A Changed Society

            

                       

      Much was ripped away from the city of New Orleans, aside from the homes, businesses, and lives that were lost. Outsiders may have a difficult time comprehending the way that this city was affected and how the residents are still strongly feeling the aftermath of the disaster. There has been an interesting conversation being had among residents of New Orleans and other cities across the country that, in short, places the blame of this natural disaster on former President George W. Bush (McClay, 2005). On a tour, my class was told a personal story from a friend of a victim of the storm. He was swept out of a top story window and got caught in a tree, where he waited for 5 days, without food or water. We could not imagine how many similar (or far worse) stories have been told.
          It does not make much sense to blame a person or an administration for disintegrating wetlands, broken levees, and global warming; all of which have been attributed to the disaster that occurred in New Orleans. However, there seems to have been quite a bit of dismay expressed towards the fact that relief and rescue efforts were inadequate (McClay, 2005). Shelters were set up in Louisiana and neighboring states for people who needed to evacuate. The conditions in the shelters after the hurricane were considered despicable, and this left some of the survivors feeling abandoned by their country.

(From the Presbytere Museum in New Orleans. "In the days following Hurricane Katrina, shock turned to frustration and anger as millions watched desperate citizens trapped on rooftops or stranded at triage points for days, with woefully inadequate food, water, and medical supplies." "A lot of folks are looking at the t.v. and saying, 'Is this America?") 

(From the Presbytere. It states that people were rescued from their homes only to be dropped off at shelters with little to no water and food. It took several days for responders to arrive to take citizens to safer shelters.)

In turn, came a bit of an uproar in the city. There have been numerous accounts of horrific events occurring, such as rescue workers being shot at and civilians being raped, or even killed by others in order to obtain more food and water (McClay, 2005). It happens to be that a good majority of the people that needed support during this time were African American and underprivileged. Again, the general feeling that was being expressed was that New Orleans was an abandoned city, the government did not care about the people in the city, and it mostly boiled down to a racial issue. Instead of coming together and helping all people, the media, as usual, pushed towards a further divide.

*These photos appeared in the news on the same day.  This is a perfect example of manipulation by media.

In a sense, Hurricane Katrina set the city back decades. Racism had never gone away, however, the impact of it was felt intensely during this time. New Orleans lost more than eighteen hundred people, the feeling that it was “a land of dreams,” and it turned into what looked and felt like a war zone to those living there (McClay, 2005, pg. 40). The idea of rebuilding would entail a great deal of efforts, not only to restore the homes and buildings lost, but to restore the mentality of its remaining residents.

(Garage door displayed in the Presbytere Museum. The only way the inhabits of this home could communicate the fact that they wanted to come back and retrieve the body of their loved one.)

Among the people that were killed or relocated were musicians, artists, chefs, and families, and along with them, went part of the culture of New Orleans. The city could no longer host its most popular events such as art shows, Mardi Gras, or the Jazz Music Festival. The restaurants that served the ever popular creole cuisine were destroyed or forced to close. Performers were no longer able to expose their talents out in the open, and New Orleans was no longer the same. It would take many years to take on any resemblance of its previous state.

McClay, M. “The Storm Over Katrina.” Commentary, (2005). Literary Reference Center, Web 2. Jan. 2017.