Hurricane Katrina showed us something

It’s very surreal to realize that it was only one year ago, today, that the lives of so many people were forever changed by a force named Katrina. Who knew a force of nature would unearth so many truths that should have already been in plain sight to so many Americans.
Was Bush’s response to the stranded citizens of New Orleans really all that surprising? Didn’t we always talk and prophesied about a catastrophic storm that would wash away New Orleans? Was it really all that shocking Louisiana lawmakers would use this opportunity to finally make New Orleans what they always wanted it to be?
Since Katrina, life for the entire U.S. has been an ever changing world wind of new beginnings and tarnished dreams submerged beneath the molded cadaver of a city once thriving with animated life. It has been so easy for everyone to use a year to point fingers at who should have done what. There’s been a lot of “what ifs” and “we should have done this.” But all that is neither here nor there now.
Here we are, one-year later and we’re blaming this person and that person for something that was clearly out of our control. Why not take a moment now to stop and reflect on all the things Katrina taught us about the world we live in today.
One, George Bush’s apathy towards black people, or rather his actions in the aftermath of the storm show as much. Two, Louisiana lawmakers have proven the doubts we’ve always been warned about. Now that the storm forced these two points into the light, no longer can it be denied that when push comes to shove, poor minority classes only have themselves to depend on. Which brings us to our final point…the government isn’t as helpful as we’ve been all lead to believe.
If Katrina did nothing else, it showed that our government will only go so far before it throws up its’ hands and file its’ unwanted mess into trailer parks and forgotten cities. Katrina did one thing if she did nothing else. She taught Americans that all we really have is each other. This is all we really need to rise above any level of flood waters that should destroy a city.
Yes this storm was death and destruction. But it was also a driving force that brought families and friends closer together during a time when we needed each other the most. There are so many families who lost everything in New Orleans, and were forced to depend on family members they might never thought cared, giving them a new start, a new day and a new life without the assistant of “FEMA checks.”
That is the hope and the strength that should be remembered most about Katrina. The checks signed by the love of family are the ones we should be bragging about. Because at the end of the day, once the eye of the storm had dissipated and settled into a calming breeze, all that was left for many was the family that reached out to them to pull their loved ones out of the waters.
We don’t need FEMA, George Bush or his government to live another day. All we need is each other and we’ll be just fine!