Here are the Pictures and the Stories that Touched Me the Most

The Convention Center At the time of the storm, my office was on Convention Center Blvd located on the ground floor of a multi-level parking garage. The sad and tragic image to the left was taken a few feet from our front door.  After the storm, survivors were directed to the Morial Convention Center.  They were told they would be safe and there was ample food and water.  Buses would evacuate them to out-of-town shelters.   Estimates as high as 20,000 survivors awaited help that would not come for days.  Conditions were hellish. There was no food, no water, hardly any police protection.

Here's another chilling image from Convention Center Blvd. area.  The old and the sick were suffering the most.  People were becoming accustomed to seeing death. Even though CNN had been broadcasting live scenes from the area for two days, it was Thursday (72 hours after the storm) that the director of FEMA, Michael Brown, was quoted by National Public Radio: "We learned about that, so I have directed that we have all available resources to get that convention center to make sure that they have the food and water and medical care that they need." One must marvel at the incompentency of a man who must have been the only person in American who was unaware of these conditions.

Mama Nita's Story Tina LaGarde, an 89-year-old survivor is shown holding the hand of 5-year-old Tanisha Belvin as she is moved from the Convention Center. "Mama Nita" had fled the Ninth Ward during the storm.  As the floodwater rose and as the winds continued to rage, she had been carried in neck-deep water to a neighbor's two-story house.  When it seemed the house would be inundated, they climbed into the attic.  As the waters continued to rise, a hole was punched through a rotted area of the ceiling and everyone climbed onto the roof.  Fearful they would become separated in the storm, Tanisha's grandmother had lashed her and "Mama Nita" together with an orange extension cord. When the storm finally passed, neighbors in a canoe rescued them from the roof and left them at a bridge with others from their neighborhood.  They stayed there for two days and nights, sleeping on the concrete and eating what food could be found in abandoned stores. A helicopter finally came and took them to Interstate 10 where they again waited. The elderly woman became severely sunburned and badly dehydrated. Police, promising  air conditioning and fresh water, loaded them into a truck which dropped them at the convention center with the other suffering masses. It was nearly four days before they would be evacuated safely to Houston.

Vera's Grave Vera Smith was killed on Tuesday, the day after the storm passed through the city.  She was struck by a hit and run driver who most believe was a looter.  Her body lay in the street for four days.  At the time, police were tremendously overworked and were much more concerned with protecting the living than they were with disposing of the dead.  Finally several of her neighbors moved her body to the sidewalk and covered it with soil from a nearby park.  A white plastic tarpaulin was placed over the shallow grave.  The words "Here Lies Vera" were painted to identify the grave. It was nearly three months later before she was given a more decent and loving burial.  Her ashes were spread near her home in Santa Rosa, TX.

Path and Windspeed This NOAA diagram shows the path of the storm and the windspeed as the storm progressed. The coordinates at my house are 30 17 x 89 43.  According to my calculations, the eye of the storm passed directly over my home.  Although there were reports of wind gusts to 160mph in my neighborhood, the official stats would indicate that sustained winds were approximately 125mph.