Mark Braboy
Associate Editor
“Somebody’s got to be in charge! The leaders in a mega disaster have to be visible, present, active, and then truthful. Your chances of success are limited by peoples trust in you. And you have to tell the truth,” said former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour.
Barbour and several panel members held an in-depth discussion on the 10th anniversary of the dreadful day that Hurricane Katrina hit Mississippi and the aftermath.
The discussion was part of the Jackson State University Mike Espy Scholars in Residence Series which included, along with Barbour; Bert Case, a veteran journalist and current WAPT reporter; Lindsey Horton, Assistant Vice President of Public Safety at JSU; Carol Burger, President and CEO of the United Way of the capital area; Robert Latham, Jr., the Executive Director of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency; and Ricky Moore, the director of Hinds County Emergency Management Agency.
Barbour and the panel members discussed in detail the events that took place the day of the catastrophe and the sheer destruction throughout Mississippi. In comparison to the tragedy in New Orleans, he describes the affect on Mississippi, as a very different disaster.
“It was one storm, but really two disasters. We bore the brunt of the hurricane, the 150 mile an hour wind, the 30 something foot storm surge. New Orleans, God, what happened to them was terrible, but it was very different than what happened to us. We just had obliteration,” said Barbour.
Barbour, who plans on releasing a book about Hurricane Katrina in August, was in the second year of his term as governor when Katrina hit Mississippi. A year he refers to as an incredible year of frantic, hectic, but very productive hard work. It was because of his leadership that he received many accolades such as the Gulf Guardian Award, the 2008 Adam Smith Medal, and the 2006 Governor of the Year Award.
Hurricane Katrina caused damage in the billions and resulted in the death of 231 Mississippians. Considered to be the worst natural disaster in American history, over 104,000 homes were destroyed across the state.
Through it all, Barbour said that the citizens of Mississippi went straight to work in rebuilding their towns.
“Mississippians got knocked down flat. And yet, they got right back up, brushed themselves off, hitched up their britches, and moved forward. They weren’t asking anybody for a handout, they weren’t trying to figure out who to blame. They wanted to build their communities back,” said Barbour.
Barbour credits his experience as a lobbyist, as well as the connections he developed in his career to helping him acquire the resources needed to rebuild Mississippi.
For many students, the evening was a very enlightening experience where they gained a first person insight into the moments of Hurricane Katrina.
“I learned a lot about Haley Barbour and his reflections on what he did then and what he would do differently now and it was very informative. I learned about what we can do in the future if we are faced with this type of catastrophe of this nature again with the communications systems they built and have in place now so that we can communicate more effectively,” said Sharon Quinn, a senior healthcare administration major from Jackson, Miss.
Ashlee Theodore, a doctoral student in public policy and administration and New Orleans, La. was able to see how Mississippi’s handling of the disaster differed from her home state, which was also devastated.
“I thought what they did was a very informative event. I’m from New Orleans so it is interesting to hear other people’s perspective now. There were a lot of details that I did not know about,” said Theodore.
Almesha Campbell, a doctorial student in public policy and administration from Saint Kitts, West Indies believes that events like these help policy makers make better decisions in the future.
“For me this was impressive to see a lot of the things that took place immediately after Katrina that we can look back on and say okay, we are going to do better next time in case such a disaster happens again. And to see how private and public organizations work together to see Mississippi rebuilt,” said Campbell.
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