By David Vitrano

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – Last weekend, at least locally, it seemed impossible to escape from Hurricane Katrina. With the fifth anniversary of the disaster falling on Sunday, a number of events were held throughout the New Orleans metro area, and television station programming was saturated with coverage of the events, other remembrances and replays of reports that covered the disaster as it unfolded.

And while it has been said that no resident of New Orleans was untouched by the storm, here in the River Parishes the effects were indirect and somewhat muted compared to what unfolded a couple of parishes to the east.

With this in mind, L’Observateur asked visitors to its website how they were affected by Katrina.

Nearly 80 percent of respondents said the effects they felt from the storm were minimal. About one-third of those respondents said they were completely unaffected by Katrina while the other two-thirds said they felt some effect but have since fully recovered.

Just over 10 percent of respondents said they lost their job because of the storm and subsequently had to find a new job or a new career path altogether.

An equal number of respondents said they either were forced to relocate after Katrina or lost so much in the storm that they are still trying to get back on their feet.

A full breakdown of results follows:

• 7 percent of respondents chose “I had to relocate after the storm.”

• 4 percent of respondents chose “I lost many possessions and am still trying to get my life back in order.”

• 11 percent of respondents chose “I lost my job and have had to change jobs and/or careers.”

• 51 percent of respondents chose “I felt some effects from the storm but have fully recovered.”

• 27 percent of respondents chose “I was unaffected by Hurricane Katrina.”