Dallas doctors recall Hurricane Katrina relief efforts

DALLAS — When Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005, levees broke and New Orleans was plunged into chaos. Hospitals overflowed, the Superdome became a shelter of last resort, and tens of thousands of residents were left stranded in unimaginable conditions.

Two Dallas doctors played pivotal roles during those desperate days — one on the ground in New Orleans and the other helping evacuees as they arrived in North Texas.

Dr. Paul Pepe, then a Dallas emergency physician, was deployed to New Orleans. He remembers the sights, sounds and smells that still haunt him.

“There were shouts here… there were gunshots — you saw fires burning in little cans. It was eerie,” Pepe said.

Inside the convention center and other makeshift shelters, he said conditions were almost unbearable.

“The problem