KATRINA:

Ten Years Later

By Russell Slater

The name Katrina has been a popular girls’ name going back for centuries. In many ancient cultures, Katrina (and its variations) means “pure,” but for many residents of the Gulf Coast, the name conjures memories of pure terror and utter devastation caused by one of the worst natural disasters to date in the United States. To those who endured Hurricane Katrina, or observed the unprecedented damage on television, the events of late August 2005 will be forever etched in their psyches.

Catastrophic Crises

Hurricane Katrina made landfall in the state of Florida on August 25, 2005. From there, the storm weakened and moved out into the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, where it gained strength before slamming into the coastal areas of Alabama, Mississippi, and southeastern Louisiana on August 29. At its peak, the Category 5 major hurricane brought 125 mile-an-hour winds that ruined businesses and homes alike.

Livelihoods and local economies were virtually wiped out overnight. Entire neighborhoods found themselves submerged under water in the tremendous flooding that followed. The storm surge was gauged at 12–14 feet in some locations. In certain cases, the water reached areas 6–12 miles from the shore. In total, Katrina caused an estimated $108 billion in property damage, and 1,833 people died during the hurricane and subsequent flooding.

The most significant number of fatalities occurred in and around the city of New Orleans. The town known for its unique cuisine, cultural offerings, and widely-famous Mardi Gras celebrations was transformed into the scene of a post-Apocalyptic setting that, to its resilient residents, was terrifyingly real. Nearly 80% of the city was flooded after the failure of the levee system. Those who had not been evacuated faced dangerous conditions and situations that lacked government services, access to basic goods, and means of communication. They waited along with their fellow coastal residents for help that they prayed would come.

CAP Mobilized

Members of the Civil Air Patrol, true to form, were among the first to deploy their manpower and resources amid the confusion and uncertainty. Relief efforts were initiated on August 24, the day prior to Katrina’s initial landfall. More than 1,800 CAP volunteers from all corners of the country answered the call for assistance and participated in disaster recovery operations. Their mobilization was both extensive and rapid. Shoulder-to-shoulder with FEMA employees, local and state officials, military personnel and non-governmental groups, members of Civil Air Patrol worked around the clock in order to bring relief to the beleaguered citizenry. With 17 wings involved in the operations, CAP members distinguished themselves by implementing their training with speed and professionalism.

Chief of Staff of the Louisiana Wing Lt. Col Amos Plante remembers that the storm was anticipated, and when it hit, it hit hard. “After the levees were breeched in New Orleans, the horror seen on the news was caused by flooding, not necessarily by high winds. The damage was widespread, but the lower income neighborhoods were hurt bad, and many couldn’t afford to reconstruct.”

Plante meanwhile hunkered down near Covington, north of Lake Pontchartrain. “Where I was staying, we saw primarily wind damage; large trees down and a little bit of water damage. Others were not so lucky.

We (CAP) were lucky. Most of our planes were in the northern part of the state for emergency services training exercises. The complete fleet was still intact and available.”

Like a Rock

Col. Rock Palermo, a member of CAP since 1996, was one of dozens involved in the response on a local level. Currently a part of National Headquarters Squadron, Palermo was in the Louisiana Wing at the time, and also a Lake Charles resident.

“Our Lake Charles aircraft was one of a handful of CAP aircraft equipped with a Satellite-transmitted Digital Imaging System (SDIS), which enabled us to send near real time still imagery over the internet using the Web Mission Information Reporting System (WMIRS),” Palermo said. From his position in the right front seat of a CAP plane, he prioritized target areas to be photographed and relayed actionable information using alternative communications, as standard radios were down at the time.

“Our unique position in Southwest Louisiana, on the opposite side of the state from Katrina’s landfall in New Orleans, enabled our aircraft to come in behind the storm and be one of the first fixed wing aircraft in the operations area,” remembers Palermo. “Upon our arrival, the only other aircraft we saw were U.S. Coast Guard helicopters performing rooftop rescues, and Army National Guard helicopters doing similar rescues on overpasses.”

“Our first task was to identify locations where large numbers of people were stranded so that the Army National Guard helicopters could land and effectuate rescues. This task then developed into photographing these locations and sending them via SDIS/WMIRS to the State Emergency Operations Center in Baton Rouge.”

Wild West Up There

The air above the city grew increasingly congested as time went on, and effective means of communication were hampered by a lack of control towers or any general coordination of aviation assets. “We used air-to-air communication to communicate with other Coast Guard and National Guard aircraft in the area. There was no air traffic control. The only ‘control’ was a Coast Guard craft with the call sign ‘Omaha 44,’ which would give a transponder squawk code, but would not provide any advisories.

The air traffic in the area increased each day, and by the second day it was nothing I had ever seen before, except in military films,” Palermo recalled. “The aircrew had to be very vigilant in collision avoidance and traffic management.”

1st Lt. Scott Hunsaker (Lake Charles Composite Squadron, Louisiana Wing) remembers that day well; he functioned as the photographer and SDIS operator. “We were all busy looking out for other aircraft.

Our mission over New Orleans started in Lake Charles at first light. Our first glimpse of damage came as we flew over the edge of the city at Kenner, Louisiana. I had family and work connections to the area, so I knew what it was supposed to look like, and this was bad. This was the first bit of the New Orleans metro area that we came to. The destruction was obvious and the scene was surreal. I think the scope of the damage took a few minutes to sink in.”

One of the crew’s tasks was to photograph the city’s levees, as there were reports from the day before that claimed some of them had failed. “The 9th Ward was basically just water and rooftops. There were active rescues occurring just below us. There were helicopters all around, and towers to avoid. I remember one of us saying it was like the ‘wild west’ up there. It had us on edge the entire time over the city.”

Fuel Up

During the first day of operations, Palermo and his crew were in need of fuel, but options for locations to gas up were limited. “There was a local unit that had aviation gasoline at the Naval Air Station in Belle Chase, which is just several miles south of New Orleans. NAS Belle Chase had a dry runway and appeared to be operational. New Orleans Lakefront Airport was entirely underwater and New Orleans International Airport was heavily damaged and not operational, so we landed at NAS Belle Chase.

The base commander asked to speak with us. He had not had detailed reports of what it looked like beyond his base at that time. I remember telling him that his runway was in the best shape of any around, and that he was going to be busy with all of the disaster relief aircraft coming in to help in the coming weeks. In fact, NAS Belle Chase was the main disaster recovery base for large-scale air operations.”

Hunsaker added, “We refueled and went back out to survey specific areas such as the Pontchartrain causeway, the I-10 Twin Span bridge, and the North Shore communities. We took close-up photos of the cars on the bridges to look for people, but did not find anyone. We also took a few passes downtown.

Our day ended back at Lake Charles Regional Airport just in time for our squadron meeting, where we were able to brief our fellow CAP members about the situation. Many of us flew other missions, but that first sortie was one of the most memorable flights I have ever had in CAP.”

“There are two pictures that remain vividly on the opening days of CAP’s involvement in the aftermath of Katrina,” recalls Col. Thomas W. “Doc” Barnard, current commander of the Louisiana Wing. “First, the unbelievable number of aircraft confined over metropolitan New Orleans — and no mid-air collisions. The second was a sortie to report on the damage to three small towns in St. Bernard Parish. Upon arrival, there was only one surviving city water tower. The rest of the entire landscape was merely an extension of the Gulf of Mexico.”

Home Damage

While Col. Rock Palermo focused on tasks like handling radio communications and photographing key areas of interest around New Orleans, including schools and hospitals, and then transmitting them to officials on the ground, little did he know that another hurricane would follow on the heels of Katrina only weeks later. This time, the damage hit closer to home… literally.

Following Hurricane Rita, Palermo worked for another three weeks coordinating the distribution of food, water, ice, fuel and generators from his hometown of Lake Charles. Initially slotted for the role of operations section chief, he went on to take over the duties of deputy director because of his previous experience in emergency management. Unbeknownst to Palermo, Rita’s powerful winds brought down a large oak tree that landed on his home. Not one to be deterred by such news, he carried on with his CAP duties. Despite damage to his own personal property, Palermo understood the need to serve a greater good during such a critical time.

Horror and Hope in the Hospitality State

As Katrina bore down on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, Col. John Wilkes (then-commander of the Mississippi Wing) didn’t have to decide whether to evacuate or not; the decision was already made. “I needed to be in our headquarters and command center at Jackson’s Hawkins Field,” Wilkes remembers. With his wife and dog in tow, they traveled north toward their destination. “All of the highways were clogged with bumper-to-bumper, stop-and-go traffic.” Drawing from his experience of flying all over the state, he opted for less-traveled back roads, and thus by-passed the bottlenecks that choked normal routes.

“The hurricane came through and mauled almost the entire state of Mississippi,” Wilkes said. “Complete chaos followed.”

With communications with the coast virtually non-existent, Wilkes decided to make a flight to Stennis Airport in order to assess conditions. “There was a military helicopter on the tarmac that looked like it was floating because the entire tarmac was completely covered with water. The water level had receded just enough so that the slightly elevated runway was barely above sea level, so I landed. I thought it must be similar to landing on an aircraft carrier.”

From there, a patrol of the coastline was initiated at Waveland, on the west side of Bay St. Louis. The first memorable shock came when Wilkes flew over a familiar neighborhood. “I had recently attended a televised event where a CAP airplane executed a candy drop for the children at a local football field. This pleasant residential neighborhood had been completely devastated. It reminded me of pictures I had seen of Japan’s atom bombed cities. The only remains were the concrete slabs upon which the houses had sat and limbless tree trunks. Even most of the debris had been blown away.”

During the trying days following the storm, with hot temperatures, impassable roads and no electricity, concerns for safety turned toward the members of the Mississippi Wing themselves. “Even though we were geared to help everyone, we were especially concerned for our own members,” reveals Wilkes. “The Mississippi Wing is like a big family.”

Two CAP members, a married couple, had not been heard from. As they were residents of the Diamondhead community, a low-lying area which was hard hit by the storm surge, Wilkes led a ground team to search for them. “We talked the military guard into letting us into the area. We had to go on foot, and literally climb over debris and watch out for poisonous snakes.”

After checking for signs of life at homes along their route, the team finally reached their destination, where they found the members’ home was covered by debris that would require the assistance of heavy machinery to move. Recalling that one of the missing members owned a restored Stinson airplane, Wilkes directed his team to search for the craft in the hangar behind the home. When they found the hangar empty, all involved hoped it was a sign that the missing members had evacuated in the Stinson.

Once back out in the street, they observed the Stinson standing on its nose — plastered up against a utility pole. Wilkes and company feared the worse; however their fears were put to peace when they learned that the couple had safely made it out of town ahead of the storm.

“The Mississippi Wing proudly had zero fatalities or injuries from the storm,” Wilkes recalls. “In my estimation, the members of the Mississippi Wing had their finest hour.”

Looking Forward

“Since Hurricane Katrina, CAP has worked very hard to expand its capabilities, and support our customers at the federal, state, and local level,” explains Lt. Col. John Desmarais, Director of Operations at CAP National Headquarters. Those capabilities have been tested only a few times since 2005, namely after the devastation caused by Hurricane Ike in Texas in 2008, as well as Hurricane Sandy, which pummeled the East Coast in 2012.

As with Katrina, CAP’s ability to capture aerial photos continues to be an important function to assess overall damage. “Collecting airborne imagery has truly become a primary operational mission for CAP. In 2014, CAP reached the point where it has handheld camera equipment fielded nationwide for its entire fleet. We continue to work with FEMA, NGA, NOAA, and other partners on a regular basis to develop and field new tools to meet mission needs. We’ll soon be fielding 140 plus Garmin Virb wing-mounted camera kits to meet the latest needs of our customers.”

With an eye toward streamlining relief efforts, CAP now has a seat at FEMA’s National Response Coordination Center (NRCC) in Washington DC, along with a staff of volunteers to fill it during critical events. By bring together representatives of different agencies, the NRCC can respond quickly to emerging needs during large-scale crises.

“CAP has also established volunteer liaison positions with each FEMA region to ensure that CAP is represented at ongoing events,” Desmarais said. “By maintaining ongoing local relationships, we’re better positioned to support and understand mission needs as they develop.”

We Are Ready

Unlike like many human-caused disasters, there is little defense against Mother Nature’s wrath, however the key to alleviating the immediate human suffering in the wake of such occurrences is the speed of the response. To residents who experience the trauma, the need for medical assistance, food, water, and the restoration of law and order are their foremost concerns.

“Although CAP has about the same number of members as we had during Katrina, about 2,000 more are now qualified and engaged in operational missions,” said Desmarais.

Thanks to the unwavering service of CAP members, first responders, the military and a multitude of other government and private groups, the reassurance of tangible help to a suffering population was proof that they were not alone. From logistical support and providing photographic assessments to knocking on the doors of those in need, CAP proved to be a key element in the post-hurricane relief efforts.

Overall, CAP surveyed 4,266 homes, made contact with 8,524 citizens, flew 1,848 hours, took over 2,000 time-sensitive aerial images, delivered 30,000 pounds of relief supplies, and provided 35,495 hours of assistance.

Desmarais remains confident. “We know it is just a matter of time before there will be another major hurricane, or group of hurricanes, a major earthquake, or some other disaster that will require a large-scale response. We are ready for it.”

*Originally published in CAP Volunteer Magazine