Hurricane Katrina, 10 years later
In the ten years since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, a lot has happened in Dave Johnson’s life. But the memories of serving there with The Salvation Army are something he’ll never forget.
“I can’t remember what I did last week, but I remember Katrina like it was yesterday. The people you would touch, the faces you would see, ” Johnson said (pictured, right).
An administrative manager at The Salvation Army Northern Division, Johnson is also trained in Emergency Disaster Services.
“I love doing it,” he said. “Just doing God’s will and trying to help others.”
In September 2005, Johnson joined thousands of Salvation Army personnel serving on the Gulf Coast. He spent nearly two weeks in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. His mission was to drive the mobile kitchen to deliver much-needed food and water to thousands who were left homeless and stranded by the storm.
“It was very eerie, there were power lines down everywhere,” he remembered. “At times, even on Bourbon Street, it would be just me, the storm damage and people living in their cars.”
But when people would see the Salvation Army trucks filled with food, water and Bibles to hand out, Johnson says it became about much more than providing a meal to hungry people.
“It gave people hope. They saw that someone’s coming for us, they care for us, they are here to help us,” he explained. “I always tried to be a witness for God, too, reminding people not to give up on him. The little kids would come up looking for Bibles and even helped me pass out food to people.”
Ironically, while Johnson was serving in New Orleans, a tornado devastated his own neighborhood back in Andover, Minnesota. His family survived, but his home sustained over $30,000 worth of damage.
“From Hurricane Katrina to my own home, it was pretty devastating on both ends,” he remembers.
After flying home, Johnson quickly went from serving people in a Salvation Army mobile kitchen, to relying on them in his own neighborhood.
“What a thing that was, I experienced the relief first-hand,” he said.
Today, Johnson says he hopes New Orleans never goes through something that devastating again. But if another disaster were to strike, there’s not a single doubt about where he would be.
“I’d go again in a heart beat.”
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