It was business as usual at C. H. Fenstermaker & Associates, Inc., before Hurricane Katrina struck Aug. 29. Employees were busy with heavy workloads and getting families ready for a new school year. No one expected the catastrophic events that would soon come. Then Hurricane Katrina arrived, compelling us along with the nation and much of the world to shift our gaze from our lives to the tragedy unfolding in nearby New Orleans.

Like everyone else, we were glued to television and radio news reports, trying to absorb the impact of the largest natural disaster in our nation's history – and it was happening in our home state.

Soon after the storm, we began a company-wide effort to locate our New Orleans employees and their families. Within a few days all had been found scattered throughout Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Georgia and Virginia. Fenstermaker's management team began assessing affected employees' needs and started helping them put their lives back together (most of the New Orleans team is now working out of our Baton Rouge office and will return to New Orleans at the appropriate time).

Simultaneously, management and employees started trying to locate our firm's numerous southeast Louisiana business associates, people who have become our friends over the years. We extended help in whatever way we could. We are proud to say we have heard one story after another about our employees helping people, reaffirming the goodness and the strength of the spirit of our Fenstermaker employees. They were among the countless volunteers working tirelessly to help evacuees and providing much-needed housing, supplies and clothing. Then just when we thought the worst was over, along came Hurricane Rita, once again uprooting the lives of our families and friends. Many of our employees were forced to leave their homes a second time; and because they were in Rita's potential path, our Houston and Lafayette offices also shut down. Rita brought new devastation, leaving some of our employees with flooded homes and damaged property.

Today, we feel blessed and are happy to report that all of our employees survived the storms and -- with the grace of God and the help of friends -- will be able to rebuild their lives. The challenges brought by Katrina and Rita have left our Fenstermaker family stronger and closer than before. In our most recent company newsletter, Director of Business Development Bo Walters refers to the Fenstermaker storm response as "Strength in Crisis." Bo writes, "With great pride, I witnessed the role of senior management and support staff shift from a typical day at Fenstermaker to one of making sure everyone was located and moved to safety, and during all of this, simultaneously come up with a plan to help our employees in crisis. I had heard how great this company is, but now I know."


Recovery and Rebuilding

Now that the storms have passed, the rebuilding has begun. Our firm has been called upon by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development; Boh Bros. Construction Co., L.L.C.; the engineering firms of Linfield Hunter & Junius, Volkert & Associates, Inc., and Modjeski and Master; and others to assist with major recovery work in New Orleans and surrounding areas.

Our Acoustic Imaging Group is using specially configured scanning sonar and software to survey and assess the conditions of structures and waterways affected by Hurricane Katrina. Working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' New Orleans District through Boh Bros., our high-definition underwater acoustic imaging and metrology services for underwater imaging and measurement applications provided quantitative representations of subsurface structures in the Port of New Orleans' Inner Harbor Navigation Canal. Unlike traditional qualitative techniques utilizing divers and sounding tools alone, this technology allowed us to generate not only detailed, spatially broad images, but also time-sequenced and geo-referenced images of the conditional status of underwater structures.

Our Acoustic Imaging Group is gathering visuals of the underwater portions of support structures for vehicular and railway bridges that cross the canal at Almonaster Ave., Florida Ave. and Seabrook and supplying data and analysis to Modjeski and Master. So far, we have conducted acoustic profiling, acoustic imaging and acoustic stationary imaging on the Florida Avenue Bridge and the Inner Harbor Navigational Canal where findings to-date include a sunken barge and a sunken 60' sailboat. We also helped define the gap between a sunken dry dock and the pilings at the Florida Avenue Bridge, information that enabled officials to open the way for limited traffic through the canal. A bathymetry survey was also performed to determine the depth of the water at the Almonaster Avenue Bridge. Acoustic profiling was used to map "scour" holes and the surrounding water bottom in two of the three bridge areas and will be performed in the third area later. We expect to complete our portion of the project before the month ends. The final task will be a post-recovery scan of the canal.

Working on the vital 17th Street Canal and levee with Linfield Hunter & Junius, we surveyed the canal and levee from the pump station to Lake Pontchartrain. Using the acoustic imaging and profiling technology used on the Industrial Canal, high-resolution data has been acquired to aid and assist in the design of the reconstruction of the breeched area and future design of the levee system into Lake Pontchartrain. GPS technology was used to gather cross-section data along the complete length of 17th St. Canal Levee System.

Like so many others, our lives -- both personal and professional -- will never be the same. Katrina and Rita have forever altered our history and future. After these experiences, we will move forward with a new sense of humility and gratitude for the things we have. We are grateful for our wonderful employees and commend them on the benevolent work they have done and for the professional commitment they have shown throughout these trying times.

All or part published in SAME Vicksburg District Newsletter December 2005

Fenstermaker is a regional company providing engineering, surveying and mapping, and environmental services to federal, state and local governments, the oil and gas industry and private enterprise. Fenstermaker's offices are located in Lafayette, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Shreveport, Louisiana and Houston, Texas.