hurricane

The reality of Rita hit my parents last fall. Although they fared far better than those who lost it all. They still faced a great many set backs upon returning home. Their house was stable, no significant damage to complain of. But my father's place of business was distroyed. To make the situation a little worse, he suffered a fire at his previous business location not three years earlier and had finally reached stability -- then Rita ripped the roof off his new building (he was there for about 6 months, still getting situated). He still works out of his house because of the massive insurance claims. So he continues to wait in line for his turn to rebuild.

It was quite depressing. Even for me, who by all accounts was far from the destruction and on my own so no burden on the parents there. Yet, I fully understand the desire to move back. After all, it is your home. It would be unsettling to return "home" to see my parents at a house I never lived in.

As for building communities in hurricane vulnerable places... That's a tough one. Yes, I do think that these communities need to be rebuilt. Not only does it uplift those who survived the storm but it empowers the human spirit's ability to overcome even things that we cannot control. With that said, I think that more attention should be placed upon preventing this type of disaster from occuring again. By this I mean rebuilding the levees, abandoning neighborhoods that were demolished and using these lands as a buffer to protect those further inland. etc.

The main issue I have with the reconstruction is who should pay? Many are quick to say the federal govt should help protect those in need, supplying the best option possible to prevent future devestation. But is that fair to the other 49 states of people who choose (wisely it seems) to live far from flood waters? Then you must weigh the cost of not redeveloping such a place as NOLA. How much will we lose from the destruction of the port? How much would it cost to redirect imports and exports to another port? Can these other ports handle the intake? It's a game of weigh your options and try to come up with the least expensive most beneficial solution as possible.

I had the misfortune of moving to Louisiana last May. My husband was medically discharged from the Army, and he had a scholarship to UL for music education, so I transferred schools and moved there with him. As hurricane season approached, I got scared and asked every one else how they could go through it. They all told me "it's not that bad". Enter Katrina.

Now the area I lived in was just west of New Orleans, so we really did not get too much damage. Some flooding and yard art from other people's yards hit us. Then I asked every one if they fell on their heads, "not that bad?" and they replied that it never happens, Katrina was a fluke. Enter Rita.

As I evacuated from my home to take refuge in a hunting camp in Mississippi, I decided we were not going back there to live. Rita turned and sure enough, our home and every thing in it, save what we could fit in our little cavelier, was gone. Never happens? yea, right.

So, as soon as we could, my husband and I hightailed it back to west Texas, where there is no weather. The only help we received was $600 from the Red Cross, and $794 from FEMA, which barely paid for the gas to get all the way across texas and rent for a month in our new place. Thank goodness my school (which I am back at) and my husband's Army unit were able to help us.

One thing I did come to realize in all of this, though, was how dependent United States citizens have become on the government. Now, I realize that the government needs to keep people safe; but where does personal responsibility end and the government need to step in?