Just as most Americans remember where they were on 9/11, those of us living on the Gulf Coast remember the fear and concern that enveloped our region twenty years ago on August 29th. A lady named Katrina changed many of our lives. In looking back, many Louisianans felt that maybe New Orleans really was a city that care forgot, and the whole Gulf Coast was thrown in for good measure. This human tragedy has haunted the Bayou State over the past decade as even today the rebuilding effort continues.
Two days before Katrina attacked, I was hosting a local radio program in Baton Rouge and was interviewing a key official with the National Hurricane Center in Miami. “Katrina has turned in a much more northerly direction, with a beeline for New Orleans. We are saying a possible Category 4 Hurricane, and you folks are going to have some big problems up there.”
I was stunned. “What? We’ve had no warning of this. You’re telling me it’s going to come right towards New Orleans?” At dinner with friends that evening, no one was aware of the impending storm. Now major storms often head our way, but veer east towards the Florida coast, or west to Mexico. Our group was cautiously optimistic.
