WTC Vets to Help Rebuild St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana

Newly-established emergency response team to assist Katrina’s forgotten victims.

St. Bernard Parish, LA (November 22, 2007) -- If you’re visiting the New Orleans area in early December, and you encounter some nice folks with foreign accents -- like Brooklyn and North Jersey -- chances are you’ve just met some heroes, the H.E.A.R.T. 911 Rescue Team. The New York-based emergency team will be in Louisiana working to rebuild parts of St. Bernard Parish, once a thriving middle class community of nearly 70,000 – that is, until Katrina came along.

The non-profit, volunteer response group is comprised of veteran police officers, firefighters and construction workers, all of whom served at Ground Zero during rescue and recovery operations following the September 11th attacks. On this special deployment, family members of victims of the 9/11 tragedy will be joining them.

Mission Possible

To fully appreciate the H.E.A.R.T. Team’s mission in St. Bernard’s, you need to understand how Katrina affected this quaint parish that borders New Orleans’ 9th Ward. In short, the St. Bernard’s was obliterated -- every home, every business, every government building wiped out. (read: The Backstory)

You’re probably asking yourself, “St. Bernard Parish? I don’t recall any mention of that community during coverage of the Katrina disaster.” You’re right; you never did see news reports from the parish, because the disaster in St. Bernard’s was never really covered. Instead, TV networks and news agencies chose to pick up racially motivated stories of government neglect coming out of New Orleans itself.

see Google Map of St.Bernard Parish

Two years after Katrina plowed through Louisiana, St. Bernard Parish is still very much like it was on August 30, 2005 -- a wasteland. That’s why the H.E.A.R.T. (Healing Emergency Aid Response Team) 911 Rescue Team chose the parish for its very first deployment.

The primary mission of H.E.A.R.T. 911 is to aid in disaster relief efforts around the world by organizing teams of volunteer rescue and recovery workers to help affected areas. While in St. Bernard’s the 50-member team will help rebuild homes and community facilities in the parish.

The H.E.A.R.T. 911 Commanders

"We learned a great deal working on the recovery effort following the events of September 11th and now we want to bring together our expertise to support the victims of other tragedies," said Lt Bill Keegan (PAPD-retired) who was the Night Operations/Safety Commander for the Port Authority Police Department (PAPD) at the World Trade Center. He served at Ground Zero from September 11, 2001 until it closed on June 3, 2002.

Keegan heads the H.E.A.R.T. 9/11 Rescue Team along with Owen McCaffery and John Moran who held the same positions as Lt. Keegan at the site for the NYPD. The trio is joined by Tom Thees, whose financial background allows him to seek corporate financing for the team.

Their W.T.C. Rescue/Recovery experience has given the H.E.A.R.T 911 organization a unique overview of the coordinated and sustained effort needed to respond to a crisis.

"The experience of 9/11 left us with an overwhelming need to use what we've learned to aid in other disaster relief work", said Keegan.

The current team is made up of about 100 firefighters, police officers and construction workers who volunteered or worked on rescue and recovery on September 11th. In the event of another man-made or natural disaster, the team is ready and willing to help.

Bear Stearns Underwrites Inaugural Deployment

Unlike government run rescue teams, H.E.A.R.T. 911 is financed through corporate sponsorship. The team has been fortunate to have teamed with Bear Stearns Companies, Inc, a leading financial services firm which serves governments, corporations, institutions and individuals worldwide.

"We are honored to support an organization with such an admirable purpose," said James E. Cayne, chairman and chief executive officer of Bear Stearns. "We were all affected by the events of September 11th and it is wonderful to see that the lessons learned from the recovery effort of one tragedy will be translated into helping others in need."

You can join too!

H.E.A.R.T 911 is seeking additional, experienced emergency personnel to serve on this all-volunteer rapid response team -- regardless of location or affiliation. Personally, I think it’s an ideal opportunity for retired emergency personnel, as well as those who are training for an emergency services position. Enrolling is as easy as logging onto http://www.heart911.org/ and clicking on “How can I help?”

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A personal comment: It's been 2 years since Katrina wiped out St. Bernard Parish, and during that time the Parish Fire Department has cut half of its staff, and the remaining members still have NO Fire Stations to call home. What's the deal? If someone can enlighten me, please email me.

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Sources:
Website: HEART911.org

St. Bernard Parish Fire Department

Katrina Imagery

St Bernard Parish: The Backstory

Anderson Cooper, what were you thinking?

On August 29, 2005 St. Bernard was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. The eye of the massive Category 5 hurricane passed over the eastern portion of the parish, pushing an unprecedented 25-foot storm surge into the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet ("MR-GO"). This surge was so powerful, and moved so quickly that it destroyed the parish levees. In just 15 minutes time, the entire parish was inundated. (1)

Most areas were covered with 5 to 12 feet of standing water as the storm damaged virtually every structure in the parish with the exception of only two homes. In many areas, houses were crushed or washed away from their foundations by the storm surge which ultimately submerged the homes.

See Google Map of St. Bernard Parish

I spoke to lifelong St. Bernard resident Benny Chappetta, a former government employee, musician and videographer. Benny was part of a skeleton staff who volunteered to remain behind at the Parish Government Center to handle emergency calls during the storm. His personal recollections of the disaster are detailed and vivid, and the video that he shot is that of a combat photographer, documenting the storm, the flood, destruction and death.

“I just couldn’t believe how quickly the water rose,” Chappetta told me during a phone interview. ”Within 20 minutes’, Benny recalls, ‘the (government center) parking lot went from a few puddles, to waves splashing over the roof,” of the 2-story structure.

Since Katrina’s visit to St Bernie’s over 2 years ago, Benny has lived aboard a cruiseship, under a tent and inside a FEMA trailer. Renovations to his house, which sat fully submerged for two weeks, are nearly completed, and Benny will soon be returning “home.”

But Benny Chappetta is one of the fortunate citizens of St. Bernard’s Parish. He held flood insurance on his home and was able to rebuild on his own, at his own pace. Others have not been so lucky. A great many parish residents who have chosen to return and rebuild continue to raise their families in 31-foot trailers. They hope and pray that someone will come along and offer assistance.

“It’s two years out from the storm,” says Parish Councilman Mark Madary. “These folks were made a promise and that promise has not been delivered.” Madary adds that those who are attempting to rebuild feel that they are no longer wanted, and that a sense of urgency is missing. (2)

Locals add that the delay in rebuilding the parish has to do with money that had been promised, but has never made it to the local coffers. Over 2 years after “the storm” the $116 billion that FEMA had allocated for reconstruction has not yet filtered down to many local governments. Why? FEMA says that assistance money must be requested by the state, but quickly adds that Louisiana has not made a specific request for St. Bernard’s Parish.

So, what does it take to get the attention of state government to recognize the urgent need in St. Bernard’s Parish? I thought to myself, perhaps a documentary. So I phoned the offices of Spike Lee, the award winning filmmaker whose HBO special “When the Levees Broke” won wide acclaim and huge audiences for the powerhouse cable network.

As the leading African-American filmmaker in the film industry, Lee’s focus was the area in and around the 9th Ward, a two square mile section of New Orleans that is joined directly to the 700 square mile St. Bernard’s Parish. During filming Lee was made aware of the situation in St. Bernard, but says he was unable to add that story to his Levees project, which already had hundreds of hours of interviews in the can.

So these days, when Spike Lee is asked if the Federal response to Katrina was racially motivated, he immediately refers to the plight in St. Bernard’s Parish.

“It's not just a black/white thing” Lee told HBO’s Bill Maher. “I think class has a lot to do with it, too.” Lee continued, “When I got to New Orleans, I was amazed to see St. Bernard's Parish got demolished just as much as the Lower 9th Ward -- but they (the networks) never showed St. Bernard's Parish on television.” (3)

When and if Spike Lee does a follow up to “When The Levees Broke,” rest assured that St. Bernard’s Parish will be somewhere near the top of his filming schedule.

LPA

Sources:
(1) Wikipedia
(2) Video interview: YouTube

(3) HBO

(4) Benny Chappetta's Website (incredible video)

(5) Slide show of Chappetta's home

Remembering Andrew: 15 Years Later

15 years ago today, Mother Nature decided to pay a visit to bustling Dade County, Florida. She actually arrived as a "He" and nearly everyone knew of her intentions, so few were there to greet him.

Hurricane Andrew is the second-most-destructive hurricane in U.S. history, and the last of three Category 5 hurricanes that made U.S. landfall during the 20th century. Andrew caused $26.5 billion in damage ($41.1 billion in 2007 US dollars), with most of that damage cost in South Florida. The hurricane resulted in 65 deaths. (1)

Compared to Katrina, Andrew was small – just 110 miles wide. But as the storm approached the Florida coast, Andrew whipped up fierce winds of 175 miles per hour. That’s when he decided to make landfall, taking aim at one of South Florida's most densely populated areas -- Dade County.

In addition to the unprecedented winds (one gust was clocked at 212 mph) Andrew spawned hundreds of tiny tornadoes called mini-whirls. It was these vortices -- not straight line winds -- that are believed to have caused the major damage.

Residents of South Florida, specifically Dade County, had plenty of time to heed warnings from emergency officials. Evacuation was mandatory and most citizens made their way North into Central Florida to wait out the storm. Only a few teams of emergency personnel remained behind.

Because of its size, Andrew crossed the peninsula and and into the Gulf of Mexico in just a few hours, but destruction that the storm left during such a short period was unimaginable. The swath extended from Miami in the north – to Homestead, Florida and the upper Keys in the south. Virtually all of southern Dade County lay in ruins. Final tally: More than 25,500 homes were destroyed, over 101,000 others damaged and 65 people killed.

Andrew caused so much damage at Homestead Air Force Base, very near the point of landfall, that the base was forced to close and its squadrons relocated to Italy. Metro-Dade Fire and Rescue was on the street in full strength within an hour of Andrew’s passing making a systematic search of neighborhoods. The department was joined by other emergency personnel from throughout the nation as they combed through the ruins searching for trapped victims. And there were plenty of ruins to search.

Even though Katrina eclipsed Andrew, the statistics from the storm still hold considerable weight. Following the storm, the federal government, the state and municipalities considered Andrew’s visit as a wake-up call and soon took the concept of storm preparedness to new levels.

I believe that writer Ken Kaye of Florida’s Sun Sentinel sums it best.

“Today, South Florida in many ways is stronger because of Andrew, considering that the storm prompted a massive rebuilding and resulted in tougher building codes. But before dawn on that Monday, when the winds were screaming, it was one of this region's darkest hours.” (2)


(1) Wikipedia summary
(2) Sun Sentinel

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