Hope Amid the Devastation
By: Nina Nocciolino
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the world watched in horror as part of our nation's history floated away, claiming 1,383 lives along the way. The once crowded streets of New Orleans were empty. The
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the world watched in horror as part of our nation's history floated away, claiming 1,383 lives along the way. The once crowded streets of New Orleans were empty. The bustling jazz that crept over window sills in the historical French quarter, and the spirited Jazz quarter had ceased. Ninety percent of the buildings in Biloxi Mississippi and neighboring Gulfport were destroyed. And the people that did survive Katrina's rage...were lost.
But something else surfaced along side the devastation from the storm. Hope.
America redefined humanity as communities across the country opened their homes, their hearts and their wallets to support the people struggling to survive in the south.
Celebrities who had everything to give and common folk with nothing but the shoes on their feet came forward offering assistance to more than 400,000 people displaced by the disaster.
College students from Elon University, Boise State, Johns Hopkins University and Loyola College in Maryland have sent relief teams to areas of the Gulf to help rebuild. Penn State sent groups to Long Beach, Miss., to preserve the public library's book collection, and plans on sending three waves of student relief to Bayou La Batre, a village in Alabama hit hard by the hurricane to renovate a local police station during the students' spring break.
Within days after the storm hit in late August, online communities like Craigslist.com had thousands of posts from people willing to carpool to the Gulf, adopt abandoned animals and house victims from the hurricanes. HurricaneHousing.org asked people to open their homes to Katrina survivors. The site placed 30,000 people in homes in just six weeks before shutting down in October.
Area businesses came forward offering monetary and physical support. Prudential, Fox and Roach, a Philadelphia based real estate firm, worked with Habitat for Humanity to construct a fully heated and air conditioned, "house-in-a-box," that was then transported to Lafayette, Louisiana for a family.
FEMA has spent $400 million on hotel and motel stays for displaced victims nationwide.
But time is running out. Of the 6,228 hotel rooms occupied by hurricane victims across the country, only 2,375 have been approved for extended housing beyond the Feb.7 deadline. And city officials in the south are beginning to wonder if their beloved citizens will return.
A Brown University study that ran in the Chicago Tribune determined that the population of New Orleans could shrink to 140,000 from its pre-hurricane level of 484,000, if neighborhoods are not rebuilt, relocation costs become too high, or people simply decide to lay down roots elsewhere. In an effort to rebuild communities destroyed by Katrina, people continue to give their time and money because in the famous words of U2, "Sometimes you can't make it on your own."
For more information on how to help victims of Hurricane Katrina visit ReJazz New Orleans, The American Red Cross, The Salvation Army, and Catholic Charities and Guidestar for a list of charities.
About the author:
Nina Nocciolino is a copywriter for DMi Partners, an interactive marketing firm specializing in higher education, retail, real estate and finance.
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