After six months, there's no shaking Katrina

'A huge hole in my brain'
Meanwhile, some people displaced by the storm are only now being reunited with loved ones. Others are just identifying the bodies of relatives and friends who died in the storm.

Anecdotally, the after-effects for survivors are profound and long-lasting, beyond the simple loss of material possessions.

"Katrina washed away a huge hole in my brain where my short-term memory used to be," writes Steve Harper, a teacher and jazz musician from Bay St. Louis, who lost his home and the schools where he taught. Initially, he says, he found consolation in the fact that many friends hit by Katrina seemed to be suffering the same thing. Then he changed his mind. "The fact that it's happening to everyone makes it scarier now that I think about it.

"Now is the time when we're having to decide how to rebuild our destroyed towns," he writes. "But this is all happening when our brains aren't working optimally."

Carolyn Kaster / AP Leonce Ledet bows his head as he looks through a shattered window of his ruined home Arabi, La., on Tuesday.

It's not that surprising, according to a psychologist who has treated many people suffering the emotional trauma of the storms.

Dr. Joan Archer has worked with first responders in St. Tammany Parish, north of New Orleans, and she’s counseled teachers and children in the public school system there. Archer says police officers, in particular, have suffered severe post-traumatic stress. Some have suffered from frequent flashbacks of the harrowing events of the storm.

As Archer puts it: “Katrina is not finished claiming her victims.”

Planning for the next round
But it is time to start planning for the next hurricane season.

At the same time, many hospitals, governments and other services are working in marginal conditions or not at all. Infrastructure, especially bridges and levies remain under repair.

And some officials are worried about what to do with the tens of thousands of people who, thanks to Katrina, call a FEMA trailer home.

In Louisiana’s St. Tammany Parish, just north of New Orleans, 45,000 homes were destroyed by Katrina. About half the people who lived in them are still in trailers.

Parish administrator Kevin Davis is grateful for the help but says he’s been pleading with FEMA for months to come up with an exit strategy for the next hurricane. He says he has seen no evidence of planning for an evacuation.

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