Although I was 15 at the time of its occurrence and I’m sure sometime before that age the media has made an impact on me, but nothing shook me like the devastating event of Hurricane Katrina. In 2005 the southern United States was hit by a Category 5 hurricane. Leaving 1,836 confirmed fatalities and up to 90 billion dollars in damages. Hurricane Katrina was the deadliest and costliest natural disaster on record in the United States.

To be perfectly honest, when the hurricane first hit I was unaware as to how much damage was actually done. It wasn’t until I saw the shocking images from the newspapers that put me in a total state of shock. I couldn’t believe what I was looking at; I couldn’t believe that this was a real event. The images looked like something out of a movie, but they weren’t. They were real, the people in them were real, and this was reality for New Orleans. The images made me sick to my stomach; I just couldn’t fathom the idea that this was the effect of a hurricane.

The real frightening part of the whole catastrophe only began after the hurricane had hit. I asked myself where were these people going to go? What about their homes? How are they going to survive? And from the looks on their faces in the pictures, you could tell that they were asking themselves the same questions, unable to come up with answers. I remember it like yesterday that I was with my boss at work and I saw pictures from the New York Post that actually made me freeze. I was in utter disbelief of what was before my eyes.

Besides showing me shocking images, it gave my speculations. The details of the government’s awareness began to pour out. There were questions circulating regarding whether the response was quick enough, which I didn’t believe it was nor did I think that there was enough organization during the catastrophe. But at the same time I don’t think that anyone anticipated the amount of destruction or the breaking of levees in New Orleans.

I have never been to New Orleans and thank g-d I haven’t suffered through a natural disaster. But I must say based on what the media was putting out regarding the awful Hurricane I felt devastated for those people and it made me feel for the first time since 9/11 totally shocked and deeply saddened at the unbelievable event. Even till this day I admire the survivors of the Hurricane and although I did not know anyone in New Orleans, I mourned the loss of those who fell victim to the disastrous monster.