I Survived Hurricane Katrina, 2005

“Barry wished he could find the courage to step forward and say, ‘Get off my property!’ […] If only Barry was more like his father. Nothing ever got to Roddy Tucker.”

Barry describes his frustration in being unable to stand up to the neighborhood bully, Abe. In expressing a desire to be more like his father, Roddy, Barry alludes to Roddy’s strength, composure, and presence, which act as an important guiding force for Barry. In highlighting his father’s strength, Barry also establishes himself in contrast: someone who does not feel he has inner strength of his own, and the accompanying insecurity Barry feels about this.

“Leaving town for a hurricane? Not the Tuckers! Never before. Every year a few storms fixed their sights on New Orleans, and they always petered out at the last minute. There hadn’t been a bad hurricane in New Orleans in forty years.”

Barry is surprised at his parents’ decision to leave their home in New Orleans in advance of Hurricane Katrina. Barry’s lack of anxiety about the storm at the beginning is because his family has never evacuated for any previous storm and New Orleans has not experienced a bad hurricane in 40 years. Barry’s attitude mirrors that of many people in New Orleans and across the country, who were not anticipating the devastation that Hurricane Katrina would come to cause.

“There were better neighborhoods in New Orleans, and sometimes Mom and Dad talked about moving to a block where police cars weren’t always blaring their sirens […] The Lower Nine was home. And that was that.”

Barry describes his neighborhood in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, a predominantly Black and low-income neighborhood. While Barry acknowledges that the neighborhood has somewhat of a reputation, Barry takes care to humanize the place he calls home. He emphasizes the neighborly energy of the block, where he knows everyone and feels a powerful sense of community. Barry’s assessment of his community contrasts with the treatment the Lower Nine received in the wake of the hurricane, in which government resources and rebuilding efforts were slow to reach the community, in part because of its status as lower income. This quote emphasizes that all communities, regardless of race or socioeconomic status, were home to many and deserving of equitable treatment.

“For just a few seconds, Barry the believer imagined that he had a power star of his own somewhere.”

A struggle for Barry throughout the text is learning to trust his inner strength. He views his superhero creation, Akivo, as a better version of himself: one who is strong and powerful, while Barry views himself as weak and afraid. Akivo gains his strength from a star and in this quote, Barry envisions a star for himself out in the galaxy, something that he can derive strength from. This quote illustrates Barry’s belief at this point in the text that to be strong he must derive it from some outside source, rather than from the deep well within him.

“But one day, Mom always said. One day. She said those words so often they had become the Tucker family motto.”

The phrase “one day” is an important motif in the text, as it illustrates the overall sense of hope and forward-thinking that Barry and his family ascribe to, even in the face of disaster. The fact that “one day” is the Tucker family motto lends important insight into who the Tucker family are as people: dreamers, people who look for the positives and believe that a better future awaits them. This kind of thinking and outlook on life will enable them to survive the ravages of the storm, as Barry becomes separated from his family but never loses hope that they will reunite, whole once again.

“The wind moaned at first. Then it started to howl, and finally it was shrieking.”

As Hurricane Katrina approaches, Barry’s sense of the storm’s impending doom increases in accordance with the wind’s howling. The author’s use of anthropomorphism in this quote, giving the wind a voice that increases in volume and intensity, heightens the text’s sense of dread and anxiety. The reader knows what awaits Barry and his family, the storm’s shrieking a warning of what is to come.

“Barry had kept his eyes glued to Dad’s face. As long as Dad was calm, he decided, he didn’t have to worry.”

As the hurricane increases in intensity, Barry keeps his eyes fixed on his father, an unwavering symbol of support and strength. As Barry’s dad keeps a calm facade, even as the storm intensifies, he lends some of the strength to Barry, who feels he does not have to worry as long as his father is calm. This quote illustrates the deep connection between father and son as Barry draws strength from his father’s example, who does all he can to keep his son feeling calm and safe even amidst the looming threat of the storm.

“‘Hey, Dad,’ Barry said, ‘are you playing ‘Blueberry Hill’ in your mind?’ Dad laughed. He put his arm around Barry and pulled him close. ‘Nah, I was thinking that wind is making a pretty song.’”

This quote illustrates Barry’s father’s tactics to keep Barry calm in the face of the storm. Barry’s allusion to “Blueberry Hill” evokes the memory of another time Barry and his father experienced an intense event, another time in which Barry’s father kept him calm in the face of adversity. Barry’s father once again keeps his son calm, reframing the shrieking of the wind that Barry describes previously and making it something beautiful: music. Roddy’s ability to reframe things for his son to help him get through demanding situations instills a strength within Barry that he will need when they become separated during the storm.

“A wave of water swept into the house. It swirled around Barry’s legs, knocking him off his feet. There was a scream, but this time it wasn’t the wind. It was Barry.”

This quote illustrates the threat of nature in the text, as Hurricane Katrina and its force act as one of the text’s main antagonists. This moment is important as it is the first true confrontation of Barry with the storm as it forcefully enters his home in the form of a giant wave. The author illustrates the force of the hurricane by showing how ill-equipped Barry and others in New Orleans were to handle it. Barry is immediately knocked off his feet, so quickly that his scream almost catches him by surprise as he realizes that it is him screaming and no longer the wind. No longer does Barry have time to prepare for this confrontation but is now in a true survival situation with only his family and his mind to help him overcome and survive.

“It was like their house was a bucket being filled up by the biggest hose in the world.”

As the unrelenting water continues to rush into the Tuckers’ home, Barry uses a simile to describe the sheer volume of water flooding the house. By describing the water as coming from “the biggest hose in the world,” one can more clearly imagine the amount of water that Barry is up against, and that will soon consume his neighborhood altogether.

“For the past few weeks, thinking about Akivo had given Barry the feeling—a secret, happy feeling—that maybe he wasn’t really the scared little kid he saw in the bathroom mirror […] Somehow, the bright colors of Barry’s drawing seemed to have gotten inside him. But now the bright and powerful feeling drained away.”

Barry’s superhero creation, Akivo, is an important symbol for Barry, as aspects of Akivo’s personality represent what Barry does not see in himself: strength and bravery. As the Tucker family’s situation grows more dire in the storm, Barry allows himself a brief moment to mourn the loss of his Akivo drawing and the power he felt he gained from it. To Barry, losing the drawing feels like losing an important part of himself that is brave and powerful like Akivo.

“He couldn’t see much in the gray light and the stinging rain. And what he saw hardly seemed real: water in every direction. He felt like he was shipwrecked in the middle of the ocean.”

This simile in this quote illustrates just how much water has flooded Barry’s neighborhood as well as encapsulating Barry’s feelings of isolation. In describing himself as feeling shipwrecked in the middle of the ocean, Barry illustrates how widespread the damage is, rendering his neighborhood unrecognizable and completely submerged in water. This image serves to heighten the tension and stakes of Barry’s survival, as he must now navigate this flooded landscape to find solid ground again in the hopes of reuniting with his family.

“What now? He seemed to ask. What should we do? And that was when it hit Barry: He wasn’t alone anymore. He and Cruz were together.”

When Barry finds Cruz abandoned in Abe’s bedroom, he confronts his fears about the supposedly “killer” dog, saving Cruz’s life. This is an act of bravery that not only illustrates Barry’s character and inner strength but also gives Barry a companion to navigate the challenges of surviving Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. As much as Barry saves Cruz, Barry also benefits from no longer being alone, having something he feels a sense of responsibility for to guide his actions and decision-making.

“He suddenly felt more tired than he’d ever felt in his life. He rested his chin on Cruz’s head. Barry could hear dogs barking and howling all around them. He remembered the news report that he said no one could bring pets to the Superdome. There must be hundreds of dogs and cats on their own. Thousands.”

Through her I Survived series, author Lauren Tarshis seeks to illuminate the many aspects of different historical events and disasters. Hurricane Katrina caused such widespread damage that one can forget certain aspects of its destruction. Tarshis’s novel seeks to highlight some of these lesser-known challenges, such as the large-scale abandonment of animals during the storm. Cruz is a representation of the many rescued and adopted dogs after their owners left them behind due to necessity or self-preservation. As Barry and Cruz settle in to wait out the night on top of the car, Tarshis evokes the sounds of countless animals left to fend for themselves in the wake of the storm, giving voice to an overlooked population.

“And soon the sky seemed to wrap itself around them, a glittering blanket to protect them from the awful sights and sounds and smells of their ruined neighborhood.”

This quote is an important example of the healing capacity of nature even amidst the wreckage of a terrible storm. Hurricane Katrina, an aspect of nature, has caused damage on a massive scale, including loss of life and property. Barry, Cruz, and all of the residents of New Orleans left to survive the aftermath of the storm are in a vulnerable position, subject to the whims of nature. Barry’s ability to view the night sky, glittering with millions of stars, as a source of comfort and protection speaks to his capacity to look for the good. This is a crucial aspect of Barry’s ability to weather the storm and of Survival Against the Odds: Instead of giving in to the elements, Barry looks for a path forward, a way to reframe his circumstances, similar to how his father compared the howling wind to a beautiful song earlier in the text.

“He opened his mouth to say thank you, but the only sound that came out was a sob. Suddenly tears were pouring down his face. He turned away from Nell. She had called him a brave soul. So why couldn’t he act brave?”

When Nell rescues Barry and Cruz, the weight of all that Barry has endured thus far pours out of him in a wave of emotion. Now that he is no longer in pure survival mode, Barry can express some of the emotions he has pushed down to survive. Rather than giving himself the grace of acknowledging all that he has suffered and survived, Barry feels embarrassed for displaying emotion and not acting “brave.” Barry equates expressing emotion with weakness rather than a reasonable acknowledgment of the trauma he has experienced.

“He was finally off that roof. But now all the terror he’d felt those past hours came back to him, second by second. He felt as if he was shrinking, as though his fear was boiling up inside him and he was melting away.”

This quote is another example of how Barry’s trauma manifests when he finally escapes the imminent danger of the hurricane. Since becoming separated from his family, Barry has been in pure survival mode: navigating the hurricane and its floodwaters, only able to focus on the moment directly in front of him to ensure his survival. Now that he has reached relative safety in Nell’s boat, the hours of terror he experienced overtake him and he becomes lost in the waves of his trauma. In describing his fear as “boiling up” and “melting” him away, Barry expresses how all-consuming his fear is, stripping away his self.

“Barry knew what happened in disasters. He’d seen it on the news. He imagined a big tent on the bridge, with cots set up in neat rows. He would get fresh clothes, more water, good food. The people there would know how to track down Mom and Dad and Cleo.”

Barry describes the rescue and recovery scene he expects to find on the bridge. What he finds instead is entirely different: a disorganized assembly of traumatized people with little resources or recovery supplies available. The author includes this quote as a representation of criticism toward the wider Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts, which were plagued by a lack of government organization, slow response time, and bureaucracy. One agency in particular, FEMA, shoulders the bulk of the criticism for its response to the hurricane and its aftereffects, which resulted in further damage and loss of life.

“She didn’t say anything for a moment. She just looked into his eyes, like she saw something there worth looking at. ‘You’re strong,’ she said with no doubt in her voice. Barry didn’t feel strong.”

This quote describes the discrepancy between what others see in Barry and how he perceives himself. When Nell looks at Barry, she sees a young boy who survived against immense odds and circumstances that would have felled many other people. She can see “something worth looking at” in Barry because of how he not only kept himself alive but took risks to save Cruz as well. Despite Nell’s perception of Barry as strong, Barry does not feel strong because he feels the natural human emotion of fear. To be strong, Barry thinks that he must be like his father, who rarely displays outward feelings of fear or anxiety, or Akivo, a literal superhero. Compared to those that Barry looks up to, he views himself as vulnerable and weak, despite the numerous examples to the contrary throughout the storm.

“You’re strong. You’re strong. And soon it wasn’t Nell’s voice he was hearing in his mind. It was his own voice. I am strong. I am strong. Was he? He was scared. He was standing there crying, his legs quivering like skinny little twigs in the wind. But did that mean he wasn’t strong?”

As Barry repeats Nell’s words to himself, the repetition enables him to reframe his perception of himself. Throughout the text, Barry conceptualizes strength as being something inherent in someone’s outward appearance: someone like Akivo can be strong because he is seven feet tall, a superhero, and is never afraid. Through surviving the storm and making decisions that secure both his and Cruz’s safety, Barry realizes that his slight physical stature does not exclude him from bravery. Even more importantly, Barry realizes that Bravery and Fear can coexist. Barry can feel afraid in the face of frightening circumstances, but he displays bravery repeatedly in the face of his fear, keeping him and Cruz safe and enabling their rescue.

“But there he was, standing on dry ground. In one piece. He looked up and there was his bright star. Barry’s star. And right then he knew that no matter how scared he felt, he’d find his way.”

Akivo is an important symbol of bravery—an aspirational figure for Barry whose strength he could never hope to live up to before living through Hurricane Katrina. When Barry reclaims the star as his own, naming it Barry’s star, it symbolizes Barry’s growth and acceptance of his inner strength. The star acts as a guiding force for Barry, something fixed in the sky that he knows he can rely on to guide his way, but it also illustrates that Barry trusts himself now, too. He is standing on the ground “in one piece” due to his own actions, decision-making, and bravery, and can only credit himself for his survival. Because of this, Barry now determines his strength by his actions in the face of fear, not in its absence.

“Barry had nightmares about the storm. He didn’t sleep much. Even the sound of Dad turning on the shower in the morning made Barry’s heart jump. But yes, he knew he was lucky.”

This quote illustrates the lasting emotional impact Hurricane Katrina had on Barry and countless others who survived the storm. In this quote, Barry exhibits symptoms consistent with PTSD: jumping at the sound of a shower turning on, which brings back memories of the stinging rain he endured during the hurricane. He struggles with sleep, his nightmares relentlessly hounding him with images of what he survived. Despite these traumas, which will take time to overcome, Barry pushes through because of his ability to acknowledge that he did survive and is lucky to have done so. It does not negate the trauma he experienced, but he feels better equipped to work through his trauma because he knows he is a survivor when so many others did not experience the same outcome.

“‘I guess you feel a little like a superhero yourself,’ Mom said. ‘Nah,’ Barry said, his cheeks heating up. But really, he did. Out there in the flood, Barry had discovered some powers of his own.”

Hurricane Katrina is a crucible in which Barry’s powers are forged. Through his experience in the storm, Barry learns that he has the power and fortitude to survive extraordinary circumstances, which would have been unimaginable to him at the beginning of the text. While Barry continues to admire Akivo, his superhero creation, he also realizes that a superhero does not necessarily have to be someone who is seven feet tall, infallible, and unafraid. He too possesses extraordinary power and skills that enabled his survival.