While the flood-stricken nation of Pakistan faces years of need and people in northeast India are fleeing their homes after heavy monsoon rains triggered flooding, next Sunday marks the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the levee breaches that flooded New Orleans in the US.
The 2005 hurricane overwhelmed New Orleans’s series of protective levees and flood walls along the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, leading to the inundation of entire neighbourhoods and the high death toll in the city founded by the French three centuries ago.
Today, as people in the wide area of the Gulf of Mexico and Louisiana are still trying to come to terms with the recent BP oil disaster, the people of New Orleans have still not recovered from the natural disaster that crippled their area five years ago, and although many have returned to the region a sense of devastation and tragedy hangs in the air.
In 2005, Katrina unleashed torrential rains, leading to disastrous flooding that left about 1,600 people dead, destroyed thousands of homes and ill-affected the presidency of President George W. Bush, whose administration was severely criticised for its handling of the crisis.
As the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaches, a community haunted by one of the deadliest disasters in US history is struggling to regain trust in the authorities. In the chaotic aftermath of the storm, which tore through the Gulf of Mexico on August 29, 2005 and led to the loss of more than 1,500 lives, many storm-battered homes still sit vacant and open to intruders, providing a welcome haven for drug dealing and violent crime.
“Now, that’s a nice home, but the problem is, you’ve got to persuade somebody to come and live in it,” says one resident, gesturing to one house. Events marking this sad milestone will be held throughout the week, from the unveiling of a 17th Street Canal Historic Marker in West End to the fifth annual Katrina Commemoration March.
President Obama will be visiting New Orleans later this month, to mark the Katrina anniversary. His visit should be a show of solidarity with a region struggling in the wake of the massive BP oil spill, which devastated the area economy.
Meantime, while Hurricane Katrina may have long since blown over, the need for emotional healing continues for those who survived. With thousands of people forced to relocate to new unfamiliar environments and communities, and others returning to their homes only to find their friends and social structures missing, many survivors continue to feel isolated, sad and lonely in their struggle to rebuild their lives.
Both the Katrina and oil spill disaster changed the lives of millions of people across the United States and prompted a response from the central government.
The fifth anniversary of the hurricane of 2005 should be a reminder that the unthinkable can happen and that everyone must be ready to expect the unexpected anywhere and anytime.