I know there are a few people out there who are wondering what happened to me. I cannot go into details, but I will share a little. An extremely close family member may have cancer and I’m awaiting the results of medical tests. We will know something next week. My father died from it and I really don’t want to go through it again. Let’s leave it at that for now.
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Posts Tagged hurricane katrina
What Happened To Me?
Aug 29
My weekly short story this week is the true account of my experience in Hurricane Katrina:
August 28rd 2005 (the actual landfall was August 29th though it all seemed like one long day) was a day I will never forget as long as I live. The day before, I made the decision to stay at my Mother’s house because of the impending doom. The doom I speak of was the day Hurricane Katrina hit the Mississippi gulf coast. I have been asked many times, “Why on Earth did you stay?”
Well, we have been through many hurricanes and we made a poor choice deciding to ride the storm out that day. I remember watching the the weather reports show Katrina cross Florida into the Gulf of Mexico. I then saw world renown meteorologist Jim Cantore from The Weather Channel standing on the the beach 10 miles from my Mothers house reporting, “I have a horrible feeling in my stomach about this storm. I’ve seen many come and go, but I have never had a feeling like this before.”
hurricane katrina
I’m thinking please shut up Jim, you are not supposed to guess the weather! I thought, as many coast residents that it wouldn’t be that bad.
A few hours later I noticed the storm had been upgraded to a category 3. Category 3 is nothing for people from here, but I started getting a sick feeling in my stomach also. Gee, thanks Jim. I had most of the windows boarded up and my Mother was more nervous by the minute; I tried my best to hide my fear but felt the same. We knew we couldn’t leave at that point so all we had was each other.
Then, that point in the storm where things start to get scary had arrived. We lost power and turned on the battery powered radio. The wind started howling and rain was beating hard on the windows. We heard on the radio that the storm was staring to hit land and had been upgraded to a category 5.
I have to be honest here, this was the most afraid I have ever felt my entire life. My poor mother was a nervous wreck, pacing the floor smoking cigarettes like she was in a smoking contest. It became almost pitch black outside and the wind became so loud we could barely hear each other talking. I heard one of the windows break in the back of the house. I ran to the back to make a quick repair and my heart was pounding; I knew I had to take care of my Mom so I carried on.
Loud explosive noises kept coming from the structure of our house as the wind only grew more powerful. I was sweating, scared and we thought the house was about to be blown apart. Then the scariest thing I have ever felt occurred. The side entrance door to the car port blew open ripping the entire door frame apart.
At this point I couldn’t hear a word my mother said no matter how loud she screamed. I placed the door back in it’s position, (It was in one piece though the door frame was missing) squatted down low and simply held it closed. I knew I had to hold it in place because we, along with everything in the house would be sucked out.
I have no idea where I got the strength to hold that door in place, but I did. I know I love my mom and I saved her life, but her being there gave me equal strength which enabled me to save us both. I held the door closed for eight long, grueling hours. Finally, the wind subsided enough to allow me the golden opportunity to nail it shut. After that, I could barely walk. I hugged my mom and we both cried – we were still alive.
I checked out the house and noticed that in the den, there was a giant hole around fifteen feet across peering directly to the sky. I stood being rained on inside the house for the first time in my life. Mom and I were safe. It was a mistake to stay for this storm, and this was a lesson never to be forgotten.
It was several days before we were able to see the actual damage to the entire area. We live by an elementary school where the U.S. military delivered food, water and ice. We were very lucky to be so close to the resource. I know that many people were not.
I took a job after the storm working as a quality control safety inspector for the Army Core of Engineers to aid in storm recovery. I saw firsthand the effects of this storm. To put it mildly, there was simply nothing left. I have never seen damage like that before. Everywhere we went, we just shook our heads in disbelief. The power of Mother Nature is something I will never take for granted again. I love you Mom!
