Another Anniversary

Two years ago yesterday, my son called me from his cellphone on his way out of New Orleans just ahead of Hurricane Katrina. Jay is senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Westwego, LA - just across the Mississippi River from New Orleans. He had intended to ride out the storm and offer ministry help to those in need. His wife and kids had already evacuated to The Acadia Baptist Conference Center and Camp in Eunice, LA and Jay had agreed to join them if the coming storm reached Category 5 strength. It did, and he and his youth minister, Brian Scholl headed out early that morning. He was crossing the Huey P. Long Bridge on his way to I-10 when he called. I'll never forget what he said. "Dad the view of the city is breath taking this morning. I've never seen it more beautiful. It's hard to believe that a storm is coming."

But come it did - bringing in it's aftermath the worst natural disaster in the history of our nation. Two things happened that kept The Crescent City from an even worse fate than it received. First, the intensity of the storm was downgraded, and secondly the city was spared more damage because the eye of the storm veered to the east, making landfall at Slidell and on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The Big Easy was spared a direct hit, but sank into disaster when three of the vitally important levees were breached by the storm surge, and the huge pumping system was hopelessly overpowered. The bowl which is New Orleans began to fill with a "toxic soup" of brackish water, oil, chemicals, sewerage, and who knows what else. Massive live oaks were downed by the hurricane force winds, taking out utility poles and plunging the entire city into darkness. Flood waters rose quickly, stranding many folks in their attics and on rooftops.

All of us remember the live reports showing the massive damage to the roof of the Louisiana Superdome, where thousands had taken refuge as a "shelter of last resort". We saw the smoke billowing from burning homes and businesses where no firefighters could respond. We viewed with horror the dead bodies floating in the water or lying covered on city streets and around shelters, and cheered as the Coast Guard and other military personnel tirelessly rescued people and their pets from areas where they were stranded. The images of the widespread looting over the next few days are nearly impossible to get out of our minds. The tragic toll of human suffering was far worse than the millions of dollars worth of property damage that the news media showed us 24/7. A great historic American city was brought to it's knees.

The last two years have been a blurr of activity for Jay and his family. Although his family had to stay evacuated for about three weeks, Jay and Brian came back just a few days after the storm. His Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Relief training credentials allowed him access to his west bank community which was cordoned off like a war zone. He was able to contact the SBC North American Mission Board's emergency desk and was successful in getting a Georgia Baptist Convention Kitchen and feeding unit dispatched to Westwego. They opened operations at the Alario Center where an Army National Guard unit had set up operations Headquarters. The Georgia Baptists cooked thousands of meals which fed the troops and first responders and were transported by the Red Cross to hospitals, nursing homes, and other critical places of need. It and other SBC disaster relief kitchens provided nearly a half million meals to feed folks in the New Orleans area.

The overwhelming magnitude of the disaster just cannot be put into words. From New Orleans where homes were inundated with thick muck and mold, along the coast to Biloxi and Gulf Shores where homes and businesses were reduced to splinters - destruction ruled supreme. I was there five weeks after the storm and I was simply dumbstruck by the destruction. The few days of grueling work helping folks salvage what they could, hauling out rancid refrigerators, and chain sawing trees off houses barely amounted to a drop in the bucket. The whole city and region were simply ground zero for despair.

Two years have passed since that fateful storm changed the lives of thousands. I have made several trips to New Orleans since then. So much has been done in recovery efforts and yet so much remains to be done. The city is alive again, but portions of it still lie in waste. Unbelievably Mayor Nagin has been reelected. Government corruption is rampant. Some homes have been renovated and are occupied, while right next door you can't see the neighboring gutted home for the weeds that haven't been mowed in two years. 60 % of the population has returned, and the rate of murder and other violent crime is astronomical. Our family and their home was spared, but like everyone else there, their lives were forever changed.

Like the thousands of Southern Baptist Volunteers, disaster relief groups from numerous organizations all around the nation are still coming to the city to help. They are helping, but it will be years (maybe decades) before New Orleans is back to "normal". For now, its just the new normal - a struggle every day. Baby steps. Little victories one at a time. Plenty of suffering, slivers of hope.

What can we do to help the people of New Orleans? Joe McKeever, the Director of Missions for the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans, sums it up like this - "Pray big for New Orleans".