[StBernard] National Katrina Museum To Open On 5th Anniversary

[Westley Annis]

National Katrina Museum To Open On 5th Anniversary
12,000-Square-Foot Museum Will Be Built In 9th Ward
WDSU.com
updated 6:21 a.m. CT, Mon., Aug 31, 2009
NEW ORLEANS - WDSU .com

A ceremonial groundbreaking for the National Katrina Museum was held Sunday
evening.

One day after the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina there were new
plans for a permanent museum to pay tribute.

The National Katrina Museum will be located in the 9th Ward. A nearly
12,000-square-foot warehouse will be turned in to the museum, designed to
tell the story of the worst natural and manmade disaster in American
history.

"This museum will have a timeline not only of what happened, but really how
people fought the bureaucratic intransigence and the natural disaster to get
back in their homes and did it with little help from government, just
individuals coming together," said Christopher Tidmore, of the National
Katrina Museum.

It's that coming together that helped New Orleanians overcome the
devastation and loss and from which the museum's director said a great city
rose

"We've recreated our education system," Tidmore said. "We've recreated our
governmental system. We've redone so much that it's now a model for the rest
of the country. God help us that we had to go through the largest natural
disaster in history to do it, but these are stories to be told."

Ultimately, the museum is designed to be a place of healing and a place
where those who face recovery can get assistance from the National Legal
Center for Disaster Defense.

"(It's) a non-profit that will help people in future natural disasters go
through the bureaucratic tangles, get answers, information on how to deal
with FEMA and basically take the lessons that were learned here," Tidmore
said.

The museum is looking for people to tell their Hurricane Katrina stories.
They would like to record them and archive them for future generations.

Anyone who would like to have his or her story recorded should call the
museum at 504-301-4599.

The museum is scheduled to open on the 5th anniversary of the storm.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32621167/ns/local_news-new_orleans_la/