20 Years After Katrina

On the morning of August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall along the U.S. Gulf Coast, causing widespread damage across Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana, including tremendous devastation to the city of New Orleans. Packing winds of 145 m.p.h., the storm cut power lines, destroyed homes, and overwhelmed levees, flooding 80 percent of the city up to the rooftops of many homes and small buildings. By the time the floodwaters receded weeks later, Katrina’s impacts had caused nearly 1,400 deaths, $125 billion in property damages, and the displacement of an estimated 1.5 million people from their homes, making it one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history.

For months – years, really – we were knee deep. But it helped me understand the power of the United Way network when we all work together.

- Michael Williamson, CEO of United Way of Southeast Louisiana

In the days following Katrina, United Way of Southeast Louisiana stepped up as a leader in the disaster response and recovery efforts in and around New Orleans. Twenty years later, local United Way leaders reflected on the events of that time and how, despite the incomprehensible tragedy they lived through, United Way, its partners, and volunteers helped impacted neighbors rebuild their lives, regain hope, and ultimately emerge as a stronger community. 

Reflections from United Way leaders in New Orleans

Michael

Michael Williamson was a year into his job at United Way of America (now United Way Worldwide) when Hurricane Katrina barreled through Louisiana 20 years ago. As national Vice President of Field Leadership, his team was the bridge between UWA and the devastated communities. He organized support from other United Ways across the country, helped activate United Way’s first national disaster fund, and started a budding relationship with United Way of Southeast Louisiana in New Orleans  

In the weeks and months after the storm, his passion for responding after disaster was shaped, and a love for the communities and people of New Orleans was born.

Today, Michael is in his 12th year as CEO of that very United Way. He’s championed preparedness, infrastructure, planning, partnerships, financial capability, and new ideas like real-time flood sensors, funded by Verizon, so residents can stay safe and avoid costly vehicle and home repairs from the city’s frequent floods. When he coined the phrase and approach “responding at the speed of need” in the wake of Hurricane Ida in 2021, he reintroduced the community to a United Way that shows up in the hardest hit areas in the most challenging times.  

Charmaine

Charmaine Caccioppi rushed home to Metairie, Louisiana, a New Orleans suburb, after the official evacuation order. She packed clothes and supplies for her family, including two daughters in college and a father-in-law recovering from open heart surgery. She prepped a week’s worth of supplies, fully expecting to return in a matter of days. After evacuating to Houston to stay with extended family, she was stunned to learn the full extent of the storm’s damage, including flooding that wiped out 80% of New Orleans.

As Vice President of Public Policy for United Way of Southeast Louisiana, Charmaine had been engaged in Louisiana’s statewide 211, the 24/7 helpline that connects people to local resources. In Houston, she saw 211’s impact in a crisis, whether supporting 25,000 Katrina survivors, or fielding a barrage of calls from people looking for loved ones.  

“In our community, when 911 wasn’t an option, 211 was the lifeline. It opened my eyes to the importance of infrastructure like 211 being fully integrated. It helped me see the value of a real-time system that could transfer data to let elected officials know what was happening on the ground, and to roll over calls so no one had to sit on hold for hours.” 

Mary

Mary Ambrose left New Orleans for a vacation in Dallas just two days before Hurricane Katrina hit. What was expected to be a brief disruption quickly revealed its devastating potential. The silence of the city struck her most when she returned briefly to gather supplies and belongings. She asked herself, in a whisper, how they’d come back from this.

Mary didn’t return to New Orleans permanently for a year, living in various places—from a United Way Board Chair’s home in Monroe, Louisiana, to a cruise ship with emergency responders off the coast.

Despite the upheaval, her commitment to United Way of Southeast Louisiana, the Ninth Ward, and broader New Orleans community never wavered. She worked tirelessly in her role as Vice President of Impact to support their partner agencies, tracking down contacts, mailing checks, and ensuring their funding to community partners continued undisrupted.

“We were tested and became leaders in the disaster space. We couldn’t do it by ourselves. We created an ‘Unmet Needs Table’ that brought funders and partners together to help cover the financial gaps preventing community members from rebuilding. Through Katrina, we learned about who we can be to our communities...and we’ve proven that we’re part of community. And when it is in trouble, we must respond.”

Carol

Carol Gstohl, PHR, SHRM-CP was in complete awe of the destruction of her community after Hurricane Katrina. There wasn’t an individual or family who wasn’t affected by the storm’s path. Carol and her family relocated to her mother’s house in Tennessee in the months following, and with the support from extended family, she focused on digitizing and populating new systems to disperse payroll to her colleagues on the ground, ensuring they were supported as they carried out the recovery work.  

This meant identifying new ways to do things, like getting laptops into staff members’ hands, wherever they were, and setting them up for remote work. Her role even included providing emotional and practical support to displaced colleagues.  

Looking back, Carol reflects that the experience of supporting community members through the long road to rebuilding and recovery has better equipped United Way of Southeast Louisiana to prepare their community for whatever comes next, whether through their Prosperity Centers, which offer free financial education, counseling, and supports; or through their new Resiliency Center, a new initiative in partnership with Rebuilding Together New Orleans to create a permanent, storm-hardened headquarters and collaborative hub for nonprofits to strengthen New Orleans before, during and after disasters.  

“When you're working for an organization that is trying to put things back together, you have that sense of purpose, and you know there's something you can do. We are moving at the ‘speed of need,’ and our first thought isn’t we can’t do this – it’s how can we do this.” 

Michelle

Michelle Clarke Payne wouldn’t be where she is today if not for Hurricane Katrina.

She was a senior and student body president at Loyola University New Orleans when the storm hit. Community service was in her blood. Her family upbringing and Jesuit education taught her to leave things better than she found them. Immediately after Katrina, she launched a relief fund, leveraging the national Jesuit college network to raise money to rebuild Loyola. She had no way to know it would be the first of many funds created in her career.

Michelle remained deeply involved in recovery and rebuilding, at Loyola and across New Orleans. She was from Lafayette, Louisiana but after graduation decided to stay in the city in which she’d become so invested. After a stint at a local ad agency, she got a job at United Way of Southeast Louisiana. That was eight years ago. Today, she’s the Chief Strategy and Resiliency Officer, leading United Way’s preparedness, response, recovery, and rebuilding efforts across the region.

“Katrina shaped why I’m still here in this city and at United Way. Leading our disaster work is a role, yes, but it’s also my passion. United Way embodies the idea of mobilizing people, because it’s only that when we join together, we can create the greatest impact. Katrina showed me that even the smallest act of kindness – when multiplied many times over – can transform a community.” 

Todd

Todd A. Battiste was initially reluctant to evacuate New Orleans but set out for Beaumont, Texas on what he expected would be a three-day trip. But, like many others who fled the path of Hurricane Katrina, Todd’s family found themselves starting a new life there instead. As Senior Vice President of United Way of Southeast Louisiana, he split his time traveling between the two states as the city started efforts to rebuild.

Katrina underscored the need for a strong nonprofit network. Todd worked closely with the city’s emergency operations center, convened focus groups, and coordinated with local nonprofit organizations to assess needs and provide funding. His efforts helped United Way of Southeast Louisiana raise over $5 million, its first capital improvement grant, to rebuild child care centers across New Orleans. Todd viewed nonprofits as more than service providers – they were the key to restoring hope and stability.

“United Way's role during Hurricane Katrina and in the years since has been nothing short of extraordinary. We're a beacon of compassion and resilience, proving our commitment to community time and time again. We will be here for the next 100 years.” 

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