With Hurricane Ida, more trauma for Louisiana was one more heavy burden dumped on the backs of citizens last week. This was on almost the same day as Hurricane Katrina, arguably the most traumatic, life-changing, PTSD-triggering event in the lives of New Orleanians and Louisiana citizens during the past two decades.
Sixteen years ago, almost to the day, was the anniversary of the landfall of Hurricane Katrina. As the world knows, and as New Orleanians can attest: our lives were never the same.
But this time New Orleans escaped the brunt of the devastating flood damage and loss of life that occurred because of Katrina. Instead, neighboring parishes and towns to the west and south of the metro area endured flooding and the worst damage, leaving many homeless and virtually destitute.
New Orleanians fared much better this time, flood-wise, but there are still many thousands in the metro area and beyond who have had no power for well over a week; some have no (or reduced) water and sewerage. Most Louisiana refineries were also in the path of the deadly storm, resulting in mile-long (and worse) lines at gas stations who had no gasoline to pump, or no power for pumping.
Those who fared and are faring worse are the elderly, and there were multiple occasions of deaths and abuse. One nursing home owner, whose photo was recently in the news with his an antique convertible that he owns (read: he obviously has lots of money to buy such toys), emptied his nursing home of frail and sick elderly into a warehouse near Independence for their “safety.” Several died because of this person’s staff’s inability to take care of the people who were entrusted to his facilities. Other elderly died as well in their apartments because of lack of power, air conditioning, medical help and water. This is disgraceful, and while the people responsible are busy shifting the blame to others, like the Louisiana Department of Health and the City of New Orleans, families have lost loved ones who trusted in their nursing and housing facilities. People lost their lives, and there will be more.
Joseph and I lost power at our house on Sunday afternoon. My daughter and great-granddaughter came in to stay with us—because we are now considered “elderly” and my daughter was trying to stay with us in case we needed help. The day after the storm, she and Joseph managed to get the front of our house relatively free of the debris that had accumulated, but my daughter and Koko left our house for Little Rock, Arkansas, where there was family with whom they could stay in relative comfort and safety.
Not so for Joseph and me. We suffered, despite getting ice and batteries later in the week. Yes, it’s very true: the older you are, the less your body can handle the heat and humidity that’s usually around post-hurricane. We even thought we might lose our dog to heatstroke. The heat was literally unbearable, but we were treated very kindly by our neighbors who helped by charging our phones (some people had generators, thank goodness), and provided ice and food when we really needed it desperately.
While Katrina showcased New Orleans’ lack of infrastructure to handle floodwaters, Hurricane Ida pointed out that the need for a total revision and revamping of our power and electrical grids. We simply cannot do without power; our lives, communications and health are almost totally dependent now on our electrical grid, much more so than with Katrina. All the electric utility companies have been working to restore power, but there has to be a plan and a strategy developed (and paid for) to prevent this from happening in future storms.
Then again, we have thousands who left the city and state and who now are unable or reluctant to return to a place with hurricane damage to homes, no power and possibly tainted water. These are our families, our colleagues, our musicians and culture bearers (many of these latter are the hardest hit). Music venues, who were just starting to adjust to the restrictions that COVID was placing on their businesses—reducing attendance at clubs and venues, and affecting musicians’ sources of income—are now starting over one more time. Most are still not open for business. And then again we also have a dearth of visitors who are crucial to the success of our music scene. Add Ida to COVID, and you have a double whammy.
First things first: Demand that Congress to pass the infrastructure act. Write to congressial representatives. Pay attention to climate change. It is real, and it’s getting worse. There are more storms, power outages, deaths and damage to come.
And concurrently: wear your damned masks. COVID is still with us and getting worse every day. I’m constantly amazed at all the people who are still choosing not to wear masks; get the COVID vaccine, and flu vaccine when it’s available. Protect yourself and others: It’s your responsibility.
