FLASHBACK: Hurricane Katrina Aftermath (2005)

In New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward, I learned this symbol meant "Do Not Enter," that FEMA--the government agency now under threat--had found the structure hazardous.

I was working for the American Red Cross September 11 Recovery Program at the time. Volunteers still were needed nearly four months after Hurricane Katrina.  The mind-boggling devastation near Lake Pontchartrain would have left an indelible impression even without the pictures.

The sign in the gold Vette says "Do Not Bulldoze."  Wealthy folks must have vacationed here.

I provided modest support for the national communications office.    It included photographing a lot of dedicated volunteers from all over the country whom I met at various locations in the greater New Orleans area, including shelters and supply centers. 

Ben Stelson

Angela Graham & Elsa Ulyak-Zambrano

I vaguely recall driving to Lafayette, LA more than a hundred miles west of New Orleans. Thousands of people who had been displaced by Katrina had been bussed there, after being denied temporary shelter in towns along the way.  One local shelter manager told us that white sheriffs had blocked exits on Interstate 10 with their patrol cars to avoid an influx of desperate, impoverished African Americans.  Now, the Red Cross was in the process of trying to wind down the massive shelter operation such blatant discrimination had produced.  In other words, a PR nightmare.  Meanwhile, the volunteers carried on.

Connie Murray

Robert Bulger & Mitchell Helal

In Kenner, a New Orleans suburb, the Southern Baptist Convention provided crucial relief assistance, too in conjunction with the Red Cross.

Tina Griffith

Kevin Lentz & David Monk

At the September 11 Recovery Program, I had the privilege of working with many senior personnel at the local Red Cross chapter in New York City who had toiled day and night for months to help victims of the terrorist attacks.  Kay Wilkins, the executive director of the regional headquarters in New Orleans, and her team were just as dedicated in their efforts after Katrina.

I got to see them in occasionally amusing action at an enormous warehouse operation near Louis Armstrong Park.

Hurricane Katrina hit the Lower Ninth Ward hardest.  Much of the historic neighborhood, which had a high percentage of African-American home ownership prior to the disaster, was still off limits, even for residents, because of safety concerns.

I accompanied the Board of Governors on a bus tour.  Janice Price met us on site.

Water from an industrial shipping canal breached the levee during the storm surge, flooding most of the homes in the area.

Surveying the destruction before the residents had been allowed to return might be characterized as "white privilege" today.  It--and the utter ruination of a community--left me feeling uneasy for weeks.