Katrina - What Its Like To Be An Evacuee

With less than twenty four hours to go beforeknow he would not be alive if we had not gone to get
hurricane Katrina hit land my wife and I started to packhim out of his house.We drove through the night. At
up the car to leave St Bernard Parish Louisiana. Wefirst we could not go over fifteen miles an hour across
had to have the brakes repaired only an hour beforethe twin spans, an eight mile long bridge across the
we left. We had to depend on the kindness of alake a bridge that today is largely destroyed. The
neighbor who was frantically working on the car aswinds came just behind us only hours later and
we loaded it with those things the officials said wewashed the spans that weigh thousands of tons into
should take with us.We loaded a few changes ofthe water like toothpicks in a bathtub. In time we got up
clothing our important papers and our dog, Patches.to about fifty but not once did we ever reach the
We went to pick up an older gentlemen whosespeed limit. We arrived at a friends house near
daughter could not pick him up because she lived northBirmingham Alabama where we stayed for two days.
of Lake Ponchartrain which was already nearlyWe contacted the old gents family and arranged for
impassible. He was a member of our church and wehis family to come and pick him up. The power went
faithfully picked him up for every service because heout several times throughout the second night as the
could hardly walk on his own. Looking back now wewinds gusted and threatened Old Birmingham.