Reznet

After the Hurricanes: Relief and Recovery

By Victor Merina

 

RACELAND, La.—These photos show victims of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike in the Louisiana bayou picking up supplies at the Houma Relief Center. In one photo, the man wearing the constable's baseball hat is Albert Naquin, chief of the Isle de Jean Charles Band of Biloxi-Chitimacha. In the photo showing a U.S. Army officer sitting with a group of men—they're attending a meeting of relief officials with tribal leaders and members—the man in a maroon T-shirt pictured second from left is Randy Verdun, chief of the Bayou Lafourche Band of the Biloxi-Chitimacha.

Victor Merina is reznet's senior correspondent and special projects editor. A former Los Angeles Times investigative reporter and finalist for the Pulitizer Prize, he also is a senior fellow at the USC Annenberg Institute for Justice and Journalism. Merina is a visiting faculty member at The Poynter Institute, where he leads seminars on cross-cultural reporting and writing about race.