Publication Date: Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Reaching out to Katrina's victims
Reaching out to Katrina's victims
(September 28, 2005) Palo Altans raising money for suburb hit by hurricane
by Bill D'Agostino
One year ago, the City of Kenner, La. adopted the City of Orange Beach, Fla., a community ravaged by Hurricane Ivan.
"What goes around comes around," Karen Boudrie, Kenner's public information officer, said last week. Kenner, which is struggling to revive itself in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, has been adopted by the City of Palo Alto.
"It's nice to know you're not forgotten by other folks when it's your turn," Boudrie said.
Katrina left many residents in Kenner homeless, separated families and caused wind and rain damage to nearly all of the city's homes and businesses, including its waterfront casino and a Mardi Gras museum.
"So many people are displaced," said Boudrie, who herself is temporarily living apart from her 6-year-old daughter. "That is the big challenge."
The deaths of six to eight nursing home residents in Kenner were identified as a result of the storm. There was also an unconfirmed report of a man who committed suicide shortly after the hurricane.
One woman was caught in the raging floodwater on a local street, but was rescued by city officials who were nearby shooting photographs of the damage.
"You keep thinking, 'When am I going to wake up from this?'" Boudrie said.
The death toll and damage would have likely been much worse if not for Wal-Mart, which brought in truckloads of food and water for the residents who stayed behind, Boudrie noted.
As of Monday, Palo Alto city employees had donated more than $9,000 to the Kenner Relief Fund. At least two businesses -- Thistle in downtown and Rick's Rather Rich Ice Cream in Midtown -- have also been raising money for Kenner, which is located approximately 10 miles west of New Orleans and is the home of the Louis Armstrong International Airport.
Palo Alto has pledged to provide aid to Kenner for the next 18 to 24 months, offering money, support and supplies. An official resolution, approved by the City Council last week, authorized the city manager to loan equipment and donate surplus supplies.
Palo Alto isn't the only city to adopt Kenner. The community's Canadian sister-city, LaSalle, and Hoboken, N.J. have also pledged money and support. It's unclear which decided to help first, but Kenner's Web site only lists LaSalle as a donor to the relief fund.
"Nobody's in competition," Palo Alto Mayor Jim Burch said. "Anybody that can help should help."
It's not exactly clear how the donations will be spent. Eventually, a committee will be set up to decide how to expend the funds.
Palo Alto officials said that some of the relief funds will go toward helping residents of a 500-unit, mostly Latino apartment complex that was heavily damaged by the storm. But Kenner officials said that a privately owned complex, which is subsidized by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, is only an example of a possible benefactor.
Other apartment complexes were also damaged, Boudrie noted. "For some reason that one seems to be getting all the attention."
A Los Angeles Times article about the apartments' residents -- titled "Latinos in New Orleans Suburb Feel Slighted" -- said the mold-infected complex was still without electricity three weeks after the storm. One Kenner council member accused Mayor Phil Capitano of not caring about the apartment's residents because "they were poor and few of them voted in local elections," the article noted.
Last week, Capitano was also facing another controversy -- police found relief supplies in the home of one of his top officials, according to the Associated Press.
Palo Alto's decision to adopt Kenner came from Senior Auditor Renata Falk, a native of Baton Rouge, La.
Shortly after the storm, Falk telephoned a nonprofit she knew in Louisiana, saying that Palo Alto was interested in adopting a city struck by Katrina. Falk was pointed in the direction of Kenner, since it's nearly the same size Palo Alto. (Palo Alto is approximately 60,000 while Kenner is approximately 70,000.)
The idea to adopt a smaller community was attractive to Palo Alto officials because they wanted to bring a large-scale tragedy down to a size upon which locals could focus.
"It makes it more real when you start to connect with specific people," Falk said.
Last week, the city launched an effort to link up other California cities to other Katrina-hit communities. Only four California cities have so far contacted Palo Alto about the idea.
Donations to the Kenner Relief Fund can be sent to Kenner Relief Fund c/o Omni Bank 6300 Corporate Blvd. Baton Rouge, LA 70809 Account # 3350000919.
Staff Writer Bill D'Agostino can be e-mailed at bdagostino@paweekly.com.
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