Last night we heard from an employee of Lockheed Martin who works at the plant that manufactures the external fuel tanks for the space shuttles and his son who was part of the military's air evacuation response to Katrina.
A levy system built around the plant, pumps and some brave souls that weathered the storm, saved the plant and the shuttle program. Had the plant been destroyed, the shuttle program would have grounded to a stop. The international space station would have suffered because there is no other delivery system for the parts needed to finish its construction. Signs of hope that devastating destruction was not total destruction.
Many question the benefits and needs of the space program, I'll not get into its merits here. Just suffice it to say that I'm a fan of the space program and I gave quiet thanks to know that Katrina did not cause a serious set back to the program.
Immediately after the storm, military helicopters were in the air doing rescue work. People were evacuated, some to the convention center. We heard of harrowing experiences. There was no air traffic control. We heard one story of a helicopter trapped on the roof of a building after its weight caused it to collapse.
If the military under orders was taking people to the convention center in its early rescue operations, how did other parts of the government not know until days later that there were refugees at the convention center? I don't have an anwer, maybe the long government reports made after the storm do.
Perhaps the most memorable thing for me durning this session was right at the beginning when a tear appeared as we were told how grateful the people were for volunteers like us coming to help. I hope you have an opportunity to come help and experience that tear for yourself.
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