Yes, I survived Hurricane Katrina as we southerners say, which it's almost the 4 anno anniversary...( I can't believe 4 years have gone da since that horrible night I will never forget). So here's my story I hope te enjoy.
I have lived on the Gulf Coast my entire life (until I recently got married and moved to Atlanta). Growing up on the water in the south is quite an experience. te know you've landed in Hurricane Central when your first giorno of Kindergarten they hand te a Hurricane tracking sheet to keep in your folder. Boarding up windows and doors in our household during the season became routine. In face some residents leave these on all anno round. :D Sometimes the effort would pay off but 8 times out of 10 we never saw significant damage. It was always predicted to be a lot worse than they really were. So like most people in our city we ignored the warnings because honestly those warnings to leave the city were dato every hurricane. And you'd be hundreds of miles out of town to learn that the "eye" just missed us and the winds weren't as bad as predicted. So most of the residents stay in their homes to be where they are most comfortable. We ignorned the warnings.
The night the Hurricane hit I was sitting in my room on the phone when I heard the tornado warning turn on in our streets. (it's a loud siren that goes off through out the city) Next, the power and phone died. Then I heard the howling of the wind for 2 hours. The sound of the wind is the scariest. It shakes the whole ground bringing trees and power lines down within seconds. Hurricane's are the worst natural disaster in the world. Everything te know and own is gone in secondi and te watch memories of your precious city wash down the streets and there is nothing te can do but get out. te have to think about yourself as selfish as it sounds. te can't waste a minuto thinking about how your Friends and family are doing in their homes and if they got out in time.
We moved into the hall to escape the water and albero that went through the roof of my parent's house. I remember trying to fall asleep on the rug as I listened to the battery powered radio tell us that our sister city New Orleans was completely flooded and getting the extent of the damage. If this wasn't the worst part I couldn't even imagine then how much damage my preferito city in the world was receiving.
I woke at sunrise to realize I now lived in a ghost town. There was no way to even get out of the driveway much less out of the neighborhood. We were lucky compared to our neighbors and most of our family members who have homes on the water. With no power in our city we had a curfew which was enforced da military who rode up and down the roads in hummer with machine pistole to keep chaos in order. Listening to the military hummers ride da projecting through the speaker system that all residents should be in their homes at dusk can be a little intimidating. Pretty much a horror movie.
Weeks go da with no power and gas. There is no way to get to our city because of all the debris and destoryed bridges blocking most outside resources. And te look up in the sky to see hundreds of helicopters from the media recording your life in destruction. And the President flying over your city reporting to the rest of the world what's going on. But te can't see these images. Can te imagine not being able to go to work o do daily activities b/c of no gas/power/water? Restaurants running just their refrigerators and nothing else trying to get rid of their Cibo that is spoiling to people who are hungry that didn't get supplies before the hurricane. And if te think that going to the grocery store the giorno before a hurricane is a breeze te have another thing coming. It's like Armageddon there and at all gas stations. I don't want to go into to much più detail about the things I witnessed during this time b/c they are upsetting for me and they are no words describe this experience.
Aftermath:
Family and Friends were all right besides loosing everything they've ever owned. I have never seen such disturbing things until I entered the Louisianan/Mississippi border. I had to get a special permit 2 1/2 weeks after the Hurricane to drive to the outside Parrish's of New Orleans to pick up family who were stranded there( I ha rubato, stola gas from cans that were in the back of pick-up trucks b/c there was no other way). And I am publicly apologizing for that today. If I had to do it all over again I would without regret. I think we ended up with at least 20 family and Friends staying with us for months after trying to get their life's back together. It was hard b/c te want to grieve for the things you've Lost but te have people staying with te who are a lot worse off than te are. And te can't feel sorry te have to pick up the pieces and help rebuild the community te love. te live and te learn and if your still lucky to be alive at the end of the giorno te know te must of done something right. Thanks for letting me share this horrific giorno with you. It's something that's hard to talk about but feels better when te get off your chest.
I have lived on the Gulf Coast my entire life (until I recently got married and moved to Atlanta). Growing up on the water in the south is quite an experience. te know you've landed in Hurricane Central when your first giorno of Kindergarten they hand te a Hurricane tracking sheet to keep in your folder. Boarding up windows and doors in our household during the season became routine. In face some residents leave these on all anno round. :D Sometimes the effort would pay off but 8 times out of 10 we never saw significant damage. It was always predicted to be a lot worse than they really were. So like most people in our city we ignored the warnings because honestly those warnings to leave the city were dato every hurricane. And you'd be hundreds of miles out of town to learn that the "eye" just missed us and the winds weren't as bad as predicted. So most of the residents stay in their homes to be where they are most comfortable. We ignorned the warnings.
The night the Hurricane hit I was sitting in my room on the phone when I heard the tornado warning turn on in our streets. (it's a loud siren that goes off through out the city) Next, the power and phone died. Then I heard the howling of the wind for 2 hours. The sound of the wind is the scariest. It shakes the whole ground bringing trees and power lines down within seconds. Hurricane's are the worst natural disaster in the world. Everything te know and own is gone in secondi and te watch memories of your precious city wash down the streets and there is nothing te can do but get out. te have to think about yourself as selfish as it sounds. te can't waste a minuto thinking about how your Friends and family are doing in their homes and if they got out in time.
We moved into the hall to escape the water and albero that went through the roof of my parent's house. I remember trying to fall asleep on the rug as I listened to the battery powered radio tell us that our sister city New Orleans was completely flooded and getting the extent of the damage. If this wasn't the worst part I couldn't even imagine then how much damage my preferito city in the world was receiving.
I woke at sunrise to realize I now lived in a ghost town. There was no way to even get out of the driveway much less out of the neighborhood. We were lucky compared to our neighbors and most of our family members who have homes on the water. With no power in our city we had a curfew which was enforced da military who rode up and down the roads in hummer with machine pistole to keep chaos in order. Listening to the military hummers ride da projecting through the speaker system that all residents should be in their homes at dusk can be a little intimidating. Pretty much a horror movie.
Weeks go da with no power and gas. There is no way to get to our city because of all the debris and destoryed bridges blocking most outside resources. And te look up in the sky to see hundreds of helicopters from the media recording your life in destruction. And the President flying over your city reporting to the rest of the world what's going on. But te can't see these images. Can te imagine not being able to go to work o do daily activities b/c of no gas/power/water? Restaurants running just their refrigerators and nothing else trying to get rid of their Cibo that is spoiling to people who are hungry that didn't get supplies before the hurricane. And if te think that going to the grocery store the giorno before a hurricane is a breeze te have another thing coming. It's like Armageddon there and at all gas stations. I don't want to go into to much più detail about the things I witnessed during this time b/c they are upsetting for me and they are no words describe this experience.
Aftermath:
Family and Friends were all right besides loosing everything they've ever owned. I have never seen such disturbing things until I entered the Louisianan/Mississippi border. I had to get a special permit 2 1/2 weeks after the Hurricane to drive to the outside Parrish's of New Orleans to pick up family who were stranded there( I ha rubato, stola gas from cans that were in the back of pick-up trucks b/c there was no other way). And I am publicly apologizing for that today. If I had to do it all over again I would without regret. I think we ended up with at least 20 family and Friends staying with us for months after trying to get their life's back together. It was hard b/c te want to grieve for the things you've Lost but te have people staying with te who are a lot worse off than te are. And te can't feel sorry te have to pick up the pieces and help rebuild the community te love. te live and te learn and if your still lucky to be alive at the end of the giorno te know te must of done something right. Thanks for letting me share this horrific giorno with you. It's something that's hard to talk about but feels better when te get off your chest.