Lack of preparation for hurricane season

By Sarah Koontz
The Collegian

IS IT HURRICANE season again already?

This is a question that might be on the minds of the people of Louisiana and Florida. It has been a little over a year since Hurricane Katrina hit the southern part of the states.

We all watched as Katrina turned the vibrant, thriving city of New Orleans into a watery graveyard of pieces of wood that were once homes and businesses.

It still looks like it did a year ago after the hurricane minus the water. What has been done? Not much.

Yes, it takes a long time to clean up following a disaster like Katrina; however, more progress in the rebuilding should have taken place by now.

What happened to the people who donated all the money to victims of the hurricane? Or the celebrities who said they would help rebuild New Orleans? Where are they?

So many questions unanswered.

One year later the hurricane season has started and New Orleans is not prepared again. They are still cleaning up from last year. How can they expect to be ready this time if they aren’t even over last season?

There is still debris and waste from Katrina on the side of streets. Houses that were ruined and demolished are still lying around. The city still has the appearance of just being hit. The lack of preparedness for this season is real and tragic.

Hurricane Katrina also hit Florida. The damage caused to this state was not as severe as what happened in New Orleans.

However, there was still a great amount of ruin.

One difference between the aftermaths of each location was the amount of time and effort put forth to refurbish Florida.

Shortly after the hurricane hit Florida, construction crews started working on buildings that had lost roofs and people were picking up the leftover debris on the streets.

Having lived in Florida during this ordeal, I saw firsthand the dedication and determination that was put into rebuilding.

Not to say that Florida was fixed just like that. The process was long and hard. By all means Florida is not all the way back to normal, but it is coming along.

People have learned from last season’s hurricane season how to be more prepared for the upcoming season so that, although there will still be some damage, because Mother Nature cannot be stopped entirely, there are ways to minimize the damage.

Cities and towns in Florida have come up with better evacuation plans and meeting places this year that were not in place last year.

New Orleans and Florida are extremely different in the ways that they have handles the effects of Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans still has so cleaning up to do from last year that they are not fully ready for the next time, which could be this year.

On the other hand, Floridians appear as they took the challenge set in front of them by nature and overcame it. They dealt with Katrina and made changes in their hurricane procedures to help themselves in case Katrina’s cousin decides to make a move.

As such, those is Louisiana, rather than engaging in partisan bickering and finger pointing, should have focused on preparing for the inevitable: another hurricane season.

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