Chickamauga and Chattanooga Military Park ranger Rob Turan hugs Angela Caballeros, 22, Wednesday, August 14, 2013, as they meet for the first time in New Orleans.VIDEO
This story is featured in today’s TimesFreePress newscast.
KATRINA• Storm presence: Aug. 23-30, 2005• Confirmed deaths: 1,833• 705 people reported still missing• Damage: $108 billion• At one point, 80 percent of New Orleans was under water.• Landfall winds: 125 mph (peaked at 170 mph)Source: National Weather Data Center fact sheet
After Rob Turan examined a nondescript bottle lost among the carnage of Hurricane Katrina on Sept. 21, 2005, he found a note tucked inside and kept it for daily inspiration. The note served as a beacon of hope while he worked to save lives in water-logged New Orleans and repair an unthinkable amount of damage.
The Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park ranger was inspired by the chillingly sober words of then 14-year-old Angela Caballeros, whose family sought refuge in the attic while the entire city stood under 8 feet of water.
“At the age of 14, I went through Hurricane Katrina,” she began as floodwaters raged outside her family home.