John was three years old when hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, Louisiana, 2005. The family took shelter at the memorial medical center, the convention center before airlifted to Austin Texas. While in New Orleans they neither slept nor rested day and night. The environmental disturbances distrupted John's emotional standing to the extent that he would unusually scream and wake up while trying to sleep. With little passage of time, John's family began to adjust to resettle at their new location. John started life afresh, interacting with new family members, making new friends and relearning the basics of ABC in a well equipped and age appropriate childhood center. Today John has caught up with his normal developmental progression because of timely availability of childhood care post natural disaster. John has strived and survived, I am proud of him.
John's life touches my heart because he is a living example of a precipitating life trauma from an abrupt physical dislocation which got timely intervention and without such intervention John's life would have been wrecked irreparably.
Hurricane Katrina did so much to so many in very different ways. Support in relocation gave this little guy and so many others opportunies to start a new life. I am very close to many that were directly affected by the hurricane and this story reminded me of all the little ones I know that had to relocate and learn in a different environment.
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