Rooftop Rescues, New Orleans Underwater: Local Coast Guardsmen Remember Hurricane Katrina

Benjamin Berman and Robert Williams were part of the rescue efforts in New Orleans

As the whole country reflects on the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina a decade later, two Coast Guard rescue swimmers described seeing a submerged New Orleans and thousands in need of help.

Lt. Benjamin Berman and Aviation Survival Technician 1st Class Robert Williams, who are now stationed at the San Diego Coast Guard sector, said Friday that the images of destruction are still fresh in their minds.

"It was 10 years ago but there are constant reminders of it. Even just flying in the helicopter sometimes I'll just have memories while we are flying around," Williams said.

He was stationed at Corpus Christi, Texas, in 2005 and had only been a rescue swimmer for two years when he got the call for help.

Williams and his crew were on a helicopter bound for New Orleans an hour later. They arrived at night, and all he could see were flashlights dotting the ground. Before long, he realized those lights were held by people who needed rescue.

"It looked like a third-world country with people on rooftops and rivers flowing down places where cars should be driving, dogs swimming in the streets, people on top of cars floating down the streets, gas pipes that were broken and on fire," Williams said.

Berman lived in Mobile, Alabama, at the time. He flew in the first night Coast Guard crews came to the rescue, joining the branch's effort to save more than 33,500 people -- one of the largest rescue operations in Coast Guard history.

One disturbing sight that stuck with him, he said, was seeing a couple who died off Interstate 10, where he and his crew were trying to help survivors.

"That kind of affected me because they died together on the side of the freeway," he said. "It was kind of devastating. There was devastation everywhere of course, but walking up to that kind of devastation was pretty impactful."

Berman said he never forgets the anniversary of the day he was sent to New Orleans because he had to leave his 2-week old son. He now calls his boy his "Katrina baby."

Both Williams and Berman told NBC 7 in San Diego that they hope their efforts made an impact on survivors and that the people of New Orleans have come out stronger.

"It's sad though that a lot of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast has not recovered from Katrina, but I stand by them and hopefully they will come back around," Berman said.

Berman has returned every year since Hurricane Katrina, but Williams has not been back since the storm. He told NBC 7 he hopes to return soon.

Contact Us