Voices
From the Storm:
Biographies
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Patricia
Thompson
—
After
riding
out the
storm
in the
city with
her family,
Thompson
led twenty-two
members
of her
family
on daily
trips
to the
Convention
Center,
the Superdome,
and the
I-10 Causeway
in search
of help.
On one
occasion,
armed
soldiers
trained
their
guns on
her six-year-old
granddaughter’s
forehead. |
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Dan
Bright
—
The night
before
the storm,
Bright
was arrested
on false
charges
and held
in Orleans
Parish
Prison.
When the
storm
came,
guards
abandoned
the building,
leaving
Bright
and his
fellow
inmates
to break
out of
their
cells
to save
their
lives. |
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Father
Vien The
Nguyen
—
Father
Nguyen
stayed
through
the storm
to aid
parishioners
who could
not evacuate.
As the
days wore
on and
their
supplies
dwindled,
help was
nowhere
to be
found. |
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Rhonda
Sylvester
—
After
weathering
the storm,
Sylvester
floated
her grandchildren
in buckets
through
miles
of filthy
floodwater,
searching
for rescuers.
Buses
meant
to take
them to
safety
eventually
moved
them to
a highway
where
they languished
for days. |
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Abdulrahman
Zeitoun
—
Zeitoun
traveled
around
the city
in a canoe
rescuing
stranded
neighbors
and animals
for days
before
being
arrested
under
suspicion
of terrorism.
He was
then held
for weeks
without
charges
or contact
with his
family. |
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Renee
Martin
—
The morning
after
the storm,
Martin
awoke
to find
herself
surrounded
by water.
She fled
to a neighbor’s
porch
where
she waited
through
the night
for rescue.
In the
morning,
she was
brought
to the
Superdome
where
she remained
for days. |
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Father
Jerome
LeDoux
—
LeDoux
stayed
in New
Orleans
during
the storm
in order
to tend
to his
church—the
oldest
African-American
parish
in the
United
States—and
parishioners.
Then when
the floodwaters
receded,
he and
his parish
were faced
to keep
their
church
from being
closed
by the
Catholic
church. |
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Anthony
Letcher
—
Letcher
and his
family
reside
in the
Ninth
Ward.
As the
storm
raged
on and
floodwaters
surrounded
their
house,
Letcher’s
mother
spotted
two children
screaming
for help.
Letcher
dove in
and saved
the children.
Over the
next week,
he rescued
dozens
of people
in a boat
he found
across
the street
from his
house. |
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Daniel
Finnigan
—
Finnigan
and his
neighbors
defended
their
local
grocery
store
from would-be
looters
for three
days following
the storm.
However,
as word
spread
of the
devastation
in the
Lower
Ninth
Ward and
help did
not come,
Finnigan
abandoned
his efforts. |
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Jackie
Harris
—
Years
before
the storm,
Harris
co-founded
the Louis
Armstrong
Summer
Jazz Camp,
and has
remained
a major
part of
the city’s
vibrant
music
scene.
She evacuated
to New
York before
the storm,
where
she immediately
began
organizing
benefit
concerts
for Katrina
survivors.
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Kalamu
Ya Salaam
—
Ya Salaam
is one
of the
brightest
literary
voices
coming
out of
New Orleans.
Before
the storm,
he taught
New Orleans
public
school
students
and worked
as a journalist.
He returned
to the
city shortly
after
the storm
and is
a strong
advocate
in the
struggle
to preserve
New Orleans’s
African-American
cultural
tradition. |
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Sonya
Hernandez
—
Without
enough
money
to evacuate
the city,
Hernandez
and her
family
were forced
to flee
to the
Superdome
for safety
during
the storm.
Conditions
in the
dome rapidly
deteriorated
to a horrific
level.
Hernandez
kept her
family
close
together
until
they were
finally
evacuated
to Camp
Gruber
in Oklahoma,
where
they remained
for over
a month. |
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