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Page 1: Remembering Katrina
Page 2: Remembering Katrina
Page 3: Remembering Katrina

LL ‘Observateur SATURDAY, AUGUST 28, 2010 3KATRINA

BY ROBIN SHANNONL’OBSERVATEUR

LAPLACE – While he washoled up within the confinesof the Percy Hebert Buildingin LaPlace watching theweather from HurricaneKatrina blow in, former St.John the Baptist Parish pres-ident and current state Rep.Nickie Monica thought qui-etly about the role his parishwould take in the recoveryeffort.

“I knew before the windstopped that the parishwould play an important rolein the recovery efforts fol-lowing the storm,” Monicasaid. “I was amazed at how itall came to light.”

From the large windows ofhis office, Monica said herecalls looking out ontoAirline Highway and seeingabsolutely no activity as thestorm began its onslaught inSt. John.

With roughly 80 percent ofthe parish evacuated,Monica said the parish waseerily dark and very quiet.

“We watched the trans-formers pop and saw thepower lines come down,” hesaid. “We watched the treesin front of the building swayback and forth. There wasn’tmuch sound other than thewind whistling.”

Once the rain cleared outand the wind died down,Monica said work crews setout immediately to clearmore than 40,000 cubic tonsof debris, most of whichwere downed trees andbranches scattered acrossroadways and yards in theparish.

“There was no substantialstructural damage otherthan roof damage to a smat-

tering of buildings in thearea,” Monica said.“Certainly we were verylucky that it wasn’t worse.”

Being on the western sideof the storm, St. John wasable to get back up and run-ning quicker than mostother areas closer to the city.Other than Metairie andmuch of Kenner, Monicasaid the River Parishes wasthe first area west of NewOrleans with power and dryland, and the parish took fulladvantage.

“More than 1,000 linemenfrom Entergy set up shelter

at East St. John High Schooland were destined for NewOrleans,” Monica said. “Butthey were stuck there wait-ing for the water to recede sothey helped get our areaback up within three daysafter the storm.”

The parish was also thetemporary home to roughly6,000 members of variouslaw enforcement agencieswho were sheltered and fedin St. John Parish. It alsoserved as the staging area forabout 200 buses parked nearthe I-10/I-55 interchangewaiting to take recovery

workers into the city.At the St. John Airport, the

parish played host to the82nd Airborne wing of theNational Guard. The groupflew helicopter runs to andfrom the city from the air-port.

“We took a few rides withthem to get a sense of thedamage,” Monica said. “Itgives you a new respect forwhat they were doing in therecovery.”

Disasters sometimes bringout the worst in people, but itcan also bring out the best.Monica said more often thannot the storm brought outthe best in a lot of people liv-ing in St. John.

“I’m not going to namenames, but there are resi-dents in St. John that justwent above and beyond whenwe needed them,” Monicasaid.

“We had dozens of statetroopers sleeping at what isnow Lake PontchartrainElementary. Our residentscooked for them, washedtheir clothes and did all sortsof chores to help these men. Ican recall hearing remarksfrom troopers about howmuch it meant to them thatthere were people willing tolend a hand.”

Unfortunately, not every-thing was smooth sailing.Monica recalls a real strug-gle getting supplies into theparish after the storm.

“The efforts to bring food,water and ice into the parishwere chaotic after thestorm,” he said. “There wassuch a communicationbreakdown between localleaders and state leaders. Itwas tough to explain wherethings were needed and whatwas needed.”

Parish administratorswere also responsible formaking quick decisions inthe heat of the moment.Some of the choices weremet with restraint, but manyof the unpopular initiativeshad to be set in motion.

“Lots of decisions had tobe made on the fly,” Monicasaid. “We made the choice toallow FEMA trailers in frontyards and also establishedparks for trailer homes,which are still in use today.We had about 10,000 extrapeople in the parish. It put alot of pressure on our resi-dents. We were the ones thathad to keep the sanity. A lotof things were happeningvery quickly in a very shortperiod. It was an interestingtime for us.”

River Parishes played important role after KatrinaFormer St. John Parish president recalls chaotic times in storm’s aftermath

Then-St. John the Baptist Parish President Nickie Monicarecalls the period immediately following Hurricane Katrina asone of uncertainty and quickly made decisions for St. JohnParish. As one of the first dry spots west of New Orleans, theparish hosted many relief workers during the weeks followingthe storm.

“I knew before the wind stopped that theparish would play an important role in therecovery efforts following the storm. I was

amazed at how it all came to light.”

NICKIE MONICAFormer St. John the Baptist Parish President

Page 4: Remembering Katrina

BY DAVID VITRANOL’OBSERVATEUR

LAPLACE – It’s no secretthat Orleans Parish had beenlosing residents to nearbyparishes long beforeHurricane Katrina madelandfall and changed every-thing. But that event expedit-ed the process, changing thelandscape of not only NewOrleans but the RiverParishes as well.

St. Tammany Parish mayhave seen the biggest influxof new residents, but formany suddenly homelessNew Orleanians, St. Charles,St. John the Baptist and St.James parishes, with theirabundance of availablespace and relatively inexpen-sive housing prices, present-ed the most promisingprospects for starting lifeanew.

Of the River Parishes, St.John saw the largest in-crease in population, with anestimated 2,079 new resi-dents settling there betweenJuly 2005 and July 2006. With

a pre-Katrina population of45,568, the population of St.John grew by more than 4.5percent in the year followingthe storm. In July 2006, thepopulation of St. JohnParish was estimated at47,647.

St. Charles Parish, with itsclose proximity to NewOrleans and its traditionalsuburbs in Jefferson Parish,also saw its fair share of new

residents in the year follow-ing Katrina. The populationrose from 50,116 in July 2005to 51,868 one year later. Theadditional 1,752 residents re-present a population in-crease of 3.5 percent duringthat year.

St. James Parish, as themost distant of the RiverParishes from New Orleans,saw the fewest number ofnew residents in the year fol-

lowing Katrina. With only423 additional people callingthe parish home in the yearfollowing Katrina, St. James’population rose by a littlemore than 2 percent fromJuly 2005 to July 2006. Theparish’s pre-Katrina popula-tion was estimated at 20,807while an estimated 21,230people resided in St. James ayear later.

Unsurprisingly, a number

of residents who settled inthe River Parishes followingthe storm have moved on,either back to New Orleansor to other parishes or states,in the years since that timeof so much change anduncertainty. According toU.S. Census Bureau esti-mates, nearly 1,000 fewerpeople called the RiverParishes home in 2009 as inJuly 2006.

4 LL ‘Observateur SATURDAY, AUGUST 28, 2010KATRINA

Many sought refuge in River Parishes St. John, St. James, St. Charles have all seen growth since 2005

Page 5: Remembering Katrina

LL ‘Observateur SATURDAY, AUGUST 28, 2010 5KATRINA

Traveling photo exhibitdetails Gulf Coast’s struggleNEW ORLEANS — Five

years after HurricaneKatrina and the floods rav-aged the Gulf coast, a pletho-ra of art and literature con-tinues to populate the cultur-al landscape.

Award-winning photogra-phers Stanley Greene andKadir van Lohuizen are cur-rently traveling thoughTexas on the way to NewOrleans with a photo exhibitdocumenting Katrina’s effecton the Gulf coast.

The exhibit, titled “ThoseWho Fell Through theCracks,” features photos thatcover the interior and out-side of a 24-foot truck. Thetruck made its first appear-

ance in town earlier thisweek and will continue tomake stops through Sept. 1.

“The photographs are apowerful visual document ofHurricane Katrina’s effectson Gulf coast residents andthe struggles they face to thisday in re-establishing theirlives,” said van Lohuizen,who, along with StanleyGreene, conceived the proj-ect to foster a conversationabout human rights andthose left behind. “The pho-tographs are a testament tothe power of art’s ability tobring new awareness andsensitivity to communitiesand spur systemic change.”

The truck’s journey began

Aug. 19 with a stop at theMuseum of Fine Arts inHouston. The trip will con-tinue with nine more stops atgalleries and communitycenters throughout NewOrleans. The truck will makeits way to the Lower NinthWard in New Orleans for theKatrina anniversary. Alongthe way, the photographerswill moderate workshopswith displaced people, com-munity organizers, andartists.

More information on“Those Who Fell Throughthe Cracks” is available athttp://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=101849773194900&ref=ts.

EXHIBITION SCHEDULE

AAuugg.. 2288 –– SSeepptt.. 33

Exhibition launches at the Ashé Cultural Arts Center in New Orleans, 1712 Oretha Castle HaleyBlvd, New Orleans. Attendees are invited to view the show, participate in conversation, and sharetheir own stories on audio and film.

SSaattuurrddaayy,, AAuugg.. 2288

Lake Forest Mall, 5700 Read Boulevard, New Orleans

Mobile Exhibition Honors the People of New Orleans East, 2 - 8 p.m.

SSuunnddaayy,, AAuugg.. 2299

1717 Deslonde Street, Lower Ninth Ward, New Orleans – Near the site where the barge came overthe floodwall onto land

Mobile Exhibition 10 a.m. - 10 p.m., Lower Ninth Ward - In partnership with “Make it Right”

Multi media projection of ‘Eyes on Katrina’ with the works of different photographers on the flood-wall at the Lower ninth ward, Jourdan Avenue, 9 p.m.

MMoonnddaayy,, AAuugg.. 3300

Old U.S. Mint in the French Quarter, 400 Esplanade Avenue, New Orleans

Mobile exhibition 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Workshop Seminar with Stanley Greene, Kadir van Lohuizen & AlanChin, 5 - 8 p.m. at Ashé Cultural Arts Center - 1712 Oretha CastleHaley Blvd, New Orleans

TTuueessddaayy,, AAuugg.. 3311

Old U.S. Mint in the French Quarter, 400 Esplanade Avenue, NewOrleans, LA

Mobile exhibition 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Ashe Cultural Arts Center, 1712 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd, NewOrleans 70113

Books offers unique viewsof Katrina experience

Since the first anniversary of the storm, and every yearafter that, authors have beeninspired by the events andactions surrounding the onsetof Katrina. Three books in par-ticular are regaining populari-ty with the fifth anniversary ofKatrina.

In July of 2009, acclaimedauthor Dave Eggers released“Zeitoun,” the story of oneman’s experience afterKatrina. AbdulrahmanZeitoun, a successful Syrian-born painting contractor,decides to stay in New Orleansand protect his property whilehis family flees. After the lev-ees break, he uses a smallcanoe to rescue people, beforebeing arrested by an armed squad and swept powerlesslyinto a vortex of bureaucratic brutality. When a guardaccuses him of being a member of Al Qaeda, he sees thatrace and culture may explain his predicament.

In August of 2009, graphicnovelist Josh Neufeld turneda serial comic strip from anonline magazine into “A.D.:New Orleans After theDeluge,” a full fledged graph-ic novel that followed thelives of six real New Orleansresidents during the storm.The novel documents eventsat the Superdome, theConvention Center, theFrench Quarter and otherneighborhoods in the area.

In mid June Americanphotographer Dave Anderson released “One Block,” anovel that follows the reconstruction of a single NewOrleans block in the wake ofKatrina, delivering a portraitof the storm's ongoing physi-cal and psychological impacton the city and its residents.Using portraiture, still lifesand abstract images,Anderson documents the evo-lution of both the street andits houses as residents literal-ly rebuild their lives, explor-ing the very nature of commu-nity while testing itsresilience.

Page 6: Remembering Katrina

6 LL ‘Observateur SATURDAY, AUGUST 28, 2010KATRINA

BY ROBIN SHANNONL’OBSERVATEUR

LAPLACE – Although St.John the Baptist Parish wasspared the brunt of the dam-age from Hurricane Katrina,the members of the St. JohnParish Sheriff ’s Office werestill faced with their fairshare of daunting tasks fromthe first moments of evacua-tion to the early days of peo-ple returning home to pickup the pieces.

Lt. C.J Remondet and Lt.Conrad Baker, deputies inthe traffic division, spoke atlength about the Sheriff ’sOffice role throughout thestorm. The officers said themadness started early asdeputies were stationed ateach red light through St.John to keep traffic movingalong Airline Highway on itsway out of town.

“Contraflow on I-10 pusheda lot of the traffic ontoAirline,” Baker said. “Wehad cars for days. It was asolid line through the parish.There were plenty of acci-

dents. So many that we got toa point where we just couldnot respond to them allbecause we were stretched sothin. We were just tellingpeople to trade informationand continue on. There was-n’t much more we could do.We wanted to get people mov-ing as quickly as possible so

they could be off the road.”Baker said Airline

Highway was the source ofmost of the traffic out oftown. A handful of driverswere using River Road, butmany didn’t realize how freeand open the winding roadwas.

“River Road was another

option, but no one knewabout it, which played to ouradvantage,” Remondet said.“Many of our vehicles andother emergency vehicleswere using it to maneuveraround the parish.”

Baker said he recalledmost of the traffic backupswere during the daylight

hours rather than at night.He said many people justseemed to want to get goingearly in the day. He saidwhen nightfall came, thetraffic died down tremen-dously.

Once the traffic died downand evacuees made itthrough the area, the parishbecame a ghost town. Bakersaid at that point the focusturned from traffic topatrolling.

“Even with the mandatoryevacuation, quite a few peo-ple still stayed,” Baker said.“Officers were only allowedto stay on the roads for solong. Baker said once thewinds reached stronger than60 mph, we were called inand a curfew was put intoeffect.”

Baker and Remondet saidofficers stayed with a groupof more than 100 firstresponders, fire personneland EMS technicians atRiver Parishes Hospital. Thegroup took up every avail-

Deputies recall Katrina experiences‘Everywhere there was a place to sleep, there was a person there’

Lt. Conrad Baker (left) and Lt. C.J. Remondet of the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’sDepartment are two of the officers who helped patrol the streets of the parish during and afterHurricane Katrina’s landfall. (Staff photo by Robin Shannon)

SEE DEPUTIES, PAGE 7

Page 7: Remembering Katrina

LL ‘Observateur SATURDAY, AUGUST 28, 2010 7KATRINA

able room at the hospital andthen some.

“Everywhere there was aplace to sleep, there was aperson there,” Remondetsaid. “Waiting room benchesand nurses station areaswere all being used.”

The deputies said therewere some who slept throughthe storm, but many in thegroup at the hospital wereantsy and ready to get outand see the damage and seewhere help was needed.

“Once the winds droppeddown below 35 mph, officerswere cleared to go out andsurvey the damage,” Bakersaid. “There was no electrici-ty anywhere. “We rode downCarrollwood Drive and noth-ing had lights. The physicaldamage was mostly downedpower poles and brokentrees. There were a few roadsblocked, but no substantialstructural damage.”

One of the biggest con-cerns, according to Baker,was the number of sight-seers out on the roadway.

“Although the bulk of thestorm had passed, we stillhad bands of rain comingthrough and people were outscoping out the damage,” he

said. “We still had the curfewin effect, so we had to work toget people off the roads andback inside.”

There was also an in-creased presence of deputiesout patrolling. Remondetsaid on a typical day, theSheriff ’s Office is brokeninto four shifts, but forKatrina, shifts were consoli-dated into two – a day shiftand a night shift.

“There was more presence,and it offered us quickerresponse times,” Remondetsaid. “We also did routinepatrols on the streets withour lights flashing. I canremember getting manycompliments from residents

about that. They could see usout there and see we wereworking.”

After the storm had com-pletely passed over, one ofthe first duties for theSheriff ’s Office was to assistin setting up operations shel-ters for the myriad agenciesswarming to St. John to help.

“Our area was really thefirst dry land outside of met-ropolitan New Orleans,”Remondet said. “We were thefirst area to get fuel and haveelectricity, so all those agen-cies were setting up shop inSt. John.”

The parish was also thefirst to open after the stormand became the only way for

anyone to get back into thecity.

“I-10 into Slidell was shutdown,” Remondet said. “Thecauseway was shut down. Alltraffic was being routed to I-12 and I-55 down to I-10 in St.John resulting in a new traf-fic jam. Every resident fromKenner, Metairie, New Or-leans, and other parts eastand south of the city werecoming through the High-way 51/Airline Highway cor-ridor. I don’t think peopleunderstood how many peo-ple came through our area.”

Remondet said peopleflocked to the area, but wereforced to hold up untilJefferson and Orleans wereallowed to reopen.

“I can remember thatRaceTrac gas station onAirline became almost like ahomeless shelter,” he said.“People were parking theircars along the interstate andalong Airline waiting to getback into the city.”

To handle the influx, patrolofficers were again forced toposition themselves at thered lights to keep trafficmoving.

Baker said some of thetraffic woes before and afterthe storm should be rectifiedby the new traffic lights

installed along Airline thisyear.

“They are supposedlysynched up better,” Bakersaid. “The intersections canalso be monitored by theDepartment ofTransportation through anetwork of cameras on eachpole.”

Baker said people drivingthrough stayed civil to apoint, but the lack of move-ment on the roads coupledwith the unknowns regard-ing property damage madedrivers jittery and ultimate-ly led to rashes of road rage.

“Accidents quadrupled formonths after he storm,”Baker said. “Even after peo-ple were cleared to get backhome and that traffic dieddown, there were still plentyof people traveling throughSt. John from New Orleans toget to work in Baton Rouge.”

Both Baker and Remondetsaid lessons were learnedfrom Katrina that could beapplied to future storms.Baker said when Gustav andIke threatened the areadeputies were more spreadout instead of all being posi-tioned at the hospital.

“It makes it easier to getout and answer calls,” hesaid. “It makes a difference.”

DEPUTIES: Officers stationed themselves at light to keep traffic moving FROM PAGE 6

Traffic along River Road at the Bonnet Carre Spillway wassteady before Katrina arrived, but many evacuees didn’t thinkabout taking that road out of the city. (Photo by ColeenPerilloux Landry)

Page 8: Remembering Katrina

8 LL ‘Observateur SATURDAY, AUGUST 28, 2010KATRINA

Upon viewing this bulletinfrom the National Hurri-cane Center we decided itwas time to pack up and getout of our Metairie home inthe suburb of New Orleans.Thousands had already fledthe city, heading north andwest, but my stoneheadedhusband, who is a retiredmeteorologist of the U.S.Weather Bureau (nowNational Weather Service)had planned to ride it out athome. We live about 1 1/2miles from Lake Pontchar-train, which empties intothe Gulf of Mexico. In thishurricane it was to be vice-versa.

Preparing for the worst,the ships positioned them-selves sideways and droppedanchor in case a tidal surgefrom the Gulf of Mexicocame up the Mississippi.

Vehicles stretched for hun-dreds of miles as people fledmetro New Orleans.

As I reached the easternlevee of the Spillway thiswas the scene. All of my lifeI have felt immediate peaceat this spot, but this day Ionly felt fear and terror ofthe approaching hurricane.

We had planned to spendthe hurricane at St. Joseph’sAbbey in Covington, but atthe last minute learned a

nursing home where myfather-in-law and sister werepatients was not evacuating,so we chose to stay near thenursing home.

Perilloux Place (in Montz)is about 30 miles from NewOrleans. The house wasbuilt by my father in the1920s and had withstood theravages of a horrendoushurricane in 1947 and Hur-ricane Betsy in 1965. It wasabout to be tested by muchgreater energy.

My husband, our middleson, I and our two cats pre-pared for the winds.

Well into the night thecars crept down the RiverRoad escaping metro NewOrleans, and many were onthe road when the first feed-er bands of wind and rainbegan.

Quite a few cars pulled in-to our driveway to eitherswitch drivers, change ababy or take a stretch sincethey had been on the roadfor hours in clogged traffic.

In the height of the hurri-cane a baby mockingbirdflew on to my porch and thewindow ledge for protection.After the wind died down Isaw it beneath my automo-

bile, where its mother wasfranctically calling for it.The wonders of nature areendless.

During the height of thehurricane a squirrel wasthrown from its nest in atree right outside my win-dow and tried to escape to asafer place. The panic on itsface was almost as great asmine.

The hurricane force windsand heavy rain began dur-

ing the darkest hours of thenight, and we lost electricalpower. They continued untilshortly after midday.

Any photos had to betaken through the windowglass. I dared not open anoutside door in fear of theroof being lifted off thehouse as the winds wouldenter inside.

I kept reassuring myself

River Road resident chronicled storm through journal

Hurricane winds and sheets of rain blew through for manyhours.

Ships anchored along the St. John the Baptist Parish stretch ofthe Mississippi River before Katrina arrived. SEE JOURNAL, PAGE 9

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY COLEEN PERILLOUX LANDRY

Page 9: Remembering Katrina

LL ‘Observateur SATURDAY, AUGUST 28, 2010 9 KATRINA

with the fact that the househad withstood the winds in1947 and 9165 and was solidand dry after the storm.

There were times when Isilently asked my deceasedparents for courage. Theroaring of the wind and thesound of tornados overheadsoon became a song, a song Inever want to sing. I knewwe were high on the RiverRoad and it would flood onlyif the rest of the worldflooded, but nothing was tokeep the house from blowingapart in the wind or a torna-do from carrying us allaway.

“Holy Mary, Mother ofGod, pray for us sinners,now and at the hour of ourdeath” were words from aprayer I repeated hundredsof time during the storm.

Shutters blown down anda tree across the drivewaywere pleasant surprises. Fora while I thought the wholehouse would blow away.

We had tree damage withseveral of my favorite crepemyrtles felled. Our very tallcedar that we decorate withcolored lights and a star ev-ery Christmas was lost.

There was debris all over

the yard from the trees. Iwalked through our woodsand surprisingly, in 12 acres,there were only about 50trees down. I guess they pro-tected each other.

Animals sense danger, andfor several hours during theworst of the winds Abrahamdid not leave my side. Whenthe wind died down to 40miles per hour, he fell asleepon my bed and slept for aday. The electrical powerwas out and remained outfor eight days. We had no tel-evision, therefore missedseeing the flooding, lootingand misery in New Orleansthat the rest of the worldwas seeing. We did have bat-tery operated radios, and Iwould sit in my automobileat least once a day to brea-the in air conditioned air.

There was no gasoline av-ailable for automobiles, nofood or water and martiallaw had been declared. Not apleasant time in Louisiana.

Our electric power wasknocked out during Hurri-cane Katrina before thestorm had reached its fullpotential, causing me to usean oil lamp for light This isthe same lamp that was usedin this same house until Iwas in the second grade. I

would sit at the dining roomtable and do my homeworkby this lamp. Electricity didnot arrive in our rural townuntil then; hard to believe inthis cyber age, isn’t it?

The lamp once againserved me well for the eightdays we were without powerfollowing the hurricane, butthis is one of the “good olddays” things I would notcare to return to.

None of the area had elec-tricity. No gas pumps couldwork even if there had beenany gasoline left in them; ithad all been used up by ev-acuees fleeing the storm.

There were no grocerystores open or drugstores oranything. Everyone had ev-acuated, plus there was noelectricity to run cash regis-ters or even automaticdoors. Water was scarce, andice was non-existent. Thenear 100 degrees tempera-ture combined with the hu-midity made it seem like onewas in a constant sauna.

The silence without airconditioner motors, televi-sions or traffic on the RiverRoad was deafening.

Each time I ventured outof our long driveway ontoRiver Road I was stopped bya law enforcement officer

checking my identification.On the third day when I ven-tured the 15 miles upriver tothe nursing home to checkon our relatives I was de-tained at least five times bylaw enforcement officerschecking identifications.

Air Force One carryingPresident George W. Bushflew directly over PerillouxPlace on Thursday after Kat-rina and was so low I couldsee the people in the plane.Shamefully, he only flewover Louisiana, Mississippiand Alabama and did notbother to stop and help, onlylook from his airplane win-dow.

The three of us in thehouse those first six dayssaid very little to one anoth-er. I believe we were inshock. The fright we hadsustained during the 12hours of hurricane forcewinds had done somethingto our psyche, and it wouldbe weeks and months beforewe felt normal again, if ever.

I could only imagine whatthe people of Metairie andNew Orleans were goingthrough, some 25 minutesaway from us. I found out alltoo soon when I went back.

(This was not completejournal, only excerpts.)

FROM PAGE 8

JOURNAL: Perilloux Place memories

This oil lamp provided light at Perilloux Place during the after-math of Hurricane Katrina, just as it provided light for the fam-ily many years ago.

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10 LL ‘Observateur SATURDAY, AUGUST 28, 2010KATRINA

Left in the wake: pictures tell the tale

Above: While much of the structural damage to buildings in the River Parishes was because offalling trees or flying debris, some of the older edifices lost roofs or collapsed completely asHurricane Katrina roared ashore. Top right: Many houses fell victim to the old trees that onceprovided shade and privacy. Here, two men attempt to cut a fallen away from a captive housein sections. Bottom right: Clearing the roadways was a top priority in the River Parishes follow-ing Hurricane Katrina.

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LL ‘Observateur SATURDAY, AUGUST 28, 2010 11KATRINA

Page 12: Remembering Katrina

12 LL ‘Observateur SATURDAY, AUGUST 28, 2010KATRINA

Power struggle: Entergy rescues the region from darkness

Above: Keeping relief workers fed became a full-time endeavor in the weeks following Hurricane

Katrina. At right: Even seasoned professionalsfound themselves overcome with emotion as they

saw the destrction throughout the region.

Above: Entergy had to per-form many of its Katrina relief

operations in cooperationwith military agencies. Atright: Following Hurricane

Katrina, St. John the BaptistParish became a staging areafor many of the region’s reliefefforts. Trucks assembled just

about anywhere they couldfind large open spaces.

Page 13: Remembering Katrina

LL ‘Observateur SATURDAY, AUGUST 28, 2010 13KATRINA

BY RYAN ARENAL’OBSERVATEUR

RESERVE – It seems likedecades ago to LarryDauterive. In reality, it’s onlybeen five years.

But the East St. John coachwill never forget the 2005football season – a seasonborn amid awful circum-stances, but one that playedout in nothing short ofextraordinary fashion.

“Five years ago,” saysDauterive. “It feels like 40.For us to put things togetherthat year, it was unbeliev-able.”

Hurricane Katrina didunfathomable damage ac-ross the region, but once itbecame time to pick up thepieces, Dauterive found hisday-to-day operations at EastSt. John to be quite altered.

His team lost the first threegames on its schedule – not“lost” as in the standings,mind you, but his teamwouldn’t play them due tothe damage to the NewOrleans area.

Further compounding mat-ters was the influx of dis-placed students into theschool – 450 in all would beadded to the East St. Johnenrollment, including 20 newfootball players.

All of a sudden, Dauterivewas in a unique position – heknew he needed to welcomeand integrate the new play-ers without alienating thosewho had already earned en-trenched spots on the team.

“I told the team that allpositions were open,” saidDauterive. “And I asked myoriginal players to put them-selves in the shoes of thenew guys. Some of these kidscoming over were stars intheir own right. And at thesame time, we’re gettingready to play games – wecan’s slow things down at

practice for anybody. But thebottom line was that we hadto put our best 11 out there.”

East St. John and Hahn-ville each found themselvesin the same boat after seeinga number of game cancella-tions – they needed to play,and each looked to haveanother cancellation on theway.

“(Hahnville coach) Lou(Valdin) and I agreed that weeach needed an opponent. Wecouldn’t miss another week,”said Dauterive, whose teamwas (and is) a district rival ofHahnville. “So we go outthere to play on a Sundayafternoon. We had to finduniforms, equipment —everything was discombobu-lated.”

The game set the tone forthe season. East St. John led27-21 in the waning secondsof the game, leavingHahnville only a prayer ofwinning – and it was an-

swered. LaRon Byrd caught aHail Mary pass in the end-zone to deliver the victory toHahnville.

“If something weird isgonna happen, it’ll happenbetween East St. John andHahnville,” said Dauterive.“There have been someabsolute classics since I’vebeen here.”

But instead of dividing theteam, the loss seemed tobring them together. A winover John Curtis on a latefield goal was a big momen-tum booster. Once districtplay started, ESJ got a meas-ure of revenge on Hahnville,beating the Tigers by threetouchdowns. And a blowoutvictory against Destrehanwould clinch a district title.

All of a sudden, a team thatseemed to have far too manydistractions to succeed wasdoing exactly that – it fin-ished its regular seasonschedule out without anoth-

er loss.All the while, players were

finding their roles.“These kids that came over

were looking for direction,”said Dauterive. “Some wentback to their old schools.Some didn’t. Some didn’tknow where they’d be eatingand would go to homes with17, 18 people. It was organ-ized chaos, and it’s a credit tothe character of those kids.”

A big reason was the playof Johnny Owen. A trans-plant from Brother Martin,Owen quickly made hismark – his first carry of theseason went for an 80-yardtouchdown.

But his time cut into that ofentrenched starter StanleyJackson – a team captain.

But instead of complainingand becoming a divisiveforce on the team, Jacksonaccepted a rotational rolewith Owen. The two wouldbecome close friends.

But the on-field occur-rences continued to be justas extraordinary as the off-field ones. ESJ won its firsttwo playoff games and founditself matched up in thequarterfinals with – youguessed it – Hahnville.

Playing a team three timesin one season is rare enough,but playing your archrivalthrice?

The game flow fit the cir-cumstances. ESJ took threesafeties in the game and hada pass intercepted for atouchdown.

Nevertheless, ESJ had onelast chance to win – by con-verting a Hail Mary. In-credibly, the Wildcats had achance to pay Hahnville backfor the first game of the sea-son.

But it just wasn’t to be.Things would end havingcome full circle.

The team’s circumstancesinspired a young film direc-tor, Franklin Martin, to fol-low the team and shoot a doc-umentary on its progress.“Walking on Dead Fish” wasreleased in theaters in 2008and is narrated by ProFootball Hall of Fame quar-terback Terry Bradshaw.

In fact, discussions havebeen ongoing about making“Walking” into a Hollywoodfilm adaptation. Sean Pennwas even rumored as a can-didate to portray Dauterive,though that no longer seemsto be in the cards.

But no matter how manyversions are captured onfilm, the “film” that plays outin his memories is all thesweeter.

“The bonding we had … Istill get calls from thosekids,” said Dauterive. “It wassomething bigger than us,and I wouldn’t wish it onanyone. But we made some-thing special out of thatyear.”

ESJ football season documented on film

East St. John High School’s football team in 2005 included many players displaced afterHurricane Katrina. Coach Larry Dautreive, inset, called the season “something bigger than us.”

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14 LL ‘Observateur SATURDAY, AUGUST 28, 2010KATRINA

Art helps evacuee remember and forgetFormer New Orleanian and current East St. John junior lost everythingBY DAVID VITRANO

L’OBSERVATEUR

RESERVE – Artists havefor time immemorial usedtheir craft to exorcise

demons both personal andpolitical, but few have facedcalamity as extensive as thedestruction wrought byHurricane Katrina.

Until Aug. 28, 2005, Jessica

Alford, a visually talentedart junior at East St. JohnHigh School, lived in NewOrleans East, one of the sec-tions of the city hardest hitby the flooding that followedthe storm.

“Momma wasn’t going toleave,” she said. “I left every-thing behind.”

Alford said it was hermother’s place of employ-ment, East Haven NursingHome, that finally convincedher to get out of town. Whenthey did, she and her familycrowded onto a bus filledwith residents of the nurs-ing home, leaving behind alltheir possessions and mostof their extended family.

Further adding insult toinjury, that day was Alford’s12th birthday.

“It was my birthday whenwe had to evacuate,” shesaid. “I was disappointed Ihad to spend my birthday ina nursing home.”

She eventually found her-self in Baton Rouge whileher mother found shelter atNew Wine Christian

Fellowship in LaPlace. Thatsituation led to the family’sultimately finding a home inSt. John the Baptist Parish.

Alford said her first fewmonths spent in her newhome did not go so smoothly.She was separated fromeveryone she knew and hadlost almost all of her posses-sions. Like many who evacu-ated in the days leading up tothe storm, Alford said shethought she would be backhome within a day or two.The reality turned out to bevery different.

“We lost everything,” shesaid. “I didn’t take anything,not even shoes.”

And while losing one’smaterial things can be hardto get used to, losing one’sfriends and family can take a

bit more adjusting.“I lost all my friends. My

friends stayed,” she said,adding, “We just found eachother last year. They stay inTexas.”

Being without friends tookits toll on the girl emotional-ly. She was kept out of schoolfor a year because she keptgetting into fights at heradopted school.

“People stereotyped me,”she said.

It is a stereotype Alfordsaid she was glad to leavebehind.

“I was glad to go to a newschool,” she said. “You don’tgrow up as fast here.”

Alford said in New Orleansfights and drug use wereJessica Alford stands in the hall at East St. John High School,

the place that has become her adopted home since fleeingNew Orleans. (Staff photo by David Vitrano)

“If you’re stressed out, all yourfeelings go into the painting.”

JESSICA ALFORDEast St. John Visually Talented Art Student

SEE ART, PAGE 15

Page 15: Remembering Katrina

LL ‘Observateur SATURDAY, AUGUST 28, 2010 15KATRINA

commonplace.“I was scared to ride the

buses,” she said.Now she has a very different

outlook on going to school.“I like school. When I go to

school it’s like I forget all myproblems,” she said.

While Alford’s academic lifehas gotten back on track, shehas watched her family lifedeteriorate since the storm.

“Our family is not thesame,” she said. “It’s likeeverybody just broke apart.We’re not as close as we usedto be.”

Besides the daily escape toEast St. John High School,Alford found another way tocope with the losses and mem-ories that have haunted herfor the past five years. A more-than-apt art student since her

days in New Orleans, she hasfound a release through paint-ing.

At the last East St. John artshow, held each year to showthe work of the school’s artstudents, Alford proudly dis-played a work depicting a manclinging to a building, a rushof blue water below threaten-ing to engulf him. In thepainting, two hands reach outto save the man, one black, theother white.

“Painting is good for you,”she said. “If you’re stressedout, all your feelings go intothe painting.”

Alford said she has paintednumerous Katrina-influencedworks since the storm, buttheir frequency has decreasedover the years.

“I’m not going to ever forgetit,” she said, “but I don’t thinkabout it as much.”

Alford has learned throughthe experience that one’s iden-tity need not be tied to a place.

“I don’t believe in that any-more,” she said, adding, “It’sabout where you’re at, notwhere you’re from.”

Still, New Orleans is a placethat will always be close to herheart and will always seemlike the home that was rippedfrom her too early. Even herambitions to become an archi-tect are tied to the city’s richarchitectural heritage.

And although reports ofslow recovery efforts and out-of-control crime have dimmedher hopes of returning, shehas not put the thought out ofher mind.

“If I hear on the news thatNew Orleans is back andready, I’d go back,” she said. “Iwant to live on the same streetand everything.”

FROM PAGE 14

ART: Outlook has changed since storm

Jessica Alford displays a painting inspired by her experiences during Huriicane Katrina and itsaftermath at the annual art show at East St. John High School in April. Alford said art has helpedher deal with some of the emotions she has felt since the storm. (Staff photo by David Vitrano)

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