A. D.: New Orleans After the Deluge Alex Liu

The Flood Denise reunites with her family at the hospital, and the four are transported to a convention center. There, she witnesses the collapse of authority firsthand. In Houston, Leo and Michelle learn about the floods and the probable loss of Leo’s comics. They decide to travel to St. Louis and stay with Leo’s parents. Abbas and Darnell are gradually pushed towards the roof of the store, and Abbas decides to flee New Orleans after Darnell’s asthma worsens Kwame and his brother learn that their parents are sending them to live in Berkeley with a family friend. The Doctor goes to a local bar and checks on patients in there.

The Diaspora Denise moves into a house built by Habitat for Humanity. She is angered by FEMA’s inefficiency and by the carefree attitude of those remaining in New Orleans. Leo and Michelle reconnect with friends separated from them by Katrina and receive aid from FEMA. They later return to their apartment and retrieve only one of Leo’s comics. Abbas regrets fleeing the flood. He later returns to the store to clean it out and uses money from FEMA and side jobs to rebuild it. Kwame is in college in Ohio, and plans to do a semester in London. The Doctor set up a makeshift clinic after the flooding subsided. He is very critical of FEMA. One and a half years later, he has settled back into normal life.

The Return Denise returns to New Orleans to counsel Katrina survivors, though she continues to mourn what she lost in the hurricane. Leo moves back to his old apartment with Michelle and restarts his comics collection. Abbas has reopened his store, and now regrets trying to ride out Katrina. Kwame is still in college, and will soon visit his old house in New Orleans in the summer once it is totally rebuilt. The Doctor does not appear in this section. It can be assumed that he has long returned to his normal, pre-Katrina lifestyle.

The Aftermath of Katrina The government response to Katrina, especially though FEMA, was widely seen as a failure. Response was slow. The number of refugees was too large to handle. The help that did arrive often consisted of inexperienced workers. The local government was also criticized for over 50 levee failures that occurred after the hurricane, which flooded a vast majority of New Orleans. The damage caused by Katrina made it the costliest natural disaster in American history. As of 2012, New Orleans has a population of about 369,250 people, a large decrease from the pre-Katrina population of 455,000.

The Main Cast and Katrina Each member of the main cast represents a different aspect of the struggle experienced by the survivors of the hurricane and the flood. Denise is shaken by her experiences in the convention center, feeling lost after relocating to a Habitat for Humanity house around Baton Rouge Leo and Michelle wander around the surrounding area before finally settling back into their old apartment. Leo, however, must deal with the loss of his years-old collection Abbas, with nowhere else to go, returns to his store after reuniting with his family. He is forced to work side jobs in order to gather enough money to rebuild. Kwame, with no home to return to in New Orleans, must live with a family friend with his brother and continue his education elsewhere while his parents remain behind to help rebuild.

The Main Cast and Katrina The Doctor represents the few who were rich enough to live in the wealthier areas of New Orleans that were able to avoid the wrath of the hurricane and the resulting flooding. While the damage left in Katrina’s wake in unavoidable, the Doctor and others like him are able to settle into daily life relatively quickly. His absence from the final section appears to confirm this: There is no need for him to appear because his story has already been resolved.

Questions Do you think all of the characters made a good decision on whether or not to stay in the city, based on the fact that they would have no idea how severe the outcome was going to be? Why or why not? In "The Flood", Leo becomes angry at a radio show caller who criticizes people living in New Orleans for not fleeing Katrina, saying that the caller doesn't understand what it's like to be a "have-not". How much truth do you think there is in Leo's statement, and why? Do you think FEMA and other rescue services did the best they could to help the people in the city? What could they have done better?