This week marks the five-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Hard to believe, no?

With so many other natural and man-made disasters captivating public attention in recent years (months, even), it’s difficult to remember and acknowledge the devastation New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region suffered from the storm.

Five years later, though, the responsibility still lies with us to be aware of the effect Katrina had on the people and land it ravaged, and to be supportive of the citizens of New Orleans as much now as we ever were.

But how could I, or any of you, bring yourself to be empathic to a situation so extreme, so distant, especially one whose catalyzing events are five years gone?

Personally, I can’t do anything about it. I’m not about to buy plane tickets for the entire undergraduate student body of Binghamton University to go on a Habitat for Humanity trip.

I did, though, take a trip to New Orleans in the spring of 2008, roughly halfway between the time of the storm and the present day. Much has changed between the storm and my visit and my visit and the present, but I learned that the mentality of the city remains:

‘There is pre-Katrina New Orleans and post-Katrina New Orleans.’

My tour guide probably wasn’t aware of the poignancy of his quote, he probably started all of his tours that way. But this simple statement provides perspective from which we can all view the city and its people.

The tragic truth is that New Orleans was once a city defined by cultural bliss. Jazz music, Cajun and Creole dining and the annual Mardi Gras festival were its cornerstones.

While these things have certainly not disappeared, they have been washed away into the background by a storm that is now synonymous with the city’s name.

What New Orleans has gone through is almost unimaginable. It’s hard to find a city that has shared a similar fate.

Obviously, one could look at New York and say the 9/11 terror attacks and start to draw comparisons.

The attacks of Sept. 11 were undoubtedly devastating, especially for those of us that live near the city.

But New York is not a city defined by the tragic events of Sept. 11. Perhaps it’s because only a concentrated portion of New York City was physically affected, in contrast to the widespread damage Hurricane Katrina caused, but New York is still identified as the economic and cultural epicenter of the United States ‘ much like it was prior to Sept. 11, 2001.

Yet New Orleans still grapples with an identity crisis.

In spite of this, the city has made strides in repairing its infrastructure and spirit. And it never hurts a city to win a Super Bowl for the first time.

Maintaining awareness is important, though. Take a few hours and watch Spike Lee’s new documentary ‘If God is Willing and da Creek Don’t Rise,’ or download an episode of HBO’s ‘Treme,’ a fictitious, yet historically accurate, series that chronicles several New Orleanians’ efforts to live normal and successful post-Katrina lives.

And do me a favor, jog your memory back five years and remember that the plight of New Orleans has been anything but fictitious.