Hurricane Katrina

August 29.2005

April 29, 2006: The search for remains in New Orleans eight months after Katrina, recovery teams still finding bodies.

for the story, and earlier in April,

Journalist Cathy Scott, now on staff with Best Friends Magazine, talks to Jerry about her trips to New Orleans right after Hurricane Katrina. Her eye-witness, on the scene reports are filled with vivid descriptions of the devastation to the city and its residents. She talks about animal rescues, good deeds by others and a terrible incident where one Sheriff's Department office told the residents of a neighborhood to leave their homes, and as soon as they did, they started shooting the dogs.

Listen to the interview with Cathy.

New Orleans Mardi Gras 2006 was not the celebration it always was. No big crowds, but people still have hope that the city will survive and thrive once again.

February 2006 - It's Mardi Gras time in New Orleans. But this year, Fat Tuesday will look more like Ash Wednesday outside of the French Quarter. New Orleans is a Limbo Land, with only 110,000 residents compared to 495,000 before Katrina. With only 10% of schools reopened, few operating hospitals, hardly any municipal services or utilities throughout most of the city, only 10% of the storm debris cleared and tens of thousands of abandoned and ruined homes and vehicles littering the landscape, New Orleans remains as it was at the end of September 2005, almost lifeless and in despair.

The Federal funding and assistance has all but dried up, even though billions have been spent with almost no results, and next year's Federal Budget contains no specific funding for New Orleans. Like New York City, the tragedy and the funding for recovery have been all but forgotten. Except, in New York only a few square blocks of commercial property were totally destroyed, with private, city and state funding being used for reconstruction.

In New Orleans, almost a whole city was destroyed. Americans can look to the corpse of New Orleans and see the future of their cities and towns should disaster strike them in the future. We should be appalled, angry, and demanding change in Washington.

Instead, we ignore the death of a once vibrant part of our culture and look forward to seeing the New Orleans Saints playing in what should be a national tomb honoring those who died there and throughout the city in September 2006. How could anyone think of attending a football game in a building full of the ghosts of hundreds who died there by violence and indifference and the memories of the thousands who suffered there as though housed in a concentration camp.

Shame on those who would play games in a tomb and shame on those who stand idly by while a city and a culture remain lost in Limbo Land. Mardi Gras 2006 is planned as a celebration of rebirth of New Orleans. It will however, like the Jazz Funerals of old New Orleans, be a happy celebration that overshadows the real loss and suffering that accompanies the death of a loved one. If you go to Mardi Gras, remember for whom you are celebrating. They still have not received your help in their time of need. Commentary by Larry Dicken, 2/9/06.

for the latest news from New Orleans in February 2006.

The wreckage created by Katrina still lies untouched throughout the New Orleans Metro Area as of 12/17/05. There is no Christmas or Happy New Year this year. Where's the plan? Where's the money? Where are the people? New Orleans remains dead. Will it be resurrected?

Flooded New Orleans neighborhood on 11/21/05. 400,000 out 495,000 residents have still not returned to their homes, because they have no homes. Will New Orleans be rebuilt and should it be rebuilt.

for a report on the questions and the very disturbing answers. Is our government doing enough to help New Orleans and its people? It appears not, by far. It will take many, perhaps more than 20 years to complete the rebuilding of levees, housing, businesses, and public buildings. In the interim, the emphasis needs to be on helping the people of New Orleans find housing and employment. In this area, the government has to date, and projecting their current policies forward, failed completely to grasp and handle the problems by providing effective solutions. You can still help on your own. Please do what you can (see below).

It has been months, but let us not forget, on 8/29/05 and 8/30/05, America and the World, lost one of its greatest cities, New Orleans, as well as large sections of coastal Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. In addition, recently the Texas/Louisiana border coastal area was devastated by another monster storm, Rita. This widened the disaster area as well as the recovery needs, so please help in any way you can.

The loss of property and life caused by Hurricane Katrina, and the subsequent flooding of New Orleans due to levee breaches, have been catastrophic. The city and the surrounding areas carried within them much of the heart and soul of America. We hope someday that we will regain some of what was lost. But, much could be only a heart-felt memory.

The loss of life and the ruination of the lives of survivors will never be forgotten. History will assign blame for what many consider to have been an avoidable human disaster. Until then, we must all work together to comfort and assist the living and mend their lives and our own.

Please join Jerry and the staff of Jerry Pippin Productions in providing whatever direct assistance, employment and contributions you can to help your fellow human beings in their time of greatest need. Follow your heart in making your choices to help.

For information about helping our animal friends

Email from a friend of listener and friend of Jerry Pippin, Paula Latshaw:

From Carol Lowe, a former American Airlines employee, who now works for the New Orleans airport.

We are ok. I was finally able to convince Mickie to take the 3 dogs and Mr. Spock and go to relatives in Houston. Our home is flooded, maybe destroyed. We live very close to the 17th street canal levee that burst early on in the storm. Our neighborhood, Lakeview, went under water and the lake is continuing to pour in flooding the rest of New Orleans. We have lost everything except some clothes and pictures. We have our lives and our animals and thank God for that.

We have a tiny staff along with 5 volunteer janitorial staff and. 8 volunteer CA-1 food staff and 11 sheriff's deputies helping us. When our first humanitarian flight came, an American Airlines 757, rolled up to our terminal ramp I shed my first tear since this all started. I was so thankful we had some bottled water and food for the stranded survivors huddled in our terminal and I was so proud my American Airlines friends came to help us.

All those folks that got out on that flight should have kissed the ground at DFW. American was our first flight after Katrina and our only flight Tuesday. To get the flight in we had to actually go out and walk our North South runway. Mickie was out there walking and picking up FOD with Operations. She did crowd control. She did what ever she could to help. It is so miserable here, I feel relieved she and the critters are safe in Texas.

Many spouses pitched in too and it was wonderful to see. We have sent most all our families out of here now. I know we all feel better knowing they are safe with creature comforts to boot. We are making do with limited generator power so we have emergency lights and some fans can be run to blow around hot damp air. We had Southwest, Northwest and Continental bring us relief supplies and take out more people yesterday. I almost wrote today instead of yesterday. We have Delta coming about 9 this morning. Without our airline family and friends we would have run out of water and food yesterday. The only supplies we have gotten from the airlines.

We now have a huge FEMA hospital set up in our West Lobby and down the D concourse. We were told when they arrived that they would have their own water, food, diesel for their own generators, keep the area clean. The next thing they told us was they needed our water, food and diesel. Water and food we gave them. We have no diesel except what is in our generator tank. So much for self sufficient.

We keep begging parish, state and national emergency centers for electricity. Army engineers told us there is a hot grid big enough to power our entire campus only 1000 yards away. That news really is frustrating. Two guys and a bucket truck stand between us and civilization as we know it.

The Chairman of our Board finally got a call through to us at 10:30 last night and wanted our list of needs faxed to him. He is working emergency planning in Orleans Parish. By midnight we had sent him 3 legal size sheets with what we need. Electricity was number 1.

C-130s and helicopters have been landing on our dark field using night vision goggles all through the night bringing the injured and survivors. Some are being flown out of here, others are just dumped out. Several of our staff will need counseling after helping haul litters with screaming people missing arms and legs. The chaos, suffering and devastation is surreal.

Thank God I am busy 20 hours a day. I promised myself 4 hours sleep. I haven't made it 4 hours yet, but it is a goal. I am tearing up as I write this. It is my only time to let down. I work hard at keeping everyone's moral up. God knows our staff, sheriffs deputies, janitors and food service folk are working like crazy too. I'm not crying over loss, just frustration we have so much to do with so little.

The light is breaking in the east. I have work to do. Please pass this on to Jackie and Tamara and who ever you think cares. My cell phone worked in the beginning, but is now useless, blackberry email is spotty, land lines fade in and out, I hope this gets through to you. Hugs to everyone. Please continue to pray for all of us. Mickey's cell is ----. Please check in on her. Thanks for caring. This email address is the only one I have access to.

Love, Carol

Email from a friend to Bob, friend of Jerry, in California:

Long-time cyber-buddy, Texan Greg White (though he can ill-afford taking time of from work) has volunteered to help flood victims. Here is what he wrote to me this AM:

"What a weekend....... covered the emotional gambit...high and low...happy and sad... heartbroken at times. Such a tragedy.

I got assigned to the food and beverage service line, so I got to make a lot of people happy and serve them and treat them with the dignity and respect they deserve. They have lost everything...and I mean E V E R Y T H I N G.

There is a section for people looking for loved ones, deaf section, blind section, amputee section... All ages and all conditions were there. I got to play with some kids...we played catch with a football.

The kids' spirit is the highlight in there...amazing. One kid asked me if I could be his parent, and find him a monopoly game. Him and his buddies were about 10yrs age. He took me to a location where there were games, so I went behind the counter and could not find a monopoly game. I gave them a deck of cards, his second choice, but I could feel his disappointment. I told him to wait, and went on a 'mission'... I went to the main loading dock where tons of supplies and donations are being delivered and sorted out. There was a 'mound' of toys, games, puzzles, etc... This was not my designated area, but I started going thru all the games and finally saw a single monopoly game about 30 meters away. I went and grabbed it, along with a yatzhee game, a large rubber ball like a soccer ball, and 4 tennis balls for them.

By the time I returned, about 30 minutes later, I guess they had given up on me. I searched for them and found them sitting on their cot playing with the cards. I snuck up on them and said, 'Surprise!' You should have seen their eyes when they saw what I had for them. The quarterback of the group said to me..., 'you are the nicest man in the world'.... ohhhhhhhh I rubbed his head and said 'have fun' and walked away with a few tears. I saw them later at dinner time when I served them food and soda.

There were a lot of touching moments... good and bad. One woman, about 60, came up for a drink and was alone, not sure about her family, and told us it was her birthday. About 10 of us there sang Happy Birthday to her.

There were about 50 of us taking care of the food and beverage service, and my little group of 4 was myself, a cool Vietnamese guy, a nice Nigerian guy, and a guy from New Orleans. Quite a 'mixed quartette'!

I had noticed the Viet guy during our orientation and made a point to navigate close with him. Once we wound up together, we helped each other deal with it all and had some humorous moments.

Once the 50 of us were chosen as a group, the director got us together, like a huddle, and gave us some simple instructions, then right before we walked into the main floor area, where all the evacuees are located, he made us get together again, close, and said... 'there is no way to prepare you for what you are about to witness. If you feel like crying, then cry. This situation is worth crying about. These people have absolutely nothing...give them everything they want. BUT...do not try to figure out WHY. This is not for us to know... nobody knows why'. I am kind of numb.... It was a very emotional experience, but I did not want to leave.... strange as that sounds. I think you can find some pictures of the Astrodome and Reliant Stadium here

www.chron.com: There are about 18,000 in the astrodome, and another 10,000 in reliant.... I've rambled enough for now. Thanks for listening. I feel better.... Be thankful and count your blessings today, tonight and tomorrow.

Hugz, Grego"