Katrina Hits Hard For Freeport’s Security Director

For at least one employee of the Freeport School District, Hurricane Katrina hit home—literally. William Schmitz, Director of Security and Safety, spent his first 33 years in New Orleans and nearby St. Bernard Parish, both of which were flooded and virtually destroyed as Katrina and its aftermath devastated large portions of the South. "The house my family lived in since 1964 is completely under water," he said. "When Hurricane Betsy hit in 1965—a year after we moved in—there were seven feet of water at our doorstep. I heard that this time around, the water was 15 feet."

Schmitz moved to New York in 1990 after spending more than a decade in The Big Easy doing law enforcement and security work. He joined the Freeport School District in 2003 after service as Public Safety Director with the City University of New York.

"Our college was blocks away from the World Trade Towers when they were attacked," Schmitz said. "I saw the first plane hit and I was able to help evacuate all our students and staff to safety."

"This time, it’s very frustrating not being down there [ New Orleans] and being able to help out."

Schmitz said that his aunt, nephews, nieces and cousins have all been accounted for and are relocating throughout the South. "The first word I got from a relative came by cell phone about a week after the hurricane," he said. "One of my relatives is in Baton Rouge, another is in Lafayette...Others have relocated to Texas or Alabama."

He said that one of the little-noted after-effects of the hurricane is the inevitable breakup of families. "You have situations where families have lived blocks away or towns away for decades. Now, with their homes destroyed, their businesses gone, and everything lost, they’re going elsewhere. Families are being broken up. It’s very sad."

Schmitz, who visited his home in St. Bernard Parish this past Easter, said that people have trouble handling the information they receive from the South and the misery that people are experiencing. "Until you’ve lost everything," he said, "you can’t possibly understand what they’re going through."

Many poorer and even middle-class residents, Schmitz noted, do not have flood insurance and have little hope of recovering lost possessions or purchasing new ones. "What these people need is money," Schmitz said. "They need to be able to get back on their feet by buying basic necessities and providing at least for temporary housing."

"If it weren’t for this disaster," Schmitz reflected, "I’d probably be holding tickets for a visit to New Orleans for the [Christmas] holiday."

"Right now," he said, sadly, "what’s most upsetting is that I can’t go home."