The Cop | The Politician | The General | The Visionary | The Parish President |
The Cop:
With New Orleans almost entirely underwater following catastrophic levee breaks at three separate locations, it was chaos in the city.
People were left stranded, there was widespread looting and rampant violence was reported.
For police, it was an all-hands-on-deck situation with officers working in unimaginable circumstances.
‘My name is Eddie Compass, and I was chief of police during Hurricane Katrina.’
Eddie Compass was New Orleans’ top cop in 2005 and was thrust into the spotlight as the storm made landfall.
“We had to think on our feet, everything was happening so quickly,” said Compass.
WDSU caught up with the now 66-year-old near his home in the Warehouse District.
For Compass, 20 years felt like the blink of an eye.
After Katrina hit, police precincts flooded, officers abandoned their jobs and some even died.
No police chief, arguably in any major American city, had ever had to deal with what Compass did in 2005.
“There was no blueprint, no blueprint — I had to go where no one had ever gone before … and I knew one thing: human life was paramount,” said Compass.
And that showed.
Officers, including Compass, stepped up. Many were using their own boats, doing water rescues on city streets.
The toll of the storm was hard, and many cops lost everything. Some were forced to patrol in personal vehicles wearing just blue jeans and T-shirts.
Compass did not hold back, updating the media constantly with real-time info, which turned out to be a problem.
“I wanted to be transparent with everything, I didn’t want to hide anything, and I think I gave out too much information too quickly before we were able to verify things, but it’s a catch-22 — had I not given out too much information and these things turned out to be true, people would have said I was trying to cover things up,” said Compass.
It didn’t take long for Compass to butt heads with the man who appointed him as superintendent in 2002: then-Mayor Ray Nagin.
Compass was forced out — asked to resign by Nagin in late September 2005, less than one month after the storm hit.
Compass gave up his dream job while the city was still evacuated.
Compass believes he was the political scapegoat for what went wrong after the storm.
“Oh, very much so, very much so — but that’s the nature of politics. But I wasn’t a politician; I was a police officer. I came up through the ranks, I was one of very few chiefs that came up through every single rank, no politics. I paid my dues, I wasn’t about politics — I was about the police department, and me and the mayor had a lot of conflicts, I would say, because I worked for him to do things a certain way, I would say, ‘Sir, I work for you but I also work for the city of New Orleans, and I am not going to compromise my integrity,’ and we bumped heads a lot,” said Compass.
Since the storm, Compass started collecting his retirement and still does private security and works details as a reserve constable.
He has five grown kids and a new wife and also started a second career: mentoring and training young athletes.
One of his mentees is former LSU and NFL star Leonard Fornette.
“I’m a blessed man,” said Compass, who still calls New Orleans home.
He is a figure who loomed large when the city dealt with the most destructive hurricane to ever hit the state.
Compass wants history to remember him for his love of the city.
“I want them to remember me for being compassionate about my city. I want them to remember me for having integrity and honesty. I want them to remember me for owning up to the mistakes that I did make. I want to be remembered for not holding a grudge or vendetta for those that destroyed my career. I forgave them — I have gone on with my life,” said Compass.
It’s a life he continues to live with a smile on his face each day.
The Politician:
The video and images of Hurricane Katrina are inescapable.
What happened to New Orleans in the days following Hurricane Katrina, when three levees broke and the city flooded, is unfathomable.
However, it wasn’t just New Orleans that dealt with catastrophic damage.
Parts of neighboring Jefferson Parish also flooded. People were stuck and destruction was evident in so many neighborhoods.
‘I’m Aaron Broussard, former Jefferson Parish president during the time of Hurricane Katrina.’
Aaron Broussard is now 76 years old and still lives and works in Jefferson Parish.
For Broussard, the thought of Katrina still elicits a physical reaction.
“It was such a horrific experience. I don’t really reflect on Katrina except when they start talking about another major storm — there’s an uncomfortable tingling in my stomach, like, ‘Oh my goodness. I hope this is not nearly as bad as that,'” Broussard said.
A move by Broussard as the monster storm neared still draws the ire of thousands in Jefferson Parish.
Just before Katrina made landfall, Broussard evacuated the parish pump operators.
Homes across Metairie and Kenner took on water, leading to over $3 billion in insurance claims filed.
People to this day still scrutinize Broussard’s choice to evacuate the pump operators, but he says his decision was made to preserve life.
“Yeah, look, there are people who said we were really vulnerable during a Cat 3 hurricane — with a Cat 4 or 5 coming in, they definitely were not safe,” Broussard said.
It’s a decision Broussard still owns, as it led to safe houses at pump stations and a better evacuation plan, which are still in place today.
“Every major tragedy and you look at the aftermath, there is a human inclination to blame not God, but human frailty or blame it on a mistake. I became that face, I accepted that as leadership. I didn’t scapegoat anymore or point the finger or blame the person who wrote the plan — took all the arrows in the chest because that was leadership,” Broussard said.
Broussard, a lifelong conservative Democrat, knows a thing or two about leadership.
He was elected to a seat on the school board at the young age of 23, and his rise through Jefferson Parish politics was legendary.
From school boards to the Parish Council, Kenner mayor, back to the Jefferson Parish council and then, in 2003, winning the race for parish president.
He was elected 12 separate times, and he never lost a race for public office.
“I’m very happy for the opportunities I had to serve the public for about 40 years. I was very proud of the thing I was able to do,” Broussard said.
But in 2010, it all came crashing down.
Broussard abruptly resigned from office and was later indicted on federal charges related to payroll fraud. In 2013, he pleaded guilty and went to jail for over three years.
The experience hanged him.
“I’m not proud that I went to prison and apologized to the people of Jefferson Parish and everyone that I harmed, but I learned from that, and that’s back to Katrina; lessons learned, whenever you take a fall in life, don’t stay at that spot, don’t linger too. Get up and get back in the race. I think that God has a plan for all of us, and it’s to keep on moving forward in positive ways,” Broussard said.
Broussard now ministers to inmates and participates in church-related activities, and he’s battling cancer.
He is still witty, jovial and chatty, and has very few regrets.
He hopes the public will see his decision during Katrina through his eyes.
“Some will always see me as the face they will be angry at because they believe I did something to them, some harm to them — and I understand that. But there are others that will say, ‘Hey, I know Aaron and he did the things he did because he thought it was in the best interest as Katrina was approaching,'” Broussard said.
The General:
The man who led military recovery operations 20 years ago when the city was underwater after Hurricane Katrina says people who need help might want to rely on each other and not the federal government.
The eye-opening comments come from a retired general whose presence loomed large after the deadly 2005 storm.
In a candid, unfiltered conversation, WDSU’s Travers Mackel sat down with retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré in our latest “Faces of Katrina” report about what happened 20 years ago.
WARNING: Viewer discretion is advised.
Hot off a helicopter and riding into New Orleans barking out orders, Honoré got to work.
One passionate general was ordered into the city to lead military recovery and response efforts as 80% of the city was underwater and thousands of people remained stranded.
Honoré is an Army veteran who toured the world. He spent his military career covering international crisis events.
In August 2005, when the White House told him to take charge of a chaotic situation after the levees broke, he knew he had no time to waste.
He even left his mark on then-Mayor Ray Nagin.
“Nagin made a comment, he said, ‘This John Wayne dude came rolling into town.’ You talk about things that stick — that stuck with people?” asked Mackel.
“It did, it did — that was one of them one-liners that stayed there,” said Honoré.
He did not mince words on how that designation made him feel.
“Well, John Wayne was a f—— actor, and he could shoot the scene over. That wasn’t the case there, and it stuck with a lot of people,” said Honoré.
A Louisiana native and Southern University grad, Honoré commanded Task Force Katrina.
His job was to lead military units on search-and-rescue missions, recovery efforts and evacuations, all while getting people out of the Convention Center and Superdome.
“I’m honored to have served, and the biggest contribution personally was to clean up the message. I get far too much credit than I deserve because the people who did the real work are the troops and the first responders and the volunteers,” said Honoré.
Now 78 and retired, Honoré has written books, taught at Southern University and leads the Louisiana Green Army.
Louisiana Green Army is an alliance of civic, community and environmental groups and concerned residents from across Louisiana dedicated to winning meaningful climate change.
When it comes to Katrina, Honoré did not hold back about his experience.
“I tell the story from where I saw it,” said Honoré, who WDSU interviewed on the bluff on Southern’s campus in Baton Rouge.
While Honoré says the state and federal response to natural disasters is better since the 2005 storm, the retired 3 start general still has concerns.
“In a real disaster, the government will never f^@+be there on time. It’s neighbors helping neighbors that’s going to save lives. The government can provide food, water, medicine and evacuate people, but when it comes to disaster, it’s the local people who save lives. Yeah, we had a detachment from the National Guard, but they were at Jackson Barracks and their vehicles flooded,” said Honoré.
“People are going top say that means something coming from you, 20 years later,” asked Mackel.
“If the government is on time, it wasn’t a f—— disaster, it was an inconvenience. We’ve never been there all the f—— time for people,” said Honoré. “In the lifesaving phase, it’s people helping people, and these governors need to get off their f—— a—-, because now they say FEMA can handle it. I think Mussolini said any f—— cook can be a governor, because right now, whether it’s Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, the storm hitting and they said, ‘Where is FEMA?’ FEMA is not a 911 organization; they send generators. They want FEMA there the next day, but it doesn’t work that way, bro,” said Honoré.
Twenty years later, Honoré feels strongly that one thing hasn’t changed.
“There’s a lot of people who don’t know what the f— they are doing. Governors, every one of them in a major disaster is learning on the job,” said Honoré.
They are tough words to hear from Honoré, who smoked his cigar the entire interview.
He did leave some positive parting words.
“May I send good spirits to those who survived Katrina and all those who are still learning lessons after Katrina. God bless America,” said Honoré.
Honoré, a military hero and tough talker back then and even now, is one of the many unforgettable faces of Hurricane Katrina.
The Visionary:
The images of the Superdome in the days following Hurricane Katrina are gut-wrenching.
One of the most iconic structures in the state, a building that seemed invincible, was almost destroyed.
It was a symbol of despair in August 2005.
‘I’m Doug Thornton, and I was here for five days during Katrina.’
Doug Thornton, lead executive with the company that runs and manages the Superdome, was there in 2005 and remains the top man today.
Thornton was the visionary and key architect of the rebuilding of the Superdome.
“You spearheaded this, and there are people that look at this and say if they can get the dome, ‘I can go back home and rebuild my home or my roof.’ ‘I can come back to New Orleans?'” asked WDSU’s Travers Mackel.
“It was a symbol of recovery. The whole world saw what happened here,” said Thornton.
And what an effort it was, with more than $200 million in damage.
“I was here 20 years ago, and I remember looking up and saying, ‘No way the roof is coming off’ … It was right up here. Is it still hard to believe that this storm was so strong it took the roof off the dome?” asked Mackel.
“It’s hard for me to believe, think about it. The roof was wind-rated for 150-mile-per-hour winds,” said Thornton.
But it was no match for the monster storm in 2005.
City and state emergency preparedness was far different as well.
“So when Katrina hit, there was no plan, no plan to evacuate the city like we have today,” said Thornton.
That meant that the Superdome, the building that opened in 1975 and has played host to Muhammad Ali fights, Rolling Stones concerts and more Super Bowls than any other stadium in America, would become a de facto shelter of last resort.
More than 30,000 people sought refuge from the rain and winds.
“In a matter of 48 hours, the decision was made to occupy the building because there was no other place to go to keep people from floodwaters, and it saved lives,” said Thornton.
But the building was never meant to be a long-term shelter, which is what it became.
People were safe, but they were stranded for five days after the levees broke, all looking for food, water and comfort.
“We’re not a hospital. We’re not a hotel. We’re equipped to handle people for four to five days. We’re equipped to handle them for four to five hours each Sunday,” said Thornton.
It takes 3,000 people to run operations for an NFL game. They had 20 staffers and 300 National Guard soldiers.
All the people were eventually rescued.
Thornton, the last man out on a military helicopter, had his own doubts about a rebuild.
“I thought as I left here it would be the last time that I would be in the dome. I remember weeping the entire flight to Baton Rouge because I thought we had lost the dome and we had lost the city,” said Thornton.
But days later, he was back, and within weeks, he got the go-ahead to do the impossible.
“Did you have any pause or doubt, saying, ‘Whoa, we may be biting off more than we can chew?'” asked Mackel.
“Of course I did. I tell this story all the time: There were three people that took a blind leap of faith with us,” said Thornton. “The first was Gov. Blanco, who signed an executive order saying, ‘I’m going to allow you to proceed without having any oversight. The LSED has my permission, cut the red tape,'” said Thornton.
Another was then-NFL Commissioner Paul Taglibue.
“And he says to me, ‘It can’t be the same ol’ Saints and the same old Superdome,’ and I’m thinking, ‘Did he see what happened to us here? Is he crazy?'” said Thornton. “And he says, ‘Now is your chance to make it a better building.'”
The third person, Saints owner Tom Benson, announced the team would return in December 2005.
“When 40,000 people lived in Orleans Parish, he didn’t know if he was going to have a market to come back to, much less a stadium,” said Thornton.
So the work started, and 800 people worked around the clock to fix everything.
“Did we know we were going to be able to finish this job? Hell no. Did we believe it? You bet you,” said Thornton.
And after a summer of no storms and no delays, in September 2006, a project that experts said would take three years and cost $280 million was done in 10 months.
A rebirth.
“It was like driving the Ferrari off the lot without a test drive,” said Thornton.
And here’s a little-known fact: Many suites did not have carpet, some seats were missing in the upper levels and some food was served off folding tables.
But the dome was back.
“It’s remarkable and gives me great satisfaction and pride we were able to rebuild it,” said Thornton.
Thornton is one of the many faces of Hurricane Katrina.
“I think it was the catalyst, it was out stake in the ground to say New Orleans is coming back,” said Thornton.
The Parish President:
For as far as your eyes could see, parts of Plaquemines Parish looked like lakes after Hurricane Katrina made landfall in August 2005
The devastation was incredible.
Entire communities were tragically wiped out.
‘I’m Benny Rousselle, and I served as Plaquemines Parish president through Hurricane Katrina.’
A lifelong Plaquemines Parish resident, Rousselle was thrust into the spotlight as the top elected leader in the suburban New Orleans parish along Mississippi River.
He was seen in an image meeting with former President George Bush just days after the deadly storm.
“Do you feel like Plaquemines is forgotten? New Orleans made headlines, 80% of the city went underwater, Jefferson Parish had flooding, but do you think people forget the extent of the damage here in Plaquemines Parish?” asked WDSU’s Travers Mackel.
“Absolutely, I don’t think people realize this is where the storm came ashore,” Rousselle said.
Katrina made landfall near Buras on Aug. 29, 2005.
Rousselle was tasked with trying to get people out in the final hours ahead of the storm.
“We had such a great group of employees who made the perfect team and rode the storm out in the pump stations and water plants,” Rousselle said.
The now-74-year-old, who’s semiretired, made it a priority to get people to higher ground.
He recounted one talk he had with then-New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin when search-and-rescue operations were in full swing after the storm hit.
“When I evacuated Plaquemines Parish, I used school buses, and I talked to Ray about that because I remember seeing the picture on the news of all the school buses under water, and I said, ‘Ray, why did you not put all them people in those school buses and take them out instead of putting them in the dome?’ He said, ‘I didn’t own the school buses.’ And I said, ‘Ray, you could have commandeered those buses, you had a whole police force.’ What I had to do when I ran out of bus drivers, I stepped on the bus and asked who had the most family on the bus, and whoever that was, I gave them the keys and told them to leave,” Rousselle said.
“That right there is a crazy story, and I don’t think people realize how life and death this situation was,” Mackel said.
“You’ve got to be able to react and make split decisions, and you can’t worry about the consequences, you just have to hope you’re making the right decisions,” Rousselle said.
“And do you think you made the right decisions?” asked Mackel.
“I do, because I got the buses back about three months later,” Rousselle said.
But years later, many people never came back.
While the parish’s overall population is down about 3,000 people from 2005, most now live in the northern end, Belle Chasse, and the southern part of the parish, places like Buras, Port Sulphur, Empire and Boothville-Venice were destroyed.
And 20 years later, the areas are not the same.
“We had great communities down there, and now they’re suffering tremendously,” Rousselle said.
While Rousselle was the parish president when Katrina hit, he only remained in office for a year after the storm. Barred by term limits from seeking reelection in 2006, he was out by 2007.
He had secured billions in funding to watch other parish presidents use it.
“I had the opportunity to clean up the messy, pump the water out and remove homes and boats from the highway, but I didn’t get a chance to spend the money,” Rousselle said.
And he questions how the money was used.
Tens of millions were spent to rebuild the courthouse and jail on the less populated east bank of Plaquemines Parish.
And over $15 million in federal funds was used to rebuild Port Eads — a project Rousselle calls a waste.
“I would have taken the money and put it into Fort Jackson, something that the local community can benefit from, the community doesn’t benefit from Port Eads — you don’t have a boat, you can’t even get there,” Rousselle said.
Rousselle is also critical of the federal response then and now.
“You mention FEMA; how do you rate them? What did FEMA do for Plaquemines Parish in the days, weeks and months after the storm?” asked Mackel.
“FEMA was a disaster on top of a disaster,” Rousselle said.
“I know there is a movement in D.C. to do away with FEMA — is that a good thing or a bad thing?” asked Mackel.
“If President Trump structures the block grants to go to locals with oversight, I think it’s a good thing,” Rousselle said.
Rousselle, former Plaquemines Parish president, is one of the many faces of Katrina.
“How do you want people to remember you?” asked Mackel.
“I tell the truth, I’m honest and I do the best I can with the resources I have,” Rousselle said.
READ MORE:Faces of Katrina: Hurricane Katrina’s 20th anniversary
