Leaders of Katrina recovery reflect on Hurricane, plan for future readiness

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — From government leaders to military leaders, each brought memories of the days following Katrina.

Benny Rousselle was the Plaquemines Parish president.

“It’s depressing for me to reminisce about it. As I went through my notes for tonight’s event, I started looking and reading all of the notes that I wrote in my notepad, and I got a little depressed,” Rousselle said.

They say that being able to see New Orleans thrive 20 years later is something they’ll never take for granted.

Gen. Russel Honore, retired Army, brought a sense of security to residents, as he lead National Guard troops into the city.

“My dream while I was working Katrina, was that there would be another Super Bowl; that they would have Mardi Gras. I looked at it from the proudest perspective because this city is resilient going back 300 years,” Honore said.

While the event was to honor these leaders, some of them, like Walt Leger who was with the Louisiana Recovery Authority, said honor is not the right word.

“There was nothing to honor us about. We just all did what we had to do at the time. I’m happy that I had the opportunity to be one of the people to do it, but there’s nothing to be honored about. It was almost like going to war,” Leger said.

While remembering the past is important, they said it is just as important to prepare for the future and make sure something like Katrina doesn’t happen again.

“80 percent of the region evacuated. It’s the 20 percent that didn’t evacuate. How do we not leave 20 percent behind next time? Through cooperative community organizations,” Honore said.

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