Ten Years Later

August 23, 2005 marked the date of natural disaster, hurricane Katrina. With winds over 170 mph Katrina tore through New Orleans, leaving behind destroyed homes and lives. This August marked the 10 year anniversary of Katrina. Katrina lasted for a total of 8 days and flooded 80% of New Orleans. It also flooded nearby towns. "I was six at the time," said now 16 Monae Polk. Polk was born in New Orleans and still resides there today. "I remember coming home from my grandma's house and seeing most of my things packed." Polk recalls her mom telling her they were going to a family members house that was far from New Orleans. Her immediate family met up with her and her mom after they had gotten their things together as well. It was hard to convince my grandmother to leave said Polk. At the time, Polk was unaware that there was a hurricane coming. "Me and my cousins were catching up, doing kid things, then all of the adults watch the news and it hit me. I lost everything." Central Senior Reilly McCadam was living in Mandeville, Louisiana when Katrina hit. Mandeville is less than 45 minutes away from New Orleans. McCadam was eight at the time. "My neighbor's parent's had a house in Florida," said McCadam. "We stayed there for about a week." When McCadam and her family returned to Mandeville, she remembered seeing debris on the highway. "I lived in a gated community. When we got back the gate was gone and there was a sign saying 'looters will be shot'," said McCadam. Jahrealle Williams had a different account of what happened. She too lives in New Orleans and was six when Katrina hit. Williams said she was scared during Katrina. Unlike Polk and McCadam, William's family did not evacuate. She remembers sitting on her stair case and watching the water come into her house from under the cracks of her door. "I don't live in my home anymore," she said. The super dome in New Orleans, was rundown and instead of a football stadium it was often a home for thousands of people who had no where to go during natural disasters. The death toll from Katrina was in the thousands and caused around $125 billion dollars in debt. "In the super dome it was crazy. People were climbing to the top part of the bleachers to kill themselves," said Williams. Today although New Orleans is still recovering, there is still evidence of what took place back in 2005. "A lot of the houses still aren't rebuilt," said Williams. When going from place to place, even in nicer neighborhoods, it isn't uncommon to see homes that still need to be repaired." "I think the media has caused people to look at New Orleans and think 'tourist attraction,' but it's more than that," said Williams.

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