(edmondsun.com) The New Orleans of today also is in a sense depending of the kindness of the strangers who have descended upon it since the flood waters generated by Hurricane Katrina engulfed it.
Fifteen months after Katrina volunteers still are pouring into New Orleans. Many church groups from the Oklahoma City area have made several trips to that city and plan to return again. Some of those volunteers have detailed how they slept on church floors in Uptown New Orleans.
Acres of abandoned houses are in the process of being gutted by teams of young people armed only with sledge hammers and crowbars who wear white surgical masks as they assail the mold infested drywall that is found in residences in low-lying areas of that city.
In the devastated Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, where cars and boats still are perched precariously on rooftops, there is a large wooden sign that lists the organizations that have sent people to assist in the clean-up efforts, and the University of Oklahoma and the University of Central Oklahoma are listed on it.
The green grass sprouting on lawns in the Ninth Ward and being heralded as a symbol of rebirth for that area is the result of volunteers who planted the seeds months ago. When the history of the rebirth of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina is written, the important role played by those volunteers will be recognized. (more…)
I think that it is also important to note here that folks of all races have taken part in the reconstruction—something you will not hear about or talked about in many circles.
