Memories from our Katrina Experience
Click here to read about what it was like to be broadcasting live during the storm.
Katrina devastated many miles of the northen Gulf of Mexico....from Grand Isle to Mobile, Alabama. She kicked our ass....Hurricane Rita picked up where Katrina left off in the western portion of coastal Louisiana. All this within 30 days.
Our children started school in one parish (county to you yankees ;) ) then enrolled in another parish only to be chased back to the originating parish due to the two hurricanes.. ...sigh
We stupidly stayed at home for Katrina: myself, my fiance and my 17 year old daughter and 3 cats. (We will never stay for a storm again). The constant noise of the sustained winds of 175 mph was surreal. My house literally shook for twelve hours. We lost power at 1 a.m. on August 29th and did not have electricity until 10 days later. And we were the "lucky" ones. There are STILL people without power in the greater New Orleans area.
Update: As of 12/13/05 there is still no power in the 9th Ward, New Orleans East or Lakeview to mention a few neighborhoods. If the city were a victim of an assault, it would still be in a coma. I drive toward the city on my way to work every morning before the sun rises. It's pretty dark once you cross Lake Pontchartrain going towards New Orleans. No street lights, etc. But every day I see one more street light, one more house lit up. It feels good to see those little bits of progress every day
Katrina's winds were awesome, the power something to witness. I'll never forget the crazy bastard who drove down our street in the middle of the storm and stopped every time he encountered a downed tree; he would pull out his chainsaw and cut the tree to allow cars to pass. I was awestruck as I watched this guy. Kind of made me laugh like a madwoman at the time.
Tuesday morning - after the storm - we walked thru the neighborhood in a storm-related stupor I cannot describe. Every 3rd house had a huge pine tree thru it's roof...gas lines were broken and spewing natural gas.... trees were knocked down, uprooted, snapped in half, bent....dazed people were sitting in their yards, asking us where to go for ice and water....even the dogs were perplexed, following us home because we represented humans - to them the more intelligent race.... telephone poles and transformers littered the streets, power lines were down everywhere. We were numb. Just numb.
Things that you take for granted: going to Walmart for groceries, buying gas, electricity and running water - weren't there. Shoot......even COLD water was a treat. Everyone (90%) had left town before Katrina struck. We waited for three days for Home Depot to open and waited in line for four hours of 95 plus degrees in order to buy a generator.
After we had the generator, we waited in line for 2 hours to buy over-priced gasoline to run the generator. THEN we had to worry about people coming by in the middle of the night to STEAL our generator. Jeesh!!!
But things improved. Electricity came back to us by mid September. ( our recent bills boast a huge rate increase!) Phone lines were the next to follow. Cell phones took quite a bit longer before they worked. (thanks Cingular.... :(
It's amazing what we consider necessities after doing without them for a week or so.
When our generator was up and running, we checked out the local TV station for what was going on. Prior to getting electricity, we relied on one of the best info radio stations around: WWL - Newsradio AM 870.What we saw on TV devastated us. New Orleans was hell on earth. I don't know how long it took for us to stop crying. Hell, we still cry when we think of that time.
Despite what the mainstream media reported, Katrina had no prejudices. Old, young, black, white, oriental, latino, rich and poor.....we were all - and still are - in the same boat. Survivors. We feel that we are basically the bastard children of the country... that's how we feel when dealing with "our government". The private agencies have been angels to us. Operation Blessing, Salvation Army, The National Guard, Red Cross. Private organizations nation wide. Churches are still helping as of March '06.
I hope that situations will change. I hope that people will understand that ONLY a small percentage of the people shown via the mainstream media were the bad seed. Our politicians are no more corrupt than those policians currently in Washington DC.
Our people have been patient and genteel. You will never find a more kinder, gentler, caring people than
Southerners. We need a chance, just as New York had a chance after nine eleven. We're struggling to come back.
IMHO, Katrina cleansed the city of the bad things that needed to go: the horrific schools, the drug trade; the obits daily announcing at least 5 20-something males being killed via a gunshot wound. This is the city's one and only chance to come alive again as - not as a cookie cutter yuppie city (god forbid) - but as a city that real people love to visit.
Update April 2007
Sadly, all of the things a lot of people wished wouldn't return to NOLA have. The crime is horrible again. Young kids are killing each other. Very sad indeed.
Click here to see how recovery is going, almost two years post-storm
Memories from the storm and immediate aftermath by a Bay St. Louis, Ms. resident
excellent writing
POST KATRINA OBSERVATIONS (begun 11/29/05 - 4 months after the storm)
I was looking for my morning radio broadcast on WTIX in New Orleans when I realized their tower was probably demolished in Katrina. It's funny how one forgets how much is gone in the storm's wake. But good news...it's back online on December 1st. It's the little things that make our day.
Enjoy your visit and come back often. God bless all of y'all. And don't forget the good people of the Gulf-South.
Post-Katrina first weeks memories: The pleasure of ice cold water;the shocking amount of trees that were snapped in half, twisted, bent and broken; the smell of freshly cut pine; waiting in line @ Home Depot 4 hours for a generator; the sound of generators in the night;frustration over the lack of ways to communicate: no phones, no electricity = no internet AND no cell phones; the mile-long gas lines; the wonderful people giving out ice, water & MREs ; eating MREs (actually pretty tasty!);the sound of helicopters all day long; the elation of seeing friends again; waiting in line 2 hours to shop for 15 minutes @ Walmart;the lines everywhere; the utter joy of a hot cheese pizza 2 weeks after the storm; the carmaraderie of we storm survivors; an ice cold Coke; the river of tears we've all cried and will continue to cry; all of the stars that are visible when there is no electricity; air conditioning returning; digust with FMEA; appreciation for my employer for continuing our paychecks; awe at the force of mother nature; the sound of chain saws; Steve Handlesman's awesome reporting; the desire to twist that reporter Joe Scarborough's head off; the beauty of the hearts & souls of the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, even in the worst of times;
Y'all come back now, y'hear?
Dealing with post Katrina stress and/or depression? Click here
I'm also trying to cope, and somedays are more difficult than others. I've created a blog (click here)to put down my feelings
Click hereto find out what happens seven months after Katrina in one New Orleans yard.
