Houston, Texas and New Orleans, LouisianaSeptember 9 - 21, 2005

Hurricane Katrina

Houston, Texas - September 9-11

Thousands of Katrina survivors arrived in Houston and spent weeks in the Astrodome and other buildings which became known as Dome City.

Living Inside ‘The Dome’

The scene in the Astrodome was almost unreal. There were thousands of people sleeping in close proximity. Many people were trying to get in contact with loved ones, but there was not a practical way to facilitate this.

Latasha Speaks with Vinny

My friend Vinny interviewied Latasha Allen, a 27 year old mother of three children from New Orleans East, Louisiana. Latasha was waiting outside the Reliant Center in Houston, Texas for a Red Cross debit card.

Access Denied

These people were prevented from re-entering the Astrodome to see their families.

Locating Family and Friends

People put names, photos, phone numbers and other information on notes which were posted on walls all over the Astrodome.

New Orleans, Louisiana - September 12-15

While in Houston, my friends and I were asked if we could go down to the Algiers community on the west bank of the Mississippi River in New Orleans to help set up a state-of-emergency low power FM radio station. We were welcomed into Algiers by Malik Rahim, a longtime community organizer, and what became the Common Ground Collective.

Helicopter and transmitter in Algiers.Tree in downtown New Orleans.

Finding Common Ground

The Common Ground Collective formed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina to provide immediate aid and long-term solidarity along the Gulf Coast.

Volunteers operate a free health clinic, community media center and

radio station and offer job assistance, legal services and emergency home repair.

Low Power FM Radio for New Orleans

This is the 10 watt transmitter we used for The Battle for Algiers, 94.5 FM Volunteers secured a mast,

built with materials found in the streets, to the roof of Malik Rahim’s house.

Many people helped setup a state of emergency low power FM radio station in the Algiers neighborhood.

Grassroots Solidarity

Volunteers with Plenty International provided needed supplies for the Algiers community. Red Cross had still not even been seen.

Where was the Government?

Reginald lives in Algiers and called the lack of response "premeditated murder."

Bikes from Austin

Bicycles and other supplies were delivered to Algiers by the Rhizome Collective in Austin, Texas.

Errol and Christopher came by to see if they could have some bicycles. Errol, Christopher and their sister Iasha said that all their friends had left town and they were the only children left in the neighborhood.

Solidarity Not Charity

Volunteers assembled personal hygiene kits and dropped them off at a Mosque located at 1401 Teche St. in Algiers. The Masjid Bilal Mosque was converted into the Common Ground Wellness Center where thousands of people from New Orleans and beyond have been treated and received supplies.

Busted Windows

Sunset through the busted windows of a building in downtown New Orleans.

Downtown New Orleans

On September 15, my friend and I were driving around Algiers to determine the reception quality of 94.5 FM, The Battle for Algiers. Next thing we knew, we were on the Mississippi River Bridge headed to downtown New Orleans.

Mardi Gras Beads and the X Many homes and buildings in New Orleans were inspected by special operations crews for both live and dead people and animals. However, there were numerous parts of the city that had not been checked.

An "X" is spray painted on homes and businesses that have been checked and each triangle of the "X" is used for documentation purposes.

Surrounded By Racism

New Orleans is surround by some of the most racist parishes (which are like counties) in the United States.

A City in Ruins

A trashed apartment complex.

One of many overturned cars.

Buses Left to Flood

These city buses in Midtown New Orleans were left to flood.

Why were these buses not used to evacuate people?

A View of East New Orleans

Police Department Closed

New Orleans’s 8th District had to close after about 300 police officers deserted.

Return to Houston - September 16-20

Thousands of people still struggle to find housing and survive the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Turned Away from Services The first thing we saw

as we walked up to the George R. Brown Convention Center was a women being turned away from services.

I immediately began taking photos, but the police told me that I was not allowed to take photos.

Surviving the Flood

A women from New Orleans explained that flood waters rose up to her chin.

Inside Reliant Arena

Reliant Arena is a building next to the Astrodome and was considered a part of 'Dome City.’

Struggling for a Home Hundreds of people

who were unable to secure housing while at Reliant Arena loaded into buses headed to Ellington Field in Houston where they would be flown to Fort Chaffee, an abandoned Air Force Base in rural Arkansas.

Waiting and Hoping

Hundreds of people waited outside hoping for some form of housing.

When will these children be able to attend school?

Looking for Family and a Home

John is a Katrina survivor from New Orleans that is trying to find his son Patrick.

Magnificent, a poet trying to get to his mom in Atlanta, asked me if he could speak to me from his heart.

Searching for the Pieces of a Puzzle

The puzzle this boy is working on symbolizes the many challenges that people face in putting their lives back together.

Slideshow and photos by Bradley website:

BradleyStuart.net

email: bradley@riseup.net

Katrina photos and audio at:

BradleyStuart.net/gallery/katrina

Special Thanks! to the followingIndependent Media Centers (IMCs) for hosting and helping to quickly distribute this grassroots media:

Houston, New Orleans, SF Bay Area, Portland and Santa Cruz Indymedia.

Guerilla Cinema in Malik Rahim’s backyard.

CommonGroundRelief.org