Seeking shelter from the storm
Kelley Kates
Issue date: 10/5/09 Section: News
Accustomed to providing emergency shelters for evacuees through Red Cross, a tragic disaster taught Amanda Hoskins that you never know when you will be the one in need.
Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast and surged into New Orleans on Aug. 28, 2005. Hoskins said that day changed her life.
"I'd never seen a city like that and I will never forget what it felt like," she said.
Hoskins, advancement officer of Alumni & Constituent Relations for UMKC, made New Orleans her home in 2002 after leaving Kansas City to join the Red Cross as the director of Financial Development and Public Relations for the Southeast Louisiana Chapter.
Her chapter is the fourth busiest in the country, having to deal with a large amount of tropical storms and hurricanes and setting up shelters on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain every time an evacuation order is issued.
Her home was located in Uptown, where it did not flood, and only received wind damage.
But during Hurricane Katrina, Hoskins still felt the tremendous impact.
"Being there for Katrina changed everything for me," she said. "After going through something like that, you look at the world with new eyes."
She was in emergency operations in Covington, La. when the hurricane hit New Orleans and cut them off from the rest of the world for a solid week. They had no communication with the shelters they had set up except by satellite phone.
They learned through word of mouth that the levees on the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain had been breached. By that point, FEMA had taken over and asked all other relief agencies to stay out of the city, Hoskins said.
Three-quarters of Hoskins' co-workers lost their homes and a few family members as well.
Once the National Red Cross was able to reach them to bring fresh supplies and volunteers, Hoskins' chapter was able to prepare the disaster response plan and retreat for a week to plan their families' next steps for the future.
Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast and surged into New Orleans on Aug. 28, 2005. Hoskins said that day changed her life.
"I'd never seen a city like that and I will never forget what it felt like," she said.
Hoskins, advancement officer of Alumni & Constituent Relations for UMKC, made New Orleans her home in 2002 after leaving Kansas City to join the Red Cross as the director of Financial Development and Public Relations for the Southeast Louisiana Chapter.
Her chapter is the fourth busiest in the country, having to deal with a large amount of tropical storms and hurricanes and setting up shelters on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain every time an evacuation order is issued.
Her home was located in Uptown, where it did not flood, and only received wind damage.
But during Hurricane Katrina, Hoskins still felt the tremendous impact.
"Being there for Katrina changed everything for me," she said. "After going through something like that, you look at the world with new eyes."
She was in emergency operations in Covington, La. when the hurricane hit New Orleans and cut them off from the rest of the world for a solid week. They had no communication with the shelters they had set up except by satellite phone.
They learned through word of mouth that the levees on the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain had been breached. By that point, FEMA had taken over and asked all other relief agencies to stay out of the city, Hoskins said.
Three-quarters of Hoskins' co-workers lost their homes and a few family members as well.
Once the National Red Cross was able to reach them to bring fresh supplies and volunteers, Hoskins' chapter was able to prepare the disaster response plan and retreat for a week to plan their families' next steps for the future.
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