Disaster Collectivism Post-Hurricane Ida

The Friday before hurricane Ida hit, my family, aside from my brother and dad, evacuated last minute. My nephew was still on oxygen, so I knew my mom and sister-in-law would have a hard time with his equipment with just them two. I was pretty resistant to leaving just because I wanted to stay back and get as much studying done as I could. Plus, having been born and raised in New Orleans, I figured I would be fine because there was no way it would be worse than Katrina, right? I ended up going anyway just to lighten the stress load off of my sister-in-law and mom but also since my brother stayed back I knew he felt more comfortable with me going. I quickly threw some random clothes in a bag since we were leaving for “just a few days”. I soon realized that was not the case, but was very thankful I evacuated with my family.  

After a few days, every person we met in line, in the elevator, etc. was an evacuee. Each person was just as concerned as the next, asking about what damages my family had gotten and if we had people back home that needed anything. I have to admit at first I felt weird telling these strangers this kind of information, but their eagerness to help really inspired me. All these encounters with kind strangers gave me flashbacks to the recovery from hurricane Katrina. The damage to my family’s house was much worse, but the neighborly love was just as fulfilling as it was in 2005. I can vividly remember sleeping over at my neighbors’ houses and waking up in the morning to my parents and neighbors cleaning and repairing what they could from one end of the street to the other. No one had to ask for help. It was just like routine for everyone to keep passing it on. People even from other cities came to help restore New Orleans as well. Back then, I didn’t really understand the importance and significance of what these volunteers were doing just out of the kindness of their heart. 

Fast forward 16 years later. On the way home from evacuation, the first thing I noticed was all the bucket trucks headed for Louisiana. It was crazy to me that just two days later, people were out picking up their yards, ready to get back to normal. The bucket trucks alone made me eager to help. The number of linemen that left their homes from across the country to help was so uplifting. Alongside these linemen were the incredible volunteers that were delivering food and water to these workers. It was nice to see their hard work was not going unnoticed. I contacted the cajun navy and asked if I could volunteer. Unfortunately, by the time I finished helping restore my neighborhood and my brothers, school picked up quickly, but I plan on volunteering for them in the near future.  

Disaster collectivism is no stranger to southern Louisiana. In a time where our world is so divided, it is good to know that in times of need we still come together and are there for each other. In no time, our city was back up and running, but it could not have been possible without the dedicated workers, volunteers, and love for Louisiana.

0/12 Semester service hours completed

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