Regina's post Katrina cleanup video's

My friend Regina has a business in Alameda that restores and maintains boats. She does everything from wash and wax to beautiful wood restoration. Her company is The Fleetkeeper click on the link for more information and how to contact her. She is headed back again next week. Good for her.

She decided to take some time off and head down to the Gulf to help out. She brought a camera and filmed some of what she saw. Here are 8 of her stories.

Regina says:

I was a volunteer thru New Orleans Habitat for Humanity (NOHH) helping the St Bernard Parish Project. Which is a group started by the local government there to provide volunteers from everywhere to clean the debrie out of owners homes at no charge. So there were also church groups, individuals, etc. Essentially Habitat for Humanity lent their volunteer email list to the project.

http://www.habitat-nola.org

Most of the neighborhood video is in Chalmette, which is the county seat (a "parish" down there is a county, the upper and lower "wards" are sections of New Orleans proper, like saying Montclair). The bus tour is further out but still in St Bernard Parish, towns of Violet, etc.

The video was taken between Jan 31 to Feb 4.

For more info on the area here is the homepage for the St. Bernard Parish Firefighters Association

See her videos below, or go to the Google Video website to see and download the videos.



"We find hopes in the smallest things"

Workers arrive at the home of Mattie Herzog. We see the inside and the workers searching for a special ring. Regina interviews Mattie about when Katrina hit and the heartbreak of returning to her house. At the end of the video she gets a nice surprise from one of the work crew. Filmed in Jan. of 2006



On a bus tour of St. Bernard Parish the guide tells the story of a friend (and others) who have filed a class action lawsuit against Murphy Oil. Filmed Jan. 2006. A link for a search of news stories about the Murphy Oil lawsuit.



On a bus tour of St. Bernards Parish the guide says "2/3rds of New Orleans in uninhabitable" Regina films part of the 9th Ward to show what it looks like. Filmed Jan. 2006



Regina filmed a bus tour the volunteers took in St. Bernard Parish. You will see the destruction from the winds and water of Katrina. Very few houses are left standing, just lots of foundations are seen. A shrimp fisherman's wife describes the area and historian guides give background. They also discuss getting trailers, the health of the fish, and the efforts and problems encountered to rebuild in the area. Filmed Jan. 2006



A wife of a gulf fisherman tells about barely escaping the floods after the levee broke. Recorded Jan. 2006



Regina films a drive down a street showing crews at work and the houses and their condition as of Jan. 2006



Regina interviews Firefighter Richard Steele in front of his home as he both works to help others and tries to get his life back to normal. He describes where he was when Katrina hit and what has happened since.

Regina says "The firefighters are required to be there as our safety officers, that they are doing it on their days off and are not getting paid for it. And that their salaries are being paid by FEMA and are only guranteed until April 1. They are all living in 20 foot trailers, most of them have their wives and children in other states."



Regina shows work being done with Habitat For Humanity cleaning up houses in New Orleans after Katrina. In this video you see a house cleaned out and a homeowner stops by to talk about what happened, and how the situation is now (as of 1/06) and asks to spread the work on the current status of these homeowners.