Interview with Coffey Lane by Robert DeBerry

From GeoClasses

1 Audio files
2 Koffey's pictures from New Orleans
3 Transcript
4 Edited Versions

Audio files

Koffey's pictures from New Orleans

These pictures were taken in December 2005.

strong wind damage causing the house to fall apart in HollyGrove	heavy flooding damage in the new orleans east	my aunt house was gutted out.	(major damage caused by katrina in HollyGrove
(apartment damages caused by heavy winds in the New Orleans east	(house was distroyed by the Hurricane.	(neighborhood store was trashed in the seventh ward in downtown area.	(House smashed to death in the lower ninth ward.
(another house crushed to death in the lower ninth ward.	(another house demolished in the lower ninth ward.	(my apartment was total by hurricane katrina.	(my friend roof was ripped off.
(my old neighborhood was trashed.	(people living in trailers in in the downtown area in the seventh ward.

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Transcript

Storm track for Hurricane Katrina.

Elevations of New Orleans relative to the levees.

Image of Hurrican Katrina over New Orleans.

RD: hello dr. lurbano geography class I’m Robert De berry I’m from savannah TN, and were today with hurricane Katrina survivor Koffey Lane, so tell me about your self.

K: I’m doing just fine koffey lane 29 years old I graduated from a community college in new Orleans before hurricane Katrina hit but luckily huh I got my degree before hurricane Katrina hit, but this semester I’ll be a senior and my major is alcohol and drug abuse.

RD: I must ask this your name is koffey right your name on your birth certificate is koffey.

K: yes that is my name since birth my grandmother gave me that name. she name me after a doctor she thought that would be a pretty interesting name so at first my name was going to be Raymond but my grandmother started crying and stuff she didn’t know what she was going to name me everybody said just name him koffey so she name me koffey and everybody likes it and I like it at first about ten years ago I was going to get my name change to Corey back then it was fifteen dollars so I had reached the age limit and it had cost too much so I kept the name koffey.

RD: well koffey I tell you really help me thru some late night cram session’s long trips back home also do you prefer cream and sugar.

K: well you kinda of joking right now but huh that is my real name and everybody love it and I love it too.

RD: it’s a sweet name I definitely admire that so tell me have you ever experience any hurricanes if so which one.

K: huh I experience hurricanes back then but they didn’t do much damage we rain heavy winds but unfortunately we have been lucky to hit by a hurricane once we got hurricane Katrina we didn’t believe it but it showed fooled us.

RD: tell me koffey were you down in New Orleans when hurricane Katrina hit.

K: well I left a day before the hurricane because my mom was saying you better evacuate you better leave because the city of mayor was saying it is a category5 so I packed my stuff came to Memphis stayed with my cousin for a few days and that Monday I enrolled in school.

RD: koffey your home or any of your friends home get damage and also did I mention your mother how is she doing.

K: she doing just great most definitely my grandmother house got messed up my apartment my sofa my refrigerator most of my friends cars were under water they stuff got messed up I was living with a buddy of mine his stuff got messed up my stuff got messed up when we came down here we had nothing everything was a total disaster. RD: tell me how hurricane Katrina has affected your life.

K: well its kind of different because when I went back home it was different because the city of New Orleans will never be the same. Every time they have an there are always going to be fighting shooting going on I mean we loss our jobs I loss my friends New Orleans will never be the same it is just too much.

RD: what major structures were damaged?

K: the new Orleans center the biggest mall in the city the arena was messed up where the hornets play the super dome half of the roof was ripped where the saints play at buildings were knocked over glasses were busted out of businesses I mean it was a mess the whole down town was messed up.

RD: I never been to Mardi gras one day I would like to go this pass year did they have Mardi gras.

K: yes they did have mardi gras this year it wasn’t too good I mean people had got shot dogs have been killed they were a lot fighting pushing and shoving unfortunately they had to cut mardi gras short this year because they were saying if they have the money to promote mardi gras then they have money to promote the city.

RD: cool there were some assistance that stayed behind the stadium for days tell me any of your family involved in this beaten up rape or even killed did any family and friends stay behind that time.

K: well I had an ex-girlfriend that stayed in the convention center and she was kind of going thru a lot and when I was talking to her on the phone she was kinda telling me what happen and I had a best friend in there he was moved to Minnesota and so young girls were getting raped older people were dying of hunger they had no food no water no air condition.

K: continuing with my interview little girls lives were taken they were raped it is sad to see this happen to someone people getting beat up kicked around like I said earlier imagine if you locked up in a storage you see how that feels you have to put your feet in other peoples shoes.

RD: tell me how many people were killed before Katrina and after Katrina.

K: before the hurricane maybe 2,000 or 3,000 but during the storm after the storm hit they found about 10,000 bodies floating they were popping up out the water if something like this happen in Memphis they wouldn’t know what to do.

RD: Is any of your friends or family still suffering from Katrina.

K: yes indeed you think they not still suffering my family is living in trailers right now. I know they are still suffering they loss their homes their cars as a matter of fact as we speak my grandmother house hasn’t been guttered out yet my aunt and my cousin house has been guttered my grandmother house still got clothes hangars refrigerators everything is still in her house my grandmother is still living in Mississippi now. My family is still suffering my mom just brought a house a week before the hurricane and we just moved her in.

RD: have you been back to see any of the damages since the hurricane Katrina hit.

K: the day after Christmas I took a tour around the whole city I took pictures of the city and those houses were messed up they cars were flipped up in the air roofs were torn apart houses were cut in half they had one house on the ground houses were top of each other one house was smash to the ground the city was stinking on the houses you could see the water print.

RD: you say it stunk why?

K: because of the water pollution new Orleans was kind of a dirty city its not clean like Memphis but all the pollution getting into people had skin disease image you down there smelling all that.

RD: the water was polluted you say that was exactly in the water.

K: okay once the canal bridges had bust imagine all that poo coming down that canal imagine stuff touching your skin that is ridicules you swimming in that stuff you inhalant all that stuff that’s why people are dying man.

RD: when you first saw all that damage mall that gunk ever thing the streets the death what was the first thing came to your mind.

K: first thing went to my mind was like all my god we nothing to come home too I was disappointed by us not believing that we was going to get hit by this hurricane category 5 washed away the whole little city.

RD: well you live in Memphis now you’ll be graduating soon you mention Memphis is a clean city that’s really nice of you how do you like living in Memphis.

K: I enjoy living in Memphis it’s a fun place to tour I had met some friends down here when I told them I was a hurricane evacuee they welcome me into their lives ever since then I ‘ve been living in Memphis for about six months.

RD: are people are able to go back to New Orleans.

K: yeah most definitely you can go back to new Orleans the only thing is you have trouble finding somewhere to stay but the city is getting back together I think it going to be a new city I think it will be a beautiful city you could still tour the city we still got some of that good food left it’s a great place to visit.

RD: you say New Orleans is getting back on its feet will you rebuild your life their.

K: I’m going to stay down here for a while and after if I don’t find a girlfriend down here who knows what the future may bring but if I find somebody here most defiantly I will stay down here right now I’m just visiting.

RD: before hurricanes Katrina how much do you know about hurricanes.

K: after taking this geography class literally in didn’t know about hurricanes because when we have one I say its not coming it’s a category 2 or3 not going to do some damage I’ll stay in the house we’ll have heavy rain winds tree limbs knocked down every body would come outside everything back to normal but Katrina shocked everybody I figured one day a hurricane would hit real bad 2005 was the year it hit.

RD: so after taken dr. lurbano geography lecture class have you learned more about hurricanes because I know I have.

K: I’ve learned a lot about the hurricanes I’ve learned about how many miles per hour Katrina did and imagine driving and you hit something there is no doubt about it you are going to damage your car and whatever you hit you are going to damage it this really done some damage to the city of New Orleans.

RD: finally if there was a heaven what would you want god to say to you.

K: I like to hear god say don’t worry about it don’t stress over it the city would be back to normal we will be back family in the city of New Orleans hopefully celebrate mardi gras second line events going out without nothing happening.

RD: you seem to be an understanding guy easy going who do you blame for hurricane Katrina who do you want to kill.

K: actually I blame the mayor I blame bush because they knew this was going to happen they knew that it was a category5 bush should have made sure everybody evacuated out the city he flew over the city like nothing happen he came two days later that wasn’t nice at all Ray Nagin was fussing people already dead so fussing really didn’t do anything about it.

RD: I understand the mayor Ray Nagin fussed about the whole thing did he ever do anything about it.

K: yeah he did a little about he demanded that he wanted busses down here he wanted jets planes he wanted everything no matter what he said he wanted got damn busses but when they came it was too late 10,000 people were dead. He did do a big part I’m glad he got re elected as a mayor he did do a little something to help us.

K: with the police force we had a notorious police department they did every thing they could but they are some punks most of them dropped out most walked off the job people was shooting at them people stole guns out of pawn shops and stores they were fighting the police they also had the army the was to kill them on the spot if some was caught stealing.

RD: were any of the cops murdered during hurricane Katrina.

K: yes uh two policemen were murdered both one was shot in the head and one committed suicide.

RD: a policemen job is to serve and protect the majority of the police was saying just forget it I’m outta here.

K: yeah because the simple fact they couldn’t handle the pressure they weren’t getting no sleep or eating actually they couldn’t control the whole city but it’s a tough job some walked away Eddie Compass said he was going to deal with them I think he just taking but the police who had walked off the job were protecting their lives they were already shot at so I said hey the already destroyed.

RD: it is easy to call police punks because they walked off the job but be honest if it came down and you were a cop I know I would have left.

K: I would have stayed if I were on the force.

RD: you mention people in the city of New Orleans could have been prepared themselves for hurricane Katrina.

K: they could have had sand paper bags over the twin span that’s what flooded the city.

RD: luckily we don’t have hurricanes just not our act you know we are on the nu metric line earthquake destroys Memphis how do you think the people in Memphis would react if any earthquake happen.

K: the way these people are in Memphis as I observe I don’t think they’ll know what to do they’ll run around with there heads cut off a lot of lives there would be no Memphis if there was an earthquake.

RD: say you were downtown on Beal hanging out and an earthquake happens what you would do.

K: first of all I would be afraid because hurricanes are different from earthquakes building collapse I probably run and curl under something I never experience nothing like that I would be scared thinking I’m going to die.

RD: growing up in savannah we had fire drills earthquakes hurricane you think they should have some hurricane drills in school.

K: I think they should prepare the students that’s in school they should have hurricane drills they’ll never know when the next time one will hit hurricane season is right around the corner hurricane season will be here in June now I’m hoping that it won’t affect N.O. again we don’t need anymore damage to the city.

RD: you think there is money to be made.

K: yeah a lot of money to be made construction that’s down there paying twenty one dollars an hour police force is hiring Mc Donald’s paying ten dollars an hour an apartment you’ll pay like nine hundred dollars a month Fema paying a lot of jobs starting at fifteen dollars an hour home depot before you use have to put in six applications in and you won’t get a call you can visit a manager you still wont get a job now you can snap your fingers and get a job I guess after Katrina hit they like giving every thing away that’s the good thing about that.

RD: I appreciate this time for interview you and wish you the best in best in life and find that girlfriend of yours and hope dr. lurbano pass us for doing a wonderful job.

K: Koffey Latrevi lanes like to thank Robert De berry for interviewing me and I hope ya’ll enjoyed the interview New Orleans survivor.

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