Mother Nature Add's Insult to Injury

Yesterday was a hectic and crazy day to say the least. At 3:30am a tornado passed through the western area of New Orleans. Tragically the storm destroyed many houses and worse yet it took a life.

Our hearts and thoughts are with the families who lost so much.

With that being said, when our group woke up Tuesday morning we knew right away that our help would be served best by assisting those affected by the hurricane. As such, that is exactly what we did.

We left for the Black Pearl, a district within New Orleans at around 7am. As soon as we got there we knew we made the right decision.

Homes ripped apart, cars destroyed, bricks from a local church sprinkled around the community, and broken hydro poles. The area was absolute mayhem.

It was interesting that like Hurricane Katrina, Canadians were first to respond. We were the first group to assist in the Black Pearl area.

I'm so proud to be apart of the Wave of Hope group. All on the team worked so hard. The Wave of Hope team represented Manitoba and Canada very well.

Our team mostly helped remove debris such as bricks, branches, and material objects. By 1pm, FEMA and other emergency response teams came and took our place. At that point we decided to return to Musicians Village where we worked for the rest of the afternoon.

Upon arrival at camp, many were tired from the Monday night on Bourbon Street (Partying had nothing to do with it I'm sure). Almost everyone stayed at camp for the night and relaxed.

Most of us tried to watch the news and recap the chaotic day. I was still in a state of shock while watching the coverage.

I am so proud and happy to have helped the residents of Black Pearl. One thing I learnt this week is that residents of Black Pearl and in the aggregate, New Orleans people have strong resolve. Not only are New Orleanians rebuilding their city, but even after the tornado, local residents were rebuilding their homes.

I believe it's going to take much more than just Mother Nature to kill New Orleans faith.

Until the next post.

Best, Jesse