Hurricane Katrina Five Years Later (Part III)

August 30, 2005 I called the JW Marriott to talk with Kevin and Lisa.  They had checked out of the hotel.  I asked to speak to her father; no answer.  I asked to be connected to her sister and Beth answered.  Kevin & Lisa left early in the morning to get closer to New Orleans.  They were going to Lafayette.

I think they left before Brian Williams started broadcasting live from New Orleans for Today Show.  He was standing on Canal Street and water was in the streets.  The levee system failed and water was pouring into New Orleans.

Life would never be the same for hundreds of thousands of people.

What followed in the next few days is hard to believe.  People were stranded in the Superdome.  People took refuge at the convention center.  There wasn't any food or water for these people.  It would be days before any relief would be sent to them and before they would be evacuated.

Local, state and federal governments failed the citizens of New Orleans.  There were no airdrops of food or water.  I still find it hard to believe what happened 350 miles from my doorstep.  It looked like scenes from a war-torn third world country but no, it was the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America.  People died in the streets; people died in their homes.  People died trying to escape; people died in hospitals.

Please let this never happen again.