The nightmare of Katrina began for me a couple of days before she made landfall. Because my home is in a low lying area, mandatory evacuation is required.
Preparations are made when a hurricane is out in the Gulf. I gathered all important documents and other valuables. Back porch furniture was moved inside. All loose objects secured. Whatever dry foods or can goods I had in pantry were packed to go. Said a goodbye to the meat in the freezer that was replaced after Tropical storm Cindy in early July. There are pieces of furniture that I have kept over the years out of sentiment, valuable only in my eyes. I chose to move the piano away from the windows and cover it with blankets and heavy sheets of plastic. A chest filled with dishes was slid inch by inch across the floor to what I determined was a safer resting place. It too was covered with blankets and plastic.
I have always considered myself to be self sufficient but will readily admit that I can't lift and nail heavy sheets of plywood over the windows. So I called and asked my son in law for help. You know, like my daughter and he didn't have anything to do. They had a new baby girl that was born on August 12th, a 2 yr. old girl and boys aged 7 and 8. I also asked if they could make room for my car in their garage so it wouldn't get nicked by flying debri. That wasn't possible with all they had in "their" garage so my car stayed in "my" garage. When my son in law finished putting plywood over the windows he evacuated me to their house. This was August 28th. We were watching ALL the weather alerts! Katrina was forecast to hit Buras, Louisiana and pass west of New Orleans. We made remarks like looks like another dud. The usual hype! Not that we wanted it to hit our friends in Louisiana but we weren't mentioned as a possible strike until much, much later. In fact, after the fact.
Of course we didn't sleep well that night. In the morning, with a cup of coffee in our hands, we stood on the front porch observing the weather. It was cold so we put on sweaters. COLD with a hurricane coming! Unbelievable! There was no rain. It sprinkled! This storm was not like any I had experienced. There are typical things associated with a hurricane. It's very hot and humid. Sweat pours from your brow into your eyes. The wind gusts are there long before the storm arrives and when the hurricane makes landfall the gusts become SUSTAINED winds. They bend 75 ft. pine trees in half.
The daughter and I heard this low eery rumble. She felt a sensation in her calves like numbness. I didn't feel the sensation but my mind regressed back to July 1994 while vacationing in Mexico City. I felt the same sensation and the natives told me that it was caused by an earthquake tremor. Although it is known that Mexico is prone to earthquakes, an event that was to occur within that week was that a comet was going to collide with Jupiter.
"Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 was discovered by Eugene and Carolyn Shoemaker and David Levy in 1993. Shortly after its discovery it was determined to be in a highly elliptical path near Jupiter and on a collision course. It was difficult to calculate its orbit prior to its 1992 pass near the giant planet In 1992, SL 9 passed by Jupiter within the Roche limit. It was broken into at least 21 separate fragments which were dispersed several million kilometers along its orbit. The size and mass of the original body and the individual fragments were still highly uncertain. The estimates range from 2 to 10 km in diameter for the original body and from 1 to 3 km for the largest fragments."
Collision was expected in July between the 16-22. The fragments impacted the upper atmosphere of Jupiter on July 21, 1994.
"Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 was discovered by Eugene and Carolyn Shoemaker and David Levy in 1993. Shortly after its discovery it was determined to be in a highly elliptical path near Jupiter and on a collision course. It was difficult to calculate its orbit prior to its 1992 pass near the giant planet In 1992, SL 9 passed by Jupiter within the Roche limit. It was broken into at least 21 separate fragments which were dispersed several million kilometers along its orbit. The size and mass of the original body and the individual fragments were still highly uncertain. The estimates range from 2 to 10 km in diameter for the original body and from 1 to 3 km for the largest fragments."
Collision was expected in July between the 16-22. The fragments impacted the upper atmosphere of Jupiter on July 21, 1994.
My thoughts quickly returned to the present moment. We went back inside and about 10 minutes later the son in law said it was raining. We went to look and there had been a little rain but it stopped. As we stood on the porch the wind gusts got stronger. The low rumble was still heard. And then ..Wham! Out of nowhere water started traveling down the street like rapids at a very fast speed. Someone's dining room table, a rabbit hutch, clothing, lumber and toys were in the raging water. The house is at a 14 ft. elevation and within 15 minutes, the water was coming under the front door and all the doors at rear of house. Water started gurgling through the concrete slab. Panic set in as we scrambled to get the children out of the water. The house has a second floor so we sat them on the stairs. We frantically ran around trying to get important things out of the way. A car horn started blowing and we realized it was the family car in the garage. We watched as the electrical system shorted out. The water was still rushing into the house and we all went up and set around the landing at the top of stairs not daring to venture too far into upper house.
It occured to all of us that the water could wash the house off it's foundation causing it to collapse. We had a few life vests but they were too small for the boys. When my daughter put one of the vests on the 2 yr. old girl and it fit, we cried. How do you save one child and not all of them. The baby girl was only 17 days old. We called 911 over and over but never got a response. The water was slowly creeping up the stairs. Our local station WLOX was off the air. The radio was mostly static, but we heard a Pensacola station talking via telephone to a guy near New Orleans who said the storm should last another 4 to 6 hours. We would not last that long! We cried for the neighbors. When we dared look out the upstairs window, the houses that were not two story had water almost to their roofs. The son in law's truck parked in the driveway was completely submerged Miracuously, the water started receding as fast as when it came in. It would recede and then come back, recede and come back, until finally it was over.
The link below will show a picture of how the neighborhood looked taken from front door of daughter's house just before the water climbed the steps and came inside. Daughter's home is at a 14ft. elevation.
We were sweeping water out of the house when WLOX came back on and said they had lost contact with the national hurricane center so they didn't know what had happened. It must have turned. All the homes in Delmas Estates were gutted. Daughter's house was gutted on bottom floor, roof was damaged and large hole was in an upstairs wall that faces south. They lost both of their vehicles, all the downstairs furniture, appliances, clothing, cookware, photos and the children's toys.
My daughter, son in law and I talked about our thoughts during the worse moments of the storm. I had asked Our Lord to spare this young family, especially the children. To use my body so they could hang on and stay afloat. More to come .......
