Katrina

Hurricane Katrina
The calm breeze and silence had an eerie feeling at a time like this. Getting up early enough in the morning and being able to watch as the sun rises, the Earth waking up with it is so peaceful. By just watching the waves slowly cascade then crash against the sandy beach takes you away for a moment; it makes you forget about some of your problems and just relax. Yet as your turn to face what is left of your childhood home and the rest of your small beachfront town you realize what has just happened is anything but calm or tranquil.   The specifics are all a blur, constant radio news bulletins interrupted by static. Hoping and praying that the parts you can’t make out aren’t the most important. It seems as though it all happened at once, the images of a huge tropical storm developing over the gulf. At first it was just speculation, meteorologists weren’t for sure that it would develop into a hurricane and where exactly it would go. When they realized the true effects of the hurricane it was almost too late; thousands of people to warn and almost half of them are unable to reach. The storms before the hurricane caused stress to the already fragile levee systems by raising the water levels close to flooding height.   The excessive winds knocked trees over, ripped shingles off, knocked power lines over, and this was all before Katrina even hit. It just seems like a dream I guess, hard to believe that the house I’ve grown up in and learned important lessons is gone. As quick as a blink of an eye your life can change forever and it’s your choice whether or not you want to fall down or rise up. I have that choice to make, being the oldest sibling I’m looked at as a role model to my younger sister and if I fall apart I’m not quite sure how she would handle it. But the only reasonable thing at a time like this seems to be to just collapse into the sand. Everything I once had, I once knew is now gone. I feel empty inside like a piece of me is missing and I’m...