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10 Years After Katrina, Two Survivors Tell The Stories Of Their Journeys

By Cherri Gregg

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- This week marks the 10 year anniversary of one of America's deadliest Hurricanes: Katrina.

One Katrina survivor came to Philadelphia following the storm and made his life here. Another returned home, but says his Philly connections saved his life.

"I needed healing and, uh, I came here and never left," says Alvin JacQues, an Elkins Park resident. He was born and raised in New Orleans and live in the city for half a century. A professional drummer, the 60-year-old traveled the world playing with the Platters, Temptations, and a long list of jazz artists in New Orleans.

alvin jacQues
(Alvin JaQues - Photo by Cherri Gregg)

"There's nothing like home town," he says.

Then ten years ago the levees broke. Jacques says he lived in the epicenter of the floods in the ninth ward. He was on the third floor of a neighbor's home when 18 foot waves decimated his entire neighborhood.

"Everything I owned was destroyed in 20 minutes," he says, "twenty minutes..."

JacQues escaped, but says his mother drowned at a local nursing home. He ended up hospitalized in Dallas with a severe leg infection and then eventually made his way to Philadelphia and hasn't been to New Orleans since."My good memories are before Katrina... for that city," he says.

Today JacQues has a quiet life in Elkins Park. His book Catastrophic Gumbo tells his story.

Listen to the podcast with Alvin JacQues (Runs 25:21):

Michael Irving, 24, has a different story. He was 14 when Katrina hit. He says he and his family evacuated the city before the worst of it but lost everything in the floods, including family.

Irving
(Photo of Michael Irving - Credit: Michael Irving)

"We weren't able to get in touch with our family... we were all separated," he says.

After stops in rural Louisiana and Mississippi, he ended up in Philadelphia after three months. But for him, the city of Brotherly Love was tough, strange place where bullies were common.

"My academics went way down and I was fighting all the time," he says.

Irving says he moved back to New Orleans at 17. He experienced bouts of homelessness, had a tough time getting into to school, but he says mentors like Tumar Alexander who now works in the Philadelphia Mayor's office stayed in touch and helped him keep his head up.

"I listened to Tumar, says Irving, "he's a business man and that's what I want to be."

So he never gave up, graduated high school, got as associate's degree and then enrolled in the National Guard. Today, he's building a life after the trial that was Katrina.

Listen to the podcast with Michael Irving (Runs 14:11):

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