Twenty years ago, on August 29, 2005, a hurricane with sustained winds of 175 miles per hour shattered the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico, flooding 80% of the city of New Orleans and destroying more than $125 billion worth of property. Hurricane Katrina killed an estimated 2,000 people and laid waste to towns and hamlets along hundreds of miles of coastline.
The destruction was historic, and so was the response. First responders included a Joint Task Force, hastily assembled by the U.S. Northern Command, as well as 58,000 National Guard troops sent from all 50 states. Corporations donated as much as a billion dollars, by some estimates, and dozens of charitable organizations, from the American Red Cross to Habitat for Humanity, raised more than $4 billion. In small towns and big cities across the country, ad hoc support groups met in schools, town halls, and private homes. They made plans, secured connections with churches and support groups in ravaged towns, and they headed south.
Wayland steps up
In Wayland, Michael Tichnor, then chair of the Select Board, worked with Cynthia Lombardo, Pamela Lesser, Tom Fay, and many others to pull together dozens of volunteers and forge a connection with the small town of Waveland, Miss., which was said to be ground zero for Katrina. There was a good reason for that designation: Katrina destroyed 95% of downtown Waveland and killed 23 people.
Tichnor and Lombardo named their group “Wayland to Waveland.” They began their effort by sending essential household items like sheets, pots, and kitchen appliances, all donated by Wayland residents. In the succeeding months, the group raised well over $1 million and sent professional builders and volunteers to Waveland, where they built 12 homes and worked on 50 others. They later created scholarships to help the town’s children pursue higher education. Lombardo, who died of cancer in 2018, made 35 trips to Waveland.
“You never forget the people who help you,” said Bernadette Cullen, longtime Waveland resident and current board chair of the town’s Ground Zero Hurricane Museum
(www.wavelandgroundzero.com). Cullen was working as a nursing administrator in a New Orleans hospital when Katrina struck, and the storm so ravaged that city that she was unable to get home for three weeks. In Waveland, Cullen’s Marine son, who the military in Iraq and Afghanistan had deployed, told her that their hometown looked like it had been bombed.
“Our school building, which now houses the museum, was the only thing left standing on downtown Coleman Avenue,” said Cullen. “More than 10,000 homes were gone, and another 4,000 were severely damaged in Hancock County. Coming home, we were just thinking, ‘Where do you start?’ We never could have done what we did without help.”
Since the town’s hurricane museum opened in 2013, a big part of its mission has been remembering the volunteers who helped rebuild the town. “Just to know that we have a sister city is a huge help. What they did for us is just priceless,” Cullen said.
Another Wayland-based group organized by the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Congregation also made several trips south, bringing crews of young adults and supervisors to New Orleans’ devastated Ninth Ward. They cleaned and helped to rebuild homes and slept in the Methodist Church, whose parishioners prepared meals and invited them to Sunday services.
In Wayland, the 20-year-old effort is recalled with pride, while in New Orleans and Waveland, it is an enduring memory of kindness that brought devastated neighborhoods back to life.
The Wayland Museum & Historical Society is honoring the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and its impact on our sister city, Waveland, Miss., through September. Discover the tragedy, resilience, and bond forged between our two towns through photos and stories in this special display, created in partnership with Waveland’s Lili Stahler-Murphy Ground Zero Hurricane Museum. Hours by appointment Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30 a.m.–noon.
