A Tough Anniversary

Is Isaac getting overblown? Hurricane Katrina stands at center of real fear asnew storm swirls

A scene from Katrina's aftermath in NOLA
Photo by Jocelyn Augustino/FEMA
Isaac, which became a tropical storm on Aug. 20, is expected to make landfall asa Category 1 hurricane late Tuesday.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
New Orleans is right in the storm's projected path — and many residents andonlookers feel like they're witnessing Hurricane Katrina all over again.
Travel Channel

Though as of Monday Isaac is still considered a tropical storm, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has declared a state of emergency, as has New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, and residents are worried.

And they have reason to be. Wednesday marks seven years since Hurricane Katrina made landfall in southeast Louisiana, on the morning of Aug. 29, 2005.

Isaac's Category 1 prediction, with its promise of weaker winds and smaller storm surges, hasn't assuaged fears.

Coastal residents from the Mississippi Delta to Destin are taking shelter with plenty of water, supplies and non-perishables to ride it out — or, alternately, haunted by the still-fresh memories of the last big storm, are gassing up and evacuating immediately.

Isaac's Category 1 prediction, with its promise of weaker winds and smaller storm surges, hasn't assuaged the fears of my family friends who live on Algiers Point in New Orleans; the memory of Katrina's wrath is too much to forget in a lifetime, let alone seven years.

That Category 5 storm had momentous, lasting effects: It changed the lives of sturdy Gulf Coast inhabitants, it changed the way NOLA residents saw their law enforcement officers, it changed the way the federal government responded to large-scale disasters. It altered the landscape of Houston, which absorbed as many as 250,000 Katrina evacuees.

Tropical Storm Isaac has pounded the Caribbean islands and the Florida Keys and New Orleans is right in its projected path. When it makes landfall on the mainland U.S. — currently expected at 10 p.m. on Tuesday — the storm is predicted to be an official hurricane, harnessing winds of 90-miles-per-hour.

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”