August is the strangest month for me. It starts off well with my birthday but becomes fraught as August 29th approaches. I’m not sure if what I feel is best described as imposter syndrome or survivor’s guilt but whatever it is, it smacks me in the head like flying debris.
We were lucky and didn’t suffer the worst of Katrina and the Federal Flood. We didn’t rack up huge hotel bills during our exile because we had friends and family who took us in. Our house didn’t flood so we didn’t have drenched belongings to sort through. We needed a new roof and refrigerator; insurance paid for that. Our scars are strictly emotional, but they still run deep.
I’ll never forget the first time I spoke to someone who had lost everything. It was beyond awkward to respond to a simple question: “How did you do?” That’s when my feelings of survivor’s guilt, imposter syndrome or whatever you want to call it commenced. I still feel it when recounting my Katrina story.
The hype has been less than with the 10th anniversary, but the context is worse. Hurricane MAGA is raging, so it’s harder to focus on the past when the present is so fraught. Crazy people with stupid notions are flying at us like the aforementioned debris. Does Bobby Junior really believe that windmills have killed off the Atlantic whale population or is he just pandering to President Pennywise? Beats the hell outta me.
MAGA madness is one reason I haven’t been able to watch Ryan Coogler’s Katrina documentary. I’ve tried several times; shit is hard enough without watching footage I’ve seen before that stirs up emotions I’d rather not feel again. I used to watch and read everything related to the events of 8/29/2005, but it’s sensory overload as 8/29/2025 approaches. It’s hard enough without doubling down on the details.
Social media has been on my mind this week. It would have been a huge asset in 2005, twenty years later not so much. I have friends and acquaintances who are melting down as Friday approaches. I am not but it’s still hard. All we can do is muddle through. At least there’s not a storm on the way as in 2021.
Repeat after me: August is the strangest month.
I’ll have some Katrina and Federal Flood content on the day itself. Until then, I’m just slouching towards the Katrinaversary.
The last word goes to Faces:
Been thinkin’ ’bout y’all this week.
So sorry you went thru that whole disaster. Even if you didn’t get the absolute Worst of it, still, so Traumatic. Just watching it on the News is Traumatizing and makes me Weep, I couldn’t even Imagine living thru something that catastrophic and knowing Victims who lost everything or even their very lives to such an event. I do hope the Katrinaversary isn’t too difficult to bear, I would imagine it’s something one never gets over completely, if at all.