Hurricanes

 8/27/2020

As I'm sure all of you are aware, Hurricane Laura put in her appearance in the Gulf at 1:00 a.m. (if this isn't the time she came ashore - apologies).

This morning, while eating my breakfast, I tuned into the news. After one cycle of news, I turned the tv off. I did this, because this person can only take "x" amount of time watching the news.

Fifteen years ago, almost to the day, Hurricane Katrina, category 4 went ashore in Louisiana. That storm did unbelievable damage to the city of New Orleans, as well as other cities.

When Katrina came ashore, I was working as a legal secretary at Marriott's headquarters. And, I was working at that time for a Law Department benefits attorney. 

It's been 15 years, but I remember some things about that hurricane. At the time Katrina came ashore, people were "herded" into the Super Dome. The picture below shows the number of people trying to get inside. Checking the numbers, there was room for 16,000. The normal capacity, for games and concerts, the Dome can handle easily 76,000 people. Let's do the math. If the Dome could seat 76,000 people and only 16,000 went inside, where did the other people go? This picture shows a throng of people trying to get inside. But, once inside, the Dome, while sheltering so many people, fast became a living hell for these people. Power went out, one person committed suicide, some elderly people had to be removed, for medical reasons, out of the Dome.

 
 

Both the Ritz-Carlton and Marriott gave, at one point, $500,000. It sounds like a big number, but you do have to spread it around. And, the money given, while helpful, hardly scratched the surface.

Forms, and I don't remember how, were given to Marriott's employees in New Orleans. On the form, they obviously filled out their name, address, phone numbers, etc.

The rest of the form was filled out with that employee's need(s). How many were in a family? Where have the employees gone, and damage to your home. Questions like that.

The completed forms poured into the Law Department. My attorney, at the time, was in charge of distributing money, and/or needed assistance. Working with the forms, and knowing that real people were in trouble, made the task, harder and harder to do. 

At that time, in the Law Department, once a year, lawyers, etc., handed out a "Partners in Excellence" award for each particular law department, whether it be labor and benefits,  accounting, etc. 

Jeff and I were invited to the dinner. I didn't know why, but soon found out. I was given an award for my work on Katrina. All the years after Katrina, I never received another award. Getting this award for working on Katrina, now that I reflect, was the best, and most meaningful award I had ever received. 

Jeff and I took a trip to New Orleans, sometime later (I don't remember the year), and the evidence of damage from that hurricane, was everywhere. As homes were searched, a number was written in red paint. If the search found no people inside, then a zero was painted on the plywood, which was the front door. 

That trip, was a very emotional one for me. Houses were still boarded up, some businesses, on the outside of their building, you could still see how high the water was in that area. 

Don't get me wrong. I needed to take this trip, if only for emotional reasons. We were on a tour, and part of the tour went through several neighborhoods, and still showed evidence of how high the water was, for instance.

I no longer work for Marriott, but as Hurricane Laura came ashore, it dredged up my emotions from years ago. For the moment, only one death has been reported, and it was a young girl.

And, amid all of that, Covid is still a problem for everyone. As people who can no longer do social distancing, I'm expecting to see the numbers of Covid rise in Louisiana. But, how I wish that it won't.

While I sit and watch the "talking heads" on news shows, I can only handle one round of the news. 

Please let the people affected by Laura, stay safe. And, while it's a long shot, fingers crossed that the Covid numbers don't rise dramatically.

P