By Sade Hurst / Staff Writer

By Sade Hurst / Staff Writer

Hurricane Katrina is by far the worse storm that our generation has seen in America.

The levees fell and disaster struck.

It is no wonder  that a Judge decided that the U.S. government neglected the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

It has been four years since the catastrophic storm Katrina hit the state of Louisiana.

Since then the state has been trying to rebuild itself but the government has not been making it easy at all.

We have seen in the media that a majority of Hurricane Katrina’s victims have been left hopeless.

Some of the houses that need to be rebuilt are not even finished and FEMA wanted to take away citizen’s trailers.

Over the time of four years, the government has slowly been helping out the victims of Katrina.

Sadly, they have been acting as slow as the time it took to help the victims when the hurricane took place.

The process may speed up with the transition of a new administration, but the victims are still waiting and watching.

Now there is hope for those who have lost tremendously during the hurricane.
Some victims have sued the United States.

The lawsuit was filed as a case of negligence, because of how the levees were built.

Expert engineers explained that the levees were poorly made by the Army Corps Engineers and should have not been destroyed in the way that they were during the hurricane.

Not to mention  the construction of the levees was paid for by the tax dollars of Louisiana residents.

The judge agreed that the victims were neglected by the engineers and they could be awarded up to $720,000.

Some may say that it was crazy to sue the government, but in a situation like this, it was necessary.

The courage that  a group displays against their own government to call them out claiming that they were neglected was a bold yet necessary act.

It was especially bold  to file the lawsuit because of the situation that many of the victims are in.

To sit down and worry about whether or not they were going to win and continue trying to rebuild their homes must have taken time.

The lawsuit shows that the government needs to assume responsibility for the way they handled the situation.

Also it showed a sign of hope for those who lost their homes and are still trying to rebuild.
It took the push of the media to demand that the government pay attention to what they are doing to the victims.

Louisiana has been treated like an unloved stepchild.

When other catastrophic storms happen in other countries, the government is quick to move in, giving aid and restoring that country.

Should the government get a seminar simply to remind them that it was their fault so many people lost  their homes and for some, even their family?

Only during election season or some event when politicians are supposed to look good do we see someone in the government standing up for these victims.

There are probably a few politicians who do want to help out, but they are few.

Not enough is not being done for these victims.

Negligence has been the biggest trend before and after Hurricane Katrina and it’s about time that some one recognized it.

This lawsuit will only solve a little of the victims issues.

There is not enough money in the world to make up for what they lost.

The fortunate part is that it has helped most of their houses to be completely rebuilt.

For those a part of the group that filed the lawsuit they can recover quickly.

 Hopefully, they are days away from being finished with their homes.

Unfortunately, for those who did not file the lawsuit, they have to wait and continue  battling with themselves and the government to restore their house.

The victims that decided to stay in Lousiana rather than move, still have to encounter bumps down the road.

Maybe the order of the judge may have woke up the right people to help these victims rather than playing by the book and adding more stress to their lives.

But we can only hope, which isn’t much if we look at our nation’s history of assisting with the recovery process of their own country.

Maybe this may make the government pay attention to previous mistakes like Katrina.

If this is supposed to be the year of change for America (especially the government), then  they should help out the areas that were destroyed at the expense of neglect.