During the fall of 2005, members of the storytelling community held a variety of programs to benefit the victims of the Katrina Hurricane in the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.

Coming so soon after the tsunami disaster in southeast Asia, it was difficult to organize new fundraising events, but many communities did exactly that.

Storytellers who lived in the path of the storm posted their stories on a special blog called StoryKatrina.

I Will Rise Above
By Dianne de Las Casas

Dianne de Las Casas is a New Orleans-based storyteller. She and her family took shelter in Texas during Hurricane Katrina. She wrote this poem for an elementary school yearbook in response to the crisis (which she kindly allowed me to reproduce here):

Though the trees are uprooted
And buildings fall to the ground
Though the waters keep rising
It will not hold me down

Though my house is submerged
And my belongings are gone
I still have my family
And we rejoice the coming dawn

Though my eyes remain wet
From the tears that still fall
I have the strength of my faith
To get me through it all

And through terrible tragedy
Comes great kindness and grace
Communities come together
Hand in hand, face to face

Human spirit will not sink
It rises above adversity
And though Katrina is strong
She is not stronger than me

I will rise above
With friends, family, faith and love