Hurricanes tend to be a bad memory for me.
In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina changed millions of lives, including my own. Thinking about the first time I saw my home destroyed by the path of the storm made me realize that we are much more resilient as humans than we think we are.
After hurricane Katrina, my family and I were blessed enough to not have been too affected by any of the other hurricanes. We prepare each year with essentials like batteries, generators, and non-perishable foods.
Evacuating tends to be a hard topic, as it takes a lot of time to prepare and take proper direction on where to go. I have a grandmother who has Alzheimer’s and a father who suffered from a stroke 14 years ago. The severity of the storm typically dictates whether we leave or not.
My family and choose to stay here due to our deep ties with the Vietnamese community here as well as the fact that it is home. My parents have never considered moving to a different location because simply put, there is just no place like home. I almost feel like the storms do not dictate how I live at all. I am a firm believer that humans are much more resilient than we think we are. There was nothing more humbling than rebuilding our home from nothing.
As a first generation American, I find my parents to be the strongest people in the world.
They came here in 1984 to build a new life and a family for it all to be taken away by a storm.
The fact my parents were able to rebuild a home and start almost anew a second time proves that life goes on and that anything can be accomplished with determination.
-Hannah Nguyen