Blog Three Zeitoun: Who Knows What?

            One of the greatest struggles for those citizens who stayed in the city, and those who left the city was the lack of information. There were three different sources of information. The news, those who had information from the inside, and those who had outside information. However, even before the storm real information was blurred together with incorrect information. For example, the mayor evacuated a optional, but suggested evacuation of the city. However, no one truly knew how bad the storm would be. Once the storm hit, the next issue was the cause of the flooding. The hurricane was clearly bad, but many had no idea how it had created as much damage as it did. Many were unaware that the cause of all the flooding was largely do to the fact that the levees broke, especially those who remained within the city. However, those who were outside of the city, and those within the city had two completely different perspectives of the storm. Kathy, who had left before the storm was informed by the news. The Zeitouns had a lot of family in Syria, and the news had informed them “There had bee looting, rapes, murders. It was chaos, anarchy.” However, that was only in the main parts of the city. Zeitoun spent much of his time helping people outside of the city. Though those things were happening in the city, Zeitoun had not run into any of it. It was not until his wife, Kathy, told him about the news that he was informed of the chaos. Other news stations reported that New Orleans was like a third world country. Damage and destruction was everywhere.

            However, though the news can often inflate the truth, in this case, there was not much difference between what was being reported, and what was the truth. I cannot imagine the helpless feeling that those families who had left New Orleans, and those families, like the Zeitouns, who still had loved ones within the city. Zeitoun’s cell phone didn’t work, and there were few working phones around the city. There was one phone in a house on Claiborne, who belonged to a friend of Zeitoun, where his and Kathy could communicate. Kathy and Zeitoun had a set time, twelve o’clock noon, when they would talk every day. The days when Zeitoun didn’t pick up he phone, or called an hour late, where by far the most heart wrenching things to read. There was nothing Kathy could do but wait for him to call. With all of the information being shown within the media, the things that Kathy could happen imagining to Zeitoun were torturous. When Zeitoun was arrested, Kathy had no idea. It took weeks, letters, and serious digging for Kathy and Zeitoun to communicate. In Kathy’s mind, and the mind of every New Orleaner, every unheard hour was another hour that a loved one could be lost, and there was little anyone could do to help. It seems like there was a completely helpless feeling to coming from those on the outside no one had heard from him in days