Yet he devoted himself to distributing emergency supplies to other victims immediately after the storm, and helped a number of families clean out their homes in the following weeks and months.
For his outstanding volunteer community service, Mangal, 18, was presented a national Prudential Spirit of Community Award and was named one of America's top 10 youth volunteers for 2006.
The award is sponsored by the Prudential Financial and is conducted in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals. This was the 11th annual award, established to encourage youth volunteerism and identify and reward young role models. Mangal and the other winners were honored at a a ceremony recently at the International Trade Center in Washington, DC.
Also honored was Ammu Irivinti, 16, of Pinkerton Academy, Derry, NH, who launched an HIV-AIDS awareness campaign. She was one of the two state winners in New Hampshire.
Two students from each state were selected for the state-level award and for a chance for a national prize, from a field of about to 20,000 entries received from across the country. Mangal won the Mississippi state award along with Claire McInnis, 11, of McComb. Irivinti won the New Hampshire award with Hillary Hughes, 11, of Bedford, who went on to take a national award.
As a national winner, Mangal received a personal award of $5,000, an engraved gold medallion, a crystal trophy for his school, and a $5,000 grant from the Prudential Foundation for a not-for-profit charitable organization of his choice.
All the 102 state honorees won a $1,000 award, engraved silver medallions and an all-expense-paid trip with their parents to Washington, D.C. for the nationals. They were honored at a ceremony at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.
"The Prudential award has given me the opportunity to see how much communities around the world need assistance," Mangal told rediff-India Abroad. "It has opened up doors and provided a platform for me to use community service during career. The support of my family has helped me face challenges and hopefully overcome any future obstacles I may face."
The honorees were personally congratulated by actor Ted Danson and Olympic speed skating champion Joey Cheek at the recognition ceremony. 'Ajay and Claire (and other honorees) exemplify the spirit of community that is so important to the future of our neighborhoods, our towns and our nation,' said Arthur F Ryan, chairman and CEO of Prudential. 'By honoring them, we hope not only to give them the recognition they so richly deserve, but also to inspire others to follow their example.'
NASSP President David Vodila said 'The young people honored this year with the Prudential Spirit of Community Award exemplify the best America offers to the world. Their actions bring unity and purpose to their communities and across our great nation. Through their leadership, service and compassion, these young people bring us all closer together.'
When Katrina hit, 'everything my family owned had been washed away before my eyes,' Mangal said. 'I lost all hope of normalcy.' But after realizing that some of his neighbors faced even worse situations, 'I vowed to do everything in my power to help my family and community return to its feet,' he said.
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After enough out-of-town volunteers arrived to continue the relief effort, Mangal said, he worked alongside several out-of-state church groups to clean out the devastated homes of 20 families, ripping out walls and floors, fixtures, appliances, furniture and everything else contaminated by saltwater and mold.
At the same time, he made a point of providing comforting reassurances to the homeowners that everything would eventually be alright.
When his school reopened, Mangal organized groups of students to assist teachers and other personnel who needed help in recovering from the storm. And after he recounted his experiences to friends in other states, they responded by helping to raise more than $35,000 for Katrina victims.
The experience, he said, 'allowed me to learn the significance of family, love, teamwork, friends, and the unimportance of material objects.'
Irivinti, a senior at Pinkerton Academy, created an AIDS information and awareness web site to provide both comprehensive facts about the disease and a forum for people to share their concerns and opinions.
She became interested in AIDS after she cut her forehead at a playground when she was seven and was then told by a classmate that she had been infected with the HIV virus. When she discovered that this was not true, her terror turned to curiosity about the disease, and then, as she learned about its worldwide scope and impact, to deep concern.
'I firmly believe that the best method for prevention is education,' she said. 'It is vital that people learn from others around the world and impart their own knowledge to others.'
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To facilitate that exchange, Irivinti decided to build a web site (www.aids-awareness.org) in her spare time. She taught herself HTML code, learned about graphic design, and then researched AIDS extensively and began uploading pages of information. Since studies have shown that HIV-infected people who are able to share their emotions may improve their immune systems, Irivinti designed her site not only to communicate facts, but also to let AIDS sufferers chat with each other, post stories and participate in polls.
'I realized that lifeless facts are simply a waste of time and effort,' she said. 'Unless people see and acknowledge that AIDS is real, they will not be motivated to make any substantial changes.'
She also has used her site to organize fund-raising campaigns and charity events, which have collected nearly $100,000 to help HIV/AIDS orphans and pregnant women. Maintenance of the site, which is now visited by more than 6,000 users a month, was turned over to a professional Web design firm last summer, though she remains its executive director.
Several other students were honored 'Distinguished state finalists' for their outstanding volunteer service at the state level.
The national honorees were chosen by a national selection committee that was co-chaired by United States Senators Tim Johnson of South Dakota and Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, and by Arthur Ryan of Prudential.
Applications for the 2006 awards program were submitted last fall through schools, Girl Scout councils, county 4-H organizations, American Red Cross chapters, YMCAs and Volunteer Centers affiliated with the Points of Light Foundation.
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