Billy Rhodes

Have you ever wanted to help someone, but couldn’t? This is how I felt after I heard about Hurricane Katrina. All that I wanted to do was drive down to New Orleans and help those in need. Of course, I could have donated money or sent supplies, but I wanted to do something more.

Photograph by Kim Ritzenthaler from People Magazine

Billy Rhodes was one of the many people who volunteered in the hurricane relief effort. He described his experience of seeing dead children hanging out of their attics and knew their screams were the ones that he had heard the previous night. There was also the woman who gave birth to her son while she was stranded on her roof. She handed him a bloody pillowcase; you can only guess what was inside. He saw many people drown. There was a girl clutching a piece of wood so that she would not drown, and a man pushed her off to save himself. Luckily, Billy was able to pull her into the boat.

Billy is a very brave and courageous individual. After hearing about what he went through, I don’t think that I would have wanted to be down in New Orleans. “I’m having a hard time,” Billy says. “I still hear voices screaming at me, saying, ‘Help me, help me.’ I know we couldn’t save every one, but I will never forget the screaming.”

This story is a tribute to all of the volunteers who helped in the relief effort and family members who lost someone in the hurricane. It is times like these that people in America need to put aside their differences and help each other; regardless of race or age.