Katrina Stories

Despite all New Orlean's problems, we have awesome people.   It's the community of people that makes us stay.   It's what sucks outsiders in and it's what people miss when they leave.   We are resourceful, creative, beautiful, tough, loving, and we know how to have a good time.   Today we hear from Shana, Vuong, Junior, Emma Hao, and Carol.  Their voices speak to what it means to belong, to hold o...

Today, we hear from Venice, Arnold, Rose, Joe & Lucien—five people whose stories remind us just how humbling nature can be. As a species, we've harnessed science, built remarkable technologies, and solved problems that once seemed insurmountable. But these stories ask us to consider: what happens when all that meets a force beyond our control? At some point, we're reminded—we're not above nature....

In a previous introduction we told you about how we teamed with organizations like VAYLA to document their membership's experiences.   Another group we spent a lot of time with were teachers and staff at George Cox Elementary in Gretna and that's especially thanks to the generosity of their principal Dr. Scott Steckler.   Today you'll hear Linda, Sheryl, Sara and Meg discuss what school was like i...

After the storm, the challenge wasn't just returning home.  It was being able to afford to stay.   A problem that persists to this day.   Rising rents, lost jobs, and changing neighborhoods reshaped the lives of so many New Orleanians. In today's episode, we hear from Catherine, Dennis, Norma, Joshua and Sondra as they describe the weight of gentrification and the high cost of living in a city sti...

Our two interviewees today describe issues with insurance companies and government bureacracies.   Let's put it like this - if the recovery from Katrina was a stool it would have three legs:   the community, the government, and insurance companies…and that stool would wobble every time you sat on it. Katrina Stories  is a documentary podcast built from first-person accounts recorded after Hurrican...

This is part 2 of our 2 part series on Rebuilding.   As the city pulled itself out of the floodwaters, the question quickly shifted from "Can we go back?" to "How do we move forward?"  Today's voices, Dawn, Debra, Dee, and Marshall, remind us that rebuilding was about more than homes. It was about restarting an economy, restoring dignity, and proving New Orleans could come back. Katrina Stories  i...

In the aftermath of the storm, rebuilding wasn't just about bricks, wood, and drywall. It was about piecing together lives, neighborhoods, and a sense of home.  In this episode, you'll hear from Janet, Hung, Conard, and Mabel as they describe what it meant to start again, sometimes with frustration, sometimes with grit, but always with the hope of holding the community together. Katrina Stories  i...

Today you're going to hear from two people we met through VAYLA: the Vietnamese American Young Leaders Association .   This group started in the wake of Katrina as officials were skating around environmental laws and concerns about where to dispose of the thousands of tons of debris the city was accumulating.   The trash was a toxic stew and New Orleans chose a site in New Orleans East as it's dum...

Approximately 1,833 people died in Hurricane Katrina.   986 of those deaths happened in New Orleans.   Today we have two stories for you and these two will be enough.   Both of our interviewees, Melvin and Lance, had first-hand experience in dealing with people who died in the storm.   We want to give a fair warning to you that what you're going to hear is heartbreaking and had a profound effect o...

Today's four interviewees, Cheryl, Lakeisha, John and Haley, all talk about the role of the media in shaping our perceptions of what happened during Katrina.   Some voice their frustration with obvious mistakes by journalists, others describe a disconnect between what they knew to be true vs what they saw on television, and one journalist describes how his work helped him process what was happenin...

Today our interviewees are going to vent.   No matter where you fell on the political spectrum in 2005, you were disappointed in every level of your government.   These three Katrina survivors, Corey, Jay and Frances, describe what they saw as the failings of local and federal government officials and agencies.   While we, and that includes you the listener, may not agree with all the views expres...

This is the second half of our stories about being in a new town as a high school student; a challenge that only multiplied the stress of the hurricane.   Some students found their way while some faced hostilities from their new classmates.   Let's hear what happened to Christopher, Ryan, Steven and Aarion. Katrina Stories  is a documentary podcast built from first-person accounts recorded after H...

This is Part 1 of 2 where we listen to reflections from high school students.   No one was allowed back into the city for at least a month after hurricane Katrina.   It took many more months to get schools up and running, which forced students to enroll in new schools in unfamiliar towns.   Most students were met with some level of tension and difficulty in making this transition.   In this episod...

In this episode, five people share stories that pull back the curtain on the state of healthcare in New Orleans during and after the storm. Angel, Renee, Willie, and Wayne each recount what it was like inside local hospitals—scenes marked by confusion, desperation, and a system buckling under pressure. Then there's Jairo, whose words shift us toward the future, raising urgent questions about Chari...

One significant positive outcome was the amount of grassroots organizing that took place.   Whether it was for providing relief services or building coalitions to advocate for one's community -- a lot of new connections were made and a lot of new organizations were formed.   Let's listen to Minh, Robert, Bill, John, and Jaqueline tell us about their experiences doing just that. One organization th...

If you live in New Orleans you know we've got problems and unfortunately they're nothing new.   Today's four interviewees, Yvonee, Jeffrey, Jennifer and Daniel lament and vent about the broken systems New Orleans faced before the storm that were only exacerbated with Katrina's landfall as well as discuss new issues that sprang up in the efforts to help the city.   As always, we appreciate you spre...

This episode is gonna hurt because it's about people returning to the remnants of their homes after the storm.  These three interviewees: Cassandra, Alexandria, and Mikey, experienced anywhere from massive damage to total loss of their homes and their family's homes.   Katrina Stories  is a documentary podcast built from first-person accounts recorded after Hurricane Katrina as part  Mondo Bizarro...

With New Orleans and surrounding areas being completely devastated, every resident who sought refuge in a new town had to contemplate the question, "If I can go home, should I?"   The four interviewees today, Leo, Jason, Duc and Jaqueline all decided to return.   Their love for the city, their vision for its potential rebirth and their bond to their community is some of the magic that Katrina coul...

The throughline of today's stories is racism.   Our interviewees today, Danita, Scott and Laurie, give some thoughtful insights into how and why New Orleanians were treated the way we were in the media and in person.   We finish this episode with a poem written and read by our friend Valentine Pierce entitled Reluctant Immigrants that addresses the perceptions people hold about people from New Orl...

This episode is about connections — the kind you don't expect to find and the kind you need to make it in tough times.   Amid the destruction and chaos that followed Katrina, moments of generosity stood out.   In this episode, Alta, Rob and Desmond share stories of the kindness of strangers, the bond we feel to our community, and how we can come together despite perceived differences.   Their stor...

Like many areas of the city, Xavier University of Louisiana was hit hard by the storm.   In this episode three people including two students, Jamari, Ryan, and Kerwin, recount their experiences staying on campus for six days surrounded by flood waters, looking for food, being rescued by boat, and the feelings of homesickness and frustration they felt while having to attend Howard University in Was...

This is part 2 of 2 of our interviews focusing on the police and National Guard.  Our first two interviewees, Sam and Larry, recount their interactions and perspectives on NOPD and the National Guard, while our third, Matthew, was an actual National Guardsman at the time of the interview who told us about some of the similarities and differences between being deployed overseas and being deployed a...

This is episode one of two about the police and National Guard.   New Orleans was in chaos during the aftermath of the hurricane and for a long while was virtually a non-functioning city.   In this episode Andrea, Baruch, Scott and Noah tell us about their positive and negative interactions with those tasked with keeping order.   Katrina Stories  is a documentary podcast built from first-person ac...

Today we hear from Deonta, Ismaelite, Kenya, Ngoc-Dung, Terionne, and Louise.   Each of these interviewees describe how they and loved ones made it through the immediate aftermath of the storm with flood waters rising around them. Katrina Stories  is a documentary podcast built from first-person accounts recorded after Hurricane Katrina as part  Mondo Bizarro 's I-10 Witness Project. Each episode...

Our six storytellers today, Sharon, Francis, Kristen, Mai, Jenny and Cindy, tell us some eye opening stories about taking care of one another, especially the very young and the very old, assuming responsibility, and keeping it together when tensions are high and you're packed like sardines in a three bedroom house with 54 people.   Katrina Stories  is a documentary podcast built from first-person...