On Saturday August 30, three years and two days after hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, I saw a segment on Good Morning America about an extraordinary 3rd grade art project at a New Orleans elementary school. The children were asked to create two boxes—one filled with memories from the storm that changed their lives; the second to contain their hopes, wishes, and dreams for the future.
For these children, the memories of Katrina are still palpable. This was never more evident to me than in these words from 9-year-old Rodney Green.
"People are still suffering from the storm. People still don't have houses, food, and water. And people don't have enough money to afford it because of the storm. People are still struggling. Katrina never left," he said. "The water may have gone, but she never left.
As the powerful winds and rain of Gustav head towards these same shores, the resiliency of the men, women and children of this battered region will once again be pushed to extraordinary limits. People will suffer from yet another storm. Homes, many just recently rebuilt, and houses in the final stages of becoming homes, stand on the precipice of disaster.
The water may have gone, but she never left. And now Gustav is about to join his sister.
(Originally posted to KidsTerrain.)
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