--- description: Photojournalist Kathleen Flynn met Rodney and Rhonda Lomax when they were stranded after Hurricane Katrina flooded their home in 2005. title: A Child of Katrina Remembers Who Saved Him image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4c3d62c4244805c5/6998c968e2d64b1a71c5fa22/3_THUMBNAIL.00_01_04_00.Still015_916b79.png?branch=production ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [natural disaster](/tag/natural-disaster/) ## natural disaster Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # A Child of Katrina Remembers Who Saved Him by [Kathleen Flynn](/author/kathleen-flynn/) and [Kate Emerson](/author/kate-emerson/) Aug 28, 2025 9:17 PM CUT by [Kathleen Flynn](/author/kathleen-flynn/) and [Kate Emerson](/author/kate-emerson/) Aug 28, 2025 9:17 PM CUT At age three, Rodney Lomax was stranded for five days living on an interstate overpass near the New Orleans Superdome with his grandmother and neighbors after the levees broke, which flooded his home following Hurricane Katrina. His grandmother, Rhonda Lomax, shielded him from what horrors she could. In the wake of the storm, she made sure her grandson received therapy and proper support as hebegan to show signs of posttraumatic stress syndrome. Twenty years later, Rodney still remembers the fearhe felt in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina—as well as the protection and love that saved him. Photojournalist Kathleen Flynn first met Rodney and Rhonda on the interstate overpass in 2005\. She reconnected with them in 2010 and has produced several stories about their lives since. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7313159/child-of-katrina-saved/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7313159/child-of-katrina-saved/"},"headline":"A Child of Katrina Remembers Who Saved Him","datePublished":"2025-08-28T21:17:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-04T14:29:39.635Z","description":"Photojournalist Kathleen Flynn first met Rodney and Rhonda Lomax when they were stranded on the interstate overpass after Hurricane Katrina flooded their New Orleans home in 2005.","url":"https://time.com/7313159/child-of-katrina-saved/","keywords":["natural disaster","News","video"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4c3d62c4244805c5/6998c968e2d64b1a71c5fa22/3_THUMBNAIL.00_01_04_00.Still015_916b79.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kathleen Flynn","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/kathleen-flynn/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Kate Emerson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/kate-emerson/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4c3d62c4244805c5/6998c968e2d64b1a71c5fa22/3_THUMBNAIL.00_01_04_00.Still015_916b79.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A Child of Katrina Remembers Who Saved Him","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/natural-disaster/","name":"natural disaster"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7313159/child-of-katrina-saved/","name":"A Child of Katrina Remembers Who Saved Him"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"A Child of Katrina Remembers Who Saved Him","description":"At age three, Rodney Lomax was stranded for five days living on the interstate overpass near the Superdome with his grandmother and neighbors after Hurricane Katrina flooded his New Orleans home. 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