For so many people affected by Hurricane Katrina, Vicksburg was a starting point.

Since Friday, the Vicksburg Post has reflected on the decade since the massive storm swept through Mississippi and Louisiana, changing the faces, culture and landscapes of both states.

The storm, at least here, was a new beginning rather than a devastating end.

Friday, we talked to some of Warren County’s National Guard veterans who were at ground zero when the storm hit. For them, the deadly storm was obviously a life-changer.

“We got to see a lot of inspirational moments with a lot of people working together,” said John Elfer, who is now the county’s emergency manager.

Inspirational moments continued as we looked back Saturday and Sunday at Vicksburg Convention Center and Crossway Baptist Church — then Bowmar Baptist —  serving as storm shelters.

It was a new role for the convention center and the church.

New love and growing family were also featured themes. Red Cross volunteer Jessica Lord and Indiana National Guardsman Tommy Solomon got married because of the storm. Families who stayed in Warren County following the storm in Sunday’s edition called Warren County “a great place to start over.”

“It has been a great place to live. I believe the storm brought a lot of people here to live, and we have all kind of connected along the way,” Kim Koppman said. She and her husband found a home at Eagle Lake after fleeing Katrina’s wrath.

For a Metairie, La., family Katrina and Vicksburg brought family bonding over the birth of a son, T.J.

“Things have been better for us since then,” he said. “It’s funny how when you have something positive, positive things come from it, and that was T.J,” the boy’s father Ted Swindler said.

So much energy has been focused on the devastation of the storm and its causalities, and rightly so. But as the country grieves 10 years later, let us not forget to remember how much has grown.