This is an article I published last year. I have updated it for the 9th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
The “R” word
Today is the 9Th “remembrance” (the first of our “R” words) of the destruction of the City of New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina. Actually, poor Katrina gets the blame for a lot of things that she did not cause. The truth is that when Katrina came ashore, she was a mere Cat 3 hurricane. The city had on more than one occasion withstood that kind of destructive force. And, early on the morning of August 29th, it looked like it had, once again, dodged the proverbial bullet. I know this because 200 miles away, at my home in Sulphur, LA, there were 7 of us (and many cats and dogs) who breathed a collective sigh of relief when the storm had passed and the city was still standing. Certainly, there had been considerable flooding in the “low-lying areas” of Plaquemine and St. Bernard Parishes. And, there had been serious “overtopping” of the protective levees of the MR-GO in New Orleans East. By this time, the worst of Katrina was bearing down on the Northshore. Then, the unthinkable happened: the levee at the 17th street canal breached into the adjoining Lakeview neighborhood flooding more than 80% of NOLA.
I (insert heart here) NOLA. After 9 years, I am pretty certain that the majority of people don’t “get” what actually happened to NOLA in the two days that followed the landfall of Katrina. I consider it a part of my mission to help people understand. What happened in the aftermath of Katrina was a series of man-made mistakes. That is all that I will say about that. If you are interested in seeing the timeline of the events, I encourage you to go to the Times-Picayune web page (www.nola.com) and find the graphic animation called, “Flash Flood” on the Katrina archives page or click on this link http://www.nola.com/katrina/graphics/flashflood.swf.
And, now for our 2nd “R” word: “recovery.” I returned to NOLA in June of 2006. I was appointed to help churches vision forward their mission as “the Church” in the post-Katrina reality. One of these churches was Kenner UMC. This church was one of our Methodist Recovery Centers. In the two years that I served in this appointment, of the more than 42,000 people from faith-based and non-faith based organizations from all over this country that came through our UMC Recovery Centers, 14,000 came through KUMC. I think about this in terms of its exponential impact in the city of all the various denominational bodies that we worked alongside… Catholic, Baptist, Mennonite…too many to name and to number. Our primary mission was to help people, in whatever way we could to meet whatever their individual need to begin to “recover.” In many cases, we were putting “band-aids on heart attacks.” Often, we were digging through rubble to help find some piece of memory that might bring comfort to the ones who had lost everything. One group, found a homeowner’s wedding dress… torn and molded from the flood waters. They brought that dress back to their home…had it completely restored…and, presented it to the homeowner on their following trip. Oh, the stories that I could tell! Sometimes, all we could do was sit, listen and cry with the one’s whose lives were forever changed.
And, that brings me to our 3rd “R” word: “resilience.” What we are seeing, nine years later, is a stronger, more determined and definitely more resilient NOLA. While there was much criticism for the state’s quickness in refurbishing the Superdome, I cannot tell you how big a part that played in the city’s recovery. More than a distraction, the Saints were, for the first time, real contenders for the Superbowl in 2009. And, what can be said about the 2010 Superbowl win? Today, the New Orleans Charter School System is becoming a model of effective Charter Schools across the nation. Last week, the merger of FUMC and Grace UMC, now First Grace UMC, was featured in an article in the USA Today paper. Kenner UMC? Kenner UMC is now joined with El Mesias and is forming a new “mission-based” church. The truth is that, though there is (too) much left to be done in the “recovery,” NOLA is in many ways a much stronger, better, more determined city than it was nine years ago. There are many articles in today’s Times-Picayune (www.nola.com).
This whole “Katrina” event has become for me a metaphor in my thinking about the way that we heal from our broken-ness and hurt…and, a way to move forward from the dark, difficult places in our lives. Last week on FB, a friend of mine’s status was: “Trying to get out from under this rock.” I knew that that status was a direct reference to the loss that she and her family had suffered in the sickness and death of their mother. This was my reply: “Hang out under the rock for awhile, you will know when to crawl out…it’s when looking forward gives more energy than looking backward takes…” The key is in knowing when to “crawl out,” isn’t it? And, isn’t it okay to “crawl back” from time to time? As long as one is certain that the promise that “life” comes from “living in the Son.”
Remembrance- Recovery-Resilience
Our as Jimmy Buffett sings in his post-Katrina ballad:
If a hurricane doesn’t leave you dead
It will make you strong
Don’t try to explain it just nod your head
Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On
Blessings,
revtlmack 