Tuesday 28 August 2012

Hurricane Katrina - Remembered. August 29 2005.

Once again Mother Nature strikes a blow to the people in the South East of the United States in the shape, this time, 'Nasty B*stard Isaac' aka Tropical Storm Isaac, which has already claimed at least 8 lives in Haiti en route to other parts of the Caribbean and Florida.
 Live tracker removed
There are some uncanny coincidences between the path, dates and unpredictability of this and Hurricane Katrina that wreaked havoc and devastation at this exact time seven years ago.
As a mere Brit I have absolutely no idea how you deal with that type of expectation, my own inclination after one major sniff of anything that looks like it is going to develop into a Hurricane of whatever gender would be to head somewhere less potentially dangerous! 
Obviously the people of Louisiana, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi are made of stronger stuff. A fact I already know very well. 
Once again I post a removed live tracker of a Tropical Storm/Hurricane when my intention of posting is really in remembrance of the thousands of dead that lost their lives to 'nature', August 29th 2005. Hurricane Katrina.

The original post was August 29th 2007 and was updated on 29th August 2010, it is as important now in 2012 as it was then.
I have left the links even though some are broken, but I would be extremely grateful if you could just spend five minutes this week, remembering.
Thank You........

This is the original post........


THIS BLOGLAND IN WHICH WE ALL EXIST IS A VERY STRANGE ONE INDEED, SOMETIMES I'M REALLY NOT SURE ABOUT IT AT ALL.
A MATTER OF HOURS AGO I WAS ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO JOIN ME IN THE CELEBRATIONS OF MY HOME CITY AND NOW I AM ASKING YOU ALL TO GIVE FIVE MINUTES OF YOUR PRECIOUS TIME TO THINK ABOUT AND REMEMBER THE 1,836 PEOPLE WHO LOST THEIR LIVES AND ANOTHER 705 WHO HAVE NEVER BEEN ACCOUNTED FOR IN THE DEADLIEST HURRICANE IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. JUST TWO YEARS AGO TODAY.
1,577 OF THESE PEOPLE WERE FROM LOUISIANA AND 238 FROM MISSISSIPPI.

AUGUST 29TH 2005
"Not a day goes by that I don't meet somebody that lost somebody, everything or their mind"
These were the words said to me by a great friend who I met through this blog and who indirectly inspired me to do this post. Until I started looking into it I had absolutely no idea, sitting here an Americophile in the UK just how devastating it all was, I was shocked to the very core at how the people that had been touched by this natural phenomenon coped and how the communities were forced to rebuild mostly with very little help.
As we remember so must we learn and if you ever feel a bit down and we all do from time to time, think about the Spirit of New Orleans and it's people, not just the structures are being rebuilt from scratch but the whole dynamic of a city and by all accounts they are doing well.
There are a few links if you want to see about what went wrong, what went right and some of the new beginings that have been made. I'm sure somewhere you will even find places where you can still donate and help in other ways.
Thank you for remembering and thank you for your time.
LINKS

Ok so here we are back to present day and earlier this year, I was lucky enough to revisit New Orleans after having visited in 2010 and WOW!!! are they doing well!! Of course there is still things to be done, that goes without saying but the overall dynamic of the city and importantly its people is forever upward. I was lucky enough to be there for Mardi Gras, arguably the world's biggest party and really should be on every person's bucket list of things to do before they die.
However that is for another time..... 
I would like to share some pictures with you of the most tranquil and beautiful place in the whole of the city, where even the distinctive rattle of the street cars is drowned out by the singing of the birds! No I don't know how that happens either!! Trust me though it does!!

THE NEW ORLEANS KATRINA MEMORIAL









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