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HOME | CUSTOM DESIGN | HOUSE PLANS SEARCH | On the DRAWING BOARD | PLANS ON SALE Our Hurricane Katrina Story Written Sept. 5, 2005
But let me start at the beginning. When Hurricane Katrina crossed the peninsula of Florida and entered the Gulf of Mexico, we all kept an eye on it, as we do any storm that enters the Gulf, but we weren't particularly worried about it. We've weathered many hurricanes and tropical storms in this area. When I was a child I went through Hurricane Camille in this town and lived through its 200+ mph winds. Veterans of that storm always say, "I survived Camille so I can survive anything." In 1985, Hurricane Elena, with 130 mph winds, came directly over us and we had no real damage and electricity was only out for 12 hours or so. In 1998, Hurricane Georges hit just to our east and we only lost power for a few hours. So when the forecasters told us on Saturday, August 27 that the New Orleans area would be in the path of the storm, we began our usual hurricane ritual- putting away lawn furniture, tying down the trampoline and basketball goal, taking the garbage cans from the driveway, and stocking up on the necessary hurricane supplies. New Orleans was the target of this one, so we didn't expect too much out of it- maybe power out for a day or so, but nothing more. We went to bed Saturday night and the storm was only a cat 3- definitely one to ride out. "No biggie", as my 15-year-old son would say. He's a huge hurricane buff and knows everything there is to know about them. His biggest thrill at that time was to experience the eye of a hurricane and it looked like he might be getting his wish! But everything had changed when we woke up on Sunday morning. The storm was now a major cat 5 hurricane, with winds of 175 mph and one of the largest eyes anyone had ever seen. New Orleans was now under a mandatory evacuation and the I-59 next to our town was a parking lot with vehicles trying to get out of the city. We were told by friends that it had taken them 12 hours to get to Jackson- a trip which normally takes only 2 hours. We knew it was too late to evacuate. Being in a car on the interstate in the middle of a cat 5 hurricane is definitely not a good idea. So we decided to stay and make the best of it, even though by now my son was berating us for not leaving. He wouldn't even speak to us as we were preparing to ride it out. He understood just what we were in for. We had only enough plywood on hand to board up a few windows, so we decided to take refuge in my home office- a room with 10" thick solid brick walls on 3 sides, protected on the weak wall by another house very near it so the wind couldn't blow anything into the two small windows there. My son and I went outside and prayed over our house and our neighbors' houses- even the mailbox ;) We moved as much of the furniture out as we could, and moved some partitions in front of the south-facing door- our only "weak" spot in the room. We also boarded that door on the outside with plywood. Here is a pic of my daughter sleeping on a mattress there in front of that area:
By midnight on Sunday we were all worn out from hurricane preparations so we took a nap, even though the wind was starting to gust strongly at that point. Around 3 am my older daughter woke me up- the power had gone out. My computer's UPS battery was still functioning so I was able to see the radar online and learn that the eye was expected to move a little more east of the original forecasted track, sparing New Orleans and possibly us, depending on how far east it would turn. As the battery on the UPS went out, I saw the eye about to make landfall. That was the last we knew of where the storm was headed. My battery-operated radio would only pick up one station- WWL out of New Orleans. So we sat in the light of candles, listening as the winds slowly increased around us, and learning from the radio that the storm was going to spare New Orleans. As morning broke, my son and I went outside to film a little with the video camera, but were soon driven inside by the force of the wind and rain. Every few minutes we'd hear a loud "boom" as a tree or a large branch hit the ground somewhere near us. Once the eye crept past New Orleans, WWL stopped broadcasting about where the storm was headed and only told about damage to the city. That left us with a huge problem- we didn't know where the storm was going. If it turned east as predicted, we'd get high winds but we'd stay out of the dangerous eyewall. But if it didn't, and kept on a northerly path, we'd be in trouble. Around 10am, we all jumped as we heard several loud claps of booming thunder, then our eyes opened in amazement because the roar didn't lessen as thunder normally does- it kept getting louder and louder, until the ground was literally trembling under our feet. It sounded exactly like when Stennis Space Center near us would test the old rocket engines but we knew there was no testing going on today! My heart fell as I realized we were probably surrounded by tornadoes. I knew then we had made a terrible decision in staying put. We all scrambled to the strongest brick wall, sitting on the floor in a circle holding hands and praying, as our house began to shake violently. This went on for about 45 minutes, as we heard objects hitting the house and the doors sucking in and out. We could hear the rafters above us creaking and moaning. I have never been so afraid in my entire life. And then it all suddenly stopped: the rumble faded away and the house stopped shaking. We all got up and went outside on shaky legs, and saw our neighbors starting to come out as well. We all looked shell-shocked. Our street looked entirely different. The dogwood trees which had lined our driveway were all uprooted. The tall pine in our front yard had snapped midways and the top was upended in the yard. Nearly every tree in our yard was either uprooted or snapped- but they had all fallen miraculously away from the house- in all directions! None of the houses immediately around us had been hit by any trees, even though there were probably 50 trees lying on the ground! We found our ridge vent mangled under a tree in our backyard, so my husband hauled the ladder and was about to get on the roof to put some tarp down, when the wind suddenly began picking up--- from the opposite direction! We all looked at each other and realized the storm hadn't turned east as we had hoped. We were in the eye! As we looked to our south, my heart dropped into my stomach as we saw a wall of black clouds approaching. I nearly fell apart-- I knew our house couldn't take those winds again. We all ran inside and got back down on the floor, bracing ourselves for another onslaught and praying our house would hold up. But miraculously, the winds in the southern part of the eyewall were much weaker. Within a couple of hours there was only a gusty breeze and drizzly rain outside. We still had phone service, at least in-coming, so we answered call after call from friends and family out of state, making sure we were okay. We couldn't get in touch with my parents, who live just down the road, but we also couldn't drive to check on them as we were completely blocked in by downed trees and power poles. That night was fairly pleasant, even without air conditioning, as there was still a good breeze blowing. But when we woke the next morning, the heat and crushing humidity were already starting to take a toll on us. By this time we had no phone service at all, no running water, no power and not nearly enough food and water to make it very long. We couldn't flush the toilet, we couldn't bathe. But as we surveyed the damage around us, we knew we were very fortunate. No trees had landed on our house and were were all safe. Our home could be repaired and life would go on as usual- or so we thought at the time.
By the afternoon I was beginning to get very worried about my parents, and decided to see if I could drive out of the neighborhood. Neighbors had been out early, cutting a path through the downed trees, but since they couldn't move the power poles, we had to drive underneath poles hanging at all angles across the road. The first power line we drove over terrified me, but after that it was no big deal. Power was out all over so there was no danger, and you couldn't drive ten feet down the road without driving over a power line. They were draped like spaghetti over everything. It took over an hour to get to my parent's house, which is only a couple of miles from my own. They live in a mobile home, but had taken refuge next door at my grandmother's house. I fully expected to see their trailer demolished, but miraculously, it was untouched! However, my grandmother's house had several trees fall on it. Thankfully, they were all unhurt and just hot and miserable. My grandmother told us stories of how when she was growing up, she didn't have electricity and how they lived without the conveniences we take for granted today. My son couldn't believe anyone he knew had actually lived all the time without electricity! My parents had a small generator to run a tiny tv an fan and were able to tell us that New Orleans was reporting very little damage to the city. They all celebrated as they had dodged the bullet once again. We also learned that all the roads leading out of town were closed. All the bridges and overpasses were either completely demolished or badly damaged, and the roads were totally clogged by fallen trees. And the worst news of all: the entire gulf coast of Mississippi was gone. Wiped out. I think we were in shock the rest of the day. Seeing the damage around your city was one thing, but knowing the entire bottom third of the state was devastated was overwhelming. At one point, it was reported that 85% of the entire state of Mississippi was without power. And the scariest part of all was knowing that, without the roads, no help could get to us any time soon. We were on our own, at least for the time being. As we drove back home, we were worried to see the river near our house rising. It was already up over one of the entrances to our neighborhood. I did something stupid and tried driving my husband's Ford Focus through the water, but when I started to feel the tires loosing contact with the road, I decided I had better turn back ;) The water was rising so fast that we barely made it out. I had to back-track and drive all around town to get to the other entrance. We hadn't thought about the water coming up, and we were starting to get concerned. If the water came up over the other entrance, we'd be trapped in the neighborhood with very little food and water. That night was one of the most miserable nights I've ever endured. The radio was now reporting that the levees had been breached and New Orleans' worst nightmare was coming true: the city was filling with water. People were trapped in their attics. We listened as people called in, crying and begging for help because they were stuck in an attic. The lucky ones who had taken an axe into the attic with them were able to hack through and escape onto their roofs but others were trapped in the heat with no way to get out. We all sat in numb disbelief as we listened to the radio. Surely this couldn't be happening. The engineers would be able to fix the levees before the worst happened. At our home, the conditions weren't great. All the screens had been blown off the windows, so every bug in creation seemed to be sharing our home with us! As I lay in bed that night, on sheets drenched from the humidity and our sweat, watching by candlelight as the bugs crawled up our bedroom walls and across our ceiling above us, scratching continuously from mosquito bites, I knew I couldn't handle these conditions for very long. The air was so still- not the slightest breeze to help cool us off. And water was too precious to waste to wash with to try to cool off. The odor from the spoiled food in the refrigerator and freezer and the toilets that we couldn't flush, was starting to permeate the house. And all around us was total pitch darkness- no street lamps or any light whatsoever. We didn't know how fast the water was rising, so for all we knew at that time, we were trapped in the situation. The next morning, after no sleep at all, we were all exhausted and grumpy and absolutely miserable. The radio reported that New Orleans was now at least 20' under water in places and the water was still rising. When would it end? We were down to half-a jar of peanut butter and some bread, along with a few cans of raviolis, and very little water. Then my dad drove up to return my wallet that I'd accidentally left at their house the day before, and told us the water was already over the other entrance to our neighborhood, but if we left immediately we could still get out. A neighbor's son had just driven in from out of town and told us the only open route out, to bypass the interstate and all the bridges that were damaged. We threw whatever we could grab into suitcases and loaded the car and the van as fast as we could. We would have to leave our two beloved cats, but a neighbor promised they would look after them. They had a generator and were going to stay, no matter what. We took our dog, guinea pig and two ferrets because they'd never be able to fend for themselves. We also loaded up my two work computers and all my business paperwork, as we didn't know how long we'd be gone, and if we lost those, we'd lose my business. Within an hour we were ready to go. But when we neared the entrance to the neighborhood and saw a pickup truck having trouble getting through the water, we knew our minivan and Ford Focus would never make it. But there was no way I was going back! I turned the car into a yard, over a fence and then some more yards (if you're reading this, we're sorry, neighbors!!) to get to the main road, bypassing the entrance and the water. We now had no choice. We had to try to make it to Dallas because we couldn't go back home, and there was no room for all of us at my parents' trailer. We had no cash on us, a gallon jug of water, and no food but we did have two full tanks of gas. We left in such a hurry that we hadn't even thought to bring the peanut butter with us! As we drove out of town, the roads were so clogged with fallen trees and power poles that we didn't think we'd make it. Many places there was only one lane, driving in and out and around fallen trees, sometimes into ditches, and always afraid of oncoming traffic doing the same thing. At one point, there were so many trees across the road that we had no choice but to back-track and try to find a different route around them. We never knew when we'd reach a point where we couldn't go on. And we were always mindful of the gas situation. We hadn't been able to get any cash because the power was out, so even if we could find an open gas station, we'd have to use a debit card or credit card to buy the gas, and without power and phone lines, that might be virtually impossible. Every town we passed was without power. Our biggest fear was running out of gas in the middle of nowhere, with no phone, no cash, no water, no food and 3 kids and 4 animals to take care of. We'd be worse off than if we had stayed at home! Finally, after 8 hours of driving we were able to find a gas station just on the other side of Vicksburg. The lines were very long but we knew my husband's car wouldn't be able to make it any farther as he was on fumes. Plus this station was able to take a credit card for payment. My husband filled up his car, but by the time I got my van in position to pump the gas, the pumps were out of gas. I still had about an 1/8th of a tank, so we continued on down the interstate towards Dallas, hoping we'd find some gas soon. We tried at every exit, and finally we found an open station, but they couldn't process credit cards. Instead, they were being very trusting and allowing everyone to get gas and just manually taking down the credit card information for processing later! What an answer to prayer! About this time we were also finally able to get a signal on our cell phones and called my brother-in-law to let him know we were on our way. He's a sweetheart- he wired us cash to get us the rest of the way there and to get something to eat and drink. Finally, near Monroe, LA, it was like returning to civilization. There was electricity!! We found an open Walmart and received the wired money, but because it was so late the only fast-food place open was Sonic. You've never seen 5 people eat or drink so much at one time! It was strange driving around a place that was "normal". We felt so weird and kind of out of place... we were dirty and felt shell-shocked. Finally, at 5am the next morning we arrived at my brother-in-law's home and crashed in the beds they had prepared for us. It had taken 17 hours to drive what would normally take only 8 hours. And since we had brought both vehicles in case of looters and rising water, we had both had to drive the entire way without any rest. When we woke up later that day and we were finally able to watch the news, we were all horrified by what we saw. People in New Orleans were literally dying as they waited for rescue, because no one was trying to help them. There was very little news about Mississippi, but we did finally see some of the coast on "Oprah" a few days later. It was crazy to see the places I knew so well just gone. I'm amazed and overwhelmed by the generosity and love the people of Texas have shown us. They have made us feel like one of their own, not only allowed but encouraged us to enroll our children in their schools, and opened their arms to us in so many ways. We're not sure when we'll be able to return home. As of this writing, our neighborhood is still without power, I cannot communicate with my parents because of the phones being out, and Stennis Space Center, where my husband is employed, is closed indefinitely. But my brother and sister-in-law have taken us in and their church, as well as friends and family, and amazingly, FEMA, have provided food, clothing and all our needs are being taken care of. I am so blessed: we're all safe and we have a home to return to, eventually. I'm confident that we will be able to return home soon and life will get back to normal one day. I'll update this page as I can to keep you informed of our situation.
UPDATE: Sept. 18, 2005 UPDATE: January 2, 2006 My dad and I are still trying to get FEMA to give us an answer on my grandmother's house. We were told by FEMA that since she passed away as a result of the storm, that they would give us the money to repair the house, but still no word. It's sitting there, slowly rotting in place. My dad used some of his retirement savings to have the roof repaired so at least water wouldn't seap into it every time it rains, but the whole house was was racked by the trees falling on it so the floor joists are damaged and all the sheetrock is cracked throughout the house. He just doesn't have the money to repair it properly. I found these pictures on the internet taken of our town just after the storm. I'm not sure who to credit them to, so if they're yours, let me know!
UPDATE: January 15, 2007 UPDATE: March 31, 2007 UPDATE: June 10, 2008 UPDATE: Sept. 5, 2008 |
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HOME | CUSTOM DESIGN | HOUSE PLANS SEARCH | On the DRAWING BOARD | PLANS ON SALE
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