There are several different reasons African Americans decided not to evacuate during Katrina. There were income restraints, lack of knowledge in a timely fashion and race bias.…
On Friday morning Craig Donaldson saw on the news that Hurricane Katrina had moved into the Gulf, heading in their direction. Craig and Alice, his wife contemplated leaving the following day or the day after for Oxford, Mississippi. Saturday morning started out rocky. Malcolm, their son, woke up with a burning fever. With all of this going on Craig prepared for their evacuation by getting the house in order before Katrina hit on Sunday. Around mid-day they decided to get on the road; unfortunately, the highway was backed up. Craig then decided to take a different route on a two-lane highway; traffic flowed at first but that too got backed up. Due to the extensive amount of traffic and the effects of the storm, they stopped at a hotel. They had wanted to stay with Alice’s parents but there were too many complications of not having enough room space, so her mom says. They waited at the hotel until the weather was clear enough for them to continue driving.…
Aug 29th 2005, that day will forever go down in infamy in the history books of New Orleans. It was on this day that Hurricane Katrina touched down in New Orleans and absolutely destroyed the city in the catastrophe that left at least 1,800 dead. I heard all about the hurricane, on the news, the internet, the radio, school, everywhere. I thought I knew all about Hurricane Katrina, I thought I was well aware of all the horrible things that happened during this time. The thing is however, I wasn’t. Not until I learned of camp greyhound.…
During the previous day of the hurricane, my dad was working at school when all students and staff were directed to evacuate the campus and prepare for what they knew now was an extremely powerful storm. At that moment, nobody thought that the storm was just going to pass by without harming anyone. People grew frantic, and prayed that the storm would calm down, or turn. Lucky for the people on O’ahu, it did. My father and his parents evacuated to his step-mother’s brother’s house, which was on higher grounds, and much…
Some of you may not have gotten to appreciate this first hand. Maybe you do not have a house at the shore. Our two houses survived on the whole, but grasping the destruction and devastation, hit me in a way I never thought it could. I sensed in my heart that I was getting a glimpse into what transition feels like for an adopted child.…
Hurricane Katrina swept away the gulf coast on August 25, 2009. Katrina was the most monstrous storm that has ever visited the coast and was considered an amalgam of tropical waters and dusty winds. It was the deadliest hurricane of category five causing horrendous damage and traumatizing scenes. Many lives were taken away and many lives have changed.…
The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina may be remarked as a very important aspect to understand the relationship between federal, state, and local governments when it comes to major catastrophe. In Katrina’s case, federalism is seen as central to what was largely a government-created disaster. Numerous scientific articles are trying to offer various interpretations of what went wrong and why; however, out of all perspectives, I find Stephen Griffin’s argument most persuasive.…
One of the most devastating natural disasters known to man, the “earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 struck Haiti, killing more than 160,000 and displacing close to 1.5 million people” (Laurent). These are statistics that none would ever even imagine possible, let alone to a country that was not paid much attention to. Nothing more was expected of 11-year-old Helly Florian than to do well in school. “I was getting ready to take the state exam for sixth graders,” Helly stated. Normal, everyday activity for Helly blended in with the happenings of the rest of the country of Haiti. Then all at once, the demeanor of all of Haiti…
Everyone has peaceful and strange events that occurred in their lifetime. There are several chances that one expects something pleasant to happen and it comes true. On the other side, an occasion doesn’t appear when somebody expects it. I can explain this with my personal account of Hurricane Sandy, an event that occurred on October 29, 2012 and ended on November 2, 2012. This affected the northeast portion of the United States. As a result of this event, I had lost power, had a tough time doing tasks, and took my education away. On the other hand, I was thankful that the disaster ended a few days later.…
If I were to have thirty minutes before a destructive hurricane were to hit. I would be ready for it because I would take the necessary stuff to survive it. It was a warm September weekend when I had heard from the news that a destructive hurricane was gonna will hit in thirty minutes.…
Take the time please, and imagine that everything is okay. I was outside playing on such a beautiful day. I was eight at the time, and was absolutely befuddled by the fact that this lady “Katrina” had everyone in my neighborhood frightened. Could this Katrina that they speak of really be this mean? Who does she think she is? At this point I was determined to meet this “Katrina” not knowing she would change my life without me actually seeing her.…
At the end of December 2015 we got on a plane and flew to Haiti. As we arrived we got on the Tap-Tap (taxi) and got driven to the orphanage. The drive was about an hour and a half long on roads that are not paved and had huge potholes. The only scent in the air was not what you would expect- it’s not a tropical flower smell, it’s burning garbage. While trying to talk to my family all we could hear was chaos and mass commotion. “ I’m excited but so nervous at the same time!” I screeched. All of our jaws dropped in wonder. We had all been waiting for that day since the past year when we were in Haiti.…
I flew back to New Orleans and it was just the way I remembered it. The temperature was 98 degrees and the humidity was so high that reapplying deodorant is necessary down here. The French/Spanish architecture gives it a romantic and mysterious appeal. The air was not as fresh as I had wished it was but at least I could still breathe. The air smelled of urine that had been there for years. The streets looked as if a tornado had swept litter back and forth through the town. Residents, not only tourists, walked past it as if trash belonged on the ground.…
On the morning of June 16, I went to a memorial for the 49 victims who died in the Orlando shooting on June 13, 2016. I remember thinking that I could pull myself together, and that I should go and look at all the things people did for those victims. I remember thinking that I would be able to pull myself together for the twenty to thirty minutes it would take to walk around and allow my sister and mother to lay down their notes. I remember thinking that I would be fine, wouldn't let tears slip, even when I couldn't write a note because I knew if it were addressed to those who lost anything that early morning, I wouldn't last half a sentence before tears overthrew my thoughts. I remember telling my mother I could handle it. I remember thinking…
Hot. Humid. In other words, the usual New Orleans summertime day. Now all the local media were buzzing with the new Katrina tracking information. Many people were going about their usual Saturday routines. Some were still oblivious to what was happening. Greg had the kids. I got up, cleaned the house, and washed all the clothes, so if we left (I hadn’t decided for sure yet), I wouldn’t have to do it when we returned. I filled up at a nearby gas station and went shopping. There was an eerie feeling of nervous uncertainty in the air. Supplies were beginning to run out and there were long lines at the gas stations. You knew that people were asking the same question: “Is this the one?” The process of contra-flow (all Interstate 10 lanes going…