Katrina

My neighborhood in Miami after Katrina as a category 1

So they are saying that the death toll in New Orleans isn’t as high as expected. I guess we should be happy for small miracles. I am sure there are many who are criticizing those who didn’t evacuate despite the warnings from authorities. As a survivor of Hurricane Andrew back in 1992, whose neighborhood was destroyed, whose parent’s house was destroyed, as a person who was told to evacuate, and didn’t, I can understand why some didn’t leave the Louisiana area. “It’ll never happen to me”. I can tell you, going through that hurricane was the scariest thing I have ever been through. It is something that will stay with me forever, and I have come to realize how much it affected me after seeing the devastation in Louisiana and Mississippi. Seeing it brought memories back to the forefront that I had long since buried. It is memories that you don’t want to rehash. Going through the actual storm was only half the battle, the recovery was just as bad if not worse. What these people are going through is much worse than what we went through in South Florida. At least we could leave the area even if it was just temporarily to go to work, to visit family and friends, at least we could get away before having to face the reality of it again. These people have no where to go. They have now been evacuated from the one place they called home, often time to places they have never been, with no friends, no family, no memories. Imagine being plucked from your home and dropped in the middle of an unknown town with nothing but the clothes on your back. It’s not an experience I care to have anytime soon!
Hurricane Katrina came knocking on my door just days before it hit the Gulf Coast. It was a baby hurricane, just a category 1, but it flooded my street, with the water coming right up to the bottom of my door and luckily stopping there. We in South Florida have gotten complacent about hurricanes again, and I think Katrina served as a warning to us (not because of what it did here, but on the Gulf Coast) to heed the warnings the hurricane center puts out. These storms have a mind of their own, so yea, we need to think ahead, and take no chances – it’s not worth it.
Ok, I have to finish studying for a Calculus test……wish me luck!