Zeitoun Book Response

To many of the citizens Hurricane Katrina did not seem to be a huge threat, because many of the citizens had experienced other hurricanes in their past, which made them believe that they could survive Katrina. I can’t imagine what it would be like having to be in that situation, having to decide to leave everything behind, or try to ride out the storm and hope for survival. When the governor of New Orleans ordered an immediate evacuation, I felt that should have been everyone’s clue to get out of there as fast as possible. I feel that the government should have evacuated the citizens, by hiring agencies to assist those who did not have any transportation means. I also feel that the citiznes who homes were closest to the levees, should have been immediately evacuated and given temporary homes because as we know now after Katrina hit everything in its path was destroyed. As the storm progressed Zeiotun felt that, “If the damage continued at this pace, it would be worse that he had predicted. And the real storm hadn’t come yet” (Zeitoun 82). I feel that the levees represented hope to the citizens of New Orleans and Zeitoun, but as we learned in class the levees were not made properly, making the whole situation even more dangerous. According to Zeitoun, “The only thing that concerned him was the levees. If the levees were breached, he knew the battle was over” (Zeitoun 80). I felt that the government acted just like the levees because first off they did not help the citizens of New Orleans. The levees were not properly formed, which put all the citizens in close vicinity in extreme danger. I personally am upset with our government’s lack of aid in New Orleans because with more effective planning and support many people would still be living today. Our government abandoned the citizens of New Orleans for days, then began calling the helpless citizens refuges. Our government should be ashamed of itself, for leaving helpless civilians to die because our government refused to act.