We Remember August 2005

It’s so easy for us to forget what really happened in August of 2005. Almost 5 years have passed and I don’t think when it happened that it really sunk in what really took place. Putting together these pictures made it hit home for the first time. I didn’t post this to be confrontational or to throw it in anyone’s face again. I believe sometimes we need to remember. We need to think about what happened. Realize that 5 years is not enough time to rebuild. This devastation happened in our back yard and on our soil. None of us have seen anything quite like this in our lifetime and hopefully we won’t again. As you look through the pictures think about the children pictured being your children. How would you help them to recover while trying to recover yourself? It wasn’t just a bunch of adults in their 30’s and 40’s who witnessed this. People who are now 10 and 16 and 21 etc. witnessed this. Their house; gone. Their school; gone. Their grandmothers, cousins, uncles; gone. Their playground; gone. Everything they’ve ever known; gone. They didn’t just wake up one day and it was gone, they watched it slip away.

Many of you blame the people of New Orleans for what happened to them. They stayed; they should have known living there that it was a possibility. Spend a week in that city. Not just on Bourbon St. or walking around downtown. Meet with the people, eat at a local spot, talk to the locals, hear their stories and you’ll see the reason why they chose to live their like their parents did. I have never felt so welcomed anywhere. I’ve never been greeted by people so thankful. I’ve never felt like I did when I was in New Orleans. You think you would live in a city that you absolutely adore and uproot yourself away from your family and friends just because maybe the city would build a faulty flood wall that couldn’t sustain a hurricane?? I sure wouldn’t. You don’t leave behind what you love. People don’t realize the flood wall is what broke, not the levees. They also don’t realize the water reaches to about a foot below the levee and a 10 – 12 foot concrete flood wall is what blocks hurricane type waters. Picture Newport on the Levee and the Ohio river reaching almost to the top of it. Scary for the people that live in Newport right? Well we don't have hurricanes. Five years later I still didn’t see an improvement in prevention. All I could see was where the concrete was replaced.

To a city with so much love, so much heart, so much culture, so much warmth and so much more. I remember….

Looting for what? Food? To survive? To save his family? With a gun in his face...

Some statistics to think about:

New Orleans population pre-Katrina: 463,000

Population one year later: 230,000

Death Toll: 1,836+

Total cubic yards of debris left by Katrina: 40,000,000 (938 football fields)

Total cubic yards of rubble after 9/11: 20,000,000

Percentage of Nola under water the day after Katrina's landfall: 80

Percentage of Nola police officers who left their posts: 15

Estimated damage caused by Katrina in Louisiana: $22,000,000,000

Federal funds appropriated for overall Katrina recovery (not just Louisiana): $116,000,000,000
Nola houses built by Habitat for Humanity since Katrina: 500