Katrina's kids: after a devastating hurricane, many young people in the United States have been forced to start over in places far from home.

As Hurricane Katrina bore down on the U.S. Gulf Coast last August, Matt Slaig and his family fled from their home in Metairie, Louisiana. They drove away from the furious winds and rain, expecting to be back in a couple of days. Instead, they may never return.

"It's extremely difficult moving from a place you've lived your entire life," says Matt, 17, "and being torn so quickly from everyone you know." Matt has relocated to San Antonio, Texas, with his parents and brother, Michael, 15.

"Usually," Matt told JS, "when you move, you have time to contemplate [think about] what's going on. You don't expect to just wake up one day and move to a whole other city and state."

Matt is one of more than 370,000 young people in the U.S. who have had to start over in new homes and schools. Victoria Nelson, 11, is another. Just days after Hurricane Katrina flooded her New Orleans home, Victoria boarded a bus for Bridgeport, Connecticut, with her mother, grandmother, and brother, Erin, 15. After the 30-hour ride, the sixth-grader had just one thought. "I wanted to get back on the bus and go home," says Victoria, who was able to take only a few things with her.

Victoria and her family stayed with relatives and in a hotel, until they found a home in Bridgeport.

"A Strange Land"

Katrina's kids "are strangers in a strange land," says Robert Butterworth, a Los Angeles psychologist who specializes in trauma (extreme emotional or physical wounds with long-lasting effects). "They have been removed from their homes, their communities, and their friends. They were ripped away with no chance to say goodbye to anyone or anything."

Many family members have had to live apart since the storm. Soon after Dominique Thibodeaux's (TIB-uh-doh) family relocated to Eunice, Louisiana, her mother had to return to New Orleans to her secretarial job. Dominique's New Orleans school was closed, so she had to stay in Eunice with her father and sister, Alexa, 16. Now she sees her mother only on some weekends.

"I miss being able to see her," says Dominique, an eighth-grader. "I miss her when I need help with school. She just comforts me a lot, and she's not there to do it anymore."

New Friends

Despite all of her losses, Dominique has found students at her new school, Eunice Junior High, to be kind and welcoming. She has made new friends since starting school and joining the softball team. One of those friends is Katherine Jenkins.

"I introduced myself to her, and we became good friends," Katherine told JS. "I felt like she needed somebody to talk to. I was hoping she could put her trust in me."

Some students at Eunice donated clothes to hurricane victims or offered to help with homework. But not everyone was instantly friendly. "At first, our kids were wary," Judy Young, a guidance counselor at Eunice, told JS. "But once [students] got to know [the new kids], they realized they were good people. They let their guard down and opened their hearts."

Matt is grateful to his new classmates, especially Greg Dyer. "Greg introduced me to the student council," says Matt, now an 11th-grader at Alamo Heights High School. "I've volunteered to help out with their Ping-Pong tournament and their homecoming pep rally. It really helps me, because I get to talk to more people and make more friends."

Making new friends may be easier than keeping up with schoolwork. Dominique admits that she sometimes has trouble focusing on her studies.

"When kids are under emotional stress, they don't study as well as they did before," says Butterworth. "They may have more difficulty concentrating."

Despite the challenges, Matt says that he is adjusting to his new surroundings. "I had lived in the same city my whole life," he told JS. "Now, I've been exposed to what San Antonio has to offer."

Like Matt, Richard Robertson, 13, is happy with his new home. After riding out the hurricane in their home in Biloxi, Mississippi, Richard and his family moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut. "I think we will stay up here," Richard says. "We don't have to worry about hurricanes."

write it!

The teens in this article were lucky that other students reached out to them at their new schools. Write an essay describing the qualities you look for in a friend. Do you make new friends easily. Explain.

1. True or False? Hurricane Katrina split many families apart. (true)

2. Young smokers are more likely than adults to become addicted to what? (nicotine)

3. A recent study found that 41.4 percent of Native Americans age 12 to 17 were doing what? (using drugs)

4. Whom did psychologist Robert Butterworth call "strangers in a strange land"? (kids displaced by Hurricane Katrina)

5. Most Native American lands today are in what kinds of areas? (remote)

6. According to some estimates, more than 4,000 kids de what each day? (smoke their first cigarette)