Storm Surge Breached the Levee — and Left 80% of the City Underwater September 4th 2005- September 14th 2005 (August 2005) When Hurricane Katrina hit the southern coast of the United States, it created a path of destruction across southern Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. More than 1,800 people perished from the storm and its aftermath. Damage totaled more than $80 billion, making Katrina the most costly natural disaster in United States history. The city of New Orleans was devastated by the hurricane’s winds and by a storm surge that caused 53 different levee breaches and left eighty percent of the city underwater. Thousands of people were stranded on their rooftops, or succumbed to the toxic waters that surround them. When VitalOne first heard of Katrina’s aftermath, director Rabbi Isaac Leider sprang into action and traveled to New Orleans with supplies and a small rescue crew. The Jewish Organizations of New Orleans expressed to him their deep concern for the city’s elderly Jewish population, located in the Garden District. Though VitalOne went to assist residents, the mission turned out to be more a recovery of victims than a rescue of the stranded. Massive power outages and flooding had caused the deaths of many elderly patients who had been hooked up to life support machines. It was now up to VitalOne to retrieve and identify the bodies, as well as to work with numerous officials — including FEMA, the Louisiana State Department of Health, the local coroner’s office, and the disaster mortuary team — to expedite their release for proper burial. Continue >>