The famous headline-accompanying Katrina photo: Taken here in
Pascagoula, MS: "Thousands upon thousands were affected by Hurricane Katrina, which struck Louisiana on Aug. 29, 2005. The magnitude of the catastrophe is depicted on a personal level in the new graphic novel “A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge,” written and illustrated by Josh Neufeld and published by Pantheon."
As another anniversary approaches - Katrina memories are whirling around in my head with greater frequency and intensity... Almost like a - yeah - hurricane. I wonder how much of that is due to the lingering post-traumatic stress disorder related to the event itself.... rather than PTSD related to the really lousy, disingenuous, politically-motivated, and infuriating news coverage which followed.
I've mentioned many times before that the most devastating feeling post-Katrina was that of
total isolation. I don't blame the hurricane for that feeling. I blame the national news media. For solid months they reported from, on, about, in, within, above, and in spite of New Orleans, Louisiana. Every now and then they would mention the state of Louisiana in general. In the meantime, we listened from our rotting homes in Mississippi... Saved only by those volunteers who couldn't get into New Orleans right away and ended up on our shores completely by accident. (It was rather common for volunteers to be quite surprised when we told them they were not, in fact, in Louisiana... Often they seemed a bit worried - as if they realized they were
supposed to be in Louisiana and there must have been some mistake.)
From the article linked above:
"The winding road leading to the New Orleans novel began when Mr. Neufeld signed up to work with the Red Cross after the hurricane hit, serving as a disaster response worker in Biloxi, Miss., for almost a month. He said the catalyst for volunteering was 9/11. “Having been in New York when the towers fell, I remember that overwhelming feeling of helplessness and displaced anger,” he said. “When Katrina hit, I saw what was happening, and I realized that I, as a single person, could somehow help.” Mr. Neufeld blogged about his experience and self-published a collection of his dispatches called “Katrina Came Calling.”" (my emphasis)
It's got to be downright confusing to people fed a steady diet of MSM coverage for the last few years when the NYT throws in Biloxi, MS in an article which refers to the disaster exclusively in relation to New Orleans, LA.
OH but this almost clears it up:
"Together Mr. Neufeld and Mr. Smith decided to focus on New Orleans rather than on the whole Gulf Coast and to look for a broad range of people with different experiences."
Hey - wouldn't it be easier to 'look for a broad range of people with different experiences' on the whole Gulf Coast? These guys just made it harder on themselves, eh?
Let's see what else the news has for us as we approach the fourth anniversary.
From the Washington Post this week - we have this nice weather chap who tells the story of coming down to see Katrina make landfall... moving east toward Pascagoula out of concern for safety.. and having to evacuate through flooded roads as the surge came in.
Other than that, well, just see for yourself - I can't read anymore.
UPDATE: My link stopped working for the 'see for yourself' section and I'm feeling a bit under the weather.. My apologies. If you're interested... I am quite sure that any internet news search for keywords: Hurricane Katrina will produce the same results.
