BGuthrie Photos: DC -- Newseum -- Exhibits -- (6) Covering Katrina

DC -- Newseum -- Exhibits -- (6) Covering Katrina:

Bruce Guthrie Photos Home Page: [Click here] to go to Bruce Guthrie Photos home page.

Description of Pictures: Covering Katrina:
Hurricanes are a familiar story to reporters along America's Gulf Coast, but Hurricane Katrina was a story like no other.
Katrina was the most destructive hurricane in American History. The monster storm made landfall on Aug. 29, 2005, packing 127-mph winds and a 28-foot storm surge. With sound and fury, Katrina shredded Mississippi's southern coast and put 80 percent of New Orleans under water. The storm left more than 1,800 people dead, displaced more than 1 million people, and destroyed billions of dollars worth of property and jobs.
Television and radio shocked the world with scenes of desperate people in horrifying conditions, and broadcast urgent appeals for help. Newspapers deepened the unfolding story: first,a terrible hurricane that inflicted most of its punishment on the Mississippi coastline,and then new disaster when levees broke in New Orleans. Outrage about the government's slow response led to the political scandal.
Although journalists are now focusing on a new calamity -- the Gulf Coast oil spill -- the region still hasn't recovered from Katrina. Five years after the storm, the story lives on.

Recognize anyone? If you recognize specific folks (or other stuff) and I haven't labeled them, please identify them for the world. Click the little pencil icon

underneath the file name (just above the picture). Spammers need not apply.

Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

Accessing as Spider: The system has identified your IP as being a spider.
IP Address: 3.141.200.180 -- Domain: Amazon Technologies
I love well-behaved spiders! They are, in fact, how most people find my site. Unfortunately, my network has a limited bandwidth and pictures take up bandwidth. Spiders ask for lots and lots of pages and chew up lots and lots of bandwidth which slows things down considerably for regular folk. To counter this, you'll see all the text on the page but the images are being suppressed. Also, some system options like merges are being blocked for you.
Note: Permission is NOT granted for spiders, robots, etc to use the site for AI-generation purposes. I'm sure you're thrilled by your ability to make revenue from my work but there's nothing in that for my human users or for me.
If you are in fact human, please email me at guthrie.bruce@gmail.com and I can check if your designation was made in error. Given your number of hits, that's unlikely but what the hell.

Help? The Medium (Email) links are for screen viewing and emailing. You'll want bigger sizes for printing. [Click here for additional help]

Share: Facebook Twitter Digg
[1] NEWSCK_100830_001.JPG	[2] NEWSCK_100830_017.JPG	[3] NEWSCK_100830_021.JPG	[4] NEWSCK_100830_036.JPG	[5] NEWSCK_100830_048.JPG	[6] NEWSCK_100830_058.JPG	[7] NEWSCK_100830_076.JPG	[8] NEWSCK_100830_088.JPG	[9] NEWSCK_100830_099.JPG
[10] NEWSCK_100830_106.JPG	[11] NEWSCK_100830_112.JPG	[12] NEWSCK_100830_125.JPG	[13] NEWSCK_100830_144.JPG	[14] NEWSCK_100830_148.JPG	[15] NEWSCK_100830_152.JPG	[16] NEWSCK_100830_162.JPG	[17] NEWSCK_100830_167.JPG	[18] NEWSCK_100830_172.JPG
[19] NEWSCK_100830_178.JPG	[20] NEWSCK_100830_182.JPG	[21] NEWSCK_100830_190.JPG	[22] NEWSCK_100830_192.JPG	[23] NEWSCK_100830_206.JPG	[24] NEWSCK_100830_210.JPG	[25] NEWSCK_100830_216.JPG	[26] NEWSCK_100830_225.JPG	[27] NEWSCK_100830_241.JPG
[28] NEWSCK_100830_258.JPG	[29] NEWSCK_100830_296.JPG	[30] NEWSCK_100830_300.JPG	[31] NEWSCK_100830_310.JPG	[32] NEWSCK_100830_332.JPG	[33] NEWSCK_100830_341.JPG	[34] NEWSCK_100830_346.JPG	[35] NEWSCK_100830_357.JPG	[36] NEWSCK_100830_362.JPG
[37] NEWSCK_100830_368.JPG

Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. NEWSCK_100830_001.JPG: Don't try. I am sleeping inside with a big dog, an ugly woman, two shotguns, and a claw hammer Hey, throw me ... mister 9/11/05 You know what it means to miss New Orleans y'all come back for carnival. I have my pararade [sic] spot come back Rex, Iris, Zulu, Bacchus, Toth, Proteus, Hermes, Muses, Letat Elks Badalon Looters Beware! These anti-looting warnings on plywood protecting the windows of the Sarouk Oriental rug shop in New Orleans became a local landmark and a backdrop for news crews covering the story. Though this sign mixed satire with sentiment, owner Bob Rue did have a claw hammer (displayed here at left) at the ready.
2. NEWSCK_100830_021.JPG: X Marks Your House Every house, scathed or not, in the flooded areas will be marked with a spray-painted "X" and other notations within the four sections of the mark. Here is what residents could find when they return and what the markings mean: Hasty Search: Indicated by a single slash Thorough Search: Top quadrant: Date home was searched Left quadrant: Initials of search squad Right quadrant: Notations for hazards such as gas and water leaks, downed wires, infestations or dead animals. Bottom quadrant: Designates body count (in this case, "0DB" means "zero dead bodies") Signs of the Storm: Messages of hope and fear were scrawled on doors, roofs and walls across the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina's deadly blow on Aug. 29, 2005. Doors and panels such as these from New Orleans and Mississippi bore spray-painted markings left by search teams. The "X" indicated the building had been searched. Each quadrant of the X had its meaning -- the date the structure was searched, who searched it, the number of bodies found inside and any other hazards. Homes with cryptic search and rescue markings were haunting reminders of Katrina's wrath. In New Orleans, Times-Picayune columnist Chris Rose wrote about driving past a house marked "1 Dead in Attic" in the city's 8th Ward. "Who grieved over 1 Dead in Attic and who buried 1 Dead in Attic?" he asked in an elegy to the city's dead.
3. NEWSCK_100830_036.JPG: Before Patrick Burns evacuated to Baton Rouge with his wife, Genevieve, and two dogs, he hastily covered the windows of his New Orleans home with plywood. When he returned weeks later, he found search and rescue markings on this piece of wood, which covered the window near his front door. Burns's house suffered roof damage, but no flooding.
4. NEWSCK_100830_048.JPG: This door came from the New Orleans home of Jack Kingsmill, an 84-year-old man who was trapped on the second floor for several days after Katrina struck. He was rescued, but died several months later.
5. NEWSCK_100830_058.JPG: This plywood board was fastened to the wreckage of the Biloxi home shared by reporters Anita Lee and Margaret Baker from the Sun Herald of Biloxi and Gulfport, Miss. The markings indicated the search unit (NE), the search date (9/2), the number of bodied found inside (zero), and other hazards found (zero).
6. NEWSCK_100830_076.JPG: A Texas Army National Guardsman reinforces the message of anti-looting signs in New Orleans. Note that sign in the background is an earlier version of what was posted in the museum. The right side here says "Looters will be shot" instead of the satire that appeared later. The second half of the sign says: 9/4/05 Still here Woman left Fri. Cooking a pot of dog gumbo
7. NEWSCK_100830_099.JPG: This damaged USA Today box was found in New Orleans after Katrina hit, with the weekend edition of the newspaper still inside.
8. NEWSCK_100830_106.JPG: Front Pages of History: Newspapers from around the world covered the story of Katrina, the ferocious hurricane that made landfall in Louisiana and Mississippi on Aug. 29, 2005. The front pages displayed here from the United States and a sampling of other countries are a look back in time at the unfolding story as reported by the news media. During the first week, the story took surprising turns from storm to flood. Mississippi became the "invisible coast" as most press coverage focused on the plight of New Orleans. Editors played the front-page story with dramatic headlines and photographs, including emotional images of death and despair. Many used similar words to sum it up, the "engulfed" coast, the "heartbreaking" devastation caused by "our tsunami," a city in "chaos" and "anarchy" where "thousands are feared dead," an "SOS" for help, a "national disgrace."
9. NEWSCK_100830_125.JPG: Pulitzer Prizes: These Pulitzer gold medals for public service were awarded to The Times-Picayune in New Orleans and the Sun Herald in Biloxi and Gulfport, Miss., for their coverage of Katrina. The gold medal is considered the most prestigious of the Pulitzer Prizes. A Tale of Two Newspapers: Hundreds of print and broadcast journalists covered Hurricane Katrina, the largest natural disaster in the country's history. Working under dangerous conditions, often without food, water, power or phones, journalists spread the story around the globe. One of the most extraordinary stories of news media coverage was the saga of two hometown newspapers that were literally in the path of the storm. The Times-Picayune in New Orleans and the Sun Herald of Biloxi and Gulfport, Miss., lost their printing presses but never missed an edition, publishing online with generator power or in print on borrowed presses. More than 1 million people evacuated the Gulf Coast, but thousands were left behind, either too poor or frail or stubborn to leave. With vast power outages, most survivors couldn't rely on television or radio for news. Newspapers became their lifelines, a source of help and hope. The papers' websites provided front-line reporting about the disaster and a forum for finding missing people. "Under these conditions, the newspapers became not only the primary source of news, but for most it was the only source," said Stan Tiner, executive editor of the Sun Herald. "If you could see the way folks grabbed those papers, it was like food," said Times-Picayune Page One editor Terry Baquet. "I could have had a po' boy sandwich and they were starving. They were very thankful that we were bringing them the news." The Sun Herald and The Times-Picayune communicated vital information to their communities, editorialized for relief and served as watchdogs over the rescue and rebuilding efforts. Their service was recognized with a shared Pulitzer Prize for public service, and a Pulitzer for breaking news reporting to The Times-Picayune. Connecting with Communities: "They all just wanted a newspaper" Hurricane Katrina reminded readers why newspapers are vital and demonstrated how local newspapers can bond to their communities in powerful ways. "For this story, we had no learning curve," said Times-Picayune features editor James O'Byrne. "One of the reasons we were able to do compelling journalism about Katrina was because we understand it. It's our home and it's our life." The hometown newspaper told readers where they could find shelter, get food and water, insurance claims and local missing relatives. They held officials accountable for failures and rallied relief. But most of all, they delivered the paper. Reporting from the Gulf: In Biloxi, staffers had to download story files from the paper's digital technology system to a jump drive and then to a computer with wireless access for transmission to Columbus, GA, where the paper was printed. Without phones, reporters walked streets littered with storm damage to find authorities to interview. Parent company Knight Ridder sent a gasoline tanker to the Sun Herald to keep reporters and photographers on the road covering the story. "We had to be very careful about our fuel consumption," said photo editor Drew Tarter. "I became the keeper of the fuel chits." Starting from Scratch: After evacuating from New Orleans, The Times-Picayune set up operations in two remote locations. A core team remained in the city, working in the homes of colleagues and friends. Some waded through deep water back to the Times-Picayune building to fetch a kayak, filling it with supplies to keep working. Charged with setting up a news operating in Baton Rouge while finding beds for 70 people, features editor James O'Byrne asked the newspaper's technology chief to go out and buy "22 laptops, six large monitors, Microsoft Office, Quark Express and Photoshop" in one night. The charge on the American Express card was $22,000, but the staff was able to produce the newspaper. Shared Losses: Many reporters shared the same losses as their readers -- damaged or destroyed houses, ruined possessions, relocated families and even death. Sun Herald columnist Jean Prescott's sister and her husband drowned in their home. More than half of The Times-Picayune and Sun Herald's staffers lost or sustained major damage to their own homes. "It is the first time I knew exactly how people were feeling when I interviewed them," said Sun Herald reporter Anita Lee, whose house was destroyed by Katrina. Stress, depression and divorce spiked among Katrina survivors, and the journalists who covered the story were not immune. Round-the-clock work led to fault lines in families; Biloxi Sun Herald photo director Drew Tarter's house was badly damaged and, ultimately, so was his marriage. The psychological toll of covering the carnage in their community while dealing with their own problems was huge, but work went on. "We hugged them, cried with them, and then went on with our task," said Sun Herald executive editor Stan Tiner. In New Orleans, photographer John McCusker, depressed when his insurance wouldn't cover rebuilding his house, was arrested after a violent altercation with police. Times-Picayune columnist Chris Rose became the self-described "poster boy for post-traumatic stress disorder," writing personal columns about making sense of life post-Katrina. More than 10,000 readers emailed to thank him. Rose's column about his own depression sent "hundreds and hundreds of people to their physicians," said an editor. "We arrived in Houma [LA] with two laptops and a PC that we essentially looted from our West Bank bureau. We had no working cell phones because of the collapse of the cell phone network, and with that we decided we would publish America's 35th largest newspaper." -- Dan Shea, Times-Picayune managing editor for news Logistical Challenges: "It was much easier logistically to work in Baghdad." Journalists had to work around power outages, telephone blackouts and impassable roads to report on the biggest story of their lives. Cell phone networks were down or overwhelmed with traffic, and few land lines worked. Reaching people was difficult. Without power, reporters wrote stories in longhand, sometimes by candlelight, and dictated them over faltering phone lines. Portable generators and car batteries kept computers powered. Despite the challenges, neither paper missed an edition, although pages and print runs were reduced. "It was much easier logistically to work in Baghdad than it was in New Orleans," said Times-Picayune reporter Brian Thevenot, who had recently returned from a reporting trip to Baghdad. "In New Orleans, we had no communications apparatus, we had insane deadlines, and much of the work had to scribbled by hand and read into the phone. And emotionally, in New Orleans, you take it a lot more personally." Rescue or Report? "Are you OK with saving lives?" While covering Katrina, some reporters and photographers found themselves trying to balance reporting the story with rescuing victims. Sometimes the journalists were first responders, beating rescue crews to the scene. "You are faced with choices -- you either help, or someone's going to get hurt," said Times-Picayune photographer Ted Hackson. Setting out to cover the storm, Jackson asked a colleague, "If we have to make a choice between getting a story and saving lives, are you OK with saving lives first?" When needed, they put down their cameras and notebooks to pull residents from flooded homes. When two Sun Herald journalists in Biloxi found an elderly man selling beer cans pulled from the rubble, they bought the beer and one of them gave him his boots. "We're human beings first and journalists second," said Sun Herald photo director Drew Tarter. Crossing a Line? "Help us now" Three days after Katrina devastated southern Mississippi, the Sun Herald ran a rare front-page editorial under the banner headline "Help Us Now". It was a desperate SOS for relief -- and dramatic departure from a typical newspaper editorial. In the aftermath of the storm, hometown newspapers became advocates for their communities. With basic needs for food, water and shelter unmet, many people felt forgotten. In New Orleans, where two-thirds of the population is African American, many of the stranded felt not only forgotten but ignored by the government because they were black and poor. After President George W Bush;s first visit to the region, The Times-Picayune addressed the president in a scathing "open letter," which urged him to fire every official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, "especially" its director, Michael Brown. He was later removed from his job. Rumor vs Reality: "Those reports were really wrong" After Katrina, news reports spread word of savage acts of violence -- snipers firing at rescue helicopters, women and children raped, widespread armed looting and bodies piled in freezers. The problem was that most of these reports were not true or never confirmed. "Reporters unwittingly helped slow an already slow response and further wound an already wounded population," charged a congressional committee. "We often remind you, when reporting breaking news stories, that the first reports are often wrong," said CNN anchor Aaron Brown. "With Katrina, it turns out that some of those reports were really wrong. Some were fueled by people who were tired and hungry and clearly desperate. But some were fueled by the people in charge." Aftermath: "We cannot quit" Five years after Hurricane Katrina, the Sun Herald and The Times-Picayune are still covering the impact of the storm, including environmental, housing, and insurance issues, along with the region's latest disaster, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The newspaper still serve as advocates and watchdogs for their communities. The Sun Herald had comprehensively covered the problems and progress in rebuilding the coast. The Times-Picayune continues its strong reporting on what went wrong with the flood walls, who was responsible, and how a recurrence can be prevented. "What happened in New Orleans is cataclysmic, it is unique in the history of this country, and our nation has not yet come to terms with it, what it means to have a great American city so destroyed that it will takes years to put it back together," says Times-Picayune editor Jim Amoss. Adds Sun Herald executive editor Stan Tiner: "In the days since the storm, we have been up to our elbows in the story. W e are encouraged by it, we are exhausted by it, but we cannot quit. It is our story, too, the most personal we will ever know."
10. NEWSCK_100830_144.JPG: Katrina Makes Landfall: "It was the most incredible destruction ever seen across such a vast landscape in America." -- Stan Tiner, Sun Herald executive editor
11. NEWSCK_100830_148.JPG: Jack McCusker paddles a kayak -- displayed above -- out of the flooded Times-Picayune parking lot.
12. NEWSCK_100830_162.JPG: Sun Herald reporter Anita Lee used the notebook at right to record information about Gulf Coast fatalities. On this page, she interviews the son-in-law of 80-year-old Jane Mollere, who drowned after she refused to evacuate. He said: "I think she just resolved that she was going to die." Above center, a close-up image of the map pin representing Mollere's death.
13. NEWSCK_100830_172.JPG: She was sitting in a rec... 2nd floor of the apt. in the lvng room. 'She seemd kind of calm. I think she just rslvd tht she was going to die.
14. NEWSCK_100830_192.JPG: Katrina Diary: New Orleans resident Tommie Elton Mabry, who refused to evacuate the city, used this calendar as a diary in the days and months following Katrina. He also scribbled accounts of his experiences on his apartment walls.
15. NEWSCK_100830_206.JPG: Population Decline: These telephone directories from New Orleans's St. Bernard Parish show the dramatic decline in the area's population from the year before Katrina to the year after the hurricane.
16. NEWSCK_100830_216.JPG: Personal Loss: These personal items were found in what remained of Sun Herald reporters Anita Lee and Margaret Baker's house, seen in the above photo. Some were carried by winds from the homes of neighbors. Items include kitchen utensils, a decorative hanging key hook, pieces of a glass vase and candlestick, a broken clock, a toy truck and toy saxophone, red dice and a chip from Biloxi casinos, a metal teacup, coins and bills, and a photograph of Lee's daughter. The golden nickel was a memento of the year Baker was born, given to her by her father.
17. NEWSCK_100830_225.JPG: Salvaged Camera: This camera was damaged by flooding after being left in the home of a Times-Picayune photographer. When staffers later opened the camera bag, they found a frog sitting on the camera and took its photograph. "We almost three away the camera," photo editor Doug Parker recalled, "but decided to keep it for historical reasons."
18. NEWSCK_100830_241.JPG: American Flag: Times-Picayune photographer Ted Jackson found this tattered American flag in a trash heap in the Lower 9th Ward after the storm. "To me, it was amazingly symbolic of the lost lives, lost memories and the crushed spirit I was photographing day after day," Jackson said.
19. NEWSCK_100830_258.JPG: "Hanna Rose" This handmade porcelain doll -- "Hanna Rose" -- was damaged when New Orleans doll-maker Geraldine Narcisse's home filled with 5 feet of water. Geraldine Narcisse made "Hanna Rose" to resemble a girl on her first day of school. "She had a lunchbox," the New Orleans doll-maker said, "but it washed away in the flood."
20. NEWSCK_100830_296.JPG: This photo's caption said: "Two residents wade through chest-deep water after finding bread and soda from a local grocery store after Hurricane Katrina came through the area in New Orleans, Louisiana." Finding or Looting? Two photographs of people wading through Katrina's floodwaters carrying items from stores ignited a debate about race and media. One image, shot by photographer Chris Graythen for AFP/Getty Images, showed a light-skinned couple described as "finding" groceries in a local store. The other, shot by the Associated Press's Dave Martin, showed a dark-skinned man described as a looter. Associated Press officials later confirmed that its photographer said he witnessed the man looting the items from a store, while Getty said its photographer had discussed the image with his editor and decided not to label the couple as looters because he didn't witness how they got the goods. Danger and Despair: "You aren't safe" Times-Picayune photographers and reporters encountered mobs looting stores and thousands of people stranded in squalor at the Superdome and Convention Center shelter sites. Flooding left the city under more than 10 feet of water in some areas, a mix of sewage, disease and death. There was chaos and lawlessness on the streets. Police told the reporters to arm themselves, and a SWAT team gave them weapons for protection. In a city on edge, every encounter brought fresh potential for danger. Times-Picayune city editor David Meeks had a rifle put to his head by police, who thought he had carjacked the newspaper truck he was driving. When reporter Gordon Russell stumbled upon a crime scene, agitated policemen shoved guns in his face and tried to take his notebook. Shaken, Russell later told a colleague to get out of New Orleans. "You aren't safe," he said. Looting Breaks Out: Covering looting at an uptown Walmart, journalists heard someone yell, "The Times-Picayune's over there taking pictures. Let's take care of business." City editor David Meeks ordered everyone to retreat. Photographer Ted Jackson saw "mobs on the corners and threatening groups of people in the streets, and you had to make decisions not to slow down because someone would jump out in front of you and take the car from you." Biloxi imposed a curfew after looting broke out, and people defended their property with guns. "Reporters watched as roving bands of mostly young men ransacked stores for whiskey, beer and cigarettes, furniture, TVs and the like in open view," said Sun Herald executive editor Stan Tiner.
21. NEWSCK_100830_300.JPG: The caption for this photo said: "A young man walks through chest-deep flood water after looting a grocery store in New Orleans on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005." Refugees or Victims? Were the people displaced by Hurricane Katrina refugees, victims, or evacuees? The news media's use of the word "refuge" stirred heated reaction around the country. "They are not refugees," said civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton. "They are citizens of the United States." NBC News anchor Brian Williams said no offense was intended by the use of the word. "It was used as if to say, 'Isn't this a pathetic series of events? Look at the fix we are in here in the United States of America.' These people are, in effect, refugees form New Orleans." Still, some news outlets banned the use of the word, including NBC, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe and National Public radio, while The New York Times and the Associated Press used it.
22. NEWSCK_100830_310.JPG: Katrina Witness: With hurricane winds still blowing, Sun Herald reporter Anita Lee took out this notepad and began writing a story about freelance photographer Mark Wallheiser, who had just returned to the newsroom after shooting photos of the destruction. He told Lee: "You ain't got a city anymore."
23. NEWSCK_100830_332.JPG: Tissue for those who respond with tears to the exhibit
24. NEWSCK_100830_346.JPG: Viewer comment book
25. NEWSCK_100830_357.JPG: The Covering Katrina exhibit is on the top floor
AAA "Gem": AAA considers this location to be a "must see" point of interest. To see pictures of other areas that AAA considers to be Gems, click here.
Bigger photos? To save server space, the full-sized versions of these images have either not been loaded to the server or have been removed from the server. (Only some pages are loaded with full-sized images and those usually get removed after three months.) I still have them though. If you want me to email them to you, please send an email to guthrie.bruce@gmail.com and I can email them to you, or, depending on the number of images, just repost the page again will the full-sized images.
Connection Not Secure messages? Those warnings you get from your browser about this site not having secure connections worry some people. This means this site does not have SSL installed (the link is http:, not https:). That's bad if you're entering credit card numbers, passwords, or other personal information. But this site doesn't collect any personal information so SSL is not necessary. Life's good!
Photo Contact: [Email Bruce Guthrie].