By Han Aran
Contributing Writer
Two years have passed since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast of the U.S. The hurricane claimed more than 1,800 lives and destroyed millions of homes.
When Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, Korea helped the hurricane-stricken region in a two-track approach, one by aiding Korean victims hit by the natural disaster and the other through cooperation with the U.S. government to deal with the aftermath.
A task force was established under the Korean Consulate-General in Houston, across the western border of Louisiana in Texas, to help Korean victims of the hurricane.
The team consisted of six officials of the consulate, three officials from the Foreign Affairs-Trade Ministry headquarters in Seoul and three others dispatched from nearby consulates.
Two of the officials dispatched to the region have published a memoir in which they describe the days they engaged in the rescue activities.
``72 Hours in Crisis _ A Report on Hurricane Katrina,’’ recounts the experience of Min Dong-seok, then consul general at the Korean consulate general in Houston, and Ryu Min, a consul responsible for public relations at the Korean consulate general in Los Angeles.
The book recounts how two Korean diplomats in August 2005 came to rescue Korean residents in the city hardest hit by Katrina.
While recalling the painful days when they witnessed people dying and searching for lost relatives, the authors also compiled and analyzed information on the U.S. crisis management and disaster relief systems that seemed to be locked up at that time.
They also documented in detail how the Korean consulate general came to the aid of the Korean community and how hurricanes and other natural disasters should be coped with.
At the time, there were some 2,500 Koreans residing in Louisiana, among them about 1,500 in
New Orleans and some 500 in Baton Rouge and luckily none of them were killed.
The two diplomats recall, ``It was heartbreaking to see people suffer, but it was touching to see that they really cared about each other and helped the victims from the bottom of their heart.''
The book presents lessons to be learned in the end and gives advice on how the Korean government should deal with future natural calamities.
The book also advises that small and large government agencies from each country, relief agencies and the United Nations need to hold serious discussions on global warming and devise strategies to deal effectively with the coming challenges that all countries best face collectively.