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I remember standing in my bedroom watching the TV in tears. I turned it off, sat down, and grieved… for the city I knew, for the deserted ones, for my own daughter. On Sunday, August 28, 2005, Hurrican Katrina reached Category 5 and barrelled down on the coast of Louisiana and Mississippi. We were a safe 120 miles from the storm.
One thing I have learned from experiences with hurricanes all my life is that the stronger the hurricane, the more it sucks into itself, thus leaving outlying areas in a strange calm with virtually clear skies. And yet, the horror was showing up on my TV screen.
My daughter was packed and ready to return for her junior year at Loyola University in uptown New Orleans. The schools closed. Every thing closed. The city was completely shut down.
Maggie wasn’t going to let this disaster ruin her college plans. She got online and watched the Jesuit schools all over the U.S. open their doors to Katrina victims. We had a talk with her. She said, “I have my choice of schools. I want to go to New york City.” By Tuesday, Sept. 6th, Maggie had chosen Fordham in the Bronx of New York City.
I insisted on going with her. All flights from Houston and Baton Rouge cost close to $1000. (Total price scalping, if you ask me.) We decided to travel to Jackson, MS. where my parents live to get a cheaper flight. We drove to Jackson on Wednesdy and flew out on Thursday.
Students at Fordham were asked to open their doors to these victims. Maggie was welcomed by a wonderful group of girls who took her in and are her close friends even now. This experience changed her life, widened her experience, and tested her adventurous spirit.
Leaving my oldest child in New York City was hard. At the same time, I was grieving for the loss of a favorite city and a treasured coast line. I cried all the way home. There are many tragic stories of Katrina. This is not one of them. Maggie’s experience in NYC was great. We call it her semester abroad.
All three of my children love New Orleans. Two of my girls live there, and the third will be moving there soon. It’s a special place.
Recently, I visited my middle daughter, Katherine, in NOLA. She took me to an outdoor display in her neighborhood of Gentilly near the London Avenue Canal levee breach. The panels told the story of the devastation of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. What saddened me most was that all of the flooding that occurred, destroying homes and taking lives, was caused by human error. For years the Army Corps of Engineers maintained the levees below standards. The levee could not handle the weight of the water. The water did not flow over the levee, it flowed through a subwall that gave away.
Katherine looks at the neighborhood commemoration of Hurrican Katrina, 10 years later.
Ten years later, this home is still abandoned and delapidated.
Here is a link to a news report about the neighborhood commemoration. Here is the online version of the text on the panels revealing the failure of the levees.
So much of the aftermath of Katrina could have been avoided. This disaster exposed a tragic weakness in levee structure and government infastructure and the blind neglect of people living in poverty. The city is reviving. Young people want to be there. The culture of arts and music is alive and growing. You can walk down the street and feel the energy. Keep New Orleans in your heart. Once it gets in there, you will never be the same.
Katherine and I at The Bean Gallery– notice the Katrina flood line above our heads.
Reflections on the Teche 
You write of the “human cost” of such a storm – how it alters the course of lives at the moment. It is clear that there is still magic in NOL as it still calls the young – like your own – to settle and make it their own.
My son went to Loyola in NOLA. We fell in love with the city – beauty, diversity, music, food, Halloween. I could go on and on. It was heart breaking to see what Katrina did to that City. I am glad the young are giving their fresh ideas and energy and reinvigorating it.
I’ve been thinking about NOLA, Katrina and you. When it happened it was devastating. Every time I read about it would bring me to tears. Being there made it personal. I hope the fact that this could have been prevented will prevent this kind of devastation from happening again.
Reading this, took me back to this summer. Love your city!
So good to see you and Katherine here.
This is such an important event to remember. I was working at the Red Cross at this time. But I could not go serve
Whoops, it published too soon!
I was working at the Red Cross in disaster at that time, but I was hugely pregnant with my son Felix so I did not go to serve. I will never forget watching the scenes on tv as I was in labor with him. Life changing for so many people, but the way the victims of this disaster were managed and the lack of care they received was so much more devastating to me. That we as the richest and most powerful nation in the world couldn’t care for every single person affected made me sad for us. I love that your daughter took this time to be more powerful and look for something out of her comfort zone. I love that you let her. xo
Thank you for this important reminder of a city that faced destruction and has worked to rebuild (in a changed way) ever since. I have never been to LA or New Orleans. After the storm, it is changed and still calls many.
Margaret, this is a sensitive post on the horror of natural disaster but I am so glad that you portrayed with a positive perspective. What grows out of natural disasters are the stories that stick in our minds. Fordham is a magnificent educational institution. I am so glad that arms were opened for your daughter to thrive while “abroad”. I have never been to New Orleans but have seen the mighty Mississippi when in St. Louis. I must say that I was shocked that it appeared to be so small in width. Someone told me that the levees had to be build so high to prevent flooding that it does not have the look of an expansive waterway.
My visit to NOLA came ten years prior to Katrina. I cannot begin to imagine how different it is now.
How wonderful for Maggie that she was welcomed as a student and friend in NYC!
I heard an NPR piece yesterday about the trauma of children, still in need after all they experienced. It’s a little thing but I’ve been sad that I never saw the New Orleans before Katrina. Perhaps someday I’ll get there. A former student was on her way to Loyola (first year). She, like your daughter, made different plans. I was just glad that they weren’t all there then, as you must have been too, Margaret. I’m happy she had a good experience in NYC-courageous for sure. Even in Colorado we watched every day as the tragedy, and ineptness, unfolded. My class gave several work days to a warehouse filled with donations. I’m sorry for your grieving, too. I suspect all of us will remember that time.
Thanks for adding to the memories of all that Katrina touched, and the reminders that we must plan for the possibilities of disaster with safe infrastructure. So glad your story is positive.
I can’t believe it’s been ten years since Katrina. Thank you for sharing your personal experience. I remember going to the animal shelters here to donate to the displaced animals from Katrina. Oh my goodness! It’s a time I’ll remember. I hope I get a chance to visit there soon!!
I remember so well hearing about the devastation. I was lucky enough to visit NOLA a few years ago for the IRA Conference and I loved the city and the people. Thank you for sharing.
I cannot imagine the devastation. And how it touched your life with your daughter. Did she finish school in NYC? I so want to return to NOLA. It’s such a special place.
Loyola opened for the second semester in January 2006. So she finished there. The first sign of snow sent her wanting to come home. A true southern girl.