Hurricane Katrina...5 Years Later

As if there were any doubt...



Hurricane Katrina...

It's been five years since this devastating hurricane all but obliterated the Gulf Coast...

We know it was life changing. That much is evident. But most people will assume that it was life-changing for the worst. And yet - for me? It was life-changing for the better.

Katrina was an "aha!" moment that hit me hard - and led to some life-changing decisions on my part to refocus and rededicate my life to working for others...

I quit my job. I joined the American Red Cross. And I went on some pretty awesome mission trips, where I met some of the most amazing people and learned new things about myself.

My first trip to the Gulf Coast was in June 2006 - about 9 months after the hurricane hit. We spent a week in Ocean Springs, Mississippi - near Biloxi - which was "ground zero" for Katrina's huge tidal wave that destroyed everything in its path. While there, we worked on houses and talked with the residents and surveyed the damage - and were humbled and awed by the destruction we saw. I remember it was hot - our sleeping quarters resembled a MASH unit - we had tents everywhere - and the daytime temperatures would get up to 114 degrees. Bleh.


I saw this house while driving one day...interesting message...

We worked hard that week, painting inside the home of an elderly retired pastor and her husband, who was wheelchair-bound and in the advanced stages of Parkinson's. They went out of their way to welcome us and make us feel at home - and I often wondered, "Just who is helping who here?" as this couple's hospitality and warmth and love surrounded us all week.

I returned to New Orleans the following summer - 2007 - where we spent a week sheet-rocking inside the home of Miss Judy. Miss Judy was most appreciative of our help, sending us off with a last supper of mouth-watering jambalaya and shrimp po' boys. Although the food was absolutely divine, it was Miss Judy's smile and gratefulness and love that I will always remember.


I discovered that mudding a ceiling is very hard work...

In 2008, it was time to head back - and this time, I spent the week as the "gofer" girl...as in, "Go for some more paint!" or, "Go for a Miter Saw." Having access to a delivery van, myself and another lady made the rounds all over New Orleans, delivering tools and supplies to numerous other volunteer groups who were assisting the residents in the rebuilding effort.


Our group in 2008...I'm way up there in the back on the left...

That week was unique, in that it allowed me to go all over the city - and see the progress - or lack of it - since the storm. Some areas had rebounded quite nicely - and others, such as the Lower Ninth Ward - not so much. The Lower Ninth was enshrined in 6-foot weeds and overgrowth, giving it a desolate, hopeless feeling....three years after the floods.

Where were you during Hurricane Katrina?

Did it change your life?

Did it give you pause for reflection...on what's really important? What really matters? How fragile and fleeting our lives can be?

And how - in the scope of things - it's not the "stuff" that matters...but the relationships, the family, the friends we have - that is our biggest treasure....

Peace.