Saturday, August 22, 2015

K+10 minus one week

Here we are, one week from the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the Federal Flood ("Katrina" for short). Like most of my friends who lived here and through Katrina, I don't want to relive those days so I've been actively avoiding watching TV. I know it's not healthy to stuff the emotions down so I'll just deal with them as they come. I have been reading some articles and one that really spoke to me was this one by Robert Mann. I've enjoyed his OpEd pieces he writes for the T-P and hadn't realized he worked for Gov. Blanco at that time. I knew watching the reports by the big networks on New Orleans and Katrina that they were full of shit and making shit up, and he confirms that.

I worked for the governor of Louisiana during Katrina. Here are 5 things I learned. 
by Robert Mann on August 20, 2015

The Gambit has an interview with the former Governor and it's sad how politicized the rescue became.

Katrina at 10: An interview with former Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco
The former governor talks about Hurricane Katrina and the politics of Louisiana recovery

The lies that were spread immediately following the have mostly been proved wrong, but most people will remember what they heard on the TV. I remember ranting in my emails and my blogs posts to friends to not watch CNN or FOX news. I encourages them to visit NOLA.com and get news from a local source. I follow my own advice today. When a disaster hits a distant city, I go to the local media outlets to get the facts, not the sensationalized conjecture and speculation. Here's a wonderful video that overlays the chatter of the media reporting on Katrina with footage of the city today. It was put togther by several very talented men, graphic design Tom Varisco (to whom I owe a huge debt of gratitude for taking the time to meet with a newly graduated art student looking for a graphic design job in New Orleans) and photographer Jackson Hill (who I had the pleasure of working closely on a number of projects).


High Water Mark from Tom Varisco on Vimeo.

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