Easter week, April 17-21, I was part of a group of thirty-two black Catholic leaders from around the country, clergy, religious and laity, including Pax Christi and officials of Catholic Charities USA, and heads of offices of black Catholic ministry in dioceses around the country, to visit the Hurricane ravaged areas of New Orleans and the Mississippi coastline and Xavier University.

So many survivors of that horrible storm continue to live in uncertainty, unclear if they will ever return home or if they will ever be able to restore their lives to a semblance of what they were before.

The purpose of the visit was to express our solidarity and concern for the victims of the worse catastrophic event of nature in recent times in the U.S. We wanted to learn how we could be of assistance by our advocacy. Most of the victim/survivors are African Americans who lost homes, churches, jobs, family and futures.

Recall these basic Katrina facts:

Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana on the morning of August 29, 2005. 80% of the city of New Orleans was flooded over the course of three weeks. New Orleans is surrounded by three bodies of water: Lake Pontchartrain, the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico.

Water levels reached as high as 20 feet. 90,000 miles were covered by official national disaster declaration. Estimated cost of damages to the region, more than $200 billion. An estimated two-thirds of the city of New Orleans’ population was displaced by the storm. As of January 2006, 3,200 people were still declared missing. More than a million residents evacuated from the affected areas. As of March 2006 the official Louisiana death toll stands at 1, 418.

Eight months after Katrina, aid from Federal, State and local governments for cleanup and rebuilding of homes, schools, neighborhoods and institutions is small. Catholic parishes, schools and other organizations around the country have sent donations from special collections and other drives to assist. Catholic Charities USA continues to perform yeoman efforts with their strategic and financial support of churches, community efforts and related organizations.

Our visit gave us first hand experience and exposure to the reality of the situation and afforded us being in a better position to urge our Church and government to be even more generous and responsive to the immense need.

Bishop John Ricard, SSJ, from the National Black Catholic Congress offices in Baltimore, Maryland, arranged the Solidarity Visit. Bishop Dominic Carmon, SVD, auxiliary of New Orleans, joined our group for Mass celebrated in the makeshift Xavier University Chapel on Tuesday.

Through a week of average 90 degree humid weather we met with survivors of Hurricane Katrina, heard their stories, and visited their homes and neighborhoods. We met with religious leaders, civic leaders. We visited damaged schools and churches and saw first hand the injury and destruction wreaked on those severely impacted by the storm.

What we saw:

In New Orleans, one-third of the businesses are up and running. The airport’s flight schedule is running at 70%. Downtown streets are sparsely populated; ravaged neighborhoods are ghost-towns without electricity, water and public services. You see no one around. Trees are uprooted if not snapped in two, telephone poles are down; homes knocked off their foundations, their roofs smashed in as if by a giant fist.

Here and there you saw a FEMA trailer parked outside a ravaged home, by and large for those who insist on returning to watch or repair their homes. These individuals are few in number. Water logged and smashed cars and trucks collected after the storm are stored under city expressways. The Superdome where so many took refuge within squalid conditions is being repaired scheduled to reopen this Fall. Any number of workers are seen on the roof.

Our first day saw us make our first stop at the MAX school, three historically black Catholic high schools that came together as a result of damages from the storm: Xavier University Prep, St. Mary’s Academy and St. Augustine High School. The students recently published a book of poems and prose titled, MAXimum Faith: Prayers and Reflections by Young Katrina Survivors, describing their emotions, feelings and prayerful pleadings. Proceeds from the sale of their book go towards providing academic scholarships and support for area youth ministry programs. See 504-899-6061 or online orders at: www.FatherTony.com

Some of these students are living in FEMA trailers, 8 x 26 in dimension, built for one, two at most, but occupied nonetheless by their siblings and parents, making for crowded conditions and a test of nerves. Other students spoke of living with extended family and other relatives under similar conditions. Still other students drive in from Baton Rouge and other places meaning a couple hours drive each way every day. The students carry a sense of wonder on their faces; some look tired. They are remarkably quiet and feel at a loss for words to talk about their experience. They realize the Hurricane season starts again in six weeks. And no one knows what to expect or fear.

Some people are living in tents outdoors; other are put up in area hotels by FEMA. The Sisters of the Holy Family were living for several months in a hotel. Their Motherhouse is undergoing repair as we speak. Interestingly enough, not one hospital is operative in the city of New Orleans. Anyone needing emergency assistance is at terrible risk and must make haste to neighboring towns and cities as far away as Baton Rouge.

New Orleans is a seat of African American Catholicism, a rich texture of black Catholic history and faith. It was gratifying to hear so many young people and adults speak so proudly of their faith; a faith that goes back in instances five or six generations or more. There isn’t nearly the intrusion of Protestant religion in the fabric of the area as exists in the north.

Water lines mark the buildings and homes where you can see how high the flooding was. The much publicized 9 th Ward is a total disaster area where many of the black parishes are. Debris is piled curb-side indicating clean-up efforts in earnest continue to go on. Houses are spray painted with code letters indicating law enforcement and other officials have inspected homes and businesses and other buildings for survivors, deceased persons, and animals dead or alive. Three bodies were discovered in debris while we were there.

Large stretches of neighborhoods and areas remind me of the old black-and-white TV newsreels that showed the effects on a populated area from an atomic blast… profound devastation of the New Orleans area is an accurate description… it is so unbelievable. I have never seen anything like it.

What we heard:

Central Offices of the Archdiocese of New Orleans had just reopened the day before our arrival. Our group met with Auxiliary Bishop Roger Morin who described how Hurricane Katrina accelerated a pastoral plan to reorganize inner city parishes. Seven parishes are designated to be suppressed. Twenty-eight parishes are temporarily suspended pending the return of citizens.

Some 280,000 are estimated to have yet to return to the city. Out of 150 parishes in the Archdiocese 52 are predominantly African American. 10 of these are operating. Health and safety issues weigh heavy in the evaluation of buildings after the storm. 75% of the parochial school population is back in school. Police and firemen and their families lived for a while on boats on the river to facilitate these important public services. St. Louis Cathedral School took in their children. The Archdiocesan school system expects to be up and running by September 2006 to pre-Katrina levels. Public schools in the city are abysmal. The Catholic schools took in public school pupils to help the city this way. It is expected that some people will return to the city once the school term is completed this June. However, it is surmised that the only people who can return to the city are those who have money or who can borrow money or people who have some sort of government assistance. It is figured that many if not a majority of New Orleans city residents cannot or will not return.

Xavier University, founded by St. Katherine Drexel, the only black Catholic University in the United States, sustained two to five feet of water to the first floors of their buildings. The University reopened last January 17 and expects to be up and running full force by the coming Fall academic term. Immediate efforts were to salvage their student population by getting dormitories, classrooms and the cafeteria repaired as quickly as possible. Construction had been going on seven days a week to meet the January deadline. 85% of the faculty lost their homes. Forty-five million dollars has been spent already on repair and reconstruction of the campus. The university chapel was lost and is now shifted to another building. Dr. Norman Francis is university president for thirty-eight years now and, before Katrina, had been piloting a capital campaign for the long awaited Katherine Drexel Chapel and Student Center.

Hurricane Camille 1969 was the last devastating Hurricane to hit the area. The levees that breached and caused major flooding of the city with Katrina are now being repaired by the Army Corp of Engineers to sustain a category 3 Hurricane. Hurricane Katrina was measured as a category 5. A wall of water, 35 feet high picked up momentum as a tidal surge that smashed through the levees at three different places pushed by strong winds.

Catholic Charities USA has arranged for housing for 2,500 people thus far from all over the nation coming into New Orleans and the Gulf area to assist with cleanup and repair. St. Peter Claver parish was helped by thirty-six people. A parish in Seattle came down to assist with painting and repair bringing with them 276 pairs of tennis shoes for children. They helped restore the worship space.

A group of Deacons from the Archdiocese of Chicago led by Joseph Winblad calling themselves, Project Hope, has been down a couple times, Deacons working in the trades to assist with rebuilding efforts. Insurance companies are slow in processing claims. In instances, people, churches and other institutions are suing insurance companies to obtain relief. Some of the insured are just discovering that while they had some flood insurance they did not have wind damage insurance.

The largest emotion felt by citizens of the area is a sense of powerlessness. Everything depends on your employer if he/she is able to reopen for business; everything is dependent upon the actions of FEMA; everything is dependent upon a response from Insurance. And no one knows what news will come tomorrow about their situations. Everything is plagued by flux. Messages and responses are revised by the day. The entire experience has exacerbated stress levels and caused conflict in marriages and families. 65,000 homes were totally destroyed in New Orleans.

The Gulf of Mississippi – the Diocese of Biloxi :

Biloxi has 60,000 citizens in 17 counties; African Americans are 40% of this population. 230 people died in the storms but this is a conservative estimate. The newspapers record deaths in the aftermath due to stress, heart attack and grief, particularly senior citizens. People just gave up.

We met with Bishop Thomas Rodi who spoke of his gratitude for our visit and how much our presence bolsters the confidence of Catholics in his area. He toured us at several parish stops. 10 Churches out of 56 were destroyed here; 3 parishes have been consolidated in wake of the storm. All parishes account for 433 diocesan buildings… 428 were damaged. 6 schools were destroyed, 3 others sustained major damage. Parish schools are enjoying 94% attendance right now.

There are seven black parishes in the Diocese of Biloxi, all seven remain open but two sustained major damage.

We saw water lines as high as eight to nine feet inside churches. Dead fish, mud and stench overtook the interiors. Toxic water ate through church benches, walls and floors leaving nefarious mold to crawl the walls. There was some loss of church records in the flooding.

Insurance was purchased for the Diocese based on Hurricane Camille 1969 readings of 35 million worth of coverage. But 75 million dollars worth of damaged was wreaked by the 2005 Hurricane season.

Some 60,000 volunteers have come in and out to help rebuild the Mississippi Gulf region hauling away debris, gutting homes and businesses and assisting with repairs. The Diocese just recently opened an Office of Long Term Recovery…for no doubt we will see and feel the scars of 2005 Hurricane season for some time.

We traveled along a twenty-seven mile stretch of white sand beaches along the Mississippi coast. One after another, hotels, ante-bellum mansions, homes, businesses, casinos and everything in between were all destroyed. Buildings looked like the infamous scene of the 1995 Oklahoma Bombing.

Members of our group could not help mentioning with curiosity the statues of the Blessed Mother in the front lawns of ravaged homes left untouched-unmoved by the storm while everything around was devastated. One huge statute of the Sacred Heart at the entrance of the property of the Bay St. Louis Seminary of the Divine Word Fathers (SVD) where we were hosted for a luncheon meeting was standing intact while trees were snapped in two all around it and the retreat center was a two-million dollar loss.