Title: Oral history interview with Rhonda Lind, June 4, 2006
Description: Rhonda Lind was raised in the Ninth Ward and moved to St. Bernard Parish in 1973. Hurricane Katrina changed everything about her life. At the time of the interview, she and her husband had moved five times since the storm. She had to separate from her extended family because there was not enough space for them to evacuate together. While she misses having her own things, the biggest losses have been the irreplaceable items such as photographs. She describes the mud that entered her house during the flood. The strength of the water moved a house three blocks and then deposited it in the middle of her brother's street. She feels that the rest of the nation abandoned them, but the people in the neighborhood help rescue each other. Though she and her husband left, she has heard about the horrors other people faced. When she returned, she was struck by the silence. Because they had lost so much, she and her neighbors scoured the area for anything that reminded them of their old lives. Lind says that many did not have flood insurance because mortgage companies told them they did not need it. Though her neighborhood still does not feel normal, she is grateful that she is home. She does not expect to return to life as it was, but she is hopeful that she will have a smaller version of what used to be. She lists how she will handle future storms differently. Lind believes that the government needs to spend more money fixing the problems plaguing New Orleans, especially the levee system and the erosion of the coastline, but she does not believe this will happen. Nonetheless, she is hopeful that the residents themselves will slowly be able to revive the neighborhood.
Subjects: Interviews, Hurricane Katrina, 2005, Personal narratives, Disaster victims
Places: Saint Bernard Parish (La.), Louisiana, Saint Bernard Parish
People: Rhonda Lind