Entry 8: Hurricane Katrina

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the gulf coast and left a path of flooding and destruction that devastated the area. Fortunately however, Norco was not too badly affected by the storm. Residents explain that Norco didn't experience any flooding, just wind damage. Shell helped the community pull itself together after the storm to repair any damage and provided assistance to any residents in need. Many of the areas surrounding Norco were flooded, so residents of those communities moved to Norco, causing a population explosion in the small town. Tammy, an employee at the Dollar General, expressed that she thought the community had experienced more drug problems since Katrina, and that many businesses were forced to leave the community because the owners lived outside of Norco, where their homes may have been damaged and were forced to move. Ashley, a woman we met at the spillway who grew up in Norco but moved to Destrehan, said that Katrina brought more people to Norco, and therefore there are fewer jobs available to the population. Even though most of the people who came during recovery ended up leaving, some did stay, and continue to hold jobs in Norco. The basic consensus seems to be that Katrina didn't physically hurt Norco too much, but that the effects of the storm did have an impact on the community.