Twenty years ago, when Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the Gulf Coast, the Oregon National Guard led its largest peacetime deployment in history. Thousands of soldiers and airmen from across the country came together under Joint Task Force Pontchartrain to support recovery and relief efforts.
Amid the wreckage, one unexpected challenge was staying connected. Families, communities, and service members needed a way to share news, photos, and hope. That’s where technology stepped in. With remarkable speed, Concrete CMS built a website for JTF Pontchartrain in under a week, giving deployed soldiers and their loved ones a lifeline to stay in touch.
As we reflect, stories like these are resurfacing in culture too. Netflix is marking the anniversary with a new Hurricane Katrina documentary, reminding us of the scale of loss, but also of the resilience and determination that carried people through.
Features That Made a Difference
- Rapid deployment: The JTF Pontchartrain site was up and running in less than a week, delivering immediate impact when speed was critical.
- Ease of use: Designed to be “soldier-proof,” Concrete CMS allowed non-technical Guardsmen to upload photos, post blogs, and share updates without training.
- Collaboration & workflows: Built-in permissions and workflows enabled contributors to share securely without chaos.
- Resilient hosting: Even in a disaster zone, the platform held strong and kept communication flowing.
- Flexibility: The same system that powered disaster communications in 2005 later supported complex use cases like a COVID-19 testing center platform (by Fabian from bitter.de).
I was recently reminded of this while scrolling on LinkedIn how Joomla volunteers built a digital relief center. Different communities, same mission: using open-source technology to keep people informed and connected in the middle of disaster. Both stories highlight the human side of web platforms tools that often feel invisible until they become essential.
And this spirit of rapid response lives on. Years later, Fabian from bitter.de built a full-featured COVID-19 testing center platform in record time with Concrete CMS. Different crisis, same need: technology that is reliable, secure, and fast to deploy when lives depend on it.
Today, we honor the courage of those who served, the resilience of the families who endured, and the vital role technology open-source and community-driven played in keeping people connected when it mattered most.
References
- Netflix. (2025, August 21). Katrina documentary release date & news. Tudum. https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/katrina-documentary-release-date-news
- Strong, A. V. (2005, September 19). Hurricane Katrina relief effort. JTF Pontchartrain. Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20060714191129/http://www.jtfpontchartrain.org/
- Joomla Community Magazine. (2025, August). How Joomla volunteers built a digital relief center after Hurricane Katrina. Joomla.org. https://magazine.joomla.org/all-issues/august-2025/how-joomla-volunteers-built-a-digital-relief-center-after-hurricane-katrina
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Image courtesy of the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, originally from JTF Pontchartrain (2005). View archive