**note that in my recollection below, I think my dates are off; Aug 29 was Monday*

written Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Hurricane Katrina Experience

Saturday morning, August 28th, I went to work knowing we would be preparing for the worst. I work at a truck lot and trucks are lined up against buildings, secured by the thickest rope I’ve ever seen. I covered computers with garbage bags, lifted them off the floor, and put files in cabinets. All of this was nothing new. We’d done it several times the last couple of years. Afterwards I went home and watched the Weather Channel off and on. No big deal. However, I did a couple of loads of laundry just in case we decided to flee.

Sunday morning, August 29th, I knew this one might actually hit us in Gulfport. I finished up the laundry, took out the trash and got out suitcases. By 10 o’clock we still didn’t know we were leaving for sure. I slowly packed everything up. At noon we watched more tv, local and national, and we decided this time we’d leave but not go as far as usual–no more going “home” to TX just to turn around 24 or 48 hours later. So, at 1:30pm we left our house. I haven’t been back to see it yet.

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We drove up Hwy 53 and ended up in Natchez, stuck in a bunch of traffic. We called Keesler AFB and were advised to go farther northwest. Local tv had instructed MS residents to go east or northeast and we’d heard reports of major congestion on interstates in that general direction. We decided Alexandria, LA would be a good place to stay the night. It was already dark. We made our way there without incident and laid down in the truck to sleep. Our dog Chloe was not sure what was going on but dealt with it. After a couple of hours there, Shawn decided to go to Shreveport to Barksdale AFB. So, we slept most of the night in the Visitor Center parking lot.

I awoke to the sound of my cell phone. My mom had woke up and was checking in on us. Told her where we were and that we were fine. Laid back down and was again awakened by the cell phone. We decided to give up sleeping at all and drove onto base in search of a shower. We found one in the fitness center (gym). A tv was on. There were only radar pictures. Nothing else. We no longer were in range for NPR out of MS so we decided to head east. We ate lunch at Logan’s in Monroe, LA. A TV was also on there. The storm was raging. No live pictures still. We didn’t know how bad or good the coast was. We decided to head back to Natchez. Once we got there, the power was off in parts of town. The cable was out at Walmart. NPR had very little info. We drove to Brookhaven. The winds were pushing the truck. We saw power lines down. In Brookhaven, trees the size of a Mini Cooper were pulled up with their root systems in tact. We turned around and went back to Natchez Walmart. We parked with a bunch of motor homes and listened to NPR. Slowly word trickled in, Biloxi, Gulfport, the entire Gulf Coast hit hard but no pictures, no callers. It was scary. Text messaging was working on our cell phone, friends in Arkansas were seeing pictures that brought them to tears.

Tuesday, August 31st. We woke up a lady in the nearest motor home came up to talk to us. Her husband had gone into Bay St Louis the night before. Their house, their business, everything was gone. It was the 3rd one they’d built and that had been destroyed. Their neighbor was floating in their yard, dead. Anguish and misery and worry filled her face and it suddenly hit me–this hurricane had struck us and struck hard. Hell and high water had came. Word came in New Orleans was flooding. We got a TV and plugged it into the cigarette lighter. We saw few images of MS and lots of New Orleans.

Shawn made me decide-we either head back to Gulfport or go to Sherman, TX. It took a while, and it was a hard decision. I had friends and a home and a job and school in Gulfport. I didn’t want to turn back on that town I loved. But ultimately news broadcasts made it clear, there was no immediate return so we headed to Texas and arrived Wednesday morning at 2am.

We finally had real TV. I couldn’t recognize the usual landmarks. As days went by I suddenly realized I would never be the same. I would likely have friends living with me for a while IF I had a house. Indeed, word did come that my office and my home are intact. I have a job to return to and until then I telecommute. I don’t ever want to leave Gulfport. It’s part of me now. And yet, just yesterday, before we’ve even seen our house, the Air Force is telling Shawn to pick a new place to move to. I’m adamant. I’m staying, I’m rebuilding with others in my community. And I’m waiting on word that I can return to my home.