Working as a firefighter for the city of New Orleans from December 2, 2001 – April 9, 2008; I have experienced countless tragedies and devastation during that time. However; in September of 2005, I faced one of the most devastating event of my life, Hurricane Katrina. This had been the most horrific storm to hit our beloved city. According to our schedule, my next duty day was the Monday after predicted landfall. But out of a sense of obligation to the city and the possibility of things getting out of hand, I went in on Sunday. A Captain from my platoon was also there, that gave me a sense of comfort because I work with him every tour. I went with one of the units to warn the citizens of our district of the impending forecast and order to evacuate. However; I will never forget the
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Once the storm moved on, the blame game started with our leaders and politicians. The blaming went as high as the Presidency. If you ask most firefighters like myself, the local politicians should burden the most blame. They knew; or should have known the limited resources of the most vulnerable communities and took action to help them evacuate. One district over was the city bus barn that had as many as 50 buses. This could have easily transported several hundred people to safety. FEMA was also to blame for the slow response of resources getting into the city. If not for the brave courage of the men and women of the fire department, more lives would have been lost. These and other events that took place during and after Hurricane Katrina has had the biggest impact on me to date. I didn’t realize how significant the impact until a week later in a friend’s home in Baton Rouge, the raw emotion just overwhelmed me to the point of uncontrollable crying. After several minutes I felt relieved. These and other events that took place during and after Katrina has had the biggest impact on me to date. Only after time and medication can I watch a documentary or talk
Once the storm moved on, the blame game started with our leaders and politicians. The blaming went as high as the Presidency. If you ask most firefighters like myself, the local politicians should burden the most blame. They knew; or should have known the limited resources of the most vulnerable communities and took action to help them evacuate. One district over was the city bus barn that had as many as 50 buses. This could have easily transported several hundred people to safety. FEMA was also to blame for the slow response of resources getting into the city. If not for the brave courage of the men and women of the fire department, more lives would have been lost. These and other events that took place during and after Hurricane Katrina has had the biggest impact on me to date. I didn’t realize how significant the impact until a week later in a friend’s home in Baton Rouge, the raw emotion just overwhelmed me to the point of uncontrollable crying. After several minutes I felt relieved. These and other events that took place during and after Katrina has had the biggest impact on me to date. Only after time and medication can I watch a documentary or talk