Katrina has changed me

[hopeisaplace]

emotionally (I think it was Katrina)

Here's my brief story on this..Is anyone else having this issue??

During that whole first week of Katrina, I was glued to the TV, and "unglued" in my life. I found myself crying, or trying not to cry in public. I'd feel like crying, out of the blue, for no reason at that moment. My emotions were/are raw over that event. Tearing up again here. Witnessing the suffering and the indifference was overwhelming. I barely ate that week, and didn't notice 'til a week went by that I hadn't eaten much.

Anyway, I was at an extremely emotionally charged meeting last night, a horrible meeting really...and I fell apart. I had to work to keep it together. I have NEVER been a victim of my own tears before in an unexpected situation like this. By the way, this meeting had nothing to do with me personally in any way, but getting emotional was justified, just that "crying" threw me for a loop.

I am a hopeful, positive, happy person most of the time. This meeting was bad though, but still, I was so shocked at how it affected me.

Katrina may have very well changed me, how 'bout you?


edit: grammer/spelling, spelling again

[madfloridian]

1. Katrina should have changed us all greatly.

We saw the evil of an administration who doesn't care about its people.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

2. I felt similarly

and experienced the same thing after 911. Also, I was involved in a school shooting and had trouble with my emotions long after.

Sometimes it seems that once you "let" the dams burst your body gets good at it and looks for other opportunities. Repression takes practice.

I call it developing a hair trigger. Usually not a lot of fun, but part of life. Be good to yourself.

[hopeisaplace]

5. thanks

I'v made a point take extra care of myself this last little while..hard to do with kids, so I do it for the kids sake.
Gettin off DU shortly cause the "reality" of what goes on in the real world (which I love to read about on this site) is too much for me today. Thanks again :)


edit: spelling

[waiting for hope]

3. I lost it

about the third day - then having to explained to my four yr old who was born there what was happening because we couldn't turn the news off - it was like a horrific train wreck - you had to look, made it even worse. We are still in a state of shock - the litmus test will be over XMas when my mother in law who, thank goodness, didn't lose her house, is coming for the holidays....

[texpatriot2004]

4. What you describe sounds like what I did too. Katrina has

changed me. Katrina was the last straw for me. Words are bankrupt.

[Solomon]

6. For me it was the 2000 election. I'm a lawyer and the Supreme Court

actually said don't count the votes in a democracy. I lost it right then and there. Everything after is just one nightmare after another.
Katrina actually helped me because I felt for the first time in five years, other people were finally waking up to the hell that we are living in. Ironically, it had the opposite effect on me.

[hopeisaplace]

9. I see your point on this

'cause I was grateful that it opened up eye's..the indifference of the government to the suffering was overwhelming to me..and continues to upset me. Thanks for reminding me of the good.

Perhaps Katrina was the straw that broke the camels back for me too, because I too have been angered from 2000 on.

[MuseRider]

13. That is how it has been

for me as well. Although just seeing and reading about Katrina was heart breaking and life changing it was just an addition to everything since that SCOTUS decision. As bad as Katrina was it did open some eyes that badly needed to see what was really happening.

[Jane Austin]

19. I, too, see glimmers of hope that the indifference of the government

to the suffering and loss may have caused people to see this Republican administration for who they are.

That is truly encouraging.

Nevertheless, the tragedy is so vast and so seemingly insurmountable that I do feel changed.

For one thing, I now make no effort to try to understand anything bushco does.

After Katrina, it is clear that if bushco says it, it's phony. If bushco proposes it, I oppose it.

They are too bankrupt and hollow to command even token benefit of the doubt.

[Uncle Joe]

22. I felt the same way as you Solomon.

I have been in a state of disbelief and depression ever since the coup of 2000.I view the tragedy of the callous, indifferent, incompetent response to Katrina as the eyeopener (not the hurricane) the nation so desperately needed regarding the impostors in power.

[KoKo]

30. Thanks for saying that "Solomon." That was the way I felt.

I was so devastated after 2000 Selection and all that's happened since that by the time Katrina struck I was numb. It was as if everything since 2000 was coming home to roost in the "wipe out" of America's most historic cities. The incompetence and the lies were finally exposed and the suffering and misery caused by these criminals and thugs in this Administration, Congress and the Media were finally exposed for all America to see.

And,although it's still devastating, I feel that at least I'm not alone anymore here on the Liberal Blog sites trying to find folks who have observed what I have in these past years. America is waking up and maybe we can at last start to try to clean the thugs out.

[adarling]

7. I know exactly how you feel

anger and sadness just overwhelmed during that time, and then when Wilma came right after i was really upset. My family lives in Dallas and they were projecting it to just go there and stay for a couple of days. When hurricanes hit land they create tornadoes so i was pretty distraught. The whole year has changed me since Bush was reelected. It was just an awful year for me and my family and girlfriend.

[pitohui]

8. was this the meeting abt the proposed plan?

i think a lot of people got emotional based on the news report, there is no getting around it

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1133247703104430.xml

this is the second time for me in a natural disaster, i actually had more symptoms in the first event, right now there is just too much to do to get upset so i think i'm fairly numb, i have now visited the house where i used to live and the two people i knew still living there drowned and i'm still just pretty blank, i haven't cried yet, that street is near the breach in the floodwall and will have to bulldozed rather than replaced, it's really sad but it's just too much to picture

a lot of people seem changed, mostly being more courteous and just treating those around them as more fragile, or just suddenly pouring out their story to strangers in a line, or what have you

don't give up hope, it just takes time

[hopeisaplace]

11. Nothing to do with politics whatsoever

Am very sorry to hear what you had to endure, that's very sad,

thanks for the words :)

edit: added the first line

[Wind Dancer]

10. If Katrina didn't wake this country up, I don't know what will!

I will never understand why the people were ignored and left without food and water. There is no excuse for what happened after Katrina, none. It's very emotional thinking of needless lives lost in such a horrific way.

It has definitely changed me, you are not alone.

[Jane Austin]

12. I think Katrina changed everybody who sees themselves

as part of humankind.

For those who are of the Every Man for Himself bent, well, I can see how they might go merrily on their way.

I know it has changed me, and I've had some subsequent events that have prevented much of a rebound.

I suspect the changes in people have been broad and deep.

[Greyhound]

14. First it was 9/11 then the death of my mother followed by Katrina's

aftermath. I am a very different person too. It is very hard to get worked up over some spread sheet now.

[vw.tech]

15. While it did hit me

I didn't get teary eyed, or feel sorry for the peopl that were still there. Yeah, you can call me a cold heartless bastard, whatever. I knew people that stayed, I was in NO for a few weeks after the hurricane starting in teh second week of recovery. I was operating heavy equipment and I saw alot of teh city. Honestly, I must say the media hyped it up quite a bit. Yeah, there was ALOT of destruction, and some loss of life, but then again it WAS a cat 4 hurricane, over a city built BELOW sea level. From talking to engineers, and other on the grounds, what happened is pretty much what they expected.

[meganmonkey]

17. Well, since you gave me permission:

You're a cold, heartless bastard. Whatever. :shrug:

[hopeisaplace]

18. The Superdome chaos

is what really sent me over the edge with empathy..not getting food or water to people was beyond any justification. If it were my family there, I just can't imagine.

[Arkansas Granny]

28. The Superdome and the Convention Center haunted my sleep

for several days. I couldn't imagine how these parents could explain to their children why they had to stay in a strange place with strange people, why they couldn't go home and sleep in their own beds, why they couldn't get something to eat or drink. The reporters would be showing these people when I went to bed and be showing them again when I woke up. It made no sense to me that reporters could reach these people, but help couldn't reach them. And then to think of sick people in hospitals and the staff staying there with them. It was just a complete emotional overload and the only thing I could do personally was send money, which just didn't seem like enough.

[moc]

29. Me too. I couldn't sleep. There's a family from NOLA

living nearby with children attending my daughter's elementary school. The two older sons (14yo and 7yo) were at the superdome with their father. The mom got separated from the 2yo but was later reunited. They made it to Dallas with nothing but the clothes on their backs. It breaks my heart to hear about what they went through.

A few weeks later, when Hurricane Rita was barrelling toward Texas, the 7yo started having anxiety attacks. Poor baby. :cry:

My husband is a clinical social worker who volunteered at the shelters. His opinion is that the true psychological costs won't be seen for some time.

[hopeisaplace]

35. You said it,

"The reporters would be showing these people when I went to bed and be showing them again when I woke up."

That was so painful to witness, I felt helpless and responsible (and I live in another country)..I would scream at my TV, "why can't you get food or water to these people!"...Really, when I think back to that whole event, it DID PROFOUNDLY change me. I can't stand injustice, and there's so much of it around. It's rough.

[Wind Dancer]

20. Wow!

If they expected it to be so destructive, why did the government refuse to evacuate everybody, provide food/water and rescue people?

The media didn't hype it, everybody that has been to NO says it's far worse than videos can describe. Cold heartless bastard would be far too generous.

[hopeisaplace]

23. I agree with you too...far too generous

if it were this person's family member who drowned or died suffering would it matter then?

[Wind Dancer]

26. hopeisaplace, yes!

Unfortunately, many people are cold and heartless until THEY are directly affected. Much like the Iraq War, many people don't give a rat's ass unless they have a family member serving.

You happen to feel compassion for other human beings which is why Katrina has left you emotionally drained.

:grouphug:

[blonndee]

21. Sounds like something Brownie would say. n/t

[moc]

27. By God, you're right!

TV images of 10s of thousands of NO residents stranded without food or water in hot, humid New Orleans weather in subhuman conditions. Yep, you're right, it was all just "media hype".

Phew, thanks for clearing that up for me. /snark

Sure, low count poster. Go home troll.

[Catrina]

31. 'and some loss of life, '

The official number of dead is over 1,100. Still missing are 6,644.

9/11, under 2,000 died after the official counting was done. For that we started two wars. Every year since then, there has been an emotional ceremony fully covered by the media and our government has used that loss of life for everything, from destroying the constitution to the economy to justifying ever death we have inflicted on others who had nothing to do with 9/11, not to mention the over 2,000 deaths of US troops.

Others who were in NO and Miss. don't support your 'the media hyped it up quite a bit' assessment of the situation there.

I remember the baby who was crushed to death when an explosion hit a building near the Convention Center (or Superdome, not sure which). That baby should have known better and should have left when all the rich, smart people left! :sarcasm:

I also remember the old, the disabled in wheelchairs and one man I especially remember because he was a Vietnam Vet and could not believe that once again, his country had deserted him.

I also remember Condy Rice living it up in NYC on the third day of the tragedy, bying expensive shoes and going to the theater.

George Bush playing the guitar and eating birthday cake with his buddy, John McCain.

Chertoff who didn't know what the whole world knew for three days, that there people there needing help.

And who will ever forget the 'fashion god' who was in charge of FEMA?

Dick Cheney was nowhere to be found, until over a week after the hurricane struck.

I will never forget the bodies of US citizens left to rot in the hot sun, or float in the foul water along with the dead bodies of all the animals left to starve and drown.

Five long days the world watched while the US government, the 'national security' administration, did nothing to try to save a single life in their own country!

How it changed me and everyone I know is that, while I knew this was a cabal of heartless, cruel individuals with zero regard for the lives of other humans in foreign, oil-rich countries, after Katrina I learned they were even worse than I had originally judged them to be.

George Bush referred often to the red states who were foolish enough to vote for him, and were affected by the storm as 'that part of the world' ~

Katrina showed the world the depth of incompetence, deliberate or otherwise, and the complete and dangerous disregard this administration has even for its own citizens.

George Bush's poll numbers have not risen since then ~ out of such a horrible, tragedy which will be remembered always, and which is still ongoing, at least the American people got to see what kind of man currently resides in the WH.

I suppose that's something, but he's still there, and bodies are floating and rotting in Miss. and LA and tens of thousands of US citizens in both states, are homeless and jobless and their president never even mentioned them in his Thanksgiving address as far as I know.

The VP never mentioned them at all, except when he visited Biloxi and was told to go do what he himself told a Senator who disagreed with him, to do.

I think Katrina changed everything ~ even more so than Bush's favorite tragedy. It woke up the American people because this time they weren't able to hide their nefarious deeds, profiteering from disaster, lack of concern even for their own citizens.

It became all too obvious that all they thought about was how to make a profit from the disaster, and I think it finally clicked with many, previously fooled Americans, that that's what Iraq was all about also. There was no noble cause ~

[hopeisaplace]

33. Catrina, fabulous post

very well stated, thank you :)

[Catrina]

36. Thank you

And thank you so much for starting the topic, and for your compassion. We should never allow them to forget Katrina ~ and what they did. :-)

[pitohui]

32. it was cat 3 at new orleans, which is well inland of landfall

vw tech -- if you don't know what happened, suggest you not pretend you do

i agree you're a cold heartless bastard but you said it first

no engineer disputes the levee plans were designed for cat 3 conditions, the army corp of engineers short-sheeted the floodwalls, they robbed us of the levee protection we paid for

so i don't know what "engineers" you spoke to

[KamaAina]

16. For weeks I was losing sleep just like a real evacuee

even though I "evacuated" N.O. in '91.

Now I'm on so many rebuilding boards it's beginning to cut into my DU time.

Gotta run...

[earth mom]

24. Katrina changed me profoundly.

:cry:

9/11...lihop/mihop...Katrina.

I now know beyond a shadow of a doubt what they are capable of. :scared:

[marions ghost]

25. after a shock like that

one enters a vulnerable state...this state is the shedding of old illusions. It's all about change. It's about taking the time to grieve a serious loss.

Seems to me what we are grieving for is the fond illusion of our country as one who takes care of people in need. Everyday I expected those citizens of New Orleans to be rescued. The first day it happened I expected them to be taken away to safety. By the time they finally were, I was completely disgusted and emotionally numb. The stark and ugly truth--of systemic neglect and political paralysis at the national level--was revealed. There is really no security in the homeland...when a major disaster strikes.

I take hope from the fact that Katrina woke more people up than ever before. A mass sensitization. :grouphug:

[KnaveRupe]

34. I don't usually drink much,

but I went through a bottle of rum that week. Straight. From the bottle.

Katrina was as much of a defining moment for this country as was 9-11. It affected me MORE than 9-11, to be honest. I will remember the emotions I felt that week as long as I live.