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The Project

In early January of 2006, I was returning home to Michigan from New Jersey. As can be expected in January, a series of snow storms had hit the eastern half the United States, wreaking havoc on flight schedules.

Consequently, my flight out of Newark was delayed for hours. By the time I reached Atlanta to catch my connection back to Michigan, it was nearly 1:00 a.m. and no flights were leaving until 9:00 a.m.

Thus, with a night in the airport ahead of us, a few of us stranded folks purchased some beers and found a nice “camping” area on the C Concourse. One of the individuals in our impromptu “camping” group was Lauralie Corrin. Lauralie, a prison guard in Michigan, was returning from a visit to New Orleans with a friend deployed by FEMA. I listened to Lauralie’s recollections with great fascination. Very little of what she relayed to me had reached our ears in Michigan. Katrina, until that point, had been a distant event occurring about 5 months earlier and was old news.

Lauralie had a video which had been made by the FEMA Task Force NOLA volunteer firefighters, and consisted of a montage of photos artfully placed against contemporary music performed by such bands as Three Doors Down and Nickelback.

Lauralie and I looked for another stranded individual bored enough to lend us his laptop computer to watch the video. We found an accommodating businessman who enjoyed the diversion. As we watched, a small crowd gathered around. Perhaps 6 or 7 stranded travelers stood in silence as the images appeared. I was moved at the intensity and rawness of what Katrina had really been. Nothing I (nor apparently anyone else watching) had seen through the various media reports in our homes spoke as poignantly to the pathos and magnitude of Katrina as did this video. I mentioned to Lauralie that the Katrina story as represented in that wonderful video should be written in a book.

Lauralie’s contact in New Orleans was Jim Prince, a Task Force NOLA volunteer firefighter, who had taken a Generalist position with FEMA working in Logistics in New Orleans. Lauralie contacted Jim regarding my interest in writing the story. In all honesty, my comment about a book being written was made in the abstract with no personal intent attached. I received a call from Jim shortly after returning home, and the Katrina project was born.

I made my first trip to New Orleans on January 22^nd, 2006. I was amazed at the extent of the damage still in place, a week short of 5 months after the storm. We drove through the Lower Ninth Ward and St. Bernard Parish filming videos and taking pictures. The magnitude of the destruction was unbelievable. The smells…the silence…the dead traffic lights…the food distribution vans…all riding slowly though the neighborhoods distributing food to those who were still there…all created a visage of survival, desperation, and heroism for those folks trying to re-build. Many houses in St. Bernard Parish displayed “For Sale” signs, a cruel irony.

We drove down towards Port Sulfur, Buras, and Venice at the bottom of the Mississippi Delta, where Katrina first made landfall with sustained winds of over 140 miles per hour and reported gusts up to 175 miles per hour.

Hurricane Katrina made her second landfall in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, on August 29^th, 2005. Wind speeds of over 145 miles per hour were recorded in southeastern Louisiana and winds gusted to over 130 miles per hour in New Orleans, just west of the eye. As Katrina made her third and final landfall, 4 hours later along the Mississippi/Louisiana border, her wind speeds were approximately 125 miles per hour. Hurricane-force winds extended up to 190 miles from the center of the storm and tropical storm-force winds extended for approximately 440 miles.

New Orleans, about 70 miles to the northwest from the initial landfall, caught intense winds, with sustained wind speeds of approximately 90 miles per hour. Though the wind in New Orleans caused damage with gusts of up to 145 miles per hour, the majority of destruction was related to the levees over-topping and or failing altogether.

Down in the Delta and eastward into the St. Bernard Parish areas, however, the damage reflected both high winds and flooding. Jim and I drove for over 70 miles south towards Venice, while I held my video camera out of the Explorer’s window recording the destruction. For 50-plus miles, we saw an endless visage of destruction, lost homes, and lost hopes. As we made our tour into neighborhoods and residential areas, we changed our tee-shirts to look like tourists. When we approached military or local law enforcement checkpoints we changed into FEMA polo shirts.

I returned to Michigan with pictures and videos. As I began to collate my notes into a coherent outline, I reached out to Katrina survivors and rescuers. As I talked to more and more people, their stories began to surface…

I visited New Orleans over 10 times while writing this book. As the writing continued, I sought permission to use many of the videos and pictures supplied to me by my growing list of contacts.

My good friend, Gerry Mercieca, an exceptional graphic designer and owner of Eclipse Graphic Design, not only designed the fantastic cover for this work, but also volunteered to help me collate all the videos I have taken and received into the Katrina DVD that will be available shortly after the book release.

During my visits, I had the opportunity to interview many amazing people such as R. M. “Iray” Nabatoff, Executive Director of the Community Center St. Bernard, listed by the Times Picayune as one of the 10 heroes of Katrina.

I spent time interviewing Robin Beaulieu, then, the Staff Director for Animal Rescue New Orleans (ARNO). Robin played (and still is playing) a tremendously heroic role with her ongoing efforts in helping the hundreds of thousands of animals who had been left behind in the craziness and chaos of Katrina’s aftermath. Many hours were spent with Capt. Joe Fincher of the New Orleans Fire Department. Joe freely shared his perspective and recollections of his Katrina experiences.

Interviews with New Orleans Fire Department Superintendent Chief Charles Parent and Assistant Superintendent Timothy McConnell were instrumental in gathering the magnitude and extent of heroism the New Orleans firefighters exhibited during and after the storms. Special thanks also go out to District Chief Gary Savelle, Capt. Paul Hellmers, and Operator Alan Boisdore of the NOFD. Additional thanks go out to Superintendent Chief Thomas Stone of the St. Bernard Parish Fire Dept. for his thoughts and perspectives.

I had many interviews with survivors, detailing how they used their spirit and determination to climb out of the wreckage of the disaster to rebuild. The stories place a face on the human and emotional side of the storm, a subject not well communicated in other writings.

It is my hope that this book will reflect the spirit and passion of a great people through their stories of heroism, determination, and sheer perseverance and in doing so, perhaps teach the rest of our nation the gritty depth, magnitude, and effect Katrina has had on all of us.