I was not personally affected by hurricane Katrina; however, I can relate my experience with it so that at least, I could imagine how the victims of Katrina would felt like when the storm had destroyed New Orleans. \r\nIt happened to me when I was in Korea. I am not sure how old I was back then because I was really young. According to my mom’s memory, I was about five years old. My family had lived in a five-stairs apartment, in which we lived on second floor. My father was not at home for few months for business-related visiting here in the U.S. Therefore, mom, by herself, had to take care of two older sisters and me. \r\nOne day, it was raining heavily; it seemed like it never going to stop. The rain kept raining continuously for next day and day after. On the third day of raining, our apartment along with other several apartments had submerged due to a severe flood. Fortunately, it was not completely had soaked; the flood affected just about height of first floor. It was good thing that we lived on the second floor. Power was gone for about one or two days and came back. We did not have any problems with cooking because most Korean people were using LPG gasoline instead of electricity for stoves back then. I am pretty sure they still use it now. Mom did a grocery shopping before the rain. Therefore, we had something to eat right at the moment. As time went on, foods, water, and other supplies were running out. One of mom’s neighbors used a big rubber-like barrel as a boat for sailing to the grocery stores. Therefore, mom would ask her to get something for her. My sisters and I, as children, lost our playground, which usually the parking lot; we could not go out and play anymore. All we had to do was sitting in a room to watch a television all day. Mom told me that my sisters and I were very angry due to the fact that we could not go out and play. We were also scared because we never seen our apartment had submerged before. The flood actually lasted about ten days. After the days, workers cleaned and disinfected the neighborhood to make sure neighbors would not get any diseases from it.\r\nIt was the most horrible experience in my life. However, it was nothing to compare with Katrina. The victims of New Orleans actually lost their shelters where they grew up and raised. I am positive that they had to suffer physically and mentally much more than our family did. Through my experience, I could imagine how it would be like if the flood actually destroyed our apartment. It has been almost a year since the Katrina had destroyed the city. However, the victims would remember it forever in their hearts like I remember my “ten days” story even though it has been about 15 years now.\r\n\r\nSincerely,\r\n\r\nHyunsuk Lim \r\n