I Survived Hurricane Katrina, 2005

I Survived Hurricane Katrina, 2005, sheds light on the deep emotional and physical impacts of Hurricane Katrina. Barry, his family, and friends suffer immeasurable loss through the storm’s impacts, becoming displaced and uncertain as to when they will ever be able to return to the city they call home. The experiences of the characters in the novel mirror the real-life experiences of millions of Louisiana residents who lost everything in the hurricane, enduring lasting emotional and physical impacts that echo today.

One of the most jarring physical impacts of Hurricane Katrina was the displacement of people and damage the storm caused: “The mass exodus from the Gulf Coast and New Orleans during and after Katrina represented one of the largest and most sudden relocations of people in US history. Some 1.2 million Louisianans were displaced for months or even years, and thousands never returned” (Pruitt, Sarah. “Hurricane Katrina: 10 Facts About the Deadly Storm and Its Legacy.” History, 27 Aug. 2024). This displacement resulted in a crisis for those who now struggled to find temporary or long-term housing. People estimate the physical damage Hurricane Katrina caused at over $160 billion, which makes it one of the costliest natural disasters in US history (Opfer, Chris, and Sarah Gleim. “15 Worst Hurricanes of All Time.” HowStuffWorks).

One cannot extricate the physical impacts of Hurricane Katrina from the resulting mental and emotional impacts, particularly on children. A 2010 report found:

Over one-third of the children in displaced families have been clinically diagnosed with at least one mental health problem since Katrina [...] Furthermore, nearly half of the households in the study were still living in unstable conditions and, five years later, 60% of respondents still report their situation as being unstable or worse than it was before Katrina (Irwin Redlener, MD. “‘Legacy of Katrina’ Report Details Mental Health Status of Children.” Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, 15 Sep. 2010).

Damage to the city and state’s infrastructure exacerbated a lack of stable housing and access to mental health resources, which contributes to the ongoing mental health struggles of children who lived through the storm. Tarshis alludes to this lasting mental health impact, particularly on children, when Barry expresses difficulty sleeping, anxiety, and reacting to certain sounds, which suggest symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

While the effects of Hurricane Katrina were devastating for all it affected, it is important to mention that the impacts of the hurricane disproportionately affected low-income and Black residents of New Orleans. As noted in the text, the government failed to repair the levees surrounding predominantly low-income and Black communities such as the Lower Ninth Ward despite warnings of the levee’s inability to withstand the storms. Other factors contributed to the disproportionate effects on Black communities, such as evacuation policies that relied on private transportation such as cars, which were less accessible to Black residents. Research shows that Black residents were also less likely to have an evacuation plan in place or evacuate during the storm (Lowe, Sarah R., et al. “African American Women’s Reports of Racism during Hurricane Katrina: Variation by Interviewer Race.” New School Psychology Bulletin, vol. 8 no. 2, 2011, pp. 46-58). Since the storm, recovery has been slower in low-income neighborhoods as well, which Tarshis points out in her afterword: “Much of the Lower Nine is still abandoned. Only 19 percent of that neighborhood’s residents have returned” (99). The ongoing displacement of these residents after the storm suggests the continued physical and emotional impacts of Hurricane Katrina, even decades later. For readers interested in further exploring the roles racism and inequality played during and after Hurricane Katrina, Rodman Philbrick’s young adult novel, Zane and The Hurricane, explores these topics.