OK, as blogs go, this one may be a bit more painful than most. And as I sit today, comfortably in the A/C, at the Airlift Productions Studios in NOLA, it’s hard to believe that as I write this, we’re a decade down the road.
Frankly, I do not have enough fingers and toes to count all the people that I know personally who lost everything – homes, cars, all the worldly possessions of a lifetime – through the aftermath of this one storm.
Folks who, like me, packed-up the car with enough clothes and necessities for a 3-day evacuation, convinced we’d be back home, snug in our own beds by Tuesday.
Mother Nature … and that Mother Katrina had other ideas.
As the ‘homes’ they returned to were buried to the rooftops in Katrina & Lake Pontchartrain’s floodwaters!
And as if ‘things’ weren’t enough to lose, I even had friends who – in fits of despair and hopelessness – chose to end their very lives.
Like I said. A blog more painful than most.
Yet, as the Ten Year Anniversary rolls around – Katrina roared into town August 29th, 2005 – it’s time for NOLA and the Nation to reflect. Reflect on where we’ve been. And where we are.
Through the past couple weeks I’ve had the pleasure of working with Paul Atkinson, producer/videographer with Versatile Productions, who hired me to record my old pal Norman Robinson for a documentary he’s working on about the storm, the aftermath, and repairs made – to both our infrastructure … and New Orleans’ collective human spirit.
While it was good to work with Norman again, and meet Paul, at times the sheer weight of the project loomed rather heavily in the Airlift Productions Studios.
Give a LISTEN to just a bit of what went down at the Airlift Productions mics on this project, remembering Hurricane Katrina….
** Norman Robinson records Katrina Documentary VoiceOver at Airlift Productions, New Orleans – August 2015 **
Through ten very painful – and yet encouraging – years of rebuilding, along with all it’s survivors, I’ve heard all the aphorisms and cliches, but the one that reverberates most true is the classic – “That which does not kill us only makes us stronger”.
If indeed that’s true, to readers of this blog from around America, come on down! Come bring your tourist dollars, appetites & senses … and feel the muscle of America’s most fascinating & resilient city ~ New Orleans, LA!
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“No recording studio I have worked with has given such personal attention toward perfecting the ‘science of sound’ than Airlift Productions in the hands of Micheal Ziants. I thank him for the many voice-overs and sound effects he produced for my syndicated television shows “MORGUS PRESENTS”! ~ DR. MOMUS ALEXANDER MORGUS, aka Sidney Noel Rideau
The 10th Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina is only two weeks away. I wrote this poem in memory of the 1,833 victims who perished. While it was a time when we all lost family, it was also a time when New Orleans came together, as a family. I hope you enjoy it.
Hurricane Katrina couldn’t wash away our culture.
She couldn’t wash away our spirit, couldn’t wash away our pride.
She couldn’t wash away our music or how we like to party.
She could never kill New Orleans, no matter how hard she tried.
She blew into New Orleans in late August, ‘05.
She smashed into our levees like a fast pitch line drive.
Thousands of our people weren’t ready for her anger.
She’ll go down in our history as a mean Category 5.
Hurricane Katrina couldn’t wash away our culture.
She couldn’t wash away our spirit, couldn’t wash away our pride.
She couldn’t wash away our music or how we like to party.
She could never kill New Orleans, no matter how hard she tried.
Soon our weak levees gave way to her meanness.
The brown water covered most of our beloved city.
While the rest of the Country shook their heads in dismissal
New Orleans’ survival was indeed not looking pretty.
But the Who Dats stare danger right back in its face.
As a family we gather around and as a community we embrace.
The people of New Orleans don’t take nothin’ laying down.
We’re the Who Dat Nation! We’re the talk of the town!
Hurricane Katrina couldn’t wash away our culture.
She couldn’t wash away our spirit, couldn’t wash away our pride.
She couldn’t wash away our music or how we like to party.
She could never kill New Orleans, no matter how hard she tried.
Once the water left our City and our people came back home.
It was time to clean-up our houses and our beloved Superdome.
Soon arrived the Neville’s, The Dirty Dozen and Dr. John
Then came the Radiators and our jukebox was turned on.
Vince Vance & The Valiants returned and the Wild Magnolias too.
And Harry Connick arrived with his entire sound crew.
Then Deacon John, Irma Thomas and Allen Toussaint
‘They All Axed for You’ was playin’ without no restraint!
Hurricane Katrina couldn’t wash away our culture.
She couldn’t wash away our spirit, couldn’t wash away our pride.
She couldn’t wash away our music or how we like to party.
She could never kill New Orleans, no matter how hard she tried.
When our own Fats Domino finally arrived back on the scene
People started to smile again cuz New Orleans was getting clean.
They started cooking the gumbo and the Saints started to win.
New Orleans was finally back on its dancin’ feet again.
Soon the snowball machines were humming and the parades were running on schedule.
The king cakes were baking and we could buy Roman candy.
The shrimps were getting boiled and the crawfish were getting peeled.
Our people started smiling again because our Katrina wounds were getting healed.
Hurricane Katrina couldn’t wash away our culture.
She couldn’t wash away our spirit, couldn’t wash away our pride.
She couldn’t wash away our music or how we like to party.
She could never kill New Orleans, no matter how hard she tried.
© 2015 Jeffrey Pipes Guice
Very nice, Jeffrey, heartfelt and spot-on. Unity in Diversity, and the music of NOLA – along with it’s festivals & parties – coupled with a passion for our Saints (football & otherwise), has indeed created bonds that can withstand anything, even Mother Katrina (and now, even debates over Confederate monuments) . Thanks for sharing your thoughts, brother….mgz @ airlift, nola