NATCHEZ &8212; Five years have passed since New York City was attacked by terrorists, changing the United States forever. A year ago, another disaster, Hurricane Katrina, swept through the Gulf states and yet again changed the nation.

Natchez residents have differing views on how Hurricane Katrina affected the memory of Sept. 11, 2001.

&8220;Both were tragic events, and I don&8217;t put one above the other,&8221; said Delanea Pickett, who works with the Natchez-Adams County School District.

Pickett said she thought Sept. 11 affected her more than Hurricane Katrina because of the effects it had on security and safety.

Buck Brumfield, a registered nurse at Community Hospital, said he thought the two events were very different.

&8220;One was an act of terrorism and one was a force of nature that couldn&8217;t have been prevented,&8221; Brumfield said.

While the terrorist attacks affected the economy, he said, they were so far away, they didn&8217;t impact the Miss-Lou as directly.

&8220;A hurricane, there&8217;s nothing you can do about it,&8221; Brumfield said. &8220;It&8217;s something everybody has to deal with on one level or another.&8221;

Casey Novak, a small-plane pilot, agreed with him.

&8220;It puts in perspective how small you really are,&8221; Novak said.

Sara Blackburn, production manager with the Natchez Festival of Music, said she thought Sept. 11 had a more lasting impact on the town.

&8220;During Katrina, we were able to help,&8221; Blackburn said. &8220;I don&8217;t think we were psychologically hurt as much as on the coast. 9/11, to me, was such an act of war. The terrorist attack made you feel so violated.&8221;

Mike Byrne, owner of the Market Place Caf/, said he thought both had equal weight.

&8220;When Katrina struck, it had a big affect here,&8221; Byrne said. &8220;9/11 was in New York. It was horrible, but Katrina affected more people we know.&8221;

Byrne said whatever the effects the storm had, he did not think Katrina would wipe clean the collective memory of the terrorist attacks.

&8220;On Sept. 11 in 2020, they&8217;re still going to think back,&8221; Byrne said. &8220;It will be like the day Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. It&8217;s going to be a day nobody will ever forget.&8221;