Established in 1970 www.portlandobserver.con) jjnrttaitb V an p ort: Volume XXXX. Number 6 Wednesday • February 10. 2010 Portland’s Katrina Flood wiped out a multicultural community bv J ake T homas T he P ortland O bserver When Hurricane Katrina stuck New Or leans in 2005, people across the country watched as residents o f the city had every thing stripped from them by floodwaters only to struggle with government agencies that seemed indifferent, if not outright cal lous to their plight.. But 57 years earlier, a comer o f Oregon, not unlike parts o f New Orleans that were so devastated, experienced a similar catastrophe. At the height o f World War II Portland was home to shipyards that were feverishly churning out vessels for the war effort, and people from all over the country converged on the city looking for work. Portland quickly experienced a housing crunch, which lead the creation o f the Hous ing Authority o f Portland. The agency built Vanport in 1943, the largest public housing project in the country at the time, to accom modate the influx o f workers. V anport, named for being midway between Portland and Vancouver, attracted a motley group o f people from regions as faraway as the After Vanport was destroyed, many of the flood victims were given temporary housing in dilapidated war surplus mobile buildings at Guilds Lake in northwest Portland. But after more than a month of living in these circumstances, the residents organized a caravan to Salem to protest their condi tions. (Photo by Allan DeLay, July 7, 1948) continued on page JO AM 111 Equipped Mental health crisis ends in death by J ake T homas T he P ortland O bserver The tense situation was broken when an officer fired his A R -15 rifle. Police were responding to an emergency call that described Aaron Campbell as a suicidal man armed with a gun at an apart ment complex in northeast Portland. There was information that said he was depressed over the death o f his brother earlier in the day and had his girlfriend and children inside. After an hour-long back and forth be tween Campbell, 25, and the police, the chil dren were shepherded out o f the Sandy Terrace apartments. Exactly what happened next isn't clear, but in the end, Campbell lay dead. As Campbell’s friends and family mourn his Jan. 29 death, questions still linger if the Aaron Campbell incident could have had a different outcome, and how effective efforts by the police bu reau have been in making sure officers are equipped to deal with people in crisis. Ever since the 2006 death o f James Chasse, continued yf on page 20 photo by J ake T homas /T he P ortland O bserver The entrance to the Northeast Sandy Boulevard apartment building where Aaron Campbell’s confrontation with police led to his death.