Katrina- One Year Later

Today is the first anniversary of the disaster that was Hurricane Katrina.

On August 29, 2005, three levees- the 17th St. Canal near Metairie; the Industrial Canal in the Lower Ninth Ward; and the London Canal were breached by Katrina, which blew through the Gulf (of Mexico) as a Category 3 hurricane. You already know of the horror of seeing houses underwater, and folks- many of them black and poor- screaming for help. The Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula area wasn't spared either, as at least one town was completely destroyed by Katrina. Over 1800 souls were lost throughout the Gulf region.

There are the arguments over whether New Orleans should be rebuilt or not. Some say that New Orleans is a integral part of American history, as it is the birth place of jazz, not to mention the fact that it had survived other major hurricanes before Katrina (Betsy in 1965; Camille in 1969). Others say that rebuilding on land that is a dozen feet below sea level is foolish, and the land that was- and in many parts of what was once the Lower Ninth Ward, still is- damaged would be best left off returning to wetland. Those who support rebuilding say that it'll bring back a sense of community, and no Halliburton corporate type is gonna take it over and turn it into the equivalent of, say Miami Beach (or even Portland, Oregon's Pearl District and San Francisco's SoMa). Those who are against it say that the government shouldn't dump billions of dollars into rebuilding, that the job is best left to private developers.

However you want to look at it, we all can agree that New Orleans is part of Americana, and if we were to lose it altogether, we lose part of America. And if we lose one part of America, what's not to say that other parts will die come the next major disaster or terrorist attack.