Editor's note: Target 8 investigator Ken Kolker was a reporter at The Grand Rapids Press when Hurricane Katrina hit on Aug. 29, 2005. Within days, he was covering West Michigan’s response.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — I reached hard-hit southern Mississippi in the belly of a helicopter: a red Bell LongRanger flown by former U.S. Coast Guard helicopter pilot Kevin Nelson of Traverse City.

It was an 800-mile trip from the Ottawa Executive Airport near Jenison to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, flying not far above the treetops, with six stops for fuel along the way, just days after the hurricane hit.

As a reporter for The Grand Rapids Press at the time, I was equipped with my still camera, some notebooks and a surprisingly settled stomach. Perhaps it was the Dramamine.

The pilot was working wi

See Full Page