michael@thecontraflow.org

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_WW5Rbzmi8

As I wacthed the Super Bowl at with Rick Mathieu, Manny Mathieu, Steven Mathieu and some of Rick’s neighbors in the Treme Neighborhood just outside the French Quarter, I could not help but notice the signs all around me of the New Orleans recovery still in progress. Rick’s home still has no sheet rock up and our heating source was coming from camping equipment. But once we witnessed #22 Tracy Porter (de ja vu all over again) picked off Peyton Manning, I witnessed possibly the happiest moment in Rick Mathieu’s life. A man who I have never seen high five anyone. Any thoughts of the trials and tribulation of the recovery were now forgotten for the rest of the evening. As I stepped outside onto Treme St., in the same neighborhood that was the scene of so many families coming from the flooded 7th, 8th and 9th Wards five years ago with all their belongings in trash bags on their way to the French Quarter and CBD; I was witnessing the exact same movement. But this time the people were jumping for joy and not carrying trash bags.

Their beloved New Orleans Saints are now the Super Bowl Champions of 2010.  As I made the six block trek to Bourbon Street, all I heard was “Who Dat!” I have never passed so many happy people before in my life. As I got closer to Bourbon St.,  I could not help but think back on my four-plus years in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.

On 11.11.05, for all practical purposes, I temporarily relocated to New Orleans to support the recovery efforts. A lot of friends and family thought it was an admirable gesture, but could not really comprehend why anyone would want to live in a disaster zone. Then in June 2006, a quintuple murder went down in the Central City neighborhood of Uptown New Orleans and crime has been the #1 issue associated with New Orleans ever since (another de ja vu all over again). I had friends who the government temporarily relocated to Baton Rouge from the DC area to work on the recovery who were told “whatever you do, don’t go to New Orleans.”

Let’s fast forward to Super Bowl Sunday 2010. According to the Nielsen Ratings, the Saints v. Colts championship game was the most watched television show ever! More than the miniseries ROOTS. More that the final episode of the Sopranos. More than the final episode of M.A.S.H. Just three weeks ago, the networks and advertisers were salivating at the chance of a Farve vs. Manning Superbowl. The Black and Gold defense had other plans. The same defense who took down Tom Brady, Curt Warner, Eli Manning, Matt Ryan, etc.; and…Brett Favre. Then came Peyton Manning.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0KvC1dvRTE

I am now walking up St. Ann Street one block away from Bourbon Street, where I felt the energy vibrating off the tens of thousands who had come to celebrate the victory together in the French Quarter. When I finally hit Bourbon St., there they were, here I was; right in the biggest spontaneous party in New Orleans history. The only thing I can relate tonight’s event to is the WWII Liberation of France parades in 1944. I’ve been here for almost five years, experiencing four of the five Post-Katrina Mardi Gras in person, and have never seen this many people in the French Quarter; not even after LSU defeated Ohio State for the BCS Championship at the Superdome exactly twenty-five months ago.

Obviously, we were are all feeling good down here; and the feel good feeling has gone airborne in pandemic proportions. Now the media has been pushing two things post-Super Bowl 44 that I feel need to be clarified; the “Ain’ts” and “Brees saved New Orleans.” What they have forgotten is that this same team, give or take a few new players, that went to the NFC Championship at Soldier Field three years ago. As for Drew Brees, I have mad respect for him. He gave one of the best post-game interview I’ve ever heard, giving the people of New Orleans their due respect. But we cannot leave out the tens of thousands of military, governmental and corporate responders. But we cannot leave out the volunteers, young people, corporate people, old people, white people, black people, brown people, who came from every state and hemisphere to support the relief and recovery efforts. But we cannot forget about the resiliency of the people of New Orleans. I saw all this happen with my own eyes over the past fifty-three months.

I have received Facebook messsages, text messages and phone calls from across the country; all saying pretty much the same thing, we want to be in New Orleans to celebrate with you all; almost like then Sen. Barack Obama and his family in Chicago on election night 2008, everybody wanted to be in Grant Park with Oprah and Jesse. The city that just a couple weeks ago was on the “Enter At Your Own Risk” list is now the feel-good destination of the world; where people want to be. So, much love to Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints. Much love to the Katrina Responders. Even more love to the tens of thousands of volunteers who came down here and got dirty along side the people of New Orleans; whom you just got to love. Just four years ago, Mardi Gras was in jeopardy of being cancelled. Now, this is guarateed to be the best Mardi Gras season ever. Go Saints (America’s Team)! Go New Orleans!! Go Katrina Volunteers!!! Who Dat? We all Dat…

Michael Woods

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSsvltML888

michael@thecontraflow.org

Half of the collection pertains to the Repopulation Era, 11.11.05 – 3.1.06, respectfully documenting this surreal period from the Mathieu Family, Mama D, Rollin Garcia (aka Bullet), Angi Bachemin and volunteers’ 7th Ward points of view. We followed them all up to Hurricane Gustav 9.1.08. A documentary film project in development is “The 7th Ward”. Our mission is to capture the essence of surviving in that just lost 90% of its population to exile, reflecting back from Gustav.

Michael D. Woods
Lead Researcher

The KY ANG 123rd STS very supportive. USCG approval 7.03.07, interviewing pilots LT Shay Williams, LCDR Olav Saboe and CAPT Bruce Jones, and a cutter CO LT (CWO4) Dave Lewald. US Army approval 1.10.08; I interviewed 5th Army responders, including LTC Joanne McGovern, MG Mark Graham, as well as 82nd AB CAPT Jason Holder, COL Barry DiRuzza and COL Victor Petrenko; and LTG William Caldwell. USAF approval 4.24.08; I interviewed LTC Gary Cooke who flew a C-5 into MSY and to his surprise flew out with 200 evacuees in his cargo hold. US Navy approval 8.18.08; I interviewed CDR Paul Propokovich, CAPT Lafe Dozier and Rear Admiral Nora Tyson.

They all appreciated my taking the time to include the military in this epic story. Like the FEMA DMAT and US&R responders, the armed services were very supportive and proved to be a wealth of information. Research data received by the government was vital to building our intricate Katrina timeline of contexts and events.

Michael D. Woods
Lead Researcher

During the visit to DMAT CA-4 (Disaster Medical Asst Team) Operations Center in San Diego, I was greeted by about fifteen team members who were happy to hear that someone was taking the time to tell the story from the from the responders’ points of view.

This was the beginning of our transition to documenting the federal response to Katrina. We gained cooperation from the USFWS, USMS, CBP, USACE and more FEMA responder units. Also, the FAA Mgr Dave Haddad explained what life was like above and below MSY’s ATC Tower. With the support of the federal government came detailed accounts via after-action reports, Power Point presentations, photos, videos, charts, maps and reports. It helped us complete our mission to thoroughly document the first two weeks of Katrina in a very detailed chronological format. This support has also allowed us to map the flow of responders into SE Louisiana.

Michael D. Woods
Lead Researcher

On 6.28.07 Dwight Brashear, who was brought in to run the transportation desk marshaling commandeered school buses, described the scene at the state OEP to me. On 12.28.07, I interviewed Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu who relived a night when he drove one of eight buses filled abandoned Superdome evacuees in a convoy to Lafayette. I interviewed Gretna PD Chief Arthur Lawson on 8.12.08, and Gretna Mayor Ronnie Harris on 8.22.08, who both helped shed light on ‘another chapter’. I also interviewed LAANG CWO5 Kevin Dares, and his brother and fellow Katrina responder retired LDWF MAJ Sandy Dares.

Michael D. Woods
Lead Researcher

Coming to what I believed was the end of my research, I had just one question, which was for Delta Airlines. Why were the Omaha-bound evacuees not informed of their destination until before landing?

To my surprise, I was granted an interview by two Delta executives on 7.7.06, who as 757 pilots flew Delta CEO Gerald Grinstein into Armstrong Airport on a humanitarian mission to deliver provisions and pick up evacuees. After hearing Capt. Joe Kolshak and Capt Mike Quiello’s amazing heartfelt accounts, my 7th Ward blinders were removed and Armstrong Airport quickly became the next major focus of our research.

I then started documenting other parts of the city such as Algiers, Lakeview, 9th Ward, N.O. East. It was then when I started comprehending evacuees migration pattern out of the city through major collection points like the Superdome, Morial Convention Center, Algiers Point Ferry Terminal, I-10 & Causeway and MSY. It was the beginning of my six-phased evacuation theory.

Michael D. Woods
Lead Researcher

Eventually, we came upon a “camp” that was bustling with two dozen volunteers. It was the home of a community leader named Dyan French Cole, aka Mama D, who invited me to stay. All I had to do was wake up, turn on the camera and walk outside. People came from near and far to see Mama D. I soon branched out from her home base camp and went on to document the repopulation of New Orleans. I listened to over 1,000 relief workers and returning survivors. It was during this surreal period leading up to Mardi Gras, 2.28.06, that I found myself becoming a literary advocate for the Katrina survivors.

Michael D. Woods
Lead Researcher

I spent the next three days trying to match evacuees in Texas with Nebraskans offering help. One woman said “will you please bring me a family back from Texas?” Then low and behold the last two evacuation flights of New Orleans landed in Omaha on 9.10.05.

Aboard the first plane was a man named Rick Mathieu, Sr., from the Treme area of New Orleans. He and his brother, Manny Mathieu, rode out the disaster on a 7th Ward church annex rooftop using their own boats to rescue neighbors. Rick asked me to help find Manny and document their time in the flood waters. I spent many nights listening to his Katrina war stories and learning the vernacular. Rick returned home on 11.1.05 to check on his 7th Ward and Treme homes. He encouraged me to follow him down and bring a camera to document the destruction and resiliency.

Michael D. Woods
Lead Researcher

Pres. Bush was riding high after winning a second term. On 11.04.04, he stated “I earned political capital in the campaign, political capital, and I intend to spend it.” Myself, I was living in Southern Nevada working on a new series of educational publications. As Labor Day Weekend 2005 approached, I looked forward to celebrating my birthday and Pres. Bush geared up for his stay the course campaign in Iraq. On 8.30.05, the news started looping hurricane looting footage from N.O. in heavy rotation, which brought about a sense of apathy.

Then came 9.1.05, the day the world first witnessed thousands of environmental refugees agonizing at the Superdome and Morial Convention Center. Many asked how could this happen in America? Others saw resemblances to America’s antebellum past. Either way a tectonic shift in global public opinion occurred, and somebody had to pay. It did not take long before Pres. Bush received a margin call on his “political capital” account, while Dems bought up political default swap policies on the GOP. My analytic mind kept me out of the blame game. I felt it was not that simple. In the meantime I just kept watching…

Michael D. Woods
Lead Researcher