Beyond Katrina

Live from La: 8/30/08 11:12 am

Everybody is at the LSU Appalachian state game. I stayed behind with the electricians who are here hooking up a generator to my electrical panel. My power is off so I can't get online. I am posting from my mobile phone. Right before the power shut off I read the latest NHC updates which currently have Gustav making landfall as a major hurricane somewhere around  the Houma Louisiana  area. That's a big coastal wetlands area - this will be a major set back for wetlands/coastal restoration work. I imagine hell is starting to break loose as folks start evacuating.  I just heard the last flight out of NOLA is 6:00 pm tomorrow.

Time to leave New Orleans

From Dr. Jeff Master's (posted about an hour ago - 8/29/08 4:23 pm EDT)

Today is the 3rd anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's catastrophic hit on the Louisiana/Mississippi/Alabama coast. Unfortunately, I think that people living in New Orleans should mark the anniversary of Katrina by getting the heck out of the city. You live at the bottom of a bowl, ten or so feet below sea level. This is not natural. Nature wants to fill up this bowl with huge quantities of Gulf of Mexico sea water. There is a storm capable of doing that bearing down on you. If you live in New Orleans, I suggest you take a little Labor Day holiday--sooner, rather than later, to beat the rush--and get out of town. Gustav is going to come close to you, and there's no sense messing with a major hurricane capable of pushing a Category 3 storm surge to your doorstep. Don't test those Category 3 rated--but untested--levees. Conventional pre-Katrina wisdom suggested that the city needed 72 hours to evacuate. With the population about half of the pre-Katrina population, that lead time is about 60 hours. With Gustav likely to bring tropical storm force winds to the city by Monday afternoon, that means that tonight is a good time to start evacuating--Saturday morning at the latest. Voluntary evacuations have already begun, which is a good idea.

Read the full blog post here.

Katrina 3rd Anniversary Events

Katrina 3rd Anniversary Events   

 

ORLEANS PARISH

 

Levees.org hosts premiere screening of documentary “The Katrina Myth: the Truth About a Thoroughly Unnatural Disaster," produced by FoodMusicJustice.org
    Free admission
    Thursday,  August 28
    Touro  Synagogue, 4238 St. Charles Avenue
    6:30pm -  Cocktails & hors d'oeuvres with live jazz band "Some Like It Hot"
    7:30-8:30pm  Presentation and premiere of 10-minute documentary and after-show discussion

 

“Days of  Hope” at Louisiana Children’s Museum

 

Two-day commemoration of the third anniversary on Friday, August 29 and Saturday, August 30 is designed to inspire hope for the future and give children a voice for their own thoughts about what lies ahead. 
   
    National  experts in child learning will visit the museum, including national children’s  television producer Alice Wilder (Super  Why!, Blue’s Clues) who will lead writer’s circle workshops in the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood exhibit. Children and families can write their own story in a brand new book, illustrated by prominent local artist Katie Rafferty.
   
Megan Lambert, Instructor of Children’s Literature Programs for The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA, will provide special story times using The Carle’s inquiry-based model, The Whole Book Approach.
   
    Inspired  by the world-renowned Eric Carle book, The  Very Hungry Caterpillar, butterflies of all shapes and sizes will be  crafted and suspended in the three story atrium, creating a dramatic display.
   
Also on display during Days of Hope are several exhibits of children’s work including the Doors of Hope, a gift from the youth of New York to the youth of New Orleans through the public arts organization CITYarts in New York. Memory boxes, journals and urban planning designs from students at MLK Jr. Charter School also will be on display.

 

Days of Hope programming is 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Friday, August 29 and Saturday, August 30. The Museum is open on those days from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and is located at 420 Julia Street.

 

 

 

Worship  Service
Grace Evangelical   Lutheran Church, 5800 Canal Boulevard

 

Service  will include debut of a new book called The  Essence of Grace.
   
On August 29 at 7:00pm, the church will unveil the debut of a book that tells the stories of 17 faith-filled people of the Grace community coming home to New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina, and the grace they experienced that has given them healing and hope.
   
The evening is being billed as "The Essence of Grace:  An Evening of Healing and Hope."  The book was created as a way of giving thanks to God for all the members, partners, supporters and volunteers who helped rebuild the congregation and community. 

 

For more information, contact Caitlin Moen, the editor of the book, and Grace's Coordinator for Community Development at [email protected] or 651-276-1676; or Pastor Leon Philpot at [email protected] or 218-779-8566.

 

Katrina Memorial   Display at Immaculate Conception (Jesuits) Church, Baronne   Street

 

Beginning August 23-24 and continuing through Labor Day weekend, an interactive display will be placed at the entrance to the church, which remains open from 6:30 AM until 5:30 PM daily. The display will invite the public to post notes, photos, and prayers related to their Katrina experiences. The display will also allow individuals to deposit specific prayers and petitions, which will be remembered throughout the week at the church’s various Masses. For more information, contact  the parish office at (504) 529-1477.

 

Katrina   Anniversary Mass – St.   Louis Cathedral

 

New Orleans Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes will celebrate the 7:30 am Mass at St. Louis Cathedral on Friday, August 29 to commemorate the 3rd Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina

   

Mass for Hope and   Healing - Immaculate Conception (Jesuits) Church,   Baronne St., New Orleans

 

   

On Friday, August   29, the noon Mass at Immaculate Conception Jesuit Church will be offered as a Mass for Hope and Healing. Prayers, readings, and music have been specially selected for the occasion, and priests will be available for a communal celebration of anointing for anyone still suffering from physical, spiritual, or emotional distress. Complimentary parking will be available for the event at the old Chevron building parking garage on Common Street.  Call 504-529-1477 for more information.
       
   

 

 

Katrina Memorial   Interfaith Service

 

Friday, August 29

 

7:00 p.m.
    Temple Sinai, corner of Calhoun and St. Charles Ave., New   Orleans
    504-596-3023

   

Archbishop Alfred Hughes will join with religious leaders from Protestant Christian, Greek Orthodox, Jewish, Muslim, and Sihk faiths to recall the tragedies of Hurricane Katrina and celebrate the accomplishments of the community as it continues to rebuild.  People of all faiths are invited to attend.

   

Eastern New Orleans Candlelight  Vigil & Day of Remembrance
    Thursday, August 28
7:00 p.m.
On the Levee at 9630 Hayne Blvd.

   

        Jazz  Funeral
  Friday, August 29
      8:00 a.m.
      Begins at corner of Canal St.  & Carrollton Ave., ending at Charity   Hospital Cemetery  on Canal at City Park Ave.

   

          Wreath-Laying  at Algiers  Ferry Landing
            Friday, August 29
      9:00 a.m.

   

      Bell-Ringing  Ceremony
        Friday, August 29
      9:38 a.m.
      Charity Hospital Cemetery,  Canal St.  at City Park Ave.

   

        Katrina  III: Stories of Helping and Hope
          Friday, August 29 
      7 p.m.
      Loyola University
The heroic events directly following Hurricane Katrina will be celebrated at Loyola University New Orleans during an anniversary program called, Katrina III: Stories of Helping and Hope.  The program will feature the courageous story of and an appearance by Molly the Pony; the uplifting sounds of Shades of Praise gospel choir; and heroic stories of first responders including Joe Cull, McFarland Institute Chaplain assigned to counsel the New Orleans Police Department in the days immediately following Katrina.  Katrina III: Stories of Helping and Hope takes place Friday, August 29, at 7 p.m., in Roussel Performance Hall on Loyola’s main campus.  Admission is free and open to the public.  For more information, contact the Office of Public Affairs at [email protected] or call (504) 861-5882.

   

JEFFERSON PARISH

Katrina Memorial Mass   - St. Lawrence the Martyr Church,   Metairie

St. Lawrence the Martyr, 2505 Maine Avenue, will host a memorial Mass on Friday, August 29 at 9 a.m. commemorating the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

 

Prayer Service of Remembrance and   Hope - St. Catherine of Siena Church, Metairie Road & Bonnabel   Blvd.
Friday, August 29

7:00 p.m.

On the evening of August 29, 2008, at 7:00 p.m. St. Catherine of Siena Church will celebrate a Holy Hour in remembrance of the storms of three years ago.  The Eucharist will be brought to the main altar of the church from our Perpetual Adoration Chapel, The Chapel of the Holy Innocents.  The setting for our prayers that evening will be Exposition and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

Call 504-835-9343 for more information.

PLAQUEMINES PARISH

 

“First  Parish Hit – The First Parish to Recover” anniversary events
Friday,  August 29

 

9:00am
    Roger Halphern Memorial Park (Rex Field)
    35410 Highway 11
    Buras

 

1:00pm
    Belle Chasse Auditorium
    8398 Highway 11 
    Belle Chasse

 

Events  will include:
    Recognition of those who aided in the recovery:  FEMA, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, LRA, Plaquemines businesses and more.
    Unveiling of Plaquemines Parish new Community  Centers
    Recognition of the completed work: Debris clean-up,  canals, drains, parish buildings & more.

 

 

 

ST. BERNARD PARISH

 

Friday August 29
    7:30am
Our Lady of Prompt Succor Church, 2320 Paris Road in Chalmette, will observe the third anniversary with a reunion/memorial Mass at 7:30 a.m. celebrated by the Most Reverend Shelton J. Fabre, an Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of New Orleans.  Refreshments will be served in the school gym immediately following the Mass, sponsored by the Archbishop Janssen Knights of Columbus 3068.

 

8:30-10:00am
The St. Bernard School Board will hold its third annual Day of Reflection Breakfast at 8:30 a.m. in the Chalmette High School Gymnasium at 1100 E. Judge Perez Drive in Chalmette. This year’s theme is “Be Somebody’s Hero.” The event is open to the public. Tickets cost $5 per person and must be purchased in advance. For information or tickets, call 301-2000 or go to the School Board Administration Office at 200 E. St. Bernard Highway in Chalmette.

 

11:00-11:30am
St. Bernard Parish Government will hold a Katrina Commemorative Service at 11 a.m. at Shell Beach where officials will rededicate the Katrina Monument and unveil a corrected and updated list of victims' names. The memorial site on the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet will now have the names of 163 St. Bernard Parish victims of Hurricane Katrina who died as a result of the storm, whether it was during the actual event or because of the evacuation.  The newly engraved monument includes about 20 more names and corrected spellings for several of the initially listed victims. A few names were removed because the people originally were listed as missing, but they indeed survived.

Live from Louisiana: A Hurricane Blogger's Personal Journal 8/29/08 3:04 pm CT

When I started this blog on the eve of Hurricane Katrina's landfall it was titled "Live from Louisiana: A Hurricane Blogger's Personal Journal". After Katrina went on to be the biggest disaster in contemporary U.S. history, I changed the name of the blog to "Hurricane Katrina"...and then eventually settled on "Beyond Katrina: The Voice of Hurricane & Disaster Recovery".

While recovery continues to date, about a year ago I found that I had Katrina fatigue and that I really couldn't talk about the issues publicly anymore. For the reason, over the past year or so, the blog has more or less functioned as a news aggregator. However, inasmuch as today is Katrina's third anniversary and I'm facing the eve of another potential Louisiana land falling cane, I feel moved to ramp up the personal blogging again. Thoughts are I'll do it as a series at this blog in honor of the pubs original title. So here's the first post in the series:

It's mass insanity here in Baton Rouge and across the state today as Louisiana prepares for the possibility that Gustav will make landfall somewhere on our coast. We're all experiencing a time warp - it's dejavu all over again.  As was similar for Katrina we're moving into the week-end (same time frame three years later) in a great deal of anxiety and anticipation.

I have heard from all of Beyond Katrina's contributors and stakeholders over the course of the past few days. My wonderful and talented PR strategist, Rebecca Rainer just emailed and reminded me that I need to eat my wheaties if I'm gonna make it through this marathon. Paul Greenberg and Itouched base few days ago. He writes, "We're all pretty nervous here in New Orleans right now. I'm going to Morgan City on Friday night for the Shrimp and Petroleum festival, and if I have to evacuate I'll go from there, I guess toward Lafayette.  UGH!". Rick Portier is about to head out on storm coverage assignment at ground zero, should  Gustav truly make it's way here. Matthew White, who is situated at the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain, (right where Katrina made its second landfall at the Pearl River La/Ms border)  is making evac plans as we speak. And Maida Owens (who works for the state) said every body seemed a little manic yesterday as folks rushed plans to completion before leaving for the Labor Day Holiday.

The theme that runs through most of these conversations is DREAD. While we Louisianians are seasoned veterans when it comes to the canes, it's just too soon. Our memories of Katrina and Rita are still so fresh and indelibly etched into our brains. And while we're all aware that this could be a total bust - Gustav could land anywhere - we still have to go through all the motions - we have to act as if.  Storm prep and particularly EVACS are just no fun...

In Commemoration of the Third Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina

American Flag Raised at Lake Catherine, Orleans Parish, LA After Hurricane Katrina. Copyright, Matthew White

To view a selection of images click here.

Left Behind?

By: Rick Portier

I don't get introspective often. It's not what you come here for. The cocky persona, the swagger I adopt when I strap on my babycam are more necessity than really me. It's just easier to witness the low points in so many lives through cynically colored glasses.

But Gustav has given me pause. Five years ago, the best meteorologists could give us with any measure of certainty was a three day forecast. That gave fools like me, who rush headlong into the teeth of stroms, little time to reflect on what might be. Three days was just enough time to throw some clothes in a bag, gas up the sat truck and make it to the coast to watch the surf roll in.

Now, with five-day projections, my brethren and I get to sweat the details. While storm virgins around the station jockey for position to nab a spot on the beach, I've had a knot in my gut for three days.

From the time Gussy flared up, I've had a bad feeling about this one. Twenty years chasing these damn things has taught me to trust my instinct. He may not be another Katrina, but Gustav ain't gonna be pretty.

Storm coverage is never easy. Three, four, five days eating sandy food from a celophane bag. It's long hours, mind-warping stress, and adrenaline rushes you'll never find in any amusement park. It's sugar highs, and big crashes. It's arguments with the house boys, and props to the crew who are the only ones who really know what it took to get the coverage on the air. It's a time for newsies to prove what they're made of. And it's no place to take chances.

Two nights ago the Missus told me she didn't want me to go.  No fussing.  No arguing.  Just a simple statement.

In some homes that might go without notice. At the turdpolisher ranch, it was the first time she's ever said that. It hit home hard. She knows I have to. She'd never reallly try to keep me home. And she knows too well I'd be miserable chasing fallen limbs around Cap City instead of in the thick of the battle. Still, part of me wants to be left behind.

It's not the dry assignment in the State Office of Emergency Preparedness I want. (X-Ray Ted's whiney ass will be comfy and well fed.) It's not that I loathe sleeping on the sat truck floor, a raging case of swamp ass, sand in my teeth, or seaweed in my shorts. It's what these little excursions into absurdity do to my family.

For the past twenty years, every time the suits turned the crank on the hype generator, my wife has put on a brave face, and kissed me good-bye at the door, not really sure when I was coming back. She's been left to keep life normal at home without me.

As much as I worry about everyone back home while I'm wind surfing with a satellite dish, I cannot imagine what I'm putting them through.

Just once I might like to be left behind . . . Probably not. But when winds are raging outside, it's a lot nicer curling up to the STW than a smelly news crew.

Love ya, Gail. See ya when I get back.

Rick Portier is a television news photographer in Baton Rouge. For more of his unique stories and interesting rants see his personal blog at http://turdpolisher.blogspot.com/

Half of Katrina victims were 75 or older

CHICAGO - As New Orleans residents warily track another threatening storm, a new report presents the clearest picture yet of deaths from Katrina in Louisiana. Of the nearly 1,000 who died, almost half were 75 or older, according to researchers. Continue>>>

Global Kids to Launch Online Community and Game, “Hurricane Katrina: Tempest in Crescent City,” to Raise Youth Awareness on Eve of 3rd Anniversary of Katrina

August 27, 2008, New York, NY – To mark the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, youth leaders for Global Kids, Inc. have created an online community and game in conjunction with Game Pill, Inc., AMD and Microsoft Corp.’s Partners in Learning where young people can engage in and experience the ongoing relief efforts in New Orleans.

Global Kids, the foremost nonprofit in New York City dedicated to educating urban youth about civic engagement and international affairs, and Game Pill, an innovator in online games development, have created a socially conscious game and web site, “Hurricane Katrina: Tempest in Crescent City” (www.tempestincrescentcity.org). This is the second game developed by Global Kids youth following the highly successful Ayiti: The Cost of Life (costoflife.org), which educates players about the obstacles to education faced by children in developing countries. Ayiti has been played worldwide over 1.5 million times and serves as a new model for games that address serious issues to increase youth awareness and involvement.

Hurricane Katrina: Tempest in Crescent City is a comprehensive social networking website featuring an educational “game” experience where participants are encouraged to act in support of New Orleans residents.  The site provides links to a variety of relief groups as well as information about New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina including multiple timelines, analysis of media coverage, and supporting articles for all information presented. The site also features multiple curricula about Hurricane Katrina including Global Kids’ own workshops for teachers to use as educational tools. Visitors who join the site become part of a social online community and contribute to forums about Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the continuing reconstruction.

The site was developed during the past school year by Global Kids Youth Leaders from Brooklyn’s Canarsie High School, who selected the topic of Hurricane Katrina. They worked with Game Pill to create an educational game within a social networking site that focuses on the local heroes that emerged during the disaster while educating its players about the essentials of disaster readiness.

“Game Pill is proud to be involved with Global Kids in this effort,” said Mike Sorretini, head of Game Pill.  “We hope that the site serves to educate, enlighten and show the facts of Hurricane Katrina in an interactive and dynamic medium.”

“AMD Changing the Game initiative is taking an expertise that the company has in the gaming industry and marrying it with our focus on education. Through gaming, we are giving kids a medium that they really enjoy, and giving them an opportunity to work with a team of their peers to actively collaborate and develop a positive game with social content,” said Ward Tisdale, Director of Global Community Affairs at AMD.

“Global Kids’ work on engaging teens through the Hurricane Katrina site showcases an incredible vision for using technology to develop life-long social activists and responsible citizens,” said Mary Cullinane, Director of Innovation and Business Development for Microsoft U.S. Education, “and it is aligned with Microsoft’s Partners in Learning engagement with students and teachers who live and work in New Orleans as they tirelessly rebuild and redesign their beloved city.”

Hurricane Katrina: Tempest in Crescent City was developed through Global Kids’ Playing for Keeps (P4K) program, which receives support from AMD and Microsoft’s U.S. Partners in Learning Mid-Tier Grants Initiative. The game's main character is Vivica Waters, a young woman from New Orleans who moved to New York after surviving the storm. The game takes place in Vivica’s dream, where she searches for her mother during the storm and helps her neighbors as the hero she wishes she could have been. The site will increase students’ awareness and understanding of the need for development and improved coordination of local community resources in support of rebuilding efforts.  It can be used within a classroom or after school setting.

Katrina 3-Year Coverage: Building on community driven successes with the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act

The federal government and national organizations have failed to meet the needs of the Gulf Coast 3 years after Katrina hit. How are local communities coming together to build a new vision for resident-led recovery? Almost three years after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the breakdown of Louisiana’s federally constructed levee system, the media, Congress, the White House, our Presidential candidates and even, surprisingly, the progressive community have for the most part moved on. Continue at Facing South>>>

Three Years After Hurricane Katrina, Homelessness Looms

"That's President Bush hugging me. See how tightly he's hugging me?" It was the chilly end of 2006 in Baker, Louisiana, when Lena Beard asked me this, proudly waving a newspaper clipping my direction as we talked in her still-temporary home. The fading photo, taken the same day the mother of two took refuge on a mattress in a church after Hurricane Katrina, had served as proof after the levees burst that she was going to be okay. "I'm a veteran who has served my country and put my life on the line. I believed my country would take care of me and my family," she said. Continue at Mother Jones>>>