WATERLOO - In 2005, Hurricane Katrina's floodwaters drove Richard Thomas from his home in New Orleans. This year, the Cedar River overflowed, forcing the artist and his family to flee their new house in Waterloo and return to Louisiana.

And then last week, Thomas and his family had to seek shelter as Hurricane Gustav bore down on New Orleans.

"We will go through what we need to go through," he said. "But when you get hit by another disaster, it's hard to get up again."

Thomas and his family avoided the storm in Alabama and are returning to assess the damage in New Orleans. Afterwards, the displaced artist intends to return to his studio at 217 W. Fifth St. in Waterloo.

Thomas hopes to make enough money selling his work and teaching art in New Orleans to repair the damage and replace his building's electrical system. While the flood washed out Thomas' plans to open a studio and cafe downtown, he said it also offers another professional opportunity.

"My job as an artist is to try to make sense of this stuff and present it to people," Thomas said.

In the wake of Katrina, he created a work, titled "Faith, Hope and Love," a tribute to the city's spirit and healing since the storm.

"It was devastating, but we don't like to think about our losses," he said. "You can't get caught up in the sadness."

He hasn't created such a similarly inspired piece since the Iowa floods - he was too busy cleaning.

"There have been many times I wanted to put brush to canvas," he said. "Once again I'm in a rare position to do something, but all this has slowed me down and my creative process."

Events also slowed business plans. The money he had saved to open the cafe and studio went toward the first round of cleaning this summer. Nine feet of water in his building, however, did not extinguish his dream.

"I'm not defeated by these things," he said.

Since moving to Waterloo, Thomas established a downtown presence with his studio and a mural, "Keki Me Si Metose Neniwa" - "We the People" in Meskwaki. The painting is over Lafayette Street between Park Avenue and East Fourth Street.

Art, he said, not only helps people heal but adds soul to a community and unites.

"We should marvel more at our sameness and all the things we have in common," Thomas said. "You have a dual community. You have an east side and a west side. I saw one side not challenging the status quo while the other side was flourishing."

Fertile, unfamiliar ground enticed him to move to Waterloo.

"I enjoyed the idea of trying to birth something new in a foreign place. I saw a city poised to fix itself. I saw a resurgence … that could include artists."

His considers Waterloo home.

"I love New Orleans, but I had no intentions on coming back."

Thomas contrasts the recovery efforts in Louisiana with what he has seen in the past two months in Iowa.

"(Iowans) are a roll-up-your-sleeve kind of people," he said. "They bounce back a lot quicker."

He points out, however, floods in June don't compare to the widespread devastation caused by Katrina.

"In some parts of New Orleans, we couldn't come back; they wouldn't allow us to come back."

His return, though, is temporary, he said.

"My hope is to return to Waterloo."

Contact John Molseed at (319) 291-1418 or john.molseed@wcfcourier.com