Katrina

“Smile, breathe and go slowly.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh

If it doesn't challenge you, then it doesn't change you.

 My City of Ruins~Bruce Springsteen
 Hurricane Katrina Video
 New Orleans Wins the War~Randy Newman

Eight years ago today, one of the five deadliest and the most costly natural disaster in the history of the United States made its second landfall in Louisiana and Mississippi.  Her name was Katrina.  She was a wicked girl that packed a mighty and brutal punch.  Between the hurricane and subsequent floods, more than 1830 people died, which made Katrina the deadliest hurricane since the one which hit Okeechobee in 1928. The damage she caused was estimated at $81 billion dollars — three times that of 1992's Hurricane Andrew.  Think about that.  THREE times what Hurricane Andrew cost.  Andrew had been a BAAAAD boy that had wrought a LOT of damage back in 1992.  At the time when he hit, Andrew was the most costly hurricane in the history of our country.  Who would have EVER thought that one would triple it?  Yet, one had.
Katrina began as a Category 1 hurricane in the Bahamas on August 23, 2005.  As she crossed into southern Florida, she brought flooding and caused a few deaths in her wake before moving out into the Gulf of Mexico where her wrath intensified into a Category 5.
I remember thinking when I heard that on the news that it had become a Category 5: “God help the people in the path of this monster!” Then, I prayed.
I once read an account of someone who had lived through a Category 5 hurricane saying it was as if the gates of hell had opened up and it was coming for you.  I cannot image that, and I grew up in Florida.  I’ve lived through my share of hurricanes.  A Category 5 though is something I can’t fathom.
At the time when Katrina hit, I was living in Maryland.  I’ll never forget waking up on that Monday morning, having my coffee as I got ready for work and hearing that Katrina had  weakened during the night down to a Category 3, before it had made landfall in southeast Louisiana. {Thank God it had weakened.} The main concern was New Orleans, which already sat six feet below sea level.  The other concern was the levees.   Both concerns would prove to be founded.  The levee system catastrophically failed—53 of them were breached as a result of Katrina’s storm surge, flooding 80% of the city.  I gulp as I type that.  I cannot imagine 80% of the city that I live in being flooded!
I remember watching images of New Orleans on the news, as the waters rushed into the city from the breached levees, coupled with the rains.  The levels rose higher and higher along the streets and into the buildings.  I tried to imagine it.  Where do you go when water just keeps coming at you?  Rising up.  Up.  Up. The attic?  The roof?  Are they high up enough to sustain you?  What do you grab first?  Of course, I’d toss our cell phones and my husband’s wallet into my purse, throw that over his shoulder and tell him to take them all to the attic with our puppies.  I’d also give him the emergency bag that’s got bottled water, peanut butter, crackers, canned fruit, batteries, a flashlight, and a few other incidentals to take up as well.  Then, I’d look around for what I’d take.
Would I have any time to consider what I’d take up with me?  How do you decide something like that with belongings that you’ve shared with your husband for 18+ years?  Certainly, I’d want the family photos.  Important papers would be needed.  I know I’d want the quilt my grandmother made for me.  Then, there’s the wedding ring quilt we received as a gift back when we got married.  I definitely would want that.  There are hand towels that a friend made.  She stitched butterflies on them.  I’d want to take them with me.  I couldn’t leave behind the unity candle that my husband and I lit during our wedding ceremony.  Oh, and there’s the vase that my grandmother left me that’s made of Fenton Glass.  She got it as a wedding present 77 years ago when she married my grandfather.  And, there’s a carnival glass bowl that belonged to my Granddaddy Bosher that was also left to me that’s close to 100 years old. There’s a framed picture of me that my mother took when I was about three years old playing in the front of my playpen in the yard.  She entered it in a contest years ago and won a blue ribbon for it.  I couldn’t leave that behind.  I also have an eagle that belonged to my father.  He received it when he was promoted to IST of the Union where we worked. It means a lot to me.  Then, there’s the large cedar box that’s filled with all the love letters that my husband wrote to me during our courtship. That’s a must to go anywhere I go.  How in the world is a person suppose to make a choice as to what is the most important thing or two or three to take?   I can’t imagine having to do it —  having to make that kind of decision in such a short time frame as water was gushing into my home.
As I’ve thought back on the terrible tragedy and devastation that Katrina brought with her rains and storm surges, with the flooding she created, the accidents she caused as well as the power outages – the panic and fear she left so many thousands of people in during that awful summer day, I felt an extra sadness today as I reflected upon it.   I just returned from New Orleans a week and a half ago, where I spent a special week with family and friends celebrating my 50th birthday. It was our first visit to NOLA.   It was a grand time.  The city was alive and vibrant.  I looked for signs–traces of what had transpired there in 2005.   I didn’t see any.  Of course, we were in the French Quarter, and I understand that it didn’t sustain a great deal of physical damage.  I didn’t venture over to the 9th ward where many of the locals say the landscape has not fully recovered or other areas outside the city that were devastated and haven’t come completely back to life.   I heard that musicians have steadily been returning to the area, which is a good thing.  But, for those who say that the magic is gone, that is something that I most definitely did NOT see.  Granted, it was my first visit to New Orleans, however, I know what magic looks like and feels like.  NOLA has still got it.  It might not be the same as it once was prior to August 29th 2005, but nothing can sustain major destruction to the core of who or what it was and not be altered.  It’s unrealistic to think that what happened in New Orleans eight years ago didn’t forever change in some small way a little of what once was.  Almost 2,000 lives were lost and many, many dark days, weeks, months followed in the aftermath of that catastrophe.  That changes a person and a town, but it doesn’t erase what was – not the heart of it.  If a place is strong, it can and will survive.  From what I saw when I visited NOLA, the ties that bind it are strong, and its people are resilient.  It’s like a phoenix rising from the ashes — when it rises up, it’s better and stronger than it was.  Hundred year old Magnolia trees standing firmly planted in the ground were grand testament to that fact.
I discovered a city bustling with people who were excited to be there, because they were in love with their city.  I tasted food that was rich with the flavor and tradition that is only found in that region.  I heard jazz that was so good, I’m still smiling about it!  I met locals who were both fascinating and enchanting.  Katrina may have battered and bruised New Orleans eight years ago, but she did not destroy the spirit of that town nor the wonder or magic that I felt when I visited.  It’s going to take more than a hurricane to destroy the indomitable spirit or fortitude of those who live in the Big Easy — MUCH more...

  What A Wonderful World~Louis Armstrong