I remember as if it was just yesterday, when I first heard of Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico heading towards Louisiana on Friday night of August 26, 2005. My husband, our 3 year old daughter and I had just finished eating dinner at a local restaurant in Metairie, LA just out side of New Orleans. As we made our way back home we received a call from a friend that said \"gas up your cars because there is a hurricane heading our way\". As my husband hung up his cell phone we looked around at the gas stations we passed and saw cars lined up to get gas. We began to worry as we turned on the car radio and heard of a \"voluntary evacuation\". This meant that if we wanted to leave we only had 2 days to do so. Please keep in mind that every year we had false alarms of hurricanes headed towards Louisiana, but none actually ever hit New Orleans. Soon as we got home we began to watch the news as the meteorologist said Katrina was a Category 3 hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico. The next day, we started to prepare for a potential evacuation, and tried to decide if we were going to leave or stay. Early Sunday morning I received a call from my parents saying \"pack your things we are evacuating and you & the baby need to come with us now!\" Unfortunately, my husband had to stay because he is a police officer. I than sat up to watch the news as the meteorologist said \"Hurricane Katrina is now a Category 5 and heading towards New Orleans\". I was shocked and scared because I couldn\'t believe that this was really happening and didn\'t want my family to be apart. As I was packing enough clothes for a few days thinking we will return in a week, I didn\'t realize it was my last time seeing many of my family and friends. That was the last time I saw New Orleans and its surrounding cities as a beautiful and normal place. The next day was Monday August 29, 2005 the day Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, LA and destroyed everything in its path. Thousands of homes were flooded; hundreds of people died and many lives were destroyed. To add to all of the destruction and chaos President Bush, FEMA and the government waited several days later to send help to the survivors that were still stuck in flooded cities on roof tops, attics, trees and bridges waiting on help to arrive during the summer heat with no food or clean water. About a week later Hurricane Rita hit the same area finishing what Katrina started. To top everything else off our federal government and media decided to call the hurricane victims \"refugees\". Please correct me if I\'m wrong, but the last time I checked Louisiana was still considered a State in the United States of America. Why were the victims and displaced treaded like they were not U.S. Citizens? Hurricane Katrina/ Rita affected people of all races and all ages. I understand we can\'t control Mother Nature, but our great Nation and its people could have done a better job.