Children of Katrina

[Pearl River]

Out of the 5,192 Gulf Coast Children missing since Katrina, all but 12 were returned to their families alive. I wish it would have been all 5,192.

[pelican13]

Amen to that.

[beachbum_al]

12 is too many missing. May the 12 be alive but I know they are probably not.

[Steve]

There are still an estimated 60-400 bodies buried in the 9th Ward of New Orleans. They're finding a couple each week as FEMA has re-funded the cadaver dog program.

Speaking of Children of Katrina, I've got 3. And for the forseeable future, they're New Yorkers begging to come home. I'm bringing them back for a 10 day trip around Easter. They'll never want to go back to the mountains.

Steve

[Dionne]

My daughter was in her final semester of college in Hattiesburg when Katrina came to visit. Her home suffered significant damage from falling old growth trees. She was trapped in the home for 12 hours. She hung on and managed to graduate in December. Then she promptly moved away....to Memphis. She has no intentions of returning. After we got her out and calmed down she told me that for 5 hours she didn't know if she was going to survive. I still cry when I think about the ordeal.

[Hurricaneman]

That is one of the sad things about Katrina, those poor children

[alicia-w]

According to this BBC report, all of the missing children have been reunited with their families:

Katrina lost child mission ends


The last missing child case linked to hurricane Katrina has been resolved.
Four-year-old Cortez Stewart was reunited with her mother last week, nearly six months after the disaster, officials announced on Tuesday.

She was the last child waiting to be returned to her family out of 5,192 reported missing or displaced after hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck.

Of those children, all but 12 were found alive following the biggest child recovery operation in US history.

Most of those reported missing were found living with relatives, family friends or other adults, said Bob O'Brien of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

The centre worked with the FBI, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the US Postal Service, the Red Cross and other agencies to trace the children.

"I can't say that there aren't a few children that may have been missing and not reported to us, but we received more calls than anyone else did, and all our cases have been resolved," said Mr O'Brien, who is director of the centre's missing children division.

More than 411,000 were evacuated to more than 40 states, and it became very hard to track the movement

Bob O'Brien, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

Cortez had not seen her family since Katrina hit New Orleans on August 29.

She was with her godmother, Felicia Williams, when the hurricane struck, and they sought refuge in a hotel.

They were rescued by helicopter as floodwaters rose around the building and were eventually taken to Atlanta, Mr O'Brien said.


Cortez was taken to Atlanta, but her mother was evacuated to Houston

Cortez's mother, Lisa Stewart, and her five other children were rescued by boat from their New Orleans home and later taken to the Houston Astrodome.

The family ended up in an apartment in Houston, not knowing if Cortez and her godmother had survived the hurricane.

Early efforts to reconnect the family were hampered by incorrect name spellings and other erroneous information, Mr O'Brien said.


The hurricanes devastated New Orleans and much of the Gulf Coast

"Many agencies didn't have a good account of who they were helping," he said.

"More than 411,000 were evacuated to more than 40 states, and it became very hard to track the movement."

Cortez was reunited with her mother and five siblings in Houston on March 16.

More than 1,300 people were killed across the states affected by Katrina - most of them in Louisiana.

[Lindaloo]

All but 12 alicia. 12 perished.

[alicia-w]

yes. but we all know it could have been much much worse. bless those 12.

[Lindaloo]

AMEN!!