As residents of Texas and Louisiana brace for the arrival of Hurricane Rita, one member of the Trenton Police Department knows first-hand the type of devastation that may accompany the storm.
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As residents of Texas and Louisiana brace for the arrival of Hurricane Rita, one member of the Trenton Police Department knows first-hand the type of devastation that may accompany the storm.
Trenton Police Officer Jesse Wills spent 2 1/2 weeks in the New Orleans area after Hurricane Katrina came ashore and annihilated parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. As a sergeant in the Missouri National Guard’s Alpha Battery 1/129th FA Battalion at Albany, Wills was part of a security force that traveled to Gretna, LA, located just southwest of New Orleans in hard-hit Jefferson Parish. While Gretna was spared the worst of the flooding because it is located on higher ground than New Orleans, Wills said he was still shocked by what he saw.
“Basically, what I had seen on television didn’t do the devastation, the destruction and the human suffering any justice,” he said, noting that he could begin seeing the effects of Katrina while he was still about 100 miles from New Orleans. “It was worse than I could imagine.”
Although it appeared on television that security forces were being met with violence and scorn in some locations, Wills said his battalion had the opposite experience.
“The people were really hospitable. They welcomed us with open arms. We were there as a service to them and they knew that, so they really welcomed us,” he recalled.
Even so, Wills said the situation created tension for many residents.
“When you think about the situation they were in – the devastation, the heat, no resources – you have to understand that there’s going to be some irrational behavior. But I didn’t deal with anything there that I haven’t dealt with in Trenton and it wasn’t to the extreme of what you were seeing on television.”
According to NOLA.com, the website of the New Orleans Times Picayune, Gretna is a community of about 17,000 residents that is separated from New Orleans by the Crescent City Connection. The city sustained most of its damage in the form of wind and rain, with a lot of residences uninhabitable. A barge damaged the Mississippi River levee and officials had the daily task of feeding 800 city employees and other emergency personnel. There was tension in the city as residents of New Orleans attempted to cross the Crescent City Connection into Gretna, with Gretna police firing shots over the heads of evacuees as they attempted to make their way to Gretna. Police Chief Arthur Lawson said the action was designed to save the city and protect its people.
While in Gretna, the National Guard stayed in a middle school building that sustained only minimal damage, although an elementary school located about one-half block away sustained more severe damage.
Wills, who returned in March from a 16-month deployment to Germany, said his unit’s mission was to assist the local law enforcement officers, who were dealing with their own losses while working up to 20 hours a day. Many were living in their vehicles or in shelters because their homes were destroyed. The atmosphere took its toll on the officers, with some committing suicide and others leaving the force.
As Rita approaches and residents of the Houston area flee, the question of why so many stayed in New Orleans as Katrina made her way through the gulf is relevant. Wills said the answer, in many cases, is simple: they did not have the resources to leave.
“A lot of them didn’t have the financial resources to leave,” he explained. “Some were elderly. Others got caught in the storm and didn’t have another chance to get out. And then, they couldn’t do search and rescue until the civil unrest was solved.”
Wills is back on the job in Trenton, although many in his unit remain in Louisiana. The experience has left a deep impression on him and has given him a new perspective on his life.
“It was an eye-opener for me. It was shocking,” he said. “It is imprinted in my mind. You can’t fathom the amount of devastation and destruction. Families – poor families and middle class – have lost everything. They’ve had everything taken away from them. You never realize that at any time you could be without power or water to drink. It makes you reflect on your life and not take it for granted.”