5 Years Later

August 29, 2010 marked the 5 year anniversary since Hurricane Katrina devastated the southern states of Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Katrina was one of the strongest storms to impact the coast of the United States in the last 100 years. The strong winds, heavy rain, and minimum central pressure brought with it chaos and destruction that we will probably never forget.

Hurricane Katrina began as a tropical depression 175 miles southeast of the Bahamas on August 23, 2005 and turned into a tropical storm overnight. By the time it reached Florida on the 25th, it had become a category 1 hurricane with sustained winds of 80mph and gusts that passed 90mph. As it blew through Florida, it brought with it flooding and substantial damage and it took the lives of 14 people on its exit. After passing through Florida, it mixed with the warm water in the Gulf of Mexico, increasing wind speeds. On the 28th, wind speeds had increased to 175mph and the National Hurricane Center warned that coastal storm surge flooding could rise up as high as 28 feet and that some of the levees in New Orleans may not be able to withstand the pressure. On Monday August 29, its center was about 90 miles southeast of New Orleans and when it finally passed through the destruction it left behind was catastrophic. All factors of the storm is what caused a rise in Lake Pontchartrain and the strain the water pressure put on the levees is what finally caused them to fail on August 30, 2005. The events that took place after the levees gave way is what makes this natural disaster even more tragic; New Orleans was flooded which left the entire city virtually under water. (All information broken down and taken from www.ncdc.noaa.gov)

Monetary damages to homes an businesses caused by Hurricane Katrina are said to be over $125 billion and the death toll is around 1833 people and that number doesn't include the hundreds of people still unaccounted for (www.ncdc.noaa.gov pg 3).

Death Toll By State:
Louisiana - 1,577
Mississippi - 238
Florida – 14
Georgia – 2
Alabama – 2

The lack of response by our government to help their own people was appalling. Anyone looking in from the outside would think that these people were left to die. They went days without food, water, or medical help. Some spent days on rooftops and others spent days on rafts, boats, or any other item they could use as a flotation devices. People were being held at gun point by the police for "luting" when they were trying to get groceries out of the store. Thousands of people were moved to the Super Dome and held there without any kind of proper security measures. FEMA was given the job of checking all houses and business for bodies and many of those buildings marked as having no dead bodies found inside, had actually not been searched. What kind of government would label and treat their own citizens as refugees? The kind of government that always comes to the aid of countries devastated by natural disasters and the kind of government who will interfere in other countries conflicts. What happened to taking care of home first?

So here we are 5 years later and what is the progress like? Well, the population in many places have been cut drastically and many houses and buildings still have yet to be rebuilt. According to The Urban Times, Louisiana residents are located in more than 5,500 cities across the nation and tens of thousands of people are paying rent on places that are out of their budget because affordable housing is not available to them. A CBS news story which covered the 5 years after Katrina said that Plaquemines Parish, who felt the wrath of Katrina first, is the last to be rebuilt. CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller reported that 15,000 people occupied housing on the Parish's south and east ends before Katrina but now it is only 3,500; 700 of those people are still living in FEMA trailers or mobile homes. In fact, "the bulk of the more than $600 million in federal recovery money has gone to the more populated north section of the parish leaving those in the lower section feeling neglected," reports Miller (CBS Article).

While progress is still being made to rebuild these cities, many places still remain untouched. Government funding has fallen short on multiple occasions to support rebuilding of homes and businesses. For example, according to The Urban Times, Louisiana's "Road Home" project, which was designed to rebuild damaged homes, was short of $35,000 that was needed to fund rebuilding. Its seems to me that when the cameras and news reporters are gone disasters such as Katrina go on to be forgotten the longer they are out of sight.

I encourage everyone to remember the faces of despair that you first saw during the initial coverage because those same faces may be residents that still need our help to rebuild. There are still volunteer groups and projects that still need people to donate their time and help. Let's not forget our neighbors and fellow citizens because one day you could be in the same situation.

*For full length articles, statistics, and facts, all links can be followed by clicking on the highlighted areas! Pictures are linked to their original website, to visit the site, just click on the pictures*


Are you a Katrina survivor? Do you know someone who is? Maybe you just have a blog idea or want my opinion on something. Feel free to email me your stories at writers_inkorporated@yahoo.com, IM me, or comment directly on the blog!