25 years since Hurricane Katrina, its transformative impact is fresh as yesterday
Spotty phone service. Stores closed. Scarce food. Rations on gasoline.
Fights – some deadly – as tensions boil from people angling for necessities in snaking lines during searing heat.
Such scenarios are common in the aftermath of catastrophic storms: In this case, Hurricane Katrina's ravage along the Gulf Coast – particularly southeast Florida, Mississippi and southeast Louisiana.
But the scenarios described above happened in Jackson, Mississippi, some 250 miles from where the hurricane made a second landfall on Aug. 29, 2005, in Buras, Louisiana. The Magnolia State's capital city had prepared to take in the thousands of fleeing residents who lived in the areas projected to be hit hardest.
What Jackson was not prepared for was a storm that still would be a strong Category 1 as it unleashed its fury northward. It had short-term shelters for evacuees, but not a plan B for the prolonged consequences on its residents. I was among the editing team for the Jackson-based Clarion-Ledger (part of the USA TODAY Network). We, along with the rest of the content staff, had spent days compiling resource guides for evacuees, interviewing those who had taken early shelter and putting together a plan for post-coverage.
More: A local reporter's experience covering Western North Carolina in the wake of Helene
What we didn't know is we'd end up among those trying to figure out how to get back home from the office via debris-filled streets, how we'd care for our families and still work, how we'd account for loved ones farther south when communication was lost. On top of that, cellphones were not ubiquitous possessions. Therefore, editors who had one gave them up to staffers who were in the field. The first weekend I got mine back, my 2-year-old son dropped it in a bucket of water on the deck. And there was no way to get another one for some time.
A month passed before I learned my older sister in hard-hit Gulfport survived. And though I thought I'd well-handled 11 days of what felt like survival in the Outback, I finally broke down in tears when my toddlers got their first taste of a hot breakfast – just oatmeal, mind you – gobbling it as if they had not had a meal in weeks. Weathering and working through Katrina sharpened me as a parent and a professional.
Yet this was nothing compared with what those who fled their homes faced, not to mention those who'd stayed.
Evacuees from greater New Orleans, along with the rest of the world, learned of the compounded devastation of levees failing the day after landfall. Catastrophic flooding and a surging death toll resulted. A return home anytime soon was not possible.
Evacuees were dispersed to 45 states and the District of Columbia, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Some 65% to 73% did make their way back. For the remaining, returning permanently was not feasible.
Hurricane Katrina still holds the distinction as the costliest hurricane in U.S history and the third deadliest. The USA TODAY Network is chronicling its lingering impact along the Gulf Coast and throughout the U.S., and the resilience of the people involved.
If you or anyone you know in Delaware, South Jersey or the Philly burbs is part of the Katrina diaspora, please contact us at forms.office.com/r/F397mvN8NL and share your story.
Meanwhile, as I've previously mentioned, Delaware Online/The News Journal is stepping up our efforts meet you out in the actual community. We are setting up mobile newsrooms up and down Delaware where you can meet some of the staffers, get insights on how the newsroom operates, pitch story ideas and learn about community resources.
You may also have the opportunity to get a free, no-strings-attached subscription. But, you have to come see us. Stay tuned for where we'll post up next. And send ideas on where you think would be great places for us to do a pop-up.
More from this editor: Take it from Grandpa: Community coverage can be a bridge across divides
Jamesetta Miller Walker is the editor for emerging audiences and inclusion storytelling. Reach her at jmwalker1@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: 25 years since Katrina, its transformative impact is fresh as yesterday
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