Katrina at 20

20 heroic tales of people helping animals 

as told to Sandra Sarr, LSU Vet Med strategic communications

Lt. General Russel Honoré, commander of the Joint Task Force Katrina

“My job as 33rd commanding general of the First U.S. Army at Ft. Gillem, Ga., was to handle anything needed east of the Mississippi River. As Katrina moved through the Caribbean, I requested a ship, helicopters, and troops to respond in Mississippi and Alabama. It became clear that Katrina was bad and was headed for New Orleans. For only the second time in U.S. history, the President of the United States did a pre-storm declaration, which gave state and federal government authority to do what was needed and costs would be reimbursed. Katrina made landfall in Louisiana on Monday, Aug. 29, 2005.

On Aug. 31, 2005, President George W. Bush put me in charge of the Joint Task Force Katrina coordinating military relief efforts across the Gulf Coast. It was an integrated effort. Eighty percent of the city was under water. Our primary concern was getting people out. During our second search of homes, first responders and troops rescued animals. We needed equipment and a cargo plane flew in catching poles, cages, and boots needed to help secure animals. People left animals behind thinking they would be gone only for a day or two. Those people who remained were told by rescuers they couldn’t take their animals with them in rescue vehicles or into shelters. That has changed after Katrina. I told legislators in Washington, D.C., that they needed to change these laws. 

Chaos is what happens in crises. Buildings break, food is needed, fire burns. Sunday night, I tried to fly from Georgia to Mississippi but couldn’t get out on a flight. I took my command car and drove through the night. Birmingham and Jackson had no lights. We had to pull trees out of the road, but I made it to Camp Shelby near Hattiesburg. I met with my team and called my boss in Colorado using my satellite phone to tell him I needed to deploy to help save lives in Mississippi. Not long after that, the White House said, ‘Tell that General to get to New Orleans,’ and on Tuesday evening I was told, ‘You’re going to be commander.’

It's hard to start an operation at night. I had command of the USS Bataan, an amphibious assault ship that happened to be in the Gulf. I sent a helicopter to Biloxi and took the helicopter into New Orleans, landing Wednesday, Aug. 31, at 9:47 a.m. All I could see amid the floodwaters were rooftops and dozens of buses and heavy equipment, all underwater. I landed at the Superdome and met with Mayor Ray Nagin, the National Guard, and FEMA. Then I flew to Baton Rouge and met with Gov. Kathleen Blanco. She said, ‘Provide food, water, and medicine to people. I need you to do that.’ I was in New Orleans every morning by 8 a.m. If I gave an order, no one questioned me. We got the mission done. I was in New Orleans a total of six weeks dealing with Katrina, followed by Hurricane Rita in Cameron Parish, where the challenges were very different.

I personally conducted two animal rescues. My daughter lived in New Orleans and went to Florida thinking she’d return in a day or two. She asked me to check on her cat and hamster left behind. We were still conducting building searches and getting people to ships for medical treatment, but I told her I’d see what I could do. I finished a news interview and thought, ‘I better go check on that damn cat.’ The TV reporter wanted to go with me. I said, ‘Yes, but no cameras.’ We pulled up to her apartment in Lake Shore and the first thing we saw was her yellow Volkswagen buried under a tree. We eventually got inside the building to her second-story apartment, and there sat Gumbo, the cat, in the middle of her bed. Then I had to find the damn hamster. She left food and water for them. I had a meeting with the governor in Baton Rouge. I packed up the animals, went to the airfield, put them on a helicopter. I met them at the State Police Headquarters and picked up the animals. That cat lived 10 more years.

Hurricane Katrina changed me. Mother Nature can break anything built by man. Be prepared to evacuate. Leave no pet behind.”