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As Hurricane Katrina ripped through the Gulf Coast in 2005, it reshaped the way nonprofits approach disaster relief, focusing on recovering the “whole community.”
“I think one of the things about long-term recovery is that you don’t just build back the same way, but you build back smarter and stronger,” said Jeff Jellets, emergency disaster services director for the Salvation Army’s southern region.
When Jellets first arrived in New Orleans, he saw piles of debris along the streets. The beach was empty. Not even the foundations of the beautiful homes that once stood along the shoreline were spared. All remaining evidence of life was stripped out piece by piece and taken to the sea.
During the first few hours, he and his team were somewhat calm. “We’re going to be OK,” Jellets thought to himself, but didn’t foresee the monstrosity that Katrina would inevitably become.
“Then the levees obviously breached, and at that point, what was already a significant catastrophe just became much, much worse,” he said.
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, AUGUST 29, 2005, HURRICANE KATRINA SLAMS GULF COAST, CAUSING MASSIVE DAMAGE
At that moment, the Salvation Army, whose sole purpose is to protect those with no way out, became a victim of the storm, losing facilities in Pascagoula, Gulfport and Biloxi, Mississippi. But that didn’t stop their efforts. According to the Salvation Army’s report in 2005, the organization served more than 4.7 million hot meals and 6.8 million sandwiches, snacks and drinks. They also offered emotional and spiritual support to nearly 103,000 people.
Now, 20 years later, Jellets reflected on the improvements the Salvation Army has implemented post-Katrina, and on how the storm demonstrated the critical need to include nonprofits and community organizations in recovery efforts.
Jellets outlined the three major operational changes the Salvation Army implemented post-Katrina: expanding feeding capabilities, pre-stocking of supplies and enhancing communications technology.
“We really expanded our mass-feeding footprint,” he said. “We changed the design of a lot of our vehicles to a more pickup truck-style that is a little more low profile, more durable and can get into some of those disaster areas.”
Leading up to Katrina, Jellets says a lot of the response was on-demand, locating supplies as needs came up. To combat that, they now have about 300,000 square feet of warehousing dedicated to disaster use. The shelves are lined with supplies.
“In our warehouses ahead of this hurricane season, we’ve got shelf-stable meals, we have cleanup kits, tarps, infant supply kits, and so we can access those critical supplies a lot faster,” he said.
In the aftermath of the storm, one of the biggest challenges they worked to overcome was the ability for survivors to communicate.
“It was a definite challenge very early on in Katrina,” he said. “We did a lot of health and welfare inquiries via amateur radio.”
Since then, the Salvation Army has utilized modern-day technologies for disaster relief.
“Our latest communication piece is to put satellite internet access on top of our feeding units,” he said. “So now when you get into the disaster area, if you turn on that satellite vision, get a clear view of the sky, not only can we talk to one another, but we can actually let survivors connect their phone to the internet and then tell their families, ‘Hey, we’re OK.’”
It’s not just about adopting new technologies. Katrina led to an important idea: the assumption of a “whole community approach.” These values, the response efforts already instilled in a community from before the storm hit and years beyond that, strengthen the community and build resilience. The coordination of nonprofits, like the Salvation Army, plays a huge part, as they were there before disaster struck.
VOLUNTEERS HELP REBUILD NORTH CAROLINA HOMES 10 MONTHS AFTER HURRICANE HELENE
“The Salvation Army has not left New Orleans,” said Meghan Foley, the Salvation Army’s national director of emergency services. “We’re there for that long-term recovery, which two decades later is continuing, and we’re continuing to build that community resilience day after day.
Foley says she feels that each family they interact with is a step towards building community resilience in preparation for the next disaster. To her, if one more family is set with resources, that’s one more family who can recover quickly and carry themselves through a potential disaster.
“You’ve got to manage expectations,” Jellets said. “To be so involved takes time, a 10-year plan where they not only rebuild homes but also learn the importance of rebuilding the intricate connections that make up a community.”
“It showed us recovery can’t just be about rebuilding structures, it has to be about rebuilding the lives and communities too,” said Foley.
After the Biloxi facility was destroyed, the Salvation Army knew it didn’t have time to rebuild, so it continued operations out of a large tent, which included a field kitchen to provide meals. Jellets emphasizes that in cases like these, adaptability is key.
Today, on that site stands a new Kroc Center, with a pool, recreation center and generators funded through a state hazard mitigation grant, allowing it to be a disaster relief shelter if need be.
“Building Back Stronger, I think, is one of the hallmarks of a good recovery piece,” said Jellets.
Since the Salvation Army operates in almost every ZIP code in the United States, they realize that every community is different, and the recovery process doesn’t resemble a cookie-cutter model.
“If you’re tied into the fabric of that community and understand what the economic and cultural nuances are, you’re going to be much more in tune with what the priorities are in terms of the reconstruction and then the continual rebuild,” Jellets said.
Jellets told Fox News Digital that what they’ve developed over time is their goal, not just to help them through the immediate storm but to provide other underlying social service issues as well.
The New Orleans Drug and Alcohol Treatment Center was heavily damaged. To Foley and Jellets, part of the long-term recovery is providing people with the tools they need to not only survive, but to live.
Working on these issues allows the Salvation Army and other nonprofits to not fixate on immediate needs, but on important social service needs that can be exacerbated by disasters.
In another instance, Jellets recalled an elderly lady they had helped by reconstructing her house in the early days of Katrina’s aftermath. Jellets, happy he thought his work was done, asked the woman how she felt.
“If you could change something, what would you like to change? And she said, ‘I really wish I had neighbors.'”
Most of the young professionals moved away with their families. She had little interaction with anyone. To see that lady still upset after having a new house was a turning point for Jellets. A house can only get you so far, making him realize the value of community solidarity.
“You have to help the community,” he said. “We look at responses since then to Hurricane Ian, or even now, what we’re doing with Helene is trying to be inclusive and bring back the community as a whole. Because if you don’t, it doesn’t rebound.”
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