Drawn to Help Katrina's Victims: Part II of the Eighth Transformative Event of the Decade

New Orleans Scene of Devastation in the 9th Ward

Photo Credits, RJ Schwartz, Late December 2005

As soon as Katrina images flooded the media at the end of August in 2005, I knew that I had to be in New Orleans to personally give support to those souls who had weathered the storm.

I was teaching full time .....so the earliest I could fly down would be late December during the holiday break.

Meanwhile, my thoughts were daily reaching out to those who I felt needed comfort and help. I had seen images on TV of the 9th ward, where the water levels had reached record heights after the levees had broke. I saw images of the elderly, lacking the means and the will to flee, who had to be rescued by motorized boats from their homes.

Looters were carting off TV sets, appliances and anything moveable from the shops in the French Quarter and the rest of the downtown. I had read stories of brave IDF soldiers who tried valiantly to rescue seven Torah scrolls from a flooded ark in a Synagogue in the Lakeview district.

FEMA was bringing in trailers to house the homeless which proved inadequate.

Tens of thousands of residents had fled the city for places north to be with relatives. Houston reached out to provide food and shelter to those in need

Meanwhile, I galvanized my Biology students into donating money to a fund which I planned to distribute to those in need.

To be continued.

Coming soon slide show of my trips to New Orleans and Biloxi.