The Herald

Issue date: 8/31/07 Section: Opinion

By Sherrell Martin
Campus News Editor

Can you imagine loosing all your worldly possession, friends, and all that you call home in a matter of minutes?

When Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast area on August 29, 2005, approximately 500,000 people lived in New Orleans. Now two years later, half the population has returned despite the city's uncertain future while the other half finds havens in many different places far from home. Still two years later, many New Orleanians remain broken by the flood.

When Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans it exposed one of America's urban cultural icons with her pants down. In the city of Mardi Gras, the French Quarter festival, the New Orleans Jazz Festival, Voodoo, and Cajun and Creole cuisine, no one ever thought that a hurricane would actually destroy the majority of the city. Within minutes the hurricane hit and few hours later, much of the Crescent City became flood damaged; having their homes turned inside out, and everything tainted, even their lives, by the flood that would never hit. Unfortunately, because hurricanes are known to bypass New Orleans at the very last minute, more than half of the city decided to stay and endure the storm believing that they were well able to handle the consequences.

Survivors of Hurricane Katrina have relocated to several states around the country with the majority living in Houston, TX and Atlanta, GA. They initially left New Orleans or were forced out, believing that they would quickly return to the city that they called home. Sadly enough, many families are now suffering from depression and post-traumatic stress syndrome, living cut off from their communities and the comfort they knew all too well. There is a sense of family, love, and heritage that New Orleans has and it is hard to explain to the outside world. It is quite common to hear that many New Orleanians are born, reared, raise a family, and die in the same ward (community). They take pride in their food, dance style, music, and splash of French culture. All they wanted was to go back home to the things that were common to every New Orleanian, like hot sausage po boys, snow balls, smiles in the neighborhood, and friends that they've had all their lives. There is a definite need to nurse back to health the citizens of New Orleans, but how long will the process take, its been almost two years already?

Reports have stated that those stricken by poverty endured the storm because they had no means of evacuating, but what has gone unreported is that many stayed because New Orleans is home, and no one really wanted to leave. After America saw the inconceivable pictures of Americans surviving immediately after the hurricane hit, tens of thousands were rescued and removed from what they called home. If you ask someone from New Orleans what makes the city so special, they would most likely begin to smile and say 'baby, it's the people, the food, and just knowing that no matter where you are, you can say "hey bae, how ya momma and dem?" ,and they'll reply, "they alright".' New Orleanians has a unique sense of home and family that makes any detachment unbearable for most, so how do we help them heal?

Sherrell Martin is graduate student at Texas Southern University and serves as Campus News Editor for the THE HERALD.

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