What Hurricane Season?

After the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina last summer, I'm sure every one in the United States was more than relieved to end the slated "hurricane season" of 2006. After a devastating hurricane season in both 2004 and 2005, this year there was not a single hurricane to hit the shores of the United States. "Only three tropical storms made landfall, a welcome relief from the previous two years, when nearly a dozen hurricanes battered the country." I think that tensions were high in the south this year because of the forecasted amounts of hurricanes for 2006, and because of the unthinkable fury of Hurricane Katrina. Katrina was an almost unthinkable phenomenon that utterly destroyed the heart of Louisiana and the south. New Orleans was thrown into complete shambles and the government was completely unprepared. FEMA was tested in a way it had never been tested before, and proved to be a failure to most of the victims of Katrina. Not only did Katrina hit Louisiana hard, but it also smacked the government in the face as well. The government was exposed, and the common citizen realized that we are not as prepared for disaster as the government would like us to believe.

On another note, I spent my spring break in Houma, Louisiana last year helping to repair and rebuild the community from hurricane Katrina. I spent two weeks cleaning houses, painting houses, and even filing paper work for the sommunity relief center. Since we were staying on a modern indian reservation of the Houma Indians, we helped run and stock the relief center for the community. It was amazing to see the outpouring of donations that came into the center. From donated clothes, to diapers, to backpacks, to canned goods; it was all stocked in that relief center. The amazing part was, that all of the patrons of the center were rationed a certain amount of goods per visit, and paid nothing for them. As long as they brought their tribal card to the relief center, they were provided with free food for the week, from a government grant post-Katrina. It was amazing to me to see the unthinkable destruction that Hurricane Katrina left even many, many months after the initial impact. It was an experience that will stay with me for the rest of my life, and i realized that it will take many many years to rebuild and recover from the disaster of last year.