They occurred within three weeks of each other in the summer of 2005, devastating the Gulf Coast and flooding 80 percent of New Orleans. Five years after Katrina and Rita ravaged South Louisiana, are we better prepared for the next big storm? Join award-winning journalists Charlie Whinham and Shauna Sanford as they revisit some of the people they first met in 2005 to see if their lives have returned to normal on a special edition of Louisiana: The State We’re In on Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. on Louisiana Public Broadcasting and WLAE-TV32 in New Orleans.
The hurricanes did an estimated 11 million dollars in damage to Cameron and the adjoining parishes. It has been a slow comeback for the people of Cameron Parish as most of the parish was literally wiped off the map by Hurricane Rita. Charlie Whinham visits to see what progress has been made post-Rita.
“I thought I got used to it, but there are some mornings that I drive in to come to the courthouse to start our regular day and get a lump, you do find you get a lump in your throat,” Cameron Parish Sheriff Theos Duhon said. “I have 76 employees, 40 of them lost their homes. And everything they had. I don’t think you can get used to it."
Shauna Sanford travels to St. Bernard Parish where many people feel their struggles to return to their homes and communities after Hurricane Katrina have been largely ignored. The St. Bernard Project (SBP), a non-profit organization founded in 2006, was started by two natives of Washington D.C. They came to volunteer and were so taken by the people they quit their jobs and returned to help rebuild. To date, SBP has trained thousands of volunteers and helped more than 300 families get back into their homes. Shauna talks to Liz McCartney, the co-founder and director, as well as some of the volunteers and the families who are so grateful to the SBP. However, there are still hundreds of people living in FEMA trailers waiting to get back on their feet. As she says, life continues to be hard for many people who must not be forgotten.
Commercial Fisherman Peter Gerica and his family are just glad to be alive after Hurricane Katrina, They were literally swept away from their home in Bayou Sauvage by Hurricane Katrina’s floodwaters. Peter somehow managed to rescue his mother and daughter. They rode the storm out clinging to a small tree, but they watched in horror as Peter’s wife was carried out of site floating on a door. Miraculously they all survived. Peter found his wife eight or ten blocks away. Despite their harrowing experience, Peter kept his sense of humor and immediately set about rebuilding.
For more information, contact Bob Neese at 1-800-272-8161, ext. 4274 or bneese@lpb.org.
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They occurred within three weeks of each other in the summer of 2005, devastating the Gulf Coast and flooding 80 percent of New Orleans. Five years after Katrina and Rita ravaged South Louisiana, are we better prepared for the next big storm? Join award-winning journalists Charlie Whinham and Shauna Sanford as they revisit some of the people they first met in 2005 to see if their lives have returned to normal on a special edition of Louisiana: The State We’re In on Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. on Louisiana Public Broadcasting and WLAE-TV32 in New Orleans.
The hurricanes did an estimated 11 million dollars in damage to Cameron and the adjoining parishes. It has been a slow comeback for the people of Cameron Parish as most of the parish was literally wiped off the map by Hurricane Rita. Charlie Whinham visits to see what progress has been made post-Rita.
“I thought I got used to it, but there are some mornings that I drive in to come to the courthouse to start our regular day and get a lump, you do find you get a lump in your throat,” Cameron Parish Sheriff Theos Duhon said. “I have 76 employees, 40 of them lost their homes. And everything they had. I don’t think you can get used to it."
Shauna Sanford travels to St. Bernard Parish where many people feel their struggles to return to their homes and communities after Hurricane Katrina have been largely ignored. The St. Bernard Project (SBP), a non-profit organization founded in 2006, was started by two natives of Washington D.C. They came to volunteer and were so taken by the people they quit their jobs and returned to help rebuild. To date, SBP has trained thousands of volunteers and helped more than 300 families get back into their homes. Shauna talks to Liz McCartney, the co-founder and director, as well as some of the volunteers and the families who are so grateful to the SBP. However, there are still hundreds of people living in FEMA trailers waiting to get back on their feet. As she says, life continues to be hard for many people who must not be forgotten.
Commercial Fisherman Peter Gerica and his family are just glad to be alive after Hurricane Katrina, They were literally swept away from their home in Bayou Sauvage by Hurricane Katrina’s floodwaters. Peter somehow managed to rescue his mother and daughter. They rode the storm out clinging to a small tree, but they watched in horror as Peter’s wife was carried out of site floating on a door. Miraculously they all survived. Peter found his wife eight or ten blocks away. Despite their harrowing experience, Peter kept his sense of humor and immediately set about rebuilding.
For more information, contact Bob Neese at 1-800-272-8161, ext. 4274 or bneese@lpb.org.
