Hurricane

The hurricane fad pokes fun at the 2004 and 2005 Atlantic hurricane seasons. The 2005 Hurricane Katrina incident in the Gulf region and New Orleans is often mocked the most. The fad ridicules the government's response on all levels to the disaster, the looting of New Orleans, and is linked to Mayor Ray Nagin's proclamation that New Orleans will be a "Chocolate City" (See Chocolate New Orleans). It also brings fads such as Stole My Bike! and Katamari Damacy in to add to the ridicule of the stranded, desperate, and quite ignorant citizens of New Orleans that failed to evacuate the city before the hurricane struck.

## Katrina

### History

On August 23, 2005, Hurricane Katrina formed over the Bahamas and crossed Florida into the Gulf of Mexico, becoming one of the strongest Gulf hurricanes on record. The storm struck the Gulf Coast of the United States, causing catastrophic damage in the city of New Orleans and along the Mississippi/Louisiana coastlines. The storm left hundreds of thousands of people homeless and killed 1,836. Most of the damage in New Orleans was caused by the breeching of several levees, flooding the city and stranding residents who could not evacuate. These residents turned to looting, not only for items for survival, but items that they couldn't use such as televisions and microwaves. The African-American community turned to looting shoes and sports jerseys, something aptly pointed out by YTMND users. After some time, the inept state government of Louisiana deployed the National Guard to restore order in the city and after some time, the city was finally completely evacuated and cleanup efforts began in force.

### Katrina as a Fad

When the hurricane approached New Orleans, YTMNDs began to appear, some featuring Ollie the Weatherman from "Family Guy", while others Sebastian the crab from "The Little Mermaid" predicting doom for the city or the discovery of "Atlantis" in Louisiana.

Within hours of the levees flooding the city, and Geraldo Rivera's subsequent arrival, YTMND'ers pounced on the disaster, taking their shot at the Top 15. For weeks, the Top 5 and Top 15 were ruled by New Orleans and Katrina related YTMNDs. Nothing was sacred, as everything from the looting of the city to Mayor Nagin's call for 500 buses were blasted, and deservingly so. Literally every single fad that had been used in the past was involved in the fad. Most NES and SNES games were parodied too. Everything from Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean" to Sonic the Hedgehog was applied to the situation in New Orleans. One of the more notable songs was the Scorpions' "Rock You Like a Hurricane". This became the trademark song of the fad.

The Katrina fad help to yield a few other fads, including the "...Is Racist", and "George Bush Doesn't Care About Black People" fads.

## The Remainder of the 2005 Hurricane Season

### **Rita**

After Katrina, the rest of the hurricane season saw another load of hurricane ytmnds. Hurricane Rita struck Texas and Louisiana later that month. With the arrival, sites began to pop up depicting Hurricane Rita as Hurrita, the main villain in the tv show Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Sites often had the intro of the theme song with her famed dialogue "After 10,000 years, I'm free! It's time to rule Earth!". A joke common during this time was a weather map which resembled a "wang".

### **Wilma**

Soon after, Hurricane Wilma followed in late October. Wilma struck eastern Mexico and Florida. When the hurricane was detected, sites quickly popped up comparing the hurricane to that of runfromwilma. Some used the Flintstones theme song. This fad wasn't as popular as the latter 2 due to it causing the least amount of damage of the 3 major hurricanes.

## Links

http://zangla.ytmnd.com/ - Original site by **TheBigMan**

http://simcityneworleans.ytmnd.com/ - Another by **myaccount**

http://nokatamaricleanup.ytmnd.com/ - Another by **MrGreg**

http://neworleansweakness.ytmnd.com/ - Another by **jondiesel**

http://neworleansnigga.ytmnd.com/ - Another by **Oakey**