Hurricane Drill: LA Emergency Officials Pass The Test Exactly Seven Years After Katrina

Remember back in the day while in school sitting in that rock hard wooden desk, when suddenly and without warning the piercing screech of sirens would invade your ears? Your teacher “Mrs.-What’s-Her-Name” would stop mid-sentence and immediately call the class to attention. Within seconds you’d abandon your personal belongings (even your treasured lunch box and that beloved toy you’d managed to sneak inside your book bag) to traverse out of the building in a single-file line with the rest of your schoolmates. It was a fire drill. The overall objective was to get out swiftly, but without incident. It was, in many ways, a litmus test of sorts to determine whether the school was as safe as it was a stimulating learning environment.

I liken those fire drills to the recent Hurricane Isaac storm that recently hit my hometown of New Orleans. How prophetic (especially for numerology fans) that exactly seven years to the day of catastrophic Hurricane Katrina, once again the “Crescent City” was getting pounded by more violent weather.  Katrina is near and dear to my heart for many reasons. Firstly, my mother and I were visiting seven years ago when word came that the killer storm was definitely headed that way.  Barely a day-and-a-half later, we found ourselves scrambling to evacuate with the rest of the city. We had no idea when we loaded up in the car early Sunday morning that we would in effect be leaving New Orleans as we’d known it for good.

As the fifth anniversary of Katrina approaches, homeowners in the historic African-American community are struggling to rebuild their houses and lives.

I remember placing all of the photo albums and yearbooks on the top shelf of the bookcase at my grandparents home before we left, thinking to myself, “even if there is some flooding, the water certainly won’t reach that high.” The neighborhood where I grew up ultimately was deluged with six to eight feet of water.

Secondly, my entire immediate family (and most of my other relatives and longtime friends) lost everything — homes, cars, photos, precious mementos and everything else — in the floodwaters that swelled uncontrollably when the levees broke. Thankfully, I did not know anyone who’d lost his or her life. Fast-forward to this week and yet again my family members were forced to pack up and abruptly leave town without knowing what would become of their worldly possessions.

See more of the community damage here.

By no means did New Orleans completely dodge the wrath of this latest Category 1 storm (Katrina was a Category 3). At last check, Isaac, the first hurricane to make landfall in the United States this season, lashed the city, Louisiana and much of the Gulf Coast with high winds, heavy rains and torrential flooding. Once again, those who ignored calls to evacuate resorted to hiding out in attics and on rooftops as floodwaters threatened to overtake their homes.

However, I am convinced that much like the aforementioned fire drills, this Isaac experience was more about a chance for city and state officials to demonstrate that they have, in fact, heeded the painful lessons learned in the aftermath of Katrina — lessons which President Obama once described as being brought on by “a shameful breakdown in government.” Sure there’s always room for improvement, but so far it appears that emergency management officials deserve high marks for top-notch preparedness (that, and I think more people are taking evacuations more seriously now).

Before the hurricane, Pontchartrain Park was a thriving district where more than 90 percent of its residents were homeowners.

According to Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, just more than four thousand people were in shelters across the state during the storm. In Laplace, a city about 25 miles northwest of New Orleans, alone officials have said 200 people were rescued from flooded homes. First responders continued to search for hundreds more believed stranded. State leaders have also said that as many as 3,000 people were evacuated in Laplace; only this time there were 40 to 80 buses waiting to transport them out. Remember officials had been criticized during Katrina for failing to make suitable arrangements for thousands of residents known to be without transportation to leave town.

There were 19 parishes included in the recent federal disaster declaration, but this go-round, There were 19 parishes included in the recent federal disaster declaration, but this go-round, according to Gov. Jindal, approximately 8,200 national guardsmen were available to help with search and rescue efforts. Three helicopters were also reportedly dispatched in the New Orleans area to assist with rescues from rising floodwaters. And better yet, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu told a local radio station that the $14.5 billion system of walls, floodgates, levees and pumps strengthened since 2005 did their job in protecting the city. Amen.

It is hard for many of us to erase from our minds the images of Katrina victims — men, women, children and babies — baking in the blazing sun, deprived of even the most basic of relief supplies – bottled water and a sandwich. Nor will we forget the sight of Americans pleading for rescuers to pluck them from rooftops or that of nameless, bloated corpses floating facedown in murky floodwaters. We should never forget, but we must bestow credit upon city and state leaders for this latest hurricane relief effort. Thank God that seven long years later, they’re proving that triumph can emerge from tragedy. Kudos should go out to all who helped to make this last disaster well, less disastrous. Now let’s all cross our fingers that this remains a positive lesson learned and that there are no major hurricane drills in the area for a long, long time. The “Big Easy” needs a break!