What do you think this term means?

[Dobie]

I was listening to a news program on the radio today and one of the guests was talking about "Katrina Fatigue". It's not a term I had heard before, but I guess in areas of the country where there are a lot of Katrina victims, it's a term that used a lot.

I wasn't exactly sure what the caller meant by it. I think he was referring to people no longer wanting to help those that were in the hurricane, but I'm not sure.

Has anyone else heard this term?

[Janet]

I've never heard that before.

[Marilyn]

I haven't heard of it. Have you tried Googling it?? I can think of a few possible meanings. People tired of dealing with the aftermath. People just tired of hearing about it. Not to lessen the horror of it and the irresponsibility of letting the levies decay as they did, but I think we all suffer from a bit of Katrina Fatigue.

[Gina]

I have not heard of that term either...

[teri88]

I have heard of it. It is talking about how the country is tired of hearing about Katrina and the devestation. Unfortunately, I think it's true. We are so bombarded with news from all over the world that we lose interest quickly as each new story appears. I know people in the New Orleans area and there is still so much that needs to be done down there. But, people have stopped caring in other parts of the country. The money that was collected was not distributed in a rational way, most people can't get their insurance to pay for rebuilding, it's still an awful situation for most of the area hit by Katrina. But, it's not "news" anymore. Very sad.

[Tiramisu]

Teri, I agree. It is still stressing the Houston area. (I'll only vouch for that as that's where I live and work.) Because we still have Katrina evacuees - My tax dollars have gone for building new schools, I have waited in longer lines everywhere (even the hospital ER), and I've felt less secure.

I'M NOT COMPLAINING - just stating the facts.

[teri88]

Yes Sandy, that's it exactly. Those not affected think it's all been fixed and everything is fine. As you see, those in the reality of it know tht there is still a lot to be done. But it's not news anymore and that's what they mean by Katrina Fatigue. People are "sick of hearing about it" so they don't want to help anymore. It's a sad state.

[DianaB]

I think that it's all that you've all mentioned but I also think that we saw a lot of people who instead of getting out and making things better for themselves were willing to let the government pay for room and board at motels for as long as they could get it. There were some abuses of the government like that that went on and I think that people got tired of hearing about it. I do realize that there are some people who, for what ever reason, were not able to help themselves (health issues or disabled) and needed that help, but there were a lot that could have done something for themselves too.

We had a flood here last year and a lot of people that I knew lost their homes too, but they were hesitant to accept help from the government. That's not how people do things here. One FEMA employee told my son that the people here were hard to give money to. They just would not accept it.

[Marilyn]

We were talking about it here last week. We also experience some of the side effects of the huge evacuation and relocation in this area, though not to the extent that Houston does. It will probably take 100 years or more for New Orleans to recover. It is still such a huge mess there. And I do pretty much agree with Diana. We had a hugh flood here in '98. Rooftop and treetop rescues on CNN, thousands of people were affected, but now you don't see much indication that there was a flood. Most, but not all, of the condemned buildings have been torn down and people have relocated to higher ground. FEMA did buy some of the homes and help people with relocation. New Orleans was just too much for FEMA to effectively handle, and I believe a higher percentage of the people in N.O. expected the government to bail them out than did around here.

Sad situation, but they did live below sea level and they did elect the politicians responsible for not maintaining the levies. The poor maintenance and subsequent levie failure is what got them, not so much the actual hurricane. At least that's what we heard around here.