“You can learn a lot from a hurrcane.”

Three years after Hurricane Katrina—one of the costliest and deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States hit—local author Rudy French has published a book titled, “You Can Learn a lot From a Hurricane.”
The book chronicles many of French’s experiences and tells the stories of the people that joined him in his effort to help the city.
French and his wife, Rose, are missionaries who went to New Orleans right after the hurricane hit. They spent two and-a-half years living on the Gulf Coast.
“Hurricane Katrina hit and we made the decision that we should go down there and help those folks out,” French said.
When they first arrived, the couple went straight to work helping wherever they could. They worked at feeding units and port ministries, and went door-to-door with mission groups while supporting a food distribution program.
“We were very involved because there were a lot of resources coming into the city and there weren’t enough people to get it where it needed to go,” French explained.
When the couple returned home, they thought their work was done in terms of disaster relief and recovery. It wasn’t until a director in charge of one of the missions in New Orleans suggested to French that he should write a book that he began to consider it.
“I ‘journaled’ what I thought were significant stories and things that happened, and when I got back, he asked to read it so I let him . . . He said, ‘Well, now we have to convert this into a book.’”
French modestly admitted that this was his first attempt at such a project and that he didn’t know anything about writing a book.
The director, Dr. Joe McKeever, held a Ph.D. in English, and he offered his expertise to proof the book as well as illustrate the cover.
“Primarily, it’s a book about people. The groups that came in—church groups and volunteer groups that came in,” he noted.
He stressed that the book is an upbeat book that isn’t about the failures of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) but focusses on the stories of the people.
“We hope that it also gives the positive side of New Orleans because there’s been a lot of negative press.”
French is hoping that this book will inspire and push people to help out in times of need, even when something seems beyond them.
“I really hope it motivates people to do something—not just sit back and watch things, but get involved,” he said.
Many of the stories in the book are about how his faith helped him realize that despite not having an abundance of resources to help out, it was still very important to continue with their work.
“This book is about our faith in what God wanted us to do. We didn’t have the resources, but we did it anyway. The resources miraculously began to appear,” said French.
The collection of short chapters give the lessons God taught them during their journey. He notes that many of the stories are humorous, while others are of a more serious nature.
The book was self-published and his wife did a lot of the work in terms of establishing their own publishing group.
French will be holding a book signing on Thursday, July 17 from noon-4 p.m. at Northwoods Gallery & Gifts on Scott Street.