Hurricane Katrina: Two Years Later

Anyone who has ever visited New Orleans knows that the "Big Easy" is like no other city in the world. It is home to insurmountable amounts of history and folklore, zydeco and jazz music, beignets, Cajun delicacies, "Cities of the Dead," the Voodoo and Jazz Festivals, Lake Ponchartrain; the list goes on and on! Most importantly, the city possesses deep roots in the Creole culture.

When most people think of the "Crescent City," there are usually two things that come to mind: Hurricane Katrina and Mardi Gras. There is so much more to New Orleans, and I should know. I spent five years of my life (right up until Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005) there. I saw New Orleans pre-Katrina when the city was so full of life and "jazz." I was there when Anne Rice still had a house in the Garden District, back when people would camp outside her house for hours on end just to see a glimpse of her before she climbed into her limousine. I remember the "Real World New Orleans" house, the Belfort Mansion, before it was remodeled and the cast members moved out. I was even there when the taping of the film "The Skeleton Key" occurred in downtown New Orleans.

Fortunately, my family and I moved to Newnan a mere few months before Katrina hit. I still have close contact with friends I left behind in Louisiana, and although I did not get a first hand account of the tragedy, I got a pretty good idea of how the events unfolded. I was not able to call everyone right away (due to the overwhelming number of calls the cell phone towers were receiving), but I was able to send text messages and receive word that all my friends and family members were safe and that my old house was still standing. Most of my friends went weeks without power or water and spent the beginning of their freshman year of high school staying in hotels, and in some cases, they even moved to other bordering states.

During Spring Break last year, I went back to New Orleans to see how the city had progressed. The suburbs of the Metro New Orleans area (known to the locals as the "Northshore") are back in full swing, and they have even made drastic improvements to the area with the addition of new subdivisions and local amenities. The French Quarter (or as my friends and I call it "The Quarter") is as good as it's ever been. The city of New Orleans has even started the "Forever New Orleans" campaign, designed to draw in the tourists who once graced downtown.

Sadly, there are still areas that need improvement. On the long drive to New Orleans, my family and I stopped in Biloxi, Mississippi. Hundreds of residents are still living in FEMA trailers, and some of them have even resorted to pitching tents on the beach as sources of shelter. There are still foundations of houses with the address numbers painted on them, indicating where housed used to stand. There are even houses that have "THERE IS NOTHING LEFT. DON'T EVEN TRY BREAKNG IN. WE WILL SHOOT," spray painted on the sides. It gives me goose bumps just thinking about it.

How does all of this affect the students of Newnan High School? Throughout my years at NHS, I have seen the students rally together and raise money for Can-A-Thon and other organizations that have needed help. How are the Katrina victims any different? The tragedy of Hurricane Katrina happened two years ago, but people still need help. That is why I am encouraging the students involved with the various clubs of NHS to rally together to collect money to send to the families in New Orleans and Biloxi. There are many credible organizations that are working hard to provide aid to the families who need it. I even know a few students at NHS who through their church organizations went to New Orleans to help rebuild homes for the residents of New Orleans. Two years later, the city is still in dismay. Let's rally together to make a difference to the people who need it.

For more information on where and how to donate to the Katrina victims, students can contact the following organizations:

The American Red Cross

P.O. Box 37243

Washington, DC 20013

(800) HELP-NOW

www.redcross.org

Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation

c/o Division of Administration

1201 North Third Street, Suite 7-240

P.O. Box 94095

Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9095

www.katrina. louisiana.gov

Habitat for Humanity International

121 Habitat Street

Americus, GA 31709

(229)924-6935

www.habitat.org

--Whitney Black, Editor-in-Chief