It is so hard to believe that it has been one year since Hurricane Katrina hit this region. What effects has it had on the nation and the world?
The world watched this event as it was beamed around the world via satellite; we were totally in shock and disbelieving with what we were witnessing. The United States of America was being blasted by the largest hurricane since the 1928. It was distressing to observe people in such dire need and the devastation to New Orleans and surrounding districts.
The biggest shock was the slowness of the governing bodies to get the assistance from the appropriate bodies to save the people who had survived the disaster. There was much disappointment with regard to the slow response of the federal government to provide support for the people whose houses were destroyed and those who were left homeless. The delay in providing assistance with food, shelter and medicine has been under scrutiny by many agencies.
There were fears that the lack of concern was because the region is poor and has a high black population but the truth is that there has never been a disaster of this magnitude to test the strategies of these boroughs before, until now. The damage caused by Katrina covered covered 90,000 square miles or 233,000 km 2 or an area almost as large as the United Kingdom and costs are estimated to be $81.2 billion US dollars. There was an overwhelming response from seventy nations who offered support by pledging money or assistance. The USA declined some offers then realizing the enormity of the storm and damage finally accepted the help. There has been a large amount of criticism towards the US because of its slow response to the disaster but I believe that they were inexperienced and unprepared.
There is still much planning to do before this city can rebuild or do anything of value for some of its inhabitants. Some areas were totally destroyed and they will never be the same again but there are long waiting lists from the insurance companies who say that many of these people did not have the insurance that covered this kind of disaster and then to find suitably qualified tradesmen to fix these damages, has made this an even more arduous task. It will be a long road for many people who survived this tragedy but there will always be hope and a helping hand.
