My Katrina Story
There are many misconceptions about what happened and why people did not leave. There were many elderly and disabled people in New Orleans that lived on a fixed income and Hurricane Katrina came at the end of the month. They had neither the means nor the money to leave.
Another misconception was that people shot at their rescuers. What really happened is that people were trapped. They saw boats and helicopters pass them by. They had guns, so they shot in the air to attract attention to the fact that they were in need of help. This has been a means of drawing attention in many situations.
My own story was that my daughter was going through a complicated pregnancy and had two you daughters, aged 6 and 2. She was scheduled to be admitted the day Hurricane Katrina hit and could not be moved without assistance. I staid with her and my grandchildren to assist in any means I could.
People responsible had already been contacted about my daughter’s condition and no one responded before the Hurricane, so we had to ride it out. I constructed a shelter for my grandchildren inside the apartment in case the roof fell. It was a good thing I did because it did fall. The storm was over and we felt relieved. We did not know that the levee had broke.
When I checked outside I saw the water was rising. At first I did not think much about it because it happens after a Hurricane sometimes. We decided to just wait until the water receded.
When after a couple of days and the water just kept rising instead of receding we decided we had to get out. I carried my 6 year old grand daughter on my shoulders and my daughter carried the two year old. We walked through water than was up to our waist most of the time and even higher.
We finally reached a point where there was a National Guard truck that took us to the Super Dome. That is another story to be told later.
It’s hindsight now…but the school & city buses should have been used to get people out. Where i was in the country…I heard the Mayor had claimed the people of New Orleans would go out by Greyhound Bus and not the city & school buses.
Katrina had much misinformation. The news people said many things that were not true…and the withheld a lot of information that took years to get out. I was glad to see that recently 8 (?) Police Officers were finally convicted of killing that one man and then burning his body in a car to try and hide the crime.
I could go on and on…but I won’t. I’m sorry about what you and your family had to endure and happy that you made it out…and I was wrongheaded to make several comments I made last night. Peace.
We were both wrongheaded.
New Orleans and the people who live there are amazing. I love NC, it is home, but if I did not live here I would live in New Orleans(as long as Avant went with me) Seems like you always hear about the worst side of people and places, when the ones with the true stories are pushed to the side. I am glad you were there for your daughter and grandchildren.
Thank you, Stormy
Thanks to everyone, especially whoever “hearted” me.
Damn man! You all ended up in the Super Dome? I can’t even imagine the things you all went through.
My family and I had left the MS coast the morning before it hit and stayed in a hotel in the middle of the state. When the storm made it up that way, it was still strong enough to down some humongous ancient trees. I still remember the chill that ran through me when we watched the first live video that came through from the coast at daybreak.
I’m glad you all made it through it all.
You know I left a comment on Hardcase’s blog that was pretty heavy handed on self responsibility during that whole situation. However, I did state that there are exceptions and it wouldn’t be fair to put everyone into that one stereotype…such as this. As I said there, there are of course some unavoidable situations such as yours and the elderly and such. But, coming from the are as you obviously have, We both know lots of it was arrogance and pigheadedness for years of people thinking they could ride out the storms there.
John, People do not understand the Power of Water and absolutely devastating flooding is, till they live through it. Lives and Livelihoods are lost. It is a devastation that cannot be comprehended.
I am glad you are still with us, and I look forward to the next installments.
The whole thing upsets me. 50 million dollars would have been the cost to fix the Levees. It was proposed and voted down for 15 years…. In the wake of the Disaster, we heard we can’t play the blame game, by the same people that preach personal responsibility. I think the Republican Congressmen and Senators that repeatedly voted against repairing the Levees should be named and pillored.