| As the flood waters poured into New Orleans' Ninth | | | | forever. |
| Ward, John struggled to carry his grandchild to | | | | After two years, one would assume that all has |
| safety. In a sudden rush of water the child was torn | | | | returned to normal in New Orleans. Most would be |
| out of his arms and drowned. Since the horror of | | | | shocked however, to see how conditions in the city |
| that day John has had heart surgery, is on oxygen | | | | remain. |
| and using a scooter. When he returned to his home | | | | In some cases the situation is as bad as it was in the |
| after being ill, there was no electricity to operate the | | | | days after Katrina. Entire neighborhoods are still |
| oxygen machine. The government would not provide | | | | abandoned and in ruins. Thousands of New Orleans |
| him with a ramp to get out of his home. Now John | | | | residents still live in tiny trailers, in makeshift trailer |
| suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). | | | | parks or parked on the front lawns of their |
| Mary lives with the loss of a brother who had made | | | | uninhabitable homes. |
| it to the relative safety of the New Orleans | | | | People are still waiting for the help they were |
| Superdome but returned when he realized she wasn't | | | | promised so they can rebuild and return home. These |
| there. Her brother drowned in the flood waters. Mary | | | | people include those of New Orleans's Ninth Ward, a |
| is traumatized and too medically fragile to leave her | | | | neighborhood of working class, lower income |
| home. | | | | residents. Many were homeowners who'd lived in |
| Disasters continue to fill the news. There are the | | | | their homes for years. Some worked multiple jobs |
| recent stories of the I-35W bridge collapse in | | | | but all were struggling to get by. After the hurricane |
| Minneapolis and the flooding in southern Minnesota. | | | | they faced the hopelessness of destroyed homes, |
| While we are aware of these recent tragedies we | | | | lost employment, collapsed infrastructure and |
| should not forget the significance of August 29th, | | | | confusing governmental bureaucracy. |
| 2007. This date marks the second anniversary of | | | | There are those who believe that hope still remains. |
| Hurricane Katrina, a catastrophe that changed one of | | | | One group is a Twin Cities based organization called |
| our country's great cities and the lives of thousands | | | | A River of Hope. |