Three students and a faculty member retraced the harrowing evacuation of Hurricane Katrina victims now living in Morgantown during their recent trip to New Orleans.
Undergraduate student Justin Weaver, graduate students Ivy Smith Guiler and Lingbing Hang and Assistant Professor Bonnie Stewart traveled to New Orleans from Dec. 9- Dec. 17 to cover the return of one couple to see what was left of their flooded home.
New Orleans couple Greg and Glenda Avery, who settled in Morgantown after Hurricane Katrina, asked friends to stuff their most precious belongings into a pile in front of their home so looters would think it was just junk, said Stewart.
“We interviewed people living in houses full of mold because they didn’t know where to get help,” Stewart said.
West Virginia University Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism students and faculty launched an interactive, multimedia website devoted to documenting the stories of Hurricane Katrina evacuees, like the Avery’s, who sought refuge at Preston County’s Camp Dawson and are now living in West Virginia in early December.
The project marks a first for the school and puts its students on the cutting-edge of web development, multimedia and convergence journalism. The site is located at http://katrinaproject.journalism.wvu.edu/.
The web site, “Starting Over: Loss and Renewal in Katrina’s Aftermath,” includes photo essays, written stories, multimedia pieces and documentary footage. The pieces explore how the victims of the late August hurricane are coping with tragedy and beginning new lives more than a thousand miles from home.
The Avery’s and the students’ trip to New Orleans will be documented on the site in the coming weeks.