Today is a somber day. The 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The costliest natural disaster in the country’s history, claiming 18-hundred lives. Jeff Palermo has more on one of Louisiana’s worst days.
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Gas prices for this Labor Day weekend are the lowest they’ve been since 2020. Andre Champagne has the story.
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The rescue effort in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was practically nonexistent. Andrew Greenstein spoke with the man who single-handedly brought order to a chaotic situation.
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Today is the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, one of the darkest days in Louisiana history. Bob Mann was the communications director for Governor Kathleen Blanco; and at first, they thought Katrina only produced wind damage. But then, reports came in of rising water.
Katrina produced catastrophic flooding, not only in New Orleans, but also in Jefferson, Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes. Once the storm passed, the mission was to get thousands of stranded people, some of them living on rooftops, out of the flooded waters and onto dry land. Mann says the federal government was not much help.
Blanco took a lot of criticism for the state’s response to Katrina. It was a major factor in her decision not to run for re-election. Mann says there was certainly failures at all levels of government, but FEMA’s role was to provide federal resources to states dealing with a disaster, but that didn’t happen.
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Hurricane Katrina made landfall as a Category 3 storm in Plaquemines Parish at 6:10 in the morning on this date. Katrina produced catastrophic flooding. Saint Bernard Parish had widespread flooding and devastation, and current Parish President Louis Pomes (Louie POE-mez) was an employee of the parish at the time.
Pomes was amazed at how fast the water rose as a result of breaches in the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet.
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He says the population of St. Bernard pre-Katrina was 70-thousand, now it’s 48-thousand.
Pomes says St. Bernard wouldn’t be where it is today without the spirit of the parish’s residents and federal money.
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Pomes credits local leaders for using the federal recovery dollars wisely. Not only rebuilding schools, hospitals and the sewer system, but also providing new amenities for its residents , like a skate park, dog park and bike paths.
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This is the lowest gas prices have been for a Labor Day weekend in five years. Triple-A’s Don Redman says the statewide average for a gallon of regular gasoline is $2.79, which is 20 cents lower than a year ago. Redman says motorists are enjoying the lowest price at the pump in five years, despite a slight increase over the last week.
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Redman says once we move into September, he expects prices to decline again.
Redman says as long as there is not a disruption in the supply of gasoline, he believes gas prices will be around $2.50 or possibly by the end of September. He says the price of crude oil is why the price at the pump is well below three dollars.
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If you could sum up the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in one word, “chaos” would be quite appropriate. With most of New Orleans underwater, people were left stranded for days, with no indication of when help would arrive. Needing a strong federal response, they designated Lieutenant General Russel Honoré as commander of Joint Task Force Katrina, and he immediately took charge of the rescue effort. General Honoré says he does not blame local officials for the initial response.
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Honoré said he would have liked to have been in New Orleans earlier, but the city had flooded so badly that he and other members of the National Guard had no way of getting into the city – and, in effect, they had no way of getting people out.
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One of the lasting images of Honoré during the immediate aftermath of Katrina is of him shouting to police officers, “weapons down, dammit!” Honoré says those officers were acting on orders from Governor Kathleen Blanco to shoot anyone they found looting. Honoré said he told Blanco to rescind that order.
A three-star general, Honoré retired from the Army in 2008 and continues to serve as a consultant on disaster preparedness.
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LSU junior linebacker Harold Perkins returns to the field after missing most of the 2024 season with a torn ACL. Perkins decided to come back to LSU and build up his stock, playing in the STAR position. Perkins says he likes how the position allows him to showcase his pass rush abilities as well as his pass coverage.
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LSU senior wide receiver Chris Hilton Jr. returns as the longest tenured receiver on the unit. Hilton’s LSU career has stalled due to multiple injuries, but he says he is thankful to be finally be healthy. Hilton says he is looking forward to showcasing what he is made of this season.
LSU linebacker Whit Weeks grew up only an hour away from Clemson, South Carolina but has never been to Clemson’s campus. Weeks says he is looking forward to playing in such a hostile environment.
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UL-Lafayette kicks off its season on Saturday at 7 p.m. against Rice. Head coach Michael Desormeaux (DEZ-er-moe) says that he wants starting quarterback Walker Howard to play free while trusting his offense.
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The Cajuns defense will be tasked with countering a triple option offensive attack from Rice. Desormeaux said Rice’s offensive attack will be a good first test for the Cajuns.