Lincoln is more than 1,000 miles from New Orleans, but the two cities will be forever linked by Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall along the Gulf Coast Aug. 29, 2005, as a large Category 5 storm.
Nebraska's Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team was among the first to be deployed to assist with search and recovery efforts. It went first to Mississippi, but eventually, the 35-member crew was called to help in New Orleans.
Lincoln Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Jim Bopp was a hazardous materials team leader for Nebraska Task Force One and vividly remembers the smell.
“Mainly what goes through my mind is the odor," Bopp said. "I can recall that odor on a moment's notice, just like I'm standing there.”
Bopp was referring mostly to rotting seaweed washed up by Katrina, but also the smell of dead animals and rotting food. He said it was also his job to make sure crew members were safe.
“They (officials) found E. coli in the mud," Bopp said. "The federal government brought in experts to test mud for the Health and Human Services.”
Bopp said that by the time Nebraska Task Force One got to New Orleans, pumps were back on, allowing the water to recede and revealing lines on houses, buildings and trees showing how high it got. Bopp vividly remembers seeing a 24-foot boat hanging from a tall oak tree.
“Someone had used it, I think, to take shelter in," he recalled. "They found it, tied it off, and they were rescued. And as the water is pumped out, the boat remained at that level, because the rope is only so long, and this boat would be hanging from a tree.”
With the help of a member of the New Orleans Police Department, the task Force focused on recovering personal items for people.
“We would get something on the roof they couldn't get. Something valuable, usually sentimental. Giving that to them meant the world," Bopp said. "It (was) very rewarding.”
From a tactical rescue perspective, Katrina revealed deficiencies. Nebraska Task Force One team leader and Lincoln Fire & Rescue Battalion Chief Mark Majors said the team did not have boats or appropriate swift-water training.
“After Katrina is when we got ours (boats) and swift-water certifications," Majors said. "If another Katrina were to happen today, we have trained and adjusted some of the ways we function, so we're better effective to handle those scenarios and situations.”
According to the National Weather Service, Katrina was one of the deadliest hurricanes on record and remains the costliest hurricane in U.S. history.