9 Years

Chilling warning that I recall reading from our evacuation spot in McComb, MS. Which, while far enough to avoid flooding dangers, experienced very strong and damaging sustained winds and a power outage that lasted for days.

I recall vividly the stress of the uncertainty of those days and weeks.

May we never see anything like K again.

Man, I remember reading that statement from the NWS New Orleans office after I got home from church and just being in shock from seeing it.  Even though I live on the southern outskirts of Mobile, that was an awful thing to read. 

I stayed home since I live on high ground and not anywhere close to any water.  My weather wasn't too terrible.  Did have some hurricane force gusts.  I just remember listening to the radio and hearing the reports coming out.  Especially hearing the things from Mississippi and New Orleans and just being in shock from what I was hearing.  The thing that still sticks out in my mind was watching a little battery-operated TV that Monday night and having it on WKRG.  Many of you know what I'm talking about.  The interview with the man in Mississippi (Pascagoula, I want to say) who tried to hold on to his wife as their house was being destroyed by the surge.  His wife then told him to let her go and to take care of their grandchildren.  Just remember the reporter just bursting into tears at the end of interview.  Don't think I'll forget that as long as I live.

Hard to believe it's been nine years.

Edit:  Biloxi, not Pascagoula.

For me, it did not seem real until we left Houma and started driving towards New Orleans. We were going to ride the storm out at my office in Covington. When we got on Hwy 90 and were one of the few cars heading TO the city, and then noticed Hwy 90 westbound was bumper to bumper as far as the eye can see, that's when it hit. That's when I realized "this is going to actually happen".

The next 24 - 36 hours were rough. We rode the storm out in my office, watching pine trees come down as we looked through bullet proof glass. Once the winds got below 40mph, I went to work, starting in Slidell. The next day I was on the MS Gulf Coast, and had to stop numerous times just to get out my truck and sit on the ground because I was just overwhelmed at what my eyes were seeing.

Then back at the office is where I heard from Nagin, "the bowl is filling", and then realized New Orleans was going under water. I have numerous stories I could tell while working in the city the days following Katrina, but this post would go on and on and on. It was the first time I ever had a gun pointed to my head. It was the first time I ever saw a dead body outside of a funeral home. It was the first time for many things...most of which I hope to never experience again in my life.

I spent Katrina inside of University Hospital in NOLA. I reported to work on Sunday morning and finally made it home the following Sunday. It was an experience I will never forget. Whatever you can imagine, it was worse. I survived though.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using proboards

You'll never convince me the things I heard over WWL radio those nights were rumors and fearmongering, as the revised official version of Katrina and the aftermath would have you believe. That's why you never hear tapes of those broadcasts.

I had no idea Kenner had flooded that badly.