Social worker Ernest Timmons buckled his seatbelt on a JetBlue plane in New Orleans 20 years ago — destination unknown. Beside the 56-year-old sat Arthur Williams, a friend and neighbor he’d known his entire life.
They were among the thousands hustled out of the city by members of the military after the destruction of Hurricane Katrina.
Timmons knew he had to go. No longer tethered by levees, a torrent of water had gushed into his house in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward.
“I went to the attic and could hear the water and cars bumping around,” he said.
The lower level of his house was flooded and he made his way to a friend’s place where the water wasn’t as high.
Timmons was ultimately transported to the airport, where he received a tetanus shot and phoned his family to let them know what was happening.
“I called my brother who was in a different part of New Orleans who was later put on a bus to Houston. My Mom and sisters had already left for Atlanta.”
It wasn’t until they’d reached 30,000 feet that the pilot told passengers they were headed for Salt Lake City, Utah.
Retired NPR national reporter Howard Berkes is based in Salt Lake City and covered the arrival of evacuees. He said the military kept their destination secret for a reason.
“They weren’t told where they were going because their concern was that they might resist if they knew their destination was a place like Utah. For many of these people, Utah was a completely foreign place.”
Timmons said the idea came as a shock.
“I had never been this far west,” said the now 76-year old. And he was worried.
“Where am I going to live when I get to Utah? What am I going to do? How am I going to get a job? You know, all those things ran through my mind.”
Berkes said that without a doubt, Timmins and the rest of the evacuees arrived in a vastly different place.
“Most of the people coming from New Orleans were African American, and the population in New Orleans then was 67% Black.”
There was culture shock, Berkes said, because Utah of 2005 had a Black population of just under 1%.
“Also, New Orleans had a humid and subtropical climate. It's actually below sea level. So they were leaving bayous to come to mountains, to come to a very dry place,” he explained.
But Timmons fears were allayed when his plane arrived in Salt Lake City.
“We were met by some wonderful people who provided us services that sustained us until we were able to do our own thing.”
Berkes said over 900 volunteers cheered and applauded when evacuees arrived by the busload at their temporary accommodation at the National Guard’s Camp Williams.
“They had food, they had clothing. They really had quite a warm greeting here. At one point, some of the evacuees borrowed instruments and bystanders cheered as they marched down Main Street — kind of a makeshift Bourbon Street.”
Timmons was housed at Camp Williams for a month, before getting an apartment and starting a job with Utah Reaching Out, a non-profit focused on helping Katrina evacuees. Calvary Baptist Church’s Pastor France Davis was behind it.
“With my degree in social work, I was able to assist in getting housing for evacuees and getting them situated. The Pastor gave me money and I got vouchers for people to get food and clothing. We also held meetings on Friday evenings to help people try to negate any problems or challenges.”
While Berkes estimates about half of the 600 people relocated to Utah quickly left, Timmons stayed and built a life here. He made the decision following frank words from the Mayor of New Orleans.
“He said, ‘if you don’t have homes or anything to come back and rebuild, why come to New Orleans? There is nothing there for you, like a job or anything else.’ So I stayed here, and I continued to work.”
Timmons went on to earn a Masters Degree in Education and his teaching certificate. He taught middle school and eventually retired from the Salt Lake City VA Healthcare System this Aug. 1.
All the while, he attended Calvary Baptist Church.
“I also taught Sunday school there and sang in the male chorus.”
His life-long friend Arthur Williams didn’t stick around in Utah. He moved to Mississippi and eventually back to New Orleans where he passed away.
Now Timmons is headed back too. Diagnosed with cancer, the 76-year-old is moving home in September to be with family.
“I’ve lived a comfortable life and have made many friends,” Timmons said.
Speaking in a raspy voice from his Salt Lake City hospital bed, he said it’s his beloved men’s choir at Calvary Baptist he’ll miss the most.
“I just had a visitor from Calvary that I’ve been singing with for 20 years, and we were talking about how much we’re going to miss each other. It’s going to be devastating missing him, because I built a fellowship here in Utah.”
