In this Sunday, Nov. 5, 2012 photo provided by Joe Russo, Ivan Neville performs with his band, Dumpstaphunk, at the Highline Ballroom in New York. The event was planned by the voter advocacy group HeadCount to encourage voter turnout, but when Superstorm Sandy hit, the concert turned into something more. Proceeds from that concert and four others are going to City Harvest, a New York-based organization serving hot meals to neighborhoods affected by Sandy. Neville will also perform at the “NOLA Pay It Forward” benefit concert for Sandy relief efforts at the Mahalia Jackson Theater in New Orleans on Nov. 20. (AP Photo/Joe Russo)
Their own home flooded beneath 7 feet of salty water when the levees broke after Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in August 2005, and they know all too well what their countrymen to the north will face: years of debris removal, cleanup, rebuilding, haggling with insurance companies, paying mortgages on homes left unlivable. And they knew they had to help.
"When you watch things like this, you relive all the memories, all the heartache," said Joe Robert, his voice cracking with emotion. He said the images of Sandy victims rummaging through what could be salvaged of their toppled and flood-ravaged homes were painful reminders of his own loss. "I don't have any pictures of my daughter when she was little."
Seven years after Katrina destroyed neighborhoods, killed more than 1,800 people and caused some $108 billion in damage, many of the people caught in its crosshairs are reaching into their wallets and cupboards to try to bring relief to the Atlantic Coast.
Church groups, nonprofits, City Hall and individuals in New Orleans and along the Mississippi Gulf Coast have begun sending care packages, donating money and staging volunteers for the clean-up and recovery efforts.
Robert is working with the Episcopal organization that helped him rebuild his home, St. Paul's Homecoming Center, which was established after Katrina to help residents as they returned to the city to rebuild. The center has expanded its mission to include victims of not just Hurricane Isaac, which struck Louisiana in August, but also East Coast victims of Sandy.
The group has launched an "Adopt-a-Family" program where donations can be made to families in either region to help them as the holiday season approaches. The organization is also coordinating volunteer efforts along the East Coast. They are collecting donations and helping to ferry volunteers from the Gulf Coast to devastated neighborhoods in New York and New Jersey.
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