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Evans Views Hurricane Devastation in New Orleans
Written by
Lesly Simmons
, Staff Writer, Redcross.org
Thursday, October 20, 2005 — NEW ORLEANS — Seven weeks after Hurricane Katrina made landfall, its destructive impact on New Orleans is still clear, especially in the city’s historic 9th Ward, where some streets remain off limits to residents because of unsafe conditions.
American Red Cross President and CEO Marty Evans greets volunteers at a kitchen in Kenner, La., Oct. 19, 2005. (Photo Credit: Lesly Simmons/American Red Cross)
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This week American Red Cross President and CEO Marty Evans traveled to the city, visiting some of the thousands of volunteers and staff supporting the ongoing relief operation to offer her support for their hard work and dedication.
“I am extremely proud of what the organization has done, and it’s because of you,” Evans told a group of staff and volunteers at the operation’s headquarters in Covington, La. Because of the damage to Red Cross offices in New Orleans, operations are being managed out of two offices here, just across the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway. Everyday about 50 staff and volunteers cram into a small conference room that serves as their office until a larger space becomes available.
While the work is still tough, things have improved from the conditions in the weeks immediately following the storm, according to the director of the relief operation in for Southeast Louisiana, Charles Blake.
“When you first got down here three weeks ago, it was nothing like this,” he said. “The streets were empty except for emergency vehicles, and the stench was terrible. There was rotting trash, animal carcasses, and some bodies were still being found.”
For Blake, who worked in Sri Lanka earlier this year after the region experienced a massive tsunami, the landscape in Louisiana was reminiscent of the destruction he witnessed in Southern Asia.
Slowly signs of normalcy are returning to New Orleans as traffic returns to the streets, businesses reopen and rebuilding begins. But the city has a long way to go. In the French Quarter, some traffic lights work, while others are still dark. Other areas, like the historic 9th Ward area, are still a long way from rehabilitation.
Melvin Davis deputy CEO for the New Orleans chapter of the American Red Cross views the destruction at his church in the lower 9th ward in New Orleans, La., Oct. 19, 2005. (Photo Credit: Lesly Simmons/American Red Cross)
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At a Red Cross service center in the area, New Orleans chapter deputy CEO Melvin Davis pointed out his church across the street, Bethel African Methodist Episcopal church on Caffin Avenue. The bell tower is toppled; the entire glass front is now leaning across the foyer.
“This is the church where I got married,” said Davis. “If you look inside, you can see the water level in the choir stand.” Through the dirty glass a line can be seen, marking where flood waters had filled the sanctuary. He said that the church is already planning to rebuild, just as it did after it was destroyed in 1965 by Hurricane Betsy.
Davis had major damage to his own home because of Katrina, as did several of his colleagues at the New Orleans chapter of the Red Cross. He and his wife are staying in a hotel while they try to determine the next phase of their lives. Born and raised in New Orleans, his family is now spread across the country, facing those same kinds of questions.
Across the cities in Southeast Louisiana’s parishes, the Red Cross continues to operate dozens of sites that pass out food, cleaning products and other household supplies, shelters that continue to house thousands who have no homes to return to and centers that allow people to apply for financial assistance.
In Kenner, La. Evans visited a kitchen operated by the Red Cross and the Arkansas Southern Baptist Convention that is providing thousands of meals a day to communities east of the river. She reiterated her commitment to staying on the job for as long as the affected communities need Red Cross assistance.
Kitchen manager Kevin Lentz has been on the job for six weeks, since he lost his home and two restaurants in Pass Christian, Miss., to Katrina. When he came in to volunteer, his restaurant experience made him a perfect kitchen manager, even as a brand new Red Cross volunteer. Despite his own losses, Lentz focused on the work still to be done in his new community.
“There is still so much need here, so much more to do,” said Lentz.
All American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. You can help the victims of thousands of disasters across the country each year, disasters like the Midwest ice storms, by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to victims of disaster. The American Red Cross honors donor intent. If you wish to designate your donation to a specific disaster please do so at the time of your donation. Call 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Contributions to the Disaster Relief Fund may be sent to your local American Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P. O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting www.redcross.org.
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