The waters have begun to recede in New Orleans and across the Gulf region. Relief efforts are hitting full force and people are finally getting out of the sinking cities.
The days of 24-hour hurricane footage on television might be drawing to a close — but that doesn’t mean this ship has left the port and will soon be forgotten.
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is estimating that water and debris won’t be fully cleared away for weeks, and about two months will pass before the entire city has electricity again. And as the president and local leaders have said since just a few days after the hurricane hit, the complete recovery of New Orleans could take years.
Locally, efforts seem to just be getting started. Ball State University has agreed to accept and work with hurricane refugees, and one Ball State student raised more than $1,300 for relief efforts. Since last week, Indiana National Guard and army troops — as well as innumerable volunteers — have shipped out for cities throughout the Gulf region to offer any services they can. These public servants will return from their relief efforts with the stories and images of their service to the battered region.
Just as the tale of New Orleans’ tragedy is not yet finished, neither is the story of local involvement in the relief effort.
As the cities of the Gulf surface, discoveries will be made, new information will come to light and the death toll will become clear.
And until that point, the tragedy in the Gulf still deserves our attention — especially with a few of the hurricane’s victims right here on our own soil.
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