter was back to business. The city reopened Bourbon Street with little fanfare, as police removed the caution tape that had been cordoning off Bourbon from Canal Street.
Stephanie Drake, an assistant manager and healer at Royal Street Stones, lit sage and spread salt along Bourbon Street in a cleansing ritual. Though it’s not unusual for Drake to be saging the Quarter, she said she felt it was needed Thursday.
“I’m not scared at all. This is New Orleans,” Drake said. “I know the city’s got it.”