Stephen Henderson

UNST 121 Prof. Bagley

2/4/14
Hurricane Katrina Reflection
Hurricane Katrina was definitely one of the worst natural disasters to hit our country.
Despite the fact that the full Category 5 force of the storm missed New Orleans, the resulting
floods and crippling lack of response caused one of the highest death tolls from a natural disaster
in 50 years. Ive never really thought about just how devastating it was on a personal level across
the entire population of New Orleans until watching When the Levees Broke. I always knew that
it was a bit crazy that it could have affected my family, and my friends families as well. Seeing
the images and video presented in the film was astonishing, and heartbreaking.
My family lived just outside of Memphis, Tennessee for three years, ending our tour
there in July of 2005. I think we made it to Oak Harbor, Washington in the second week of
August. So its really strange to think about just how close we would have been to Katrina, and
its aftermath. I remember thinking, when it happened, that it would blow over pretty quickly.
Everything that I was seeing and understanding on the news said that things were fine, and that
the floods were minor. But I didnt watch much news at that age, so I probably missed more than
I think. Later that year I heard a lot of stories from my grandparents, from both sides of my
family, about the New Orleans people flooding the big cities in Texas and Arkansas. My dads
parents live in Arkansas, as well as his younger sister, and my moms parents and older sister are
in Texas. None of them live super close to big, urban areas, but they said that there were a few
times they saw refugees in San Antonio and Little Rock. Having been to those places myself, it
was surreal to think about them being swarmed by the citizens of New Orleans.
Now that I learn more about what happened, Im astonished that this sort of documentary
isnt a staple in American high-school curriculum. Im glad we watched it, and that I could gain
knowledge about the atrocious lack of government response, as well as the real life effects of the
floods and power outages that happened during the first week after the storm. But there are a lot
of people in America that never go to college, for all sorts of reasons. High-school, however, is
required for all kids by law. If schools were to incorporate at least some parts of this video into a
government class curriculum, or even American history, it might help to improve the future of
our country. As my generation grows older, there exists the possibility of going into politics, and
attempting to change things in the American government for the better. This event should not be
lightly forgotten, but learned from instead. Ive had a very privileged education, so I know that if
I had never even heard of this documentary, then there is a huge population of kids, and probably
just as many adults, who dont even know of its existence, let alone its content. I was astounded
by the facts presented about our governments lack of response to the issue. Even more so, I was
stunned by the fact that when other local and state governments tried to send help in the forms of
supply convoys, police forces, and even tractors hauling water, they were all basically denied by
FEMA and those who wanted the power in the situation.
The whole event is a major black mark on the modern American governments history.
FEMAs lack of organization, the web of bureaucratic red tape, and the overall late response
reflect terribly on the whole idea that our government works for us. The American people truly
do need to remember that it is they that run the country, and that the government is simply a hand
to our collective body. The citizens of this nation are one massive, collected intelligence that sits
idly by and expects the governing bodies to carry out their wishes, while in reality, those
governing bodies take advantage of our lax attitude to benefit themselves, and only themselves.

References
"Leadership vacuum stymied aid offers."CNN.com. CNN, n.d. Web. 5 Feb. 2014.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/15/katrina.response
"The Photos." Telling Their Stories. NPPA, 31 July 2010. Web. 5 Feb. 2014.
http://tellingtheirstories.com/exhibit/the-photos/
Levy, Clifford. "Seeing Life Outside New Orleans Alters Life Inside It." The New York
Times. The New York Times, 20 Nov. 2005. Web. 5 Feb. 2014.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/20/weekinreview/20levy.html?ref=hurricanekatrina&_r=0
When the levees broke: a requiem in four acts. Dir. Spike Lee. Perf. Al Sharpton, Ray
Nagin, Soledad O'Brien. HBO Video, 2006. DVD.