Hurricane Katrina, 15 Years Later

August 29, 2020 marked the 15th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Each year since that historic and tragic event we are reminded of the ongoing struggle to heal as individuals and a community. This anniversary year has been even more historic as we continue to battle a global pandemic and a very active hurricane season. As in years past, IWES hosted and participated in a series of events and activities to always remember and reflect on the magnitude of loss, the severity of inequities in recovery efforts and the ongoing endeavor to continue to heal and promote resilience as a community. This year, IWES sustained its presence and contributions as part of the organization’s ongoing commitment to healing and human recovery work in the response to individual and collective trauma. Beginning August 15th, IWES released a series of social media posts daily leading up to the anniversary of Katrina, sharing relevant lessons we’ve learned from lived experiences as well as from evaluative findings of programmatic activities through the last decade and a half. If you haven’t seen them, we encourage you to find them here.

IWES also hosted a special edition of our #GetYaMindRight virtual support group in partnership with Metropolitan Human Services District, dedicated fully to creating a safe space for collective processing of the lingering effects of Hurricane Katrina’s physical and emotional devastation. "From COVID to Katrina” was held on Friday, August 28th and it featured large group dialogue and smaller breakout discussions by IWES staff framed around the human-centered recovery lessons we’ve learned in the 15 years after Hurricane Katrina’s landfall. The session also presented an opportunity for participants to share reflections, identify emotions surrounding Katrina-related events and memories and discuss how these lessons apply to other experiences of catastrophic events, namely widespread disasters, especially as we cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. Imagery from both experiences of Hurricane Katrina and COVID-19 were also presented to allow visual depictions connecting direct and vicarious experiences of disaster with lessons we’ve learned, and how they apply to healing and recovery practices. The discussion and session activities were inspired by the findings presented in our recently released white paper, Mental Health Framework: Coronavirus in Post-Katrina New Orleans, written by IWES CEO, Dr. Denese Shervington, and Chief Impact Officer, Dr. Lisa Richardson. The concepts presented in the white paper were shaped by the lessons we’ve gained from Katrina and provide a foundational approach to understand and respond to the natural and human-inflicted storms that we as humans must survive.

In addition to IWES’ planned K15 activities, staff joined community partners on the frontlines of climate change in #Katrina15: A commemoration of 15 years of recovery, resistance and love of home since Hurricane Katrina. The event was hosted by Gulf Coast Center for Law and Policy and held virtually on Saturday, August 29th. It was designed to reflect on the experiences of Hurricane Katrina and memorialize the loss of life, devastation and realities of the recovery effort. It was also an opportunity through learning panels to offer updates on climate change and environmental justice work from the frontlines. Our Chief Program Officer, Rheneisha Robertson, and Senior Program Manager, Christi LaMark, joined Gulf South community partners as presenters on IWES’ disaster mental health resources, emotional well-being and resilience work since Katrina, and also provided COVID-19 and disaster relief resources. IWES team members provided an overview of the white paper along with practical strategies to construct a framework to rebuild families and communities, and strengthen social, mental, and emotional infrastructure during and after a disaster.

As we are indelibly presented with natural and social events that will jeopardize our capacity for resilience and full mental, emotional and physical recovery, it is imperative that we pay attention to the lessons we have learned and apply them at every level- individual, interpersonal, community and societal. Healing is an ongoing journey—both individually and collectively. It calls upon us to always remember, process and reflect. Now, more than ever, as we face ongoing community and societal threats to safety, justice, and physical and emotional well-being, our individual and collective efforts to heal will be our revolutionary stance. As our tagline reminds us, “Healing is the Revolution!”