Next On Q, he had no way of getting out of New Orlean before Hurricane Katrina struck.

So he decided to write it out in the Superdome.

We'll introduce yo to Katrina survivor Harold Heim.

You'll hear how he hopes t create a new life in Pittsburgh.

And then after that, we'll head to a local elementary school for a celebration of reading.

It's part of our continued partnership with PNC.

Grow up Great.

It's coming up next.

So stay connected.

Welcome to OnQ magazine.

I'm Stacy Smith.

It has now been six months since the Gulf Coast was devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

You have seen the aftermath, the destruction, especially in New Orleans.

Large parts of the city are still in ruins, and a large number of residents have yet to return.

In fact, some who sought refuge here in this region now plan to stay here.

And tonight, On Q correspondent Tonia Caruso talks with a survivo not only about painful memories, but also about hopes for a future in Pittsburgh.

It was a great place.

I had fun in New Orleans.

My relatives, my whole family was from New Orleans.

And this is some more picture in New Orleans of the fountain.

And Harold Heim is from there also.

Harold was born and raised in the city.

Seventh Ward, the downtown district.

I see your Mardi Gras.

Yes.

You kept these?

Yes, I kept them to remember New Orleans.

Harold has many othe pleasant memories of New Orleans and this is what we call second lining.

That's the dance we do in New Orleans with umbrellas that just have a good way.

Memories that also include working as a radio disc jockey and falling in love and getting married to a woman from Pittsburgh.

I met a young lady who was on vacation with her parents in New Orleans, and, I fell in love right then and there with her, with Charlotte Davis.

We got married in 81.

We lived in New Orleans six years, and then we moved to Pittsburgh.

She wanted to come back home, so I didn't mind doing that.

Harold stayed in Pittsburgh until 1996, before moving back to New Orlean after he and his wife separated.

And I went back.

My mom was having a few problems.

My mom still lives down there.

My mom is now 92 years old.

Having live in New Orleans most of his life.

Harold was accustomed to hurricanes that frequently moved across the Gulf of Mexico, but a major hurrican hadn't come close to the city.

And almost 30 years.

The only serious hurricane before it was Camille.

And it was dangerous.

But it wasn't like Katrina.

I mean, we never had a storm like Katrina.

And despite advanced warnings about Katrina, a monster category four storm Harold was still uncertain what he should do.

The morning that Sunday, August 29th.

I was with a friend of mine.

He came to my house and said, what are we going to do?

I said, I'm going to stay home and ride it out.

He said, no I don't think we should do that.

So he and I started out to go to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and his truck stopped.

And said, David, this is not good.

Some guys pushed us and we went back to his house and we kept watching the news.

But the later it got, and the more mayor Ray Nagin was say, everybody, please get out.

Well, it was too late to go on the road there.

So we decided to go to the Superdome.

Well, where's your mother in all of this?

My mom was in a nursing home in New Orleans, but they evacuated the, the nursing home residents.

But I didn't know where.

You have a daughter?

Where?

My daughter was in pass Christian, Mississippi.

That' where her enough family lived in Pass Christian, Mississippi, while they evacuated.

And they went to a shelter in Mississippi.

All of that was on Harold's mind when he went to the Superdome to spend a night.

He'll never forget.

What did you take with you when you left to go to the Superdome?

Joe Horn, jersey number 87 for the New Orleans side and a pair of shorts and my sneakers because I didn't think I woul be at the Superdome as long as as long as I was there.

So no other clothes?

No.

No supplies, nothing.

No toothbrush and no not even a toothbrush, because we thought maybe we would go and be back in two days.

A lot of members of our team have gone through Andrew.

I've seen nothing like this before.

Our hearts go out.

How many people would you say were there?

About 25 to 30,000 people.

And at first, was it kind of a festive atmosphere?

Yes.

It was like it was a part or Mardi Gras season and people didn't really take this storm as serious as it was, and people were having a good time.

They were eating people brought food like a picnic and I knew something was wrong, that these this shouldn't be happening.

People shouldn't be partying like this.

So what I did, I walked all the way to the top of the Superdome and I started praying.

And I prayed the whole time I was in the Superdome.

Let me ask you, first of all, what the ordeal was like as the hurricane was coming, when the roof came off the Superdome, part of the roo came off and it was a big hole.

The rain was coming down.

I think that's when people started to started to panic, because they really thought it was the end of the world, and all kind of things broke loose out there in the dome.

All kinds of things happen.

Did you cry at all?

Yeah, because I was I cried because I was reminded about my mom.

I didn't know where my mom was at the time.

I didn't know where my daughter was.

And her family.

Were you eating?

Did you have water?

Yes, we had water.

And they had those boxes of army food where you warm it up.

But then I didn't want to eat too much because I didn't want to go to the bathroom.

I didn't want to have to us the facilities in the Superdome.

So I stopped eating.

Maybe after the third day.

Do you blame anyone for lack of planning, even the amount of people that came to the Superdome?

No, because they the the, the people in charge.

They didn't know.

I mean, Ray Nagin didn't know how many people were going to go to the Superdome.

Kathleen Blanco didn't know how many people were going to be there.

I don't blame anyone.

What about FEMA and the response after the storm?

Well.

I don't thin they did what they needed to do.

They let a lot of people drown.

They couldn't save a lot of lives.

Harold remaine in the Superdome for five days.

And I'll never forget the misery, depression and the stifling heat and humidity that followed the storm.

How did you get out of there?

Busses came to get the people out of the Superdome to take them to different places.

Everybody wanted to get on the bus.

Everybody wanted to get on a on the bus.

And I started praying again.

When I started praying, a hand came on and somebody just came and said, what are you doing here?

And it was a police officer, Charles Augustus.

And he got me on the bus and I went to Houston, Texas, and I was happy.

And as the busses pulled away from the Superdome, Harold got his first glimpse of the devastation.

Everybody couldn' believe what they were seeing.

And it was hard to loo at the destruction of the city and to see people in the water drow that had drowned and everything.

It was it was.

It was.

It was terrible.

Yeah, yeah.

But in Houston, Harold finally found hope and good new about his mother and daughter.

I made contact with my mother about, 2 or 3 days when I was there.

And I was so relieved that she was all right.

What about your daughter?

My dad was in Dallas, and I never got a chance to get to her.

But I talked to her on the phone and everything.

And I was just happy to know that she was safe and her family was safe.

Harold didn't sta in the Astrodome for very long.

He met up with friends, and they gave him a ride to Grand Prairie, Texas.

Several weeks later he got a call from his estranged wife, Charlotte, and she said, what are your plans?

And then I said, wow, I know heaven.

But I didn't tell her that.

She said, well, your friend Michell wants you to come to Pittsburgh.

Her and her husband kind of have a place for you to stay.

They want you to come t Pittsburgh as soon as possible.

Here I am.

When you finally got to Pittsburgh, what was that like for you?

Oh, I was just happy because I know I know a lot of people here.

So that was.

Oh, I was just happy to be here.

Charlotte's mom and dad, Harold, now lives near the Eas Liberty section of Pittsburgh, but he still keeps in touch with his friends from down South.

And he reads everything he can about New Orleans and Missouri.

Now, this is the Mississippi River bridge, the greater New Orleans bridge.

He also has plenty of reminders of his city.

He was forced to leave behind.

Do you plan to stay in Pittsburgh?

Yes.

Yes.

I'm a big Steeler of fan.

I'm a Pirates fan.

I love the penguins also.

What do you hope the future for New Orleans holds?

A hope New Orleans can come back and be the new Orleans that I grew up knowing.

Knowing about.

It's going to be hard.

And I know it's going to be hard to rebuild the city.

And what do you hope the future holds for you?

I just feel the Lord every day to keep me strong.

And I'm going to keep on praying.

I'm not going to stop praying.

I'm going to keep on praying.

And I know that's the only way I can make it.

Now, even before Hurricane Katrina, Harold suffered a stroke.

So he's been on disability, unable to work.

But he is feeling better each week.

He's become very involved in his church here.

And as for Harold's mother and daughter, they are both doing well, as is his friend David, with whom he traveled to the Superdome.

David ended up traveling to New York Cit and is now back in New Orleans.

And Harold says he would like to go back and visit New Orleans again.

But Stacy he does not want to live there.

Glad to be in Pittsburgh.

And when you think about it, Harold is just one of so many stories and what an incredible story he has.

And you're absolutely right.

So many people sharing the same thing.

Now, speaking of stories, you have another one coming up yes I do.

Working very hard.

This one is an important story.

It's really fun though.

It's a celebration of Doctor Seuss's birthday and a look at the importance of reading for children.

All right.

And we will be back with that in just a moment.

So stay connected.

You're watching On Q magazin because these foundations care enough about local programing to help pay for it.

The Howard Heinz Endowment, the Richard King Mellon Foundation, the McCune Foundation, the Pittsburgh Foundation, the Hillman Foundation, the Grable Foundation, the Eden Hall Foundation.

These corporations also support On Q. Kids who are ready for school are ready for life.

PNC Grow Up Great is helping families with great tips and resources.

More information is available at any branch or online.

Right now I've got a 16 page brochure on press.

I've got a lot of busines from there and that's for sure.

I've got an ad in the paper for another press.

It's great.

You see a lot of the bigger companies doing so much work out of town or out of state.

I'm glad they keep so much business here.

My new pressman will be two.

There's one insurer who knows that the health of the community depends on the health of the economy.

A helping hand in the places we call home.

Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield.

And we couldn't do it without you.

The members of WQED, as well as parties go.

This was a big one.

Schoolchildren around the country recently took part in read Across America Day.

Now, the event celebrates Doctor Seuss's birthday and it encourages children to read.

Tonia Caruso is here once again now and you will spend some time at a local school.

We did.

We spent some time at Barret Elementary School and Homestead.

The school has lots of programs.

Stacy throughout the year to encourage reading.

On this day, dozens of guests from throughout the community took time to read to students, and we are able to bring you this story tonight as part of our continued partnership with PNC, helping children to grow up great.

Good morning officer Meals Forget fighting crime.

You know, it makes a fella think.

The shape of you.

And the shape of me.

The shape of everything I see.

This police call was all about fun.

As Officer Brian Meals of Homestead polic traded in his badge for a book and became a guest reader at Barrett Elementary.

Peanuts and pineapples.

Noses and grapes.

Everything comes in different shapes.

I think it's important that children know the importance of learning how to read not only in their school years, but when they graduate and try to obtain, employment.

I think it's very important to know how to read and write, and I think this is just one.

One program that that emphasizes the importance of reading and making it a little fun.

Dozens of guest speakers read to students having fun in the classroom while carrying out an important mission.

Today is a day called, Read Across America, sponsored by the NEA or th National Education Association.

It's a day to celebrate reading through the use of Doctor Seuss.

So many people kno and love the Doctor Seuss books.

This is a way for us to get people reading to encourage people to read together, not only as a school, but as a community, and give it a fun focus.

What's your favorite book?

The Cat in the Hat The Cat in the Hat.

I like green eggs and ham.

I do not like them.

Sam-i-am.

Who likes green eggs and ham in here?

I like that book too.

While reading is popular among these students, that's not the case for all children.

Priscilla Jackman is a literacy coach for the Steel Valley School District.

There is an absolutely incredible difference in the amount of words.

I don't know the exact statistics, but the amount of words the kids who are in various socioeconomic situations hear or have heard spoken.

By the time they come to kindergarten and the disparit between children who come from lower socioeconomic homes compared to those children who are coming from uppe socioeconomic, you know, status is it's incredible.

It's tens of thousands of words.

The research that has come out now, some of the key things, one of the most key things is the absolute importance of children having a lot of speaking and listening skills when they are still two and three and four years old.

Jackman says the more a child is read, too, the more he or she will develop greate listening and speaking skills.

And that's why Luhansk Pinsky believes it's never too early for parents to begin reading to children.

It opens them up to a vocabulary that will stick with them for the rest of their lives.

The time to build that foundation is when they're young.

And not to think tha just because they're an infant, or just because they're a toddler, that they're not taking in what's around them.

These first graders are certainly taking in all they can from Christmas stories.

Now, Dasher, now, dancer, now, Prancer and Vixen.

To ghost tales like, is very, very scary.

To adventures about animals Ask them why reading is important.

And this is what you're here to read.

That means you can't rea anything else that's important.

Just put in the read so you can get better read and decide what to say.

Stop or go.

Reading is about learning so you can go to college and get an education.

You can read books that you can get smart.

And all it takes is a little bit of time and encouragement, especially for the parents to realize that they don't have to have lots of money.

They don't have to buy the most expensive things out there for their kids to be able to read.

They can go to the public library.

They can get book from their kids school library.

They can go down and hang out at a bookstore and see what's going on there and see the different activities and seeing the importance of any type of print, whether it's the stop sign that they pass or it's the colors that they talk to the about on, on the cereal boxes, just getting them to realize that reading is a part of their entire life, that they can see i wherever they go, and that it's a it's a fun, fun wa to to enjoy things around them.

Who had fun today?

Now, you didn't see it in our story, but I also had the pleasure of reading to the fourth grade class at Barrett Elementary.

All very smart kids, and you can tell they started reading when they were very young.

Stacy, we had a great time there, and I know that we've said it before and we've done stories on this before.

They cannot stress enough how important it is to read to children while they're young, get them started.

And really, the benefits are so long lasting.

And for folks at home, if they would like more information on the subject, they can log on to our website at wqed.org and click on the On Q logo on the first page.

And you do know your Green Eggs and ham book, don't you?

I do, you do, and I do like them sam-i-am at the end.

All right.

On you.

Thank you.

When we come back, a preview of an upcoming on Q Special Edition.

It is an inspiring story of survival.

So stay connected.

When viewers request, we respond.

Is there an on Q story you think bears repeating?

When you heard about from friends or maybe miss the first time around?

Let us know by logging on to our website, WQED.org Then click On Q to submi your request for an On Q story.

We also want to remind you to watch an on Q Special Edition this Monday night.

It is a gripping story about survival.

I remember it just like it was yesterday.

I've never seen a ma sticking out of a wall of flame.

God saved him for a reason.

Burns covering more than 70% of his body.

No one expected him to live.

He hasn't talked about the horrific crash until now.

People surviving severe burns.

And the staff at this Pittsburgh Burn Center will inspire you.

Join us for an On Q special The Long Road to Recovery.

Monday night at 7:30.

This should be very interesting.

I remember the accident when it happened and how this man survived is just remarkable.

It is amazing.

A lot of people remember the name.

I started out on this story to do a piece on the inspiring story of Burn Survivors.

So I went to Merc Hospital Trauma and Burn Center.

That was the first burn center in the state of Pennsylvania and one of the first in the country.

And, you know, it took a little negotiating, but I said we'll do this very sensitively, because how do these peopl get through this severe burns?

There is probably nothing worse.

Doctors will tell you there.

So in our travels, there, one guy stole the show.

I remembered the name Mark McGreevy as well.

He made major news.

It was in the summer of 2004 all over the newscast.

He was the motorcyclist who came out of the Armstrong Tunnel, run over by a dump truck trapped between the truck and his motorcycl in a pool of burning gasoline.

It was a horrific sight.

So we chronicled his journey two years later.

This man is still recovering from his burns.

It's extraordinary.

Extraordinary also is the care that the doctors the nurses, the staff, supplies and like mercy and the other burn centers across.

No question about that.

Not only that.

And when you say doctors and nurses in a burn center, there are there is a psychologist there that we also talk to.

Because if you have a severe burn, you can't sleep.

Sometime pain medication doesn't do it.

And and depression is quit common in severe burn patients.

It's very difficult because, you know, when Mark McGreevy went into that trauma center that day, they weren't sure at the outset whether he was going to live or whether he was going to die.

He was burned over 70% of his body.

Plus, when you start as the patient there, you start trying to look ahead to what your life is going to be from what it was.

So you're right.

Exactly.

It's it's a it's a major adjustment, you know, at that scene, right by Duquesne University that day, veteran police officers with 20, 30 years on the job, they told me that it is a scene they will never, ever forget.

The first city police officer was a motorcycle cop by the name of Ray Kane and I included him in the piece as well.

And here's here's Ray talking about that day.

All I seen was a wall of flames that resembled the front of a truck, and someone squirting the last of a fire extinguisher up on a man sticking out of the wall of flame.

I just ran to the truck, and I thought my first thought was we got to get him out of here.

And I got about ten feet from the truck, and it was like I was hit with a sledgehammer of heat.

It was just so much heat.

I couldn't get any closer.

And officer Mile then come up and got beside me, and we're just we're looking and we're going, well, we're going to reach under and we're going to grab and just as the fire truc started to hit him with water, we're going to grab him.

We asked him his name.

He said, Mark, we just kept telling him, Mark, you're going to be fine.

You're going to be all right.

And Mark and I become friends.

I have called him the luckiest unlucky guy in the world.

If that situation had happened anywhere else, at any other time, he'd be a dead man.

It happened at the end of the Armstrong tunnel, where?

The Duquesne police came an hit him with fire extinguishers.

There.

Just as the fire extinguishers were going out there, people were coming out of buildings with fire extinguishers.

That it happened just at the other side of the tunnels.

It would have been done.

He would have been dead.

If it happened anywhere else but right there.

He's the luckiest unlucky guy I know.

Quite a statement indeed.

And that's from a veteran police office I didn't know in the beginning when, when and when we were at mercy.

They said we have a patient.

We don't know if he'll talk.

His name is Mark McGreevy.

Like you, I remember the name.

It was a major story for the whole week in Pittsburgh that summer of oh four.

So I, you know, I, I did my best with them.

And he went on camera.

And what you'll find is you know, despite all this incredible pain.

And the doctors will educat everybody on Monday night about, you know, severe burns.

It's a horrifying thing.

But this guy two years later is inspiring.

People like you can't believe.

And I don't want to give this away.

And you'll hear from Mark on Monday night.

He has a life goal relating to Burns survivors.

That that you will be so inspired when you think of this guy, what he's been through.

Oh, man, don' sweat the small stuff in life.

Absolutely.

You know, it's I think it's wonderful that he has agreed to tell his story, because I know that that takes a lot.

And to spend extra time with you so that you could could track his recovery.

He has.

And we'll talk with the family after he got out of mercy, the Burns Center, I think it was seven months out of the Burns Center.

What what do you do then?

He went to his sister's house in Baldwin.

They put the hospital bed in the basement.

She took care of him for another seven months.

So it's really this loving, large family.

And, you'll hear from his brother, his sister, the doctors, the nurses and and the recovery for for him.

Yet it's still not over for him.

No.

He is he is back home.

You'll see him then.

But, he's he's still can't wear the prosthesi because the skin is so tender.

And that's Monday night.

Monday night, 730.

And it's the whole half hour.

All right.

We'll look forward to it.

Michael an Tonia, thank you.

And thank you for watching.

We'll hope that you join us again tomorrow night.

When On Q is Off.

Q is live at 7:30, so sta connected and have a good night.