((PKG)) BURNELL COTLON
((Map: New Orleans, Louisiana))
((ANIMATION / GFX/CAPTIONS))
September 5, 2005
Hurricane Katrina
made landfall
Impacting the region
Environmentally
Socially
Economically
1833 lives lost
$125 Billion in damages
((Banner: Lower Ninth))
((Reporter: Elena Wolf))
((Camera: Artyom Kokhan))
((Adapted by: Martin Secrest))
((Banner: New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward was especially hard hit by Hurricane Katrina.))
((NATS))
((Bystander 1))
Yeah, right down the street here, there was a house flipped on its side, where you can actually see the foundation of the house. That’s how bad it was.
((Bystander 2))
This area was a total disaster. I never want to go through it again. Never, ever.
((NATS))
((Burnell Cotlon, Resident, Lower Ninth Ward))
The levee had broke. This lap here and this lap here, it was gone, and water just came, ‘whoo’ and it wiped down the whole community, all the Lower Ninth Ward. Water just kept coming and coming, and it was very bad.
((NATS))
((Burnell Cotlon, Resident, Lower Ninth Ward))
Before Hurricane Katrina, we had 17-thousand people here in the Lower Ninth Ward. After Hurricane Katrina, with the last census that was taken, we have a little bit over 6-thousand. So, not even half came back, and the stores say they’re not coming back because there’s no people. They have to make money.
((Banner: In 2014, Cotlon opened the first post-Katrina grocery store in the Lower Ninth Ward.))
((NATS))
((Burnell Cotlon, Resident, Lower Ninth Ward))
I was in here sweeping, and I get a tap on my shoulder. I turn around. It was Mark Zuckerberg, the owner of Facebook. He said he read an article about me in the Washington Post that touched his heart, and he said he wanted to come and meet me because he said he didn’t think this was real.
((NATS))
((Burnell Cotlon, Resident, Lower Ninth Ward))
When I bought this building here, when I first bought it, it was, yeah, think about all this was underwater. It was horrible here. So, this was the grocery store window at first. I had to save up my money for like, about two years, from selling groceries out of this window. Even still today, even though Katrina happened in 2005, this is the only business since 2005. There’s nowhere else to go but here.
((NATS))
((Burnell Cotlon, Resident, Lower Ninth Ward))
Katrina taught me a lot of lessons. One: don’t take nothing for granted. Don’t take anything for granted. When I left for Katrina, I had two pairs of pants and three tee shirts. That’s it, nothing else. So, I value everything. I don’t take nothing for granted at all.
((NATS))
((Burnell Cotlon, Resident, Lower Ninth Ward))
I smile a lot because I’ve learned you have to enjoy life. Believe it or not, everything’s temporary, your car, this watch, this shirt, even life. So, you must enjoy life. You have to enjoy every moment. So, I’ve learned to enjoy sunny days. I’m alive. I can feel this. I can walk. I can talk. I can help people. So, I’m always happy.
((NATS))
