7b

After reading “Katrina: Growing Despair”, I had two hotspots. My first one was on page 225. It said that the hurricane had done an estimated 81.2 billion dollars in damage. This was one of my hotspots because I obviously knew that the hurricane had done a lot of damage, but I never knew the number that they put to it. I can't even imagine how much 81.2 billion dollars is and I can't imagine how they will ever be able to get anything close to that amount back. Literally everything must have been destroyed. I've seen pictures, but it's definitely not the same thing as being there in person. It's good to know that there are celebrities and other people going over there frequently to help rebuild the city and put their own time and money into it the reconstruction. I wonder what the city looks like now and how fair it's come. It's definitely not the same but it has to be better than what it was. It's going to be a landmark for forever now.
My next hotspot was also on page 225. It said that the “head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency resigned amid accusations of poor leadership and mismanagement of resources.” This was my second hotspot because I remember hearing on the news that the federal government's reaction was poor and slow. I did not know that the person in charge actually resigned. You have to wonder why it took so long for the government to react. Of course there were probably other things going on, but something bigger than the loss of 2,000 lives in one city? That should be a big red flag and you would think help would be sent immediately. I guess we'll never know the reasons behind the lack of reaction to the hurricane, but just hope it never happens again if another catastrophe ever happens.

“The Devastation Is Terrible” had two hotpots that caught my attention. The first one was actually in the introduction on page 227. It said that “Ashe wanted to serve with the American Red Cross during World War 1, but she was rejected because of her age.” I haven't done my math so I'm not sure how old she was the time but it was a hotspot for me because of all the injuries and casualties that occurred during WW1, you would think they would take all the help they can get. Even if she is young, she could still help gather things and bring the real doctor's what they need. I don't know, I just thought it was strange that help was rejected in a time of need.
My second hotspot was on page 228. This is when it talks about a lady who was in charge of a hospital and 107 men took refuge in there. She kept them there for two weeks and let them escape one at a time. She disguised them as butchers, bakers and other things so they wouldn't get caught. She also burned their uniforms in a furnace. She eventually got very sick and was sent to a prison hospital where she walked for miles to try to get away. She was caught and returned to the hospital. This is a hotspot of mine because I could picture her as I was reading this, doing the things she did. I could picture her helping the men out and her running away from the prison hospital. I could picture her getting thinner and thinner like the book says. It's sad, really. A little old lady (I'm assuming) doing these things for other people and protecting people when it puts her life in danger. The ten accomplices she had also put their lives in danger for people they barely knew. I like how the lady said that “no one knows what freedom is who has not been deprived of it”. I like this because it's so true. We take our freedom for granted everyday without knowing, and we never will understand our freedom until it's stripped away from us.