KINGWOOD, W.Va. — Ten years ago the focus of the world was on Hurricane Katrina and the destruction the storm would leave on the Gulf Coast and specifically the city of New Orleans. The rain and weather from the storm, didn’t impact West Virginia, but the aftermath would involve assistance from hundreds of members of the West Virginia Army and Air National Guard.
“I think everybody on the east coast was preparing for some kind of relief effort,” said Alan Tackett who was the state Adjutant General at the time. “No one had any idea what it was going to do to New Orleans.”
When the levy broke 25 percent of the Crescent City was flooded. The Lower 9th Ward was hardest hit. Thousands of homes were submerged for days. There were so many victims there was nothing to do but get them out. The West Virginia Air Guard flew many of the Katrina refugees to spots all over the country to wait out the damage and get back on their feet. Some were even brought to West Virginia for about a month.
“We took an airplane load of them we brought in on a C-130 and then took them to Camp Dawson,” he said. “We kept theme there for about a month while they could get back on their feet. They just had nowhere to go. They had no home in New Orleans.”
The extreme recovery was unlike anything the guard or any other emergency agency had ever dealt with. Tackett sent John Barnette, the Deputy AG of the Army to New Orleans. Barnett spent four months in the area helping to coordinate the National Guard units from all over the country who were arriving to assist. Tackett said the Guard’s response almost had to be made up as things went along because there was nothing to compare.
“Pretty much so, because it was a unique experience,” Tackett said 10 years afterward. “I’m telling you that was probably the worst disaster that I’ve ever seen.”