"Helen Hill was an artist, filmmaker, community activist and subversive southern belle…Her life was an inspired art project." The Guardian

September 1, 2005, 8 a.m. EST
Bush claims no one expected levees to break: "I don’t think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees." However, as former FEMA Director Michael Brown told CNN, "the President knew from our earlier conversations that that was one of my concerns, that the levees could actually breach."

September 1, 2005, 3 p.m. EST
Mayor Nagin issues "DESPERATE SOS" to Federal Government: "Right now we are out of resources at the convention centre and don’t anticipate enough buses. We need buses. Currently the convention centre is unsanitary and unsafe and we’re running out of supplies."

September 3, 2005, 9:05 p.m. EST
FEMA Finalizes bus request:  it modifies the number of buses request to 1,335. Only a dozen buses arrive the first day.

The displaced residents of New Orleans who have been living in the Superdome are evauated from the building.

Much of the home where Paul and Helen lived is damaged by the hurricane.  Their home took four feet of water, trashing the floors, walls and most of their belongings.  Paul’s clinic was also forced to close due to the damage.

 { Photo Gallery: See the damage Hurricane Katrina caused to their home} 

Paul secures an eight-month contract as a physician in Columbia, South Carolina.  Paul is content in South Carolina and the idea of moving back to New Orleans scares him, but Helen is eager to move back

June 2006
The National Guard and State police are brought in to help patrol neighborhoods after five teenagers were killed in one night. 

August 29, 2006
Helen, Paul, Francis Pop and their pet pig Rosie return to New Orleans a year after Hurricane Katrina, settling into a house on North Rampart Street, a multi-cultural community rich with art and history.

Half of New Orleans's 444,000 population is gone after Hurricane Katrina.

September 13, 2006
Bush takes responsibility for flawed response: "Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government," Mr. Bush said. "And to the extent that the federal government didn’t fully do its job right, I take responsibility."

October 13, 2006
600,000 displaced residents are living in hotels because FEMA has had problems installing mobile homes and trailers.

November 23, 2006
According to the National Center for Missing Adults more than 6,500 people are unaccounted for in the hurricane’s wake. In addition, more than 400 bodies remain unidentified.

After their return to the Big Easy, Helen continues both her art and her activism, which is focused on helping local grassroots endeavours aimed at rebuilding the city.

Paul continues his work at the Doctors of Charity clinic in the community helping people with or without insurance for little or no money.

Together Paul and Helen continue Food not Bombs in New Orleans, gathering discarded goods at Whole Foods and organizing meal runs to feed the homeless.