On the 5th Anniversary of Katrina, Don't Forget to Remember the Children

Five Years Ago 5,192 Children Were Separated from Their Parents in the Midst of What Became the Largest Natural Disaster in U.S. History

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Five Years ago there were 5,192 children who became separated from their families in the midst of what was perhaps the largest natural disaster in U.S. history.  Following hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) set up a Katrina Missing Persons Hotline and quickly created a process to locate and reunite these young hurricane victims.  Six months later four year old Cortez Stewart was reunited with her family.  With her recovery in March of 2006, all 5,192 children had been found and reunited with their families.  

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. Department of Justice asked NCMEC to  set up and coordinate a missing persons process to locate and reunite the Hurricane Katrina victims in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama.  NCMEC staff worked through the weekend to set up a new toll-free 24-hour hotline.  

Two days later, on Monday, September 5, 2005, a dedicated call center was set up in the organization's training center with 30 telephones and 160 trained, certified Project ALERT volunteers to take reports of missing or displaced persons.  Photographs, names and physical descriptions of missing adults, missing children and found children from hurricane-stricken areas were posted on the organization's website. Case management staff and hotline volunteers at NCMEC took calls, managed leads, and researched and cross-checked databases with information on separated families and missing persons.  

NCMEC also deployed twenty representatives from its Team ADAM program to Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama and Texas.  They photographed children in shelters, assisted families with their missing persons reports and carried out on-the-ground investigative work.    

Team ADAM and Project ALERT consist of specially-trained retired law enforcement who work with NCMEC to assist law enforcement agencies in missing child and child sexual exploitation cases.

In many cases, NCMEC also helped to arrange transportation to bring children and parents back together.

Long-time corporate partners of NCMEC provided valuable equipment and services to aid in the effort:  Sun Microsystems (now Oracle Corporation) provided a new server that made the new project possible; Canon provided digital cameras and scanners; Lifetouch National School Studios provided school photographs if no photos were available from the family; Sprint Nextel (now Sprint) provided cellular technology for Team ADAM and Project ALERT and American Airlines provided seats on airline flights.  The National Association of Broadcasters donated battery-operated handheld television sets with AM/FM radio capability for Team ADAM.  And news media throughout the country worked with NCMEC to display missing persons flyers and aid in the reunification efforts.  

During the months following hurricanes Katrina and Rita, NCMEC received 34,112 calls related to separated families and missing persons resulting from the hurricanes.  Following Hurricane Katrina more than 4,710 children were missing or displaced from Louisiana, 339 from Mississippi, and 39 in Alabama.  After Hurricane Rita another 28 children were reported missing or displaced in Louisiana and 76 in Texas.  

In March 2006, the last child, four-year-old Cortez Stewart was reunited with her mother and siblings in Houston, Texas.  During the storm, she was with her godmother, Felicia Williams who became separated from Cortez's mother, Lisa Stewart, and her five other children.  As families were evacuated out of New Orleans, Cortez and Felicia were taken to Atlanta and her family to Houston.  

"We are still haunted by the photos and video of the devastation that occurred in 2005.  Thankfully all 5,192 of the children who were displaced were located and reunited with their families," said Ernie Allen, President and CEO of NCMEC.  "This effort involved a large team of volunteers and help from the private sector.  We are deeply grateful for the  outpouring of support that we received from our corporate sponsors and other partners."      

National Emergency Child Locator Center Established

Due to the success in helping to recover these 5,192 dislocated children, the U.S. Congress subsequently established NCMEC as the National Emergency Child Locator Center to help reunify families displaced by any future major disaster.  The National Emergency Child Locater Center is only activated after a declaration by the President of the United States following a national disaster and upon request by FEMA's National Emergency Family Registry.    

In 2007 the system was activated during the California wildfires and in 2008 following hurricanes Gustave and Ike.      

New Back-Up Facility Opened

Earlier this year, in May 2010, NCMEC announced that a new facility to back-up their National Emergency Child Locator Center opened in Lake Park, Florida. The primary National Emergency Child Locator Center will continue to be located at NCMEC headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia.  The new south Florida facility was created to provide back-up capability to the primary location if needed.  The back-up facility is functionally identical to Alexandria.  It is staffed by a supervisor and four full-time NCMEC call takers.  In addition, a pool of trained volunteers has been recruited from law enforcement agencies in the vicinity of the facility.  The new south Florida facility was made possible through a generous donation from Target, which serves as founding sponsor of the facility.

About the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.  Since it was established by Congress in 1984, the organization has operated the toll-free 24-hour national missing children's hotline which has handled more than 2,475,300 calls.  It has assisted law enforcement in the recovery of more than 151,300 children.  The organization's CyberTipline has handled more than 938,000 reports of child sexual exploitation and its Child Victim Identification Program has reviewed and analyzed more than 37,265,600 pornography images and videos.  The organization works in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Justice's office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.  To learn more about NCMEC, call its toll-free, 24-hour hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST or visit its web site at www.missingkids.com.

SOURCE National Center for Missing & Exploited Children