New Orleans Student Comes to Westminster College

New Orleans native Nick Manno, a former freshman at Tulane University, is now a freshman at Westminster College.

 Westminster College offered free tuition, room and board, and books for up to a dozen Hurricane Katrina victims.

 "My dad works at Tulane Medical School in New Orleans, so we went there to ride out the storm and help as much as we could.  We each took about four days worth of clothes" said Manno.  "The storm passed by us without much damage, but early the next day, the water came.  It flooded the basement and the first floor of the school and the hospital across the street."

 The hospital and school were equipped with emergency generators, and volunteers cooked all perishable food, storing the non perishable food on higher floors.

 "For two days we worked to get the diesel fuel into the generators.  For some reason, we could only put a little fuel in it at a time, or the engine would stall," Manno said.  "In the end though, everything failed.  We had no water.

 "On the third day, the helicopters came.  They took the patients first from the hospital across the street and from Charity Hospital, which is located nearby," Manno continued.  "We were one of the last to leave.  We were flown to the airport, where we were allowed to wash up a little before leaving on the buses going to Lafayette.  There we took showers, received clean clothes, and antibiotic shots."

 Manno's journey continued to Madisonville to visit his uncle.  His uncle's house was not flooded, but didn't have power.

 "From there we went to Baton Rouge, then Columbus, Ohio, where we visited my cousin, and finally to Girard to visit my dad's sister's family, the Zuppos.  My mom and dad are staying in Girard for the time being because my little brother, Chris, is attending Girard High School," Manno said.  "One of my cousins from Campbell, Ohio, heard about Westminster's offer to accept flood victim students, so I came here to look at the place. I'm used to schools that were like small cities, but I liked this small school atmosphere.  The people here were nice and friendly, so I choose to stay at Westminster."

 Manno is not sure what his family will do in the future.  They did not come prepared to stay the winter.  The last the Manno's  saw of their house was a satellite photo with water up to its roof.  Manno is sure that he'll stay at Westminster at least this semester, as he's joined the Titan football team.

 "Right now, my mom doesn't want to go back to New Orleans," said Manno.  "My dad, my brother, and I do though.  I guess it depends on my dad's work.  No one expected the storm to be this big¬ the government and not the people of New Orleans.  People there have always been talking about how they miss 'the big ones,' but when it came no one was prepared."

Nick Manno