The email sent will contain a link to this article, the article title, and an article excerpt (if available). For security reasons, your IP address will also be included in the sent email.
In the five days leading up to Hurricane Katrina making its landfall, I issued a warning on my radio show advising the residents of the Gulf coast to evacuate their homes. I encouraged them to pack their valuables, leave their homes behind and head at least 50 to 100 miles North by bus, train, car, bicycle or even walking, as I realized that many people had no means of transportation. I also challenged the Army Corps of Engineers on the safety of the old and deteriorating levees located throughout New Orleans. However, approximately 80% of the people remained as they were told by local authorities that the levees would hold and they would survive.
Katrina struck Louisiana on August 29, 2005 as a Category 3 hurricane, and began its path of utter devastation that left thousands of people dead and tens of thousands homeless. On a trip to New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward district shortly after Katrina hit, I witnessed hundreds of homes that were inundated after nearby levees were breached during the storm. I saw holes in roofs that people had created to escape the deluge that caused the water line to reach 9 feet or higher. Five minutes away in an upscale neighborhood, the flooding was equally as overwhelming. New Orleans had become the portrait of a disaster zone.
On a recent return trip to the Ninth Ward neighborhood, I discovered that the area looked nearly the same as it did in 2005. The terrible damage that persists to this day is a testament to the late and inadequate response by local, state and federal authorities to come to the aid of United States citizens.
Return to Article