The Lost Generation: 3 Years After Hurricane Katrina

Nearly 3 years ago, Hurricane Katrina tore through New Orleans and the Southern coast of Mississippi in one of the worst natural disasters in our nation's history. Thousands of people lost their homes as the levee system failed leaving over 10 feet of stagnant, fetid water in houses throughout the New Orleans metro area. An entire American city displaced to various neighboring states, their lives turned upside down. But once the water subsided, the question still remained: How do you rebuild an entire community? More importantly, would you want to?

I didn't live in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. I had moved out several years ago when family and jobs took me to St Louis. But my grandparents, aunts and uncles still lived down in there. The weekend of Katrina brought an unexpected flux of family members to our house. They sat, nervously devouring any information the news media would provide-anxious to know if their houses, their belongings, their lives were safe. When they were allowed to go back into New Orleans, they drove down. 1 minivan, 10 gallons of water, cleaning solvent, first aid kits and breathing masks were all they took. They did not know what they would find; they prayed together and then braced themselves for the worst.

Most of my family would have water damage in their homes, and although it would take years, they would rebuild. But my grandparents, my 84-year-old grandparents, would find their house gone. Flooded by the worst of the water, a lifetime of memories, savings, and hard work were washed away overnight. They had no clothes, no pictures, and no family heirlooms. In the blink of an eye, everything was gone.

While the rest of the city began the long and arduous task of rebuilding, my grandparents began the overwhelming task of starting over. Their house was gutted; no possessions remained. All that was left was the contents of one suitcase-not a fair trade for a lifetime of hard work and saving. They moved into my aunt's house and settled into their new life, but it wasn't easy. Their water exercise class was no longer available and all of their friends were gone. The activities that kept them busy no longer existed. There was no house to clean, no lawn to mow, no errands to run. The result has been a slow decline into depression. That is a post Katrina statistic that cannot be measured.

After Hurricane Katrina was over, people counted the damage. There were billions of dollars in lost homes, power plants, and property. Almost 2000 people lost their lives, and countless others were displaced, never to return. The ones that did return to the city have fearlessly rebuilt their community, courageously defying the odds. But one statistic isn't being counted. One statistic isn't being followed---what has happened to the thousands of elderly people that have been displaced because of Katrina. Many of them have already died, loosing the will to live. It is hard enough to rebuild your life when you are 40, but when you are 80, it's down right impossible. Like my grandparents, they shuffle to and from doctor's appointments and lay awake at night wondering, "What's it all for?" Many of my grandparents' friends have already passed away, their health declining after Hurricane Katrina for unknown reasons. But there are reasons...we know the reasons.

So while the rest of the country has all but forgotten about Hurricane Katrina, and while the rest of New Orleans is preoccupied with its' rebuilding efforts, an entire generation fades into the shadows. They watch from behind nursing home windows and hospital doorways as the city they loved, the city they built surges into the future without them.