How Hurricane Katrina Changed My Life

On Saturday August 27th 2005, my wife and I had a lot of things on our minds. I was home from an eight hour overtime outcall, at my new job with Cable One in Long Beach, MS. Having only been there five days and also in the middle of packing to move from Bay St.

Louis, MS over to Long Beach, only a little over six miles away, the stress level at home was very high. We learned that a giant storm may be headed right for us; it was on track for the eye to pass right on, or near where we lived.We had been through Tropical Storm Allison’s torrential rainfall and high winds, but nothing as monstrous as this. The move came to a dead stand still, we had to change our plans and act fast. Everyone has their own story and this is mine, the story of Hurricane Katrina, and how it changed my life.

Life can change in the blink of an eye, and we learned this lesson rather quickly. We had been so focused on moving to our new home that the news of the approaching storm seemed of little or no importance.Everyone there seemed very at ease, most talked about going through Hurricane Camille, and how this storm would likely move closer to Texas and we had nothing to worry about. We stopped from packing for an hour or so, and decided to go out for a bite of lunch at a nearby restaurant. That was the moment that made everything seem surreal, people were frantically packing into stores in droves.

Long lines everywhere and traffic was congested with people getting on highway 90 and heading out of town. After we ate a sense of urgency filled us, with what do we do now?We made our way to Wal-Mart, and spent several hours gathering food, flashlights, candles, bottled water, batteries and wood to cover our windows at home. Also we stopped at a locally designated place to get sandbags to stop water from coming in if floodwaters got that high. We got home and put our feeble plan to work, I started boarding up windows, while my wife began packing sentimental and a few irreplaceable items in water tight containers. Everything we owned was now in two separate houses, so we scrambled to secure our second residence as well.Once everything was boarded and secured we made our way back to our initial place of residence.

It was around midnight, we were tired and decided to check the local news to see what path the hurricane was headed. As we watched the local news, immense panic set in, the storm was still on direct course for the Mississippi Gulf Coast and Eastern Louisiana. It had grown vastly in size and strength to a category four hurricane, and forecasters were calling it “The Perfect Storm”. It was at that moment we felt so helpless and doomed; we were making the wrong call by staying.We had a three year son at the time and my wife was pregnant with our second child. I felt angry for not thinking this through, we needed to leave but in all honesty going north was not much of an option, as the highways were packed and it was taking people eight to ten hours to get about one hundred and fifty miles.

My wife began to cry uncontrollably and asked what we should do. I knew we had to leave, just where to go was the uncertain part. I stepped out on my balcony to collect my thoughts and the wind was picking up very fast, evilness was in the air, I could feel it.My neighbor was heading down the steps out front of our apartment, he stopped and asked if everything was ok, I explained that we were afraid and had no plan of what to do. He told me his father lived in Houston, TX and that we were welcome to go with him if we wanted. I was shocked, a person I hardly knew was offering us a safe have to ride out the storm, someplace safe and in little or no danger from the storm itself.

I told my wife and whether it was the emotion of the moment or the hormones of her pregnancy she said yes.We packed our car and were ready to go and we would follow our neighbor Mike from our home to a few back roads and into Louisiana and on to Texas. I had my makeshift maps printed and a spare gas jug just in case. There was just one problem our car would not start. It was over as our plan had come together it already falling apart. It was 3 am on August 28th and if we did not leave soon we would be stuck here.

Without any hesitation Mike, began putting our things in his car, he said,” You guys are riding with me, no ifs, ands or buts. It felt as though we had a new leader and I wonder even now, had we waited and not talked to Mike that night what would have happened to us? We grabbed everything quickly only able to squeeze a few personal items in the car the baby’s car seat, a few clothes, and two small plastic containers of pictures and a baby book.. Everything else would have to stay behind, even my car. We rode for what seemed like an eternity, most of the major highways in Louisiana were closed or were being shut down as we were traveling. We went from one old highway on to another taking us about eighteen hours, only stopping for food and gas.

We ar rived sometime near 9 pm, in Houston, TX on August 28th. Once we got to Mike’s fathers house, there was a short lived introduction with Mike Sr. , and an air mattress already waiting comfortably for us. We quickly made our way into bed, exhausted and stiff from our long trip. I awoke around 7 a.

m. , Mike’s dad had the TV on, and was watching Katrina make landfall. Katrina was in full force, no footage was available and I had the mindset of a person waiting on loved one in surgery. All my hopes were that this would be over quickly and we would get back to our new home and my new job.We decided to get showered and go have a bite of breakfast, at a local coffee shop.

While we were there, we poured over the internet looking for information that may have come in about Bay St. Louis, or Long Beach Mississippi. The only news that seemed to matter was New Orleans; it was like that was the only area that had been damaged according to national news. We decided to spend the day making phone calls, to family and friends letting them know where we were, but that was short lived as the phone lines all over the state of Mississippi were congested.We felt cut off from the outside world, with no way in. We decided to make the best of it and took our son to the local mall to spend some time together as a family.

Later that day we headed back to Mike’s house and decided to check the news again. We turned on the TV and watched in horror and disbelief, as scenes were unfolding of some of the areas on the Gulf Coast. The major roadways and streets had been flipped over like pancakes, houses and apartments turned to dust, for almost three miles inland everything had vanished. There was massive flooding in some areas as high as thirty two feet.

It was as if several nuclear devices had been detonated, and I was looking at its aftermath. Most areas were unrecognizable, streets I had been down hundreds of times, now looked barren and desolate, most were missing asphalt. All of Mississippi Hwy 90 was gone, or buried under tons of sand and debris. The bridge between Pass Christian and Bay St.

Louis, MS was also destroyed. The bridge we had traveled just a day before to move things into our new home was completely wiped out. Our hearts sank and we knew that everything that was left behind was gone.As the reality of it all hit us, we knew going home would not come soon.

Bay St. Louis, had been our home for 7 years. It was one of the smallest and most beautiful cities on the Coast. My wife and I were both from small towns and were terrified by the size of Houston. The days there quickly turned into weeks and I contacted my employer not even knowing if I had a job or home to return to.

Money was getting low and we had no idea what to do. My wife suggested we apply for aid and visit several local restaurants in Houston as they were giving out clothing and feeding evacuees.We made our way around, and each and every person we encountered had a similar story to tell. Several people that lived right near us in Bay St. Louis, sat and talked for hours on end, about home and how we wished we could go back.

I had been placed on a list by my employer of new hires who had been with company less than 90 days. I went about assuming, I was probably homeless and jobless at this point, found a construction job temporarily and we lived off donations until I received my first paycheck. The CEO of Cable One, the company for whom I had worked for a mere five days, before Katrina, called Mike and left a message.He wanted me to return to work to help rebuild and get my family on our feet. I explained that I had no car, was living with a friend and also that my home was destroyed.

With a strong firmness and reassurance in his voice, he told me to get to Mississippi as quickly as possible and he would take care of the rest. The city of Houston and its people had treated us with great kindness and respect. We would miss our new safe haven terribly, but it was finally time to get back home. Twenty three days had ticked by and now the journey home.The realization of returning to Mississippi had not seemed real, what would it look like, was everything the way we had left it, was my car still there? All these questions ran in mind, cluttering into each other a hundred times over. I had departed Houston, TX on Grey Hound Bus, and some 18 hours later I arrived in Vicksburg, MS.

A package was waiting for me at the hotel. My boss had sent word that it was not say for my wife and son to return with me to the coast. So plans were made for her to stay with her parents until I got set up with housing and it was safe for them.The next morning she and my son were on a train headed north while I was busy, doing paperwork for a new car.

I did not like the idea of us separating, at all but I knew it was the best plan we had. After getting my new car, I headed toward Jackson, MS, then down highway 55, then Interstate 110 into Slidell, Louisiana and my final stop Bay St. Louis, MS. At first glance, I was thinking to myself this wasn’t that bad, only a few downed trees and several downed road signs on Interstate 110.

It wasn’t until I got to Kiln, MS, 10 miles north of Bay St. Louis, MS, that reality set in.I pulled over to side of the road and got out of my car. In that instant I was the only person left in the world, or so it seemed. Everything I saw was mangled, the air even smelled of decay and sadness. Five or ten minutes must have passed before I saw the first car.

Every gas station for about 45 miles was closed, the closest and only open grocery store was in Picayune, MS almost an hour north. I started to cry, I knew I had to get home so I could see for myself what was there, what if anything was left. I started south and drove in town, I reached Hwy 90 in Bay St. Louis, MS.

There was no movement; I saw a few tents further north but not a single person. Suddenly I halted to a stopped, the road in front of me was gone completely washed away, and no way into my old neighborhood. Several detours later I made my way about to the bridge that once crossed into Pass Christian, MS. From there I parked and had to walk roughly a mile through debris, all the streets were gone; it took me almost 2 hours to find my old apartment. Even when I finally got there it was unrecognizable, it was an empty hull, it looked like a third world country, not the beautiful home we had known and loved.There were piles of debris 20 feet tall, untouched and cars piled end over end; all of which floated in gotten trapped behind the building.

I walked up the stairs to our old apartment and on the door was an orange spray painted symbol with an X and a zero slash zero after it, signifying that no one was found in the apartment. Numbers after the X indicated that there had been bodies were inside. I grabbed my key to unlock the door as if by magic my place was safe and exactly the way we left it. It was already unlocked it opened easily with the slightest push.

Inside were the empty, almost skeletal remains of our old apartment, the floors and ceiling all washed away. I could see straight down into the apartment below. I stepped in on a rafter just to have a look around and suddenly I felt overtaken with pain. My skin was black almost instantly, and the pain was intense.

Hundreds of fleas were on me at once. I spent forever trying to get them off and had huge welts on my body serve as a reminder to this day. Immediately my sadness turned to fear and I made my way back to my car. I wanted nothing more than to wake up and it all be a bad dream.

I drove onward to meet my boss in Long Beach. When I arrived there were hundreds of people from all over the U. S. all there to help rebuild and get things back in order. I was greeted with open arms, and told my story of the apartment and the fleas. My boss explained the day before he and several others made the trip to my place the day before and the same had happened to them.

He asked me to write a list of everything I lost and give it to him in private; I told him I did not know where to begin. He started to cry, a man I had never met was crying for me and my family; he said everything is going to be fine.He told me to walk with him, and I did. He showed me a line of RV campers and told me to pick the one I wanted. I joking said I wanted the biggest one and he said ok its yours. He wasn’t kidding, afterwards I was sent to a local help station setup nearby for multiple vaccinations and immunizations.

Here I was on my 30th birthday, starting my life completely over, September 19th, 2005. I made my way into Long Beach, MS, exactly 23 days after Katrina made landfall, and I was back in the worst hit areas of the coastal region.On the first day back at work my coworker and I discovered two bodies that had been missing since Katrina. A few days later we found 2 more bodies. I later developed a severe lung infection, thought to be caused by mold and insulation free floating in the wind. I began to losing my eyesight slowly because of a fungus called, histoplasmosis.

The dreams of it all still haunt me I have insomnia and sleep a few hours every night. I experienced many things I can never forget and this is how Hurricane Katrina changed my life.