Today started at the Presbytere, where we learned about the
devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I am the type of person that avoids
the news because it literally makes my heart hurt, so seeing the pictures and
reading the stories of the victims just broke my heart. Walking in and seeing
the bottles that represent the victims of the hurricane was like a weight on my
chest. I cannot imagine what these people went through. Seeing children
suffering about makes me lose it. Seeing the ordinary heroes makes my heart
warm. New Orleans is just a different place. Why did these people stay and
rebuild instead of just leaving?? Because this is their home. They rebuild and
move on. That amazed me. They stayed here because they wanted to and love
it here. One of the most heartfelt parts of the museum was listening to a
victim tell his story of staying behind to save others. His family evacuated to
Houston, TX and he stayed in his French Quarter business. In the museum, there was a pair of his jeans
on the wall that he wrote on in case he didn’t make it back. Whoa. Talk about
being brave. On his jeans was his name, blood type, social security number,
8/30/05, his wife’s name, her Houston hotel, and the phone number of the hotel. There were also stories about people being
stuck on their roof tops waiting to be saved.
So many people were rescued only to be dropped off at locations that did
not have a lot of food, water, or shelter.
The people were enduring 90-degree weather before being rescued by
buses. One of the other really
fascinating things we saw, was that people were predicting for years before
Katrina hit that the effects of the diminishing wetlands on south Louisiana’s
hurricane risk. The systems and structures
that were built to handle hurricanes, were incorrectly planned, and engineered. I found it to be so crazy that people were
predicting that something like the effects of Katrina could happen, yet no one
did anything to prepare for it in advance.
All throughout the museum were pieces of moldy ceilings from houses that
were damaged during Katrina. There was
also a lot of wood that was salvaged form homes. It was surreal to see items that were actually
from houses. There was a garage door
that was also from a home that had spray paint all over it and it said there
was a dead dog inside and to not remove it, because he was going bury him. There was a teddy bear that was caked in mud
and a little boy’s shirt and coat that was caked in mud. These items had been found in the aftermath. These peoples’ lives were changed drastically
in an instant. One of the last things we
saw was a couple of different costumes made from blue tarp. These were made in response to the blue tarps
that were used to cover damaged roofs. Artists
and designers created special designs for the Blue Tarp Fashion Show, a benefit
for tourism promotion and the America’s Wetland coastal restoration campaign.
Claudio Hemb's jeans.
Inner Journey
Learning about Hurricane Katrina made me realize even more
that the people of New Orleans are very loyal to their town. It was amazing to me that when the hurricane hit,
all of these victims evacuated and then came back and rebuilt their lives and
homes. There were a lot of people that stayed
to help their neighbors and friends get to a safe place, before getting
themselves to safety. So many people
showed selflessness by doing everything they could to save the people of New Orleans
and eventually rebuild the city. Coming into
this trip, I had no idea the details of Katrina. It is not that I don’t care, but when
something doesn’t affect you personally, there is a tendency to pretend it didn’t
happen. I knew it was a huge deal and a
devastating event, but I hadn’t seen so many pictures and heard so many personal
stories. Throughout this trip, we have
met and seen a lot of different people and they all have one thing in common,
their love for the city of New Orleans.
Hurricane Katrina was the perfect example of the loyalty that lies
here. The people of this city could have
easily given up and threw in the towel. This
city is known as a swamp land. It is
surrounded by the Mississippi River, and the shape of the state it is perfect
for flooding. This city has overcome
many devastations and disasters. All that
being said, the people stay here and make it work. They put their houses higher, build with
brick instead of wood, and do whatever they need to do be able to live here and
not have damage when floods happen. Going
to the Presbytere, I realized I do not know enough about history and what goes
on around me. My views of the city have
changed from the first day we got here until now. I look at the people here a little
differently. Seeing people on the
streets playing music, selling their artwork, reading tarot cards, or whatever
it is they do for a living, is a way of life that I have never seen. Today was a lot busier than it has been since
we got here. We got to see a group of
men performing and they were amazing. The
talent here is incredible. These men had
a huge group of people watching. They were
dancing, singing, telling jokes, and performing in ways that I have never seen
before. The other place we visited today
was the Cabildo. This is one of the most
historically significant buildings in America.
The Cabildo highlights the history of New Orleans and Louisiana. This state has so much significance and I had
no idea how much of an impact New Orleans has had on the history of
America. The people of New Orleans know
and understand the importance of its history and its future. I am going to leave this city with a greater
appreciation of this city and its people.
One of the guys performing for a crowd.
Everyone in the group sitting in front of the NOLA 300 sign.
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