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Katrina Pain Index 2010
by Bill Quigley,
Davida Finger
and Lance Hill

Road Hoax
by Lovell Beaulieu

Who is Gustave Blache, III?
by Dr. Sarah Hollis

The Hurricane Katrina Saga
by: Willmarine B. Hurst

Meet Governor Huey P. Jindal
by Lovell Beaulieu

Columns & Departments

George Curry
Blackonomics

 

The Hurricane Katrina Saga:
A Three-Day Journey That Is Now In Its 5th Year

We all thought it would be just three days for a quick trip. Three days to visit a loved one or relax at a nice hotel. Three days to finish some “writings” or other projects. Just three days. Just enough clothes for three days.

No one could have guessed that the three days would stretch to five years for some and become a final destination for others.

On this fifth year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina we paused to seek out some of its victims. What we found is that for the most part, people have moved on—some in very different directions and for various reasons. Others have managed to get back home; and still others find home has taken on a different look.

While we still question why the levees breeched, we are keenly aware that this storm of the century has left its mark in the soggy sands of time in ways large and small. It has caused an increase in cell phone usage, air flights and land travel, as well as sales of books, documentaries and movies. It has increased my Facebook usage a hundred times over. Katrina evacuees have made history and money for a lot of other people and industries with the telling and re-telling of their stories. There are those who have garnered awards, prizes and commendations, all because of Hurricane Katrina and many who still suffer and others who continue to long for home.

Here at the fifth year anniversary, we decided to take a look at some of New Orleans’ dispersed citizens, and we caught up with a few who managed to find their way back home.

The Louisiana Texans

Texas now lays claim to a large segment of Louisiana citizens—New Orleanians in particular. After Katrina, the populations of Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and other nearby cities increased with the onslaught of Louisiana evacuees. Meet a few of the New Orleanians who now call Texas their home.

Artists and cartoonist, Chuck Siler can’t go back to New Orleans—and he has made his peace with that realization. A retired curator for the Louisiana State Museum, Siler has health issues that make it impossible for him to return to the city. “I cannot return because the environment is detrimental to my health and when I go, I can only visit for brief periods of time,” says Siler.

Like so many others, Siler and his wife, Rhonda Miller, departed on that fateful day for what they thought would be a three-day visit with his brother in Carrollton, TX; they were planning to return the Wednesday following storm’s landfall. Now, five long years later, he has made a permanent move from “Carrollton to Carrollton,” as his wife laughingly points out. Their former home, located on Leondias Street in the Carrollton area of the city, made the front page of the Dallas Morning News that Wednesday, “with water up past the windows,” Siler notes.

Now settled in Carrollton, TX, Siler spends his time cartooning for a couple of online magazines and creating editorial cartoons for the Louisiana Weekly. “I have done some lectures, presentations and have had two art exhibits in the Dallas area,” he tells.

Siler expresses concerns about New Orleans and the progress, or lack thereof, that has been made in the city. “Things have changed, but I question the progress that has been made in the city and I worry about the direction the city is taking,” Siler says. He also says that he is not sure how “good” things will be for African Americans because “there’s a seeming effort to turn the city into a Cajun Wonderland,” a move which he feels that many have turned a blind eye to.

Like so many others, Siler says he misses the music and culture and some of his friends. “I find that those of us in the Diaspora are more closely linked than those who returned,” he says. While some of his friends can’t seem to understand why he can’t return, he says he has accepted that fact and has tried to rebuild his life here in Carrollton... Carrollton, TX that is.

Teacher, Historian and Columnist, Rhonda Miller sees a silver lining at the end of the storm’s devastation. She likes being in Carrollton, TX. “For me, Hurricane Katrina was an opportunity to move in a different direction. After the reality of the destruction of the city and assessing what it would take to move back, I had no problem moving on,” she points out. Miller teaches U.S. and Texas government for the Dallas County Community College District. “The courses I teach are required in all public colleges in Texas. I had started teaching at Dillard University before Katrina and was able to continue teaching on the college level once we relocated.”

Miller questions the economic wisdom of spending money to rebuild in New Orleans because she believes that the levees are still not up to par and that New Orleans is still very vulnerable to storm damage. Miller also points out that “neither the city nor the state had a good plan to help people return. They just wanted bodies,” she says. “They did not give a s#*t how people would live once they returned home.” Regarding the Road Home program, she says that was a “joke.” And she had no desire to live in a FEMA trailer located in a flood zone. So, Miller says, “Staying in Carrollton, TX was a good decision for us.”

Miller points to the ready availability of affordable housing, for both renters and buyers in TX. There are huge three-and-four bedroom houses which are more spacious and affordable than those in New Orleans." And one other thing she is happy about: “Texas does not have a state income tax and even though it has a property tax, you can see where your money is going.

As with most of us, the lure of New Orleans still tugs at her heart. “When the Saints had their Super Bowl season, I was homesick for the first time in five years,” she says. Now, she gleefully says, “I enjoy torturing Cowboy fans who think they will prevent the Saints from repeating their championship win.”

Bakery Chef Rikki Taylor is the owner of Kake Fetish of Dallas. Another Louisiana Texan, Taylor possesses a real entrepreneurial spirit. She had a cake business in New Orleans before the storm and opened one up in Dallas after moving here. “I’ve made cakes and sold them since junior high school. I didn’t have a retail store, but baking has always been something I’ve done as an extra source of income.”

She and her husband owned a home in New Orleans East; Taylor says, “My family and I left the day before the storm. My husband was a fireman at the time and I refused to go without him, so we chose to leave at the last minute and stay together as a family. Best decision we’ve ever made.”

After a period of time in Dallas, Taylor decided to get back into the cake designing business. She did some research online and found that there was more to the cake business than she originally thought. “I realized that cake baking was evolving,” she says. But after checking out the new creations, and through trial and error, she got her business up and running again. Baking is a natural talent for me, I started baking cakes for my co-workers at the time, and they were astonished that I could design any kind of cake,” she says. After a flow of referrals, Taylor was able to resign from her job and open up her cake business.

Yet, with all her talents, abilities and opportunities here in Texas, she still misses home. “Most of all, I miss my family. It gets hard sometimes when we are not able to be there for holidays and family functions."