Where were you and what were you doing on August 28-29 2005

[Ixolib]

Everywhere we drove, residents that were staying were moving their vehicles to higher ground....the median.

LOL - Man-o-Man, that's an old N.O. tradition!!! Wonder if that tradition too will be washed away as a result of Katrina...

[skysummit]

Everywhere we drove, residents that were staying were moving their vehicles to higher ground....the median.

LOL - Man-o-Man, that's an old N.O. tradition!!! Wonder if that tradition too will be washed away as a result of Katrina...

LOL...I bet they don't do that again because some of those cars are still on the median!

[cajungal]

Do you know half of Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes did not leave even though we were under a MANDATORY evacuation? I could not convince my grandpa to leave his home in Lafourche Parish or numerous other relatives. I thought they would all perish. Would if Katrina would of not came in around Buras? Would if it would of kept going west and hit Houma head on or come in just slightly west of here around Morgan City?

[skysummit]

Cajungal...you know what's the cause of that? Betsy. Unfortunatley, around here they still think that they lived through Betsy so they could live through anything. Now they have Katrina to add. Lafourche and Terrebonne were spared, but a lot of people around here think they have survived Katrina when in all reality, they didn't even experience her.

[Hybridstorm_November2001]

I was watching TV with my Uncle and Aunt who were visiting us that Weekend. I recall my uncle, who doesn't know much about weather or TCs either for that matter, saying as he saw people lining up near the Super Dome, that this would probably be a disaster. In tandem with that statement, he also felt that it was rather ridiculous that most people in and around the NO area seemed to be taking the threat of Katrina rather lightly, up until less than a day before project landfall. Sadly he was correct, on all counts.

[Camille_2_Katrina]

The surf was HUGE Sunday morning...
we were at Dauphin Island untill about
noon. Then went back to Mississippi to
finish squaring everytthing away. Left
town about 9pm. Smooth sailing with
no traffic at that point.

[GeneratorPower]

I was in Gulfport, MS preparing for the storm on the evening of August 27th, about 36 hours before landfall. I had two friends with me, and we went to the Wal-Mart in Gulfport. I remember the look on the faces of the other shoppers. There were no preparations going on. People were looking at clothes and games. A few were buying food, but it was all perishables like meat, etc, so I assume they were not buying emergency supplies. There were plenty of supplies left on the shelves. Batteries and flashlights in abundance. We ate dinner at a Fazoli's restaurant that night in Gulfport. We asked the waitress why nobody was evacuating. She said "Momma always told us, 'You were born here, so you gonna stay here.' ". I fail to see the logic in this.

But what shocked me was how little preparation was going on. People were unconcerned, I suppose because many had ridden out Camille. We did meet one man who was quite concerned because he *had* been through Camille. He said, "Never again."

At that time, they should have known it was headed their way. But the attitude of the majority of people was unbelievable. No doubt, that's why so many died. I wonder if the waitress at Fazoli's survived the storm.

I suppose what I have written could make some of the local residents angry, especially the exceptions who DID make preparations. But I had to share it because I will never forget the experience. I know what I saw, and it was 36 hours before landfall and nobody gave a hoot. I can only assume that in the 12-24 hours after I left that those people had a change of mind.

[baygirl_1]

I can relate to older folks not wanting to leave-- my mother refused to leave with us til I woke her up that Sun. morning and showed her the Weather Channel when I went to prep her place. Her protest was that she'd been thru Camille & Frederic and she lived in a new home. She was still protesting til I sat her down in front of the TV & she saw that it was a Cat 5. She then asked me what she needed to do to get ready to go. My reply: PACK! She did and we all hit the road by late morning.
Monday was spent watching, praying, then crying when we got word from a neighbor that the chimney had blown off our home and a large hole was in our roof. My DH and my sis pulled me to my senses: it could be fixed and we were okay (as were all our family & friends). Others weren't so blessed.
Oh, yeah: My mother has agreed to leave with us for all future major storms. I hope so, because that is one less stressor to have during such a stressful time.

[crabbyhermit]

Forgive the long post, but I've never actually written out what happened, and this is quite therapeutic!

I'll start with Friday in NOLA, when I had a nice lunch with some friends. They had no idea Katrina was even around on Friday, until I mentioned "another little storm off of Florida that may--whee!!--give us an extra holiday from school on monday."

Sat. day-- Having never evac'ed before (Uptown never evacuates!!), we'd decided that, regardless of what Katrina did, no way in hell could we leave anyway --elderly, frail mother, wheelchair, cats, where to go, hours on the highway would be worse for mom than staying, can't impose on family like that, etc etc. So i went to the grocery and bought a sh&tload of food and provisions, including perishables. Felt better to see so many in line at the store, obviously also staying and stocking up.... Didn't feel at all stupid about decision to stay. I even ran into a doctor friend who told me she was staying with her kids and pets. I now know her home was flooded with the levee break in lakeview, so I sure hope she decided to leave after all. Me and the nephew monitor Storm2k boards for wobbles and shifts (what is Derek Ort saying?) I email some friends at work with some links from this board showing NOLA may be seriously under the gun. (One later thanked me for that, saying it was what finally made her decide to leave.....)

Sat night--went to bed not too worried, but pretty confident we'd have Monday off (yea!), even though it was to be the first day of classes at the university where I work.

Sun morning -- got up to news on the radio that Katrina was now a Cat 5 monster and was heading this way. Got out of bed and went down to watch TV. Watched Nagin's news conference calling for mandatory evacs. Still not going..... Calls from brother in Baton Rouge asking us what we're doing, why we're not getting the heck out. Well, we'll think about it.....

around 11 am sunday: Went outside to put my plants under the house and bring in all the stuff from the backyard. See neighbors all up and down the block packing up to go, even ones who said they would never leave again after the false alarm with Ivan.... Started to get a little scared and feel a little stupid. Neighbor asked if we were staying and I said yeah. they asked if we were going to the Dome. I said no way. But I had a plan to bring my mom to Baptist (Memorial) Hospital if things got to really looking bad. (God, what if I had done that?!) Sky getting overcast, no sounds, no birds, no traffic. Block is getting deserted. Winds picking up. Squat down in the alley to put my plants under the house and start to cry, because I realize we have to leave, and it's terrifying, and worst of all, I will have to leave behind two of my cats. (Please dont' attack me for that. a) the cats are fine, but that's another story. and b) believe me, leaving my babies behind was the hardest part about leaving by far. If it had been just me, I would have stayed behind with them, but I was responsible for my old mama and young nephew and had to make a decision about who could fit in the car! I hope I never have to do it again. Granted, I don't yet know how I will manage to physically transport and then house family plus three cats next time, but I guess I have to figure something out.....)

So than I go inside and get another call from brother demanding we pack up and get to baton rouge. spend a couple hours getting things together and leaving food and water all over the house for the cats, and crying on the phone witha friend who's called, also frightened and in tears at having to leave and not knowing......

2pm--Elderly mom, wheelchair, nephew, one cat, and a few supplies in my small car and we head out. The city is pretty deserted, and it's overcast. Eventually abandon Airline Highway route out, and find our way into the contraflow lane to BR.

During the drive we kept debating whether we were doing the right thing, and kept coming to the conclusion that we had no choice, we had to. My most eerie memory is of crawling along in the contraflow traffic through Kenner or so, and looking into the rearview mirror to see the sky over NOLA behind me almost pitch black with storm clouds already. This would have been maybe 4 pm sunday. Wondering if the cats were getting rain and wind yet....and feeling very upset and worried about having left them. But we were cheek-by-jowl in the car and I had no choice. At one point, when the traffic hadn't moved for what seemed like an hour, I thought about pulling off the interstate, which I saw many people doing, and taking the surface roads back home. I didn't want to be stuck on the I-10 over the Bonne Carre spillway as Katrina moved in....but eventually the traffic started moving. By this time, we were getting what I can only guess were the outer most feeder bands, with strong winds and rains that would start and then stop after a bit.

Got to baton rouge at 8 pm in the driving rain and wind. Watched tv till the power went, then turned on wwl radio and keep it on until, oh, december something or other, when we finally moved back home.

[zoeyann]

Friday evening the new data came out and it looked like Katrina may problem, but most people seemed to be taking it in stride. The news seemed to mention it but there did not seem to be a big hoopla at that point. The only reason I was worried was because of those reliable people on here and WWL who are informed nonscaremongers appeared concerned. It was funny because I took my son to the doctor that day for something minor, but when I told the school I wanted to tend to it in case I could not bring him Monday because of the storm they looked at me stupid. Thanks to the informed people here and on WWL I had enough info to decided that preparations were a good idea

The next morning I woke up the the most terrible migrane I have ever had in my life. Advil and Sinus meds did not even dent it. I stayed on the forums as much as I could but mostly I could only lay down and cry in agony. I had to draft my daughter who was 12 at the time to make calls to her grandma who tried but could not get us reservations anywhere. I had my daughter doing the packing as I gave direction. I will hand it to her, that baby was my extra set of hands and the most calm and responsible person . By nightfall I was well enough to tie up the loose ends and get on the phone to coordinate evac plans with my friends. We decided to see to new info at 5 the next morning and then decide

I live about 50 lies to the south west of NO right on the coast of Terrebonne. When I saw the morning advisory and looked at my kids it was a nobrainer, way to close for me. We got the friends unofficial telephone tree going, and everyone agreed. Made my husband loaded the car and even put the 5 year old in there sleeping in his jamies. Poor thing opened his eyes asked where we were going. I said Texas. He was like alright and went back to sleep. Husband decided to stay, but I picked another friend without transportation to bring him to someone else he was leaving with. On our way out we all met up to form a caravan at a gas station. I told the lady working at the gas station that while I was glad they were open she should not be there. I felt so bad for her she told me she did not know how bad the storm was until that morning but she had to work. Cell service was difficult, but this one guy we know managed to acquire us a room by the Texas border that only accepted cash so he even went and paid for us. I think I cried and held my daughter's hand the whole way there. I was afraid for those who stayed. We had to take some back roads through western Louisiana. For the rest of my life I will always remember the looks on those people's faces as we pasted through the small towns in the heart of Acadia. They truly seemed to symathize with thier neighbors who arrived on their streets causing traffic jams. In every car, gas station, and front porch everyone looked like the world was ending.

This hotel was HORRIBLE though. I can see why they still had rooms. The smell was terrible, the chairs actually had missing legs and were proped against the walls to keep them up right, the soap was actually soap stolen from good hotels, my door did not lock, and one of my friends was approached by his neighbor who asked if we had any crack to sell. Not to sound ungrateful to have a place to stay, but my children may have been safer had I parked on the side of the road. My rear actually stuck to the toilet seat. I did not sleep at all.

Fortunately we did not get the devestation the NO did. Funny to say but after all of that I would do it a million times rather than chance my children's lives. Through out the whole evac I whenever I felt like it was an uphill battle for no good reason I remembered Punta Gorda and how much just a few miles can mean

[killah]

My girlfriend woke me up. We had plans to go to my Dad's house in Metairie. Good thing we left, 6 feet of water. I woke him up by phone and said we need to get the hell out. I called my friend and said we aren't going to my Dad's house we are going instead to Bush La. to stay with my Mom. It took 9 hours to get from N.O. to Bush even with Contraflow.

Well, the western eye was really, really close to us and I had never seen anything like that storm. I still have nightmares. There was a girl across the street who just moved to N.O. from NYC. She was staying at her neighbor's friends house in Bush. They had several hundred yards of driveway in the woods to get to the house.

Needless to say they couldn't get their car because of all the downed trees so she hitched with us to Memphis and the rest is history. It took us 3 days before we bathed and had a proper meal.

[SouthFloridawx]

It took us 3 days before we bathed and had a proper meal.

That's why I always take a nice long shower before the storm. Sometimes I would get lucky a day or two after and there would still be some warm water in the hot water heater. I want to buy an adaptor so I can plug the hot water heater into the generator.

Anway I was here in my house the day before and the day of Katrina making landfall. My cousin and I were glued to storm2k, nhc, navy and all kinds of sites. We had the news channel on constantly. I didn't get any sleep that night until like 5 in the morning then I woke up at 9 am and was up the rest of the day.

[yzerfan]

From my race journal:

Sandestin Traithlon
August 27, 2005
Destin, FL
1/2 mile swim/20 mile bike/4 mile run

Let us race, drink, and be merry, for only God knows what's going to happen on
Monday.

Live on the northern Gulf Coast for long enough, and a certain kind of attitude
starts to set in about tropical weather. It's not so much fatalistic, but more
of a desire to really appreciate the good and wonderful when you get a chance.
It's a fragile place in so many ways, and it would be so easy for the next Big
One to wipe out the good and wonderful, so you cherish it while you still can.
So on August 27, the bars in the French Quarter were still open for those kinds
of customers, parents took their kids out for a couple rounds of mini golf in
between boarding up and heading out, and a whole bunch of Louisiana and
Mississippi triathletes snuck over to go racing in my back yard.

Pre-race: I got up for the usual pre-race Coke and Brown Sugar Pop Tarts, since
I long ago learned that my stomach can only handle very simple sugars before
heavy exercise. As I ate, I flipped on the computer to check the 5:00am Katrina
advisories from the National Hurricane Center. The models had remained
consistent overnight- still looking like a Southeast Louisiana landfall. I had
a couple of the usual mixed emotions where you feel glad that it was
increasingly looking like your own area was going to be okay, but also sad
because you know that someone else further down the coast was going to get
really hurt by this one. We packed up the car, and headed down to the beach.
The usual Sandestin bad parking situation had been made even worse this year by
a bunch of fenced off construction areas, so my sherpa ended up just dropping
me off near transition so he could go hunt down a spot somewhere out by the
mall.

I walked my bike into transition, and it was a very different sort of
atmosphere than you usually get before a race. The serious faces were a whole
other sort of serious that morning, and the number one topic of conversation
was not about jellyfish or hot run courses like it should have been, but that
The Weather Channel's Jim Cantore had moved west along the coast, and was now
reporting from Biloxi, MS. That sort of chatter continued as I got bodymarked,
and made my way down the beach for what was pretty much a point to point
swim.

Swim: The surf was up to some degree, but it wasn't yet looking any higher than
what you'd get from a moderate tropical wave- maybe 4-6 foot waves close to
shore. As they say, conditions had yet to really deteriorate. I was in the
last wave, which I prefer because it gives you a chance to figure out how to
handle any currents. Eariler waves were showing that even though it looked like
there was a cross current out to the first buoy, it really wasn't much so I
just lined up to the inside. Once you got past the breakers, it wasn't too bad.
The problem was that after the first buoy, you got stuck going against
thecurrent, which was definitely stronger there than it was closer to shore.
And just as I found myself thinking "at least the jellyfish aren't here this
year" at around the halfway point, I felt my hand raking its way through a nice
full set of jellyfish tentacles, the first of many marine pest interactions.
Swim time- 16:52 I'm not thrilled with that kind of raw number, but going into
the current slowed most of the field down even more than that. Why don't we get
to swim with the current on any of the races around here?

T1: It was a very long run from the beach to T1, and I stopped for a couple
extra seconds to grab a vinegar-soaked gauze pad from a volunteer in hopes it
would cut down on the ongoing jellyfish sting sensations a little. time-2:28

Bike: I really like this bike course. Unlike the typical beach sprint in these
parts, there are some elevation changes (you get to be as much as 50 feet above
sea level in spots) and there are enough trees and buildings to shield you from
the ubiquitous Gulf of Mexico crosswinds. So it's a fast course, and it's
tempting to really hammer it. The first two times I've done this race, I've
given in to the need for speed, and have ended up paying for it badly on the
run. So this time, I was going to try to ride a bit more conservatively. So I
relaxed, did a fair amount of shifting to keep a nice high cadence going on
through false flats and over tertiary dune lines, and in general got to enjoy a
very fun bike ride through a very pretty beach area. Bike time-1:06.57

T2: It was a pretty ordinary T2. I took my helmet off, changed shoes, and said
a hello to my husband as I grabbed my race belt and headed out onto the
runcourse. time-1:40

Run: I started off a bit tenatively. If I have one bad experience on a race
course, I can usually shrug it off and have it be better next time. But in both
2003, and 2004 I'd blown up on the run course here, and I just kind of kept
waiting for it to go all wrong again. But the longer I went, the better it
started getting. I wasn't necessarily going any faster, and was actually going
pretty slow even my my not so great run standards, but I was feeling more
confident that I wasn't going to blow up again. I actually managed to pass a
couple of walkers along the way, and got into a brief conversation with high
school teammate Jen at the three mile aid station. (me: "Why aren't you acing
today?" her: "I'm racing again next time") It also helped that the heat wasn't
as bad as what you usually get for a race this time of year. I didn't actually
start feeling the worst of it until after the three mile marker. Run time- 46:
45. Yuck. But at least I'd won the mental battle in some ways even though the
physical was slow.

Overall time: 2:14.40- 5/6 in the Athenas, and I'm not sure of the overall
rankings.

Afterwards- I grabbed the usual drinks and cookies and reconnected with my
husband. The post race conversations had moved on to the Louisiana and
Misisisippi folks trying to decide whether to try to make it back home to
secure homes and collect belongings, or whether they should just stay put in
the relative safety of Florida and not do all that driving.

It's kind of funny now to look down the results sheets because you can't help
but wonder how it all played out for some of those people on the lists. #439,
Andre Oliver of New Orleans, I hope you were able to get back home to pick up
photos, papaer, and pets if you needed to before Louisiana started to
contraflow the interstates. Same goes for you, #33 Stephanie Smith of Metairie,
and #123 Ryan Pierce of Kenner. #537, Randy Stevens of Biloxi, I hope your home
was on high enough ground that it was spared the worst of a terrible storm
surge. #13, Lauren Fast of Hattiesburg, I hope you've gotten power back on at
your house by now, and that any tree damage in your neighborhood wasn't too
severe.

And I hope the rebuilding goes well for you all in the coming months. Because
while that area is a very fragile place, there's enough good and wonderful
there that it's worth it to fight to rebuild through any bureaucracy,
indifference, and hostility. And when next year rolls around, and when there's
time again for activities that might seem to be luxuries right now, it would be
an honor to get to go racing with y'all again.

[cajungal]

We had the car radio on the whole time. And hearing the mayor issuing a mandatory evacuation for New Orleans. Will never forget it for as long as I live. My dad knew all the back roads and we did not take the interstate to Ville Platte. So it was smooth sailing, we did not have to worry about bumper to bumper traffic. Once we got to my aunt and uncles home, we had the TV on to news stations constantly. I will never forget the looks on those poor people's faces including all the children entering the Superdome. The line seemed to go for miles and miles. Katrina was almost on their doorstep then and we could see on TV the skies blackening.

And for everyone saying that many chose to stay in Terrebonne and Lafourche because they survived Betsy. Listen to this carefully, we lost at least 30 miles of coastline or more since Betsy. Betsy was almost 41 years ago. We are SOUTH of New Orleans, it is not safe to stay here for any storm. Especially a monster like Katrina.

[george_r_1961]

What ive been reading here is giving me chills. I can not even BEGIN to imagine what you folks went thru.

[hurricanesurvivor]

This is a condensed version of our experiences, concerning only the day before, during and after the storm:

We're about 40 miles northeast of New Orleans, and 20 miles north of the beach at Waveland. When the forecasters told us on Saturday, August 27 that New Orleans 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.

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- all lanes one-way out of New Orleans. 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. 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. 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.

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 storm 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 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. 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 at least an hour, as we heard objects hitting the house and the doors sucking in and out. 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 slowly went outside, 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! 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, so we called and checked in with our family out of state to let them know 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 a tree fall on the carport. Thankfully, they were all unhurt and just hot and miserable. The radio station out of New Orleans reported very little damage to the city, as they had been on the west side of the storm, the 'good' side in a hurricane. They all celebrated as they had dodged the bullet once again.

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 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. But I had learned from my parents, who had a generator and were able to watch the tv, 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.

[Ixolib]

This is a condensed version of our experiences, concerning only the day before, during and after the storm:

Wonderful and well-written post, HS. Thanks - I can surely relate to your words...

[Jim Cantore]

These are heartbreaking stories, I cant imagine what you guys went through

[cajungal]

That is exactly what my grandparents, uncle and 10-year old cousin would of experienced if that had not evacuated. They live in Picayune just north of Waveland. Actually, they live in the rural part it is really called Kiln, but they have a Picayune mailing address. Hardly any neighbors at all and surronded by trees. Their house sits on big hills and saved them from the surge. We fully expected their house to be destroyed. Not even a roof shingle was missing! Just tons of trees down.

I remember my aunt and her elderly friend who has no family here also evacuated. They both live in New Orleans. I remember trying to comfort her with the tears just rolling down her face. I felt so bad for her and knowing there was nothing I could do to change things broke my heart. Her home was heavily damaged during Katrina. And was even further damaged by a tornado several months later. She is still living with my aunt to this day. My aunt's home in Kenner only suffered some minor flood damage and they only had to replace the carpet. She is waiting for her home in Idaho to finish being completed. Her son lives in Idaho

[zoeyann]

Cajungal, I did not have time to address your concerns about people leaving Terrebonne. Look what Rita did. People kept saying they did not expect it and it flooded so many places that it never had before. If Rita did that then if Katrina would have been only 30 miles west I am afraid that some of my loved ones would not be here. We were spared by the grace of God and I hope many relieze that now and do not chance it again.

Someone mentioned that people here believe they experienced Katrina. Show them the radar of her approach. I thought I was crazy at first, but check out that swath of dry air right over the parish. It just seems like we were lucky on so many levels.