Retired Lt. Gen. Russel L. Honoré, a man hailed as the “hero of Hurricane Katrina” presented a speech on Wednesday, Oct. 20, inside the Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts.
Honoré’s speech detailed the events of Hurricane Katrina from his point of view and discussed disaster preparation as part of the Judge Leon Ford III Lectures in History series of Fanfare.
“We need to teach families and our children how to be survivors as opposed to victims,” said Honoré.
As Southeastern President John L. Crain introduced Honoré, several clips from CNN’s coverage of Hurricane Katrina were played, focusing on Honoré’s involvement with Joint Task Force Katrina, during which he led the Department of Defense’s response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Many have dubbed him as the hero of Katrina due to his extensive and successful involvement during the relief operations. Honoré helped formulate efficient rescue and evacuation procedures and ordered both troops and police officers to set aside their weapons and help people. After martial law was declared, the National Guard and police were told to shoot looters on sight. Honoré protected these so-called “looters,” who were taking only food and water from abandoned stores to survive rather than TVs and other valuables.
“I think it’s a compliment to hear people say that, to be the face of many heroes,” said Honoré. “Many people did courageous things to save peoples’ lives. I ended up being the face of that effort while I was a general in the U.S. Army.”
Honoré gave a passionate speech, focusing on survival, disaster preparation and the harrowing realities of Hurricane Katrina from his perspective. He encouraged his audience to prepare for disasters for the future by creating survival kits, forming plans and gathering supplies.
“How you prepare is how you recover,” said Honoré. “Every dollar you spend on preparing, you save nine on response.”
Honoré also spoke on the importance of education and how those who apply themselves academically will be the ones to solve the current problems of the United States.
“We need a cultural shift where people recognize education,” said Honoré. “We need to admire our teachers rather than sports and entertainment. If kids know more about ‘Avatar’ than Washington’s army, then we have a problem.”
The speech received a standing ovation after Honoré bid his audience a good night.
“I thought it was very informative and entertaining,” said Crain. “It was so refreshing for him to be so honest, sometimes brutally honest, for us to realize our own shortcomings.”
Marjorie Morrison of Hammond also enjoyed the lecture.
“It was absolutely fantastic,” said Morrison. “He had a wonderful sense of humor, and his ideas were very inspirational and they were things we need to know.”
Honoré is a native of Lakeland, La., and he was commissioned a second lieutenant of infantry and received a Bachelor of Science in vocational agriculture in 1971. He also holds a Master of Arts in human resources and an honorary doctorate in public administration from Southern University and A&M College.
Some of Honoré’s many assignments include Commanding General, First Army; U. S. Northern Command; and Deputy Commanding General/Assistant Commandant. He was also the recipient of several awards and decorations such as the Defense Superior Service medal, the Army Commendation medal and the Army Achievement medal.
However, he is more famously known to the public as the general who helped bring relief to the city of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. He still thinks on the tragedies that he witnessed there.
“I remember periodically, the large number of poor people that were stranded at the Superdome, the Convention Center and the thousands more that were stranded on bridges and overpasses,” said Honoré. “The bodies that you could see floating in the city of New Orleans, that’s an image that will always be remembered.”
Honoré details his experiences with the Hurricane Katrina recovery as well as his thoughts on disaster preparation in his book “Survival: How a Culture of Preparedness Can Save You and Your Family From Disasters,” which was available for sale after his presentation.