Katrina Survivors share their stories in new book.

A chance encounter between an author and an emergency response worker at the Atlanta Airport during a snowstorm led to a 4.5 year project to create written and video documentaries of the survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

Cary Black's newly published book Katrina: A Freight Train Screamin' captures the perspectives and stories of the New Orleans Fire Department Firefighters, the FEMA volunteer firefighters and other first responders who were on duty during the hurricane. The book also includes stories of over a dozen average citizens caught up in the fury and chaos of the storm.

"I made my first trip to New Orleans on January 22, 2006," Cary said. "I was amazed at the extent of the damage still in place, a week short of five months after the storm. We drove through the Lower Ninth Ward and St. Bernard's Parish filming videos and taking pictures."

"Five months after the storm, I walked along a cleared road in the Lower Ninth Ward. I observed the swath of nothingness in the area bordering where the Industrial Canal levee had failed. The new construction occurring on the levee could be easily viewed. There was a scent in the air of petroleum, garbage, and mildew. Where the canal had failed, a semicircular path could be observed indicating the fan of the wall of water. For two to three blocks in a semi-circular swath away from the canal breach was utter destruction."

"The houses had been splintered into oblivion. Remnants of concrete foundations, wood splinters, electrical wires, and pipes protruded from the ground amidst refrigerators, small tricycles, and picture frames. Two to three blocks further into the Lower Ninth, more houses were observed to still be on their foundations. The roofs were crushed, porches collapsed, and the cars leaning on their roofs in the front yards."

These are the stories of the people who were on the ground, saving lives, living Katrina's terror with bravery and courage, and then; in the aftermath, picking up and rebuilding with pain in their hearts and determination in their spirits.

Katrina: A Freight Train Screamin'
Cary Black
List
Trade soft cover
ISBN 0-9754279-3-8
Red Owl Publications, LLC

Available at bookstores online. For more information visit www.redowlpublications.com.

Cary Black lives in Saginaw, Michigan with his family.

What People Are Saying

"The man gets it and documents it perfectly in his tour de force book. Black dives in deep, sets the record straight and performs group therapy for a region -  something we all desperately need!"  --  Capt. Joseph Fincher, Engine 18, New Orleans Fire Department

"From the very beginning one can tell that a lot of effort, a lot of heart and a lot of soul has been poured into this book." --  Chief Jim O'Neill FEMA Task Group Commander

"Cary's storytelling of Katrina: A Freight Train Screamin' is entrancing, inspiring as well as heart-touchingly beautiful." --  Sara Valor, Freelance Writer

"Cary tells the story in a way that makes the reader realize how far reaching the depth of this tragedy was. But his intent was not to just tell the story of pain and suffering - it was to show the bravery of the everyday people who live in that area." -- Bonnie Kaye, Author, Books of Excellence and host of the Books of Excellence Blog-Radio Show