Effects of Katrina

I just received an interesting e-mail from a friend who has lots of relatives in New Orleans; he is now taking care of them in Austin, Texas. Here's a little excerpt:

It's interesting; it seems the effect of Katrina is somehow worse now than it was initially. I guess the transition from acute survival mode to a more long-term change in living condition is a hard one to make. My father and siblings seem lost at this point, and it may take a while for them to figure out where they want to/can be and what they can/want to do.

This is something that the rest of us are going to have a hard time understanding, as we have never really gone through anything like this. Just a bit of food for thought.