Hurricane Katrina 2005

There’s no doubt about it; this hurricane impacted a lot of folks, not just those in the wake of its path but those on the fringes, so to speak. On a personal note, I would like to share a little of the things that my husband Chuck and I have been through with this event.

Our home is located in the small town of Ponchatoula, La, in the woods outside of the city limits. As with any hurricane or storm bearing down on us from the gulf, our first task was to prepare for the worst. Planning for no electricity, no water, limited food items, and limited gas was a priority for us beginning as soon as we saw its projected path.  Also, planning for the possibility of having to evacuate the area altogether. (Not a pleasant task having to think about-- leaving your home)

We planned for the worse by buying a generator the Saturday before, gasoline in all vehicles and some gas cans for the generator, filled containers with water, took stock of batteries, food items and locating various ice chests. Preparations took most of the weekend so that the night that the storm was to begin its path to Louisiana, we felt as prepared as we were going to be even with a suitcase packed in the event of evacuation. We felt the emotional stress so common with these kinds of events.

We watched news and weather like most people waiting to make our decision on whether to evacuate or stay. The day that Katrina made landfall, we lost electricity due to wind damage, which was expected. I kept watching the trees as they were bent and whipped around our house. Chuck took pictures when the wind deceased to help document what it was like. All that day we watched weather and news by the power of the generator hoping and praying that we would not have to evacuate out home.

About 6 PM that evening (Monday) I ventured out to see what I could see. The wind was still gusting but nothing like before. Needless to say we survived the storm without damage to our home, which we were very thankful for. I was anxious to see what damage had been done to our surroundings so I walked down our driveway (1000 feet to the road) and trees were blown down across the drive. Many branches were torn off and lay everywhere. I continued to walk down to our road and saw that large tress had fallen across the road in both directions making it impassible. I had never seen such a mess and knew that Chuck and I would have much work to do even to get out of the drive much less into town. Our neighbors were all okay with no damage to their homes but utility poles were down everywhere. Some were snapped off like toothpicks. I knew we were in for a long time without utilities. My thoughts were that of the people in Katrina’s path and if it was this bad here, what their circumstances might be. This was only the beginning of the “aftermath”.

The temperature had cooled down after the storm went by which offered us a respite from the heat. Early the next day (Tuesday) I set up an outdoor kitchen using our camp stove, and prepared a nutritious breakfast, made a table out of our large white ice chest with a couple of chairs. Hand washing was going to be imperative. So, a hand washing station was set up using an Igloo jug of water and liquid soap and paper towels at one end of a long table. We made our plans to cleanup around our place and check on our neighbors and friends.

First order of business was to get the chain saw (brand new) out of the loft and put the thing together. It started up right away, thanks to Chuck. I got the tractor and chain and we started to cut our selves out of the driveway. He cut and I dragged the trees off to the burn pile with the tractor. This took most of the morning. Not being used to the work like in our earlier years, needless to say we were both getting tired. Safety was a big issue at this time. Neither one of us needed to get hurt doing this chore. Moving slowly and thinking through the task, not getting into a big hurry was our motto. Also doing only what we must get done and to  conserve energy was our plan. Being in our late 50’s and early 60’s.we felt the stress and strain of these activities and the changes in routine that people face under these circumstances.  

Hopefully, we loaded up the gas can, ice chest and chain saw into the truck and headed down the road armed with a digital and video camera. Getting out onto our road presented another problem with the downed trees. Some of our neighbors had already helped by cutting some of the trees to clear a small path down our road for a few cars to pass. Fallen power lines, broken utility poles, holes in roofs, and entire roads covered with downed trees were the common scenes just going to the highways about a 1 1/2 from our drive. This was very bad and we were not in Katrina’s path.

On into downtown Ponchatoula, the scene was worse. I have not ever been to war but as I have imagined it, so was our town. Broken power lines and poles, buildings with roofs off and store -fronts demolished. Not a sole around but a few cars and trucks to be seen, and no stores opened, no traffic lights. Resources were not available in our town. No phone service and not even cellular service was available.

Our next stop was Hammond. Same thing was true. No electricity and no resources were available. Our next thought was that the only resources  available was going to be in Baton Rouge. (50 miles west) I knew everyone else had the same idea. I had the feeling of dread knowing that this condition was going to take quite some time to come back to normal.

Checking on our friends and neighbors was our next mission. Thankfully they were okay and little or no damage to their homes and no injuries to themselves.  It was comforting to know that we were not alone in our feeling of shock and denial about this event not to mention the feeling of loss. Again, our thoughts went to those who were in the path and knew how bad it was going to get.

Our return home was again to plan our day around getting resources (gas for the generator, few grocery items) and to set our home up to make it possible to sustain our daily routine without electricity or water. Chuck and I and a few other men stopped and cleared more of a path from the trees down our road. (By the way temperatures outside were typical summertime down here – 98-102 degrees). We knew that this was going to be a very uncomfortable night. Chuck being the type of person you would want to be with in any catastrophe began working on a way to run the air conditioner in the office with the generator. With all the correct supplies, it worked! We spent that night “bungalowed-in” in the office. Next was the chore of getting power to the water pump for a shower - sooner or later. With this accomplished, we devised a schedule of when to run the pump, refrigerator, air conditioner and Chuck’s computers. Each evening while it was still light, we would fill the generator, plug the pump in, shower, wash dishes, unplug the pump, plug in the TV – watch news until about 8:30 PM then unplug the TV and plug in the frig. (The frig. ran about 10 hours each day and was able to keep things frozen quite well.) With the frig. plugged in then we could plug in the circuit for the air conditioner and the computer plus a box fan. And that was our evening camped out in the office.

Each day we watched the news for updates. The devastation seen from reporters and scenes were astonishing and sickening both from the loss of entire areas from destruction to the people who were still trapped in their neighborhoods and houses with no resources and their lives threatened by flooding.

We went in to Baton Rouge for gas, ice, and a few groceries. The only way to contact our families was to drive about 30 mile west and call on our car phone. They were all thankful for our safety and had been seeing the scenes from Katrina’s path as well.

On our trip to Baton Rouge we got our first hint of what the aftermath was going to be like from now on. Many families who fled from New Orleans and vacinity relocated to Baton Rouge and to Ponchatoula and Hammond as well. Traffic was a problem. From about 15 miles away from Baton Rouge the traffic slowed to about 45 miles an hour. Streams of cars, trucks, tractor trailers were seen. Emergency vehicles, law enforcement, Red Cross vehicles and the like were seen all going eastbound to the areas of the most devastation. Those going westbound like us, were seeking resources. Baton Rouge was said to have doubled its population during this time and that was well over 300,000 additional people now staying in the city. Resources were going to be scarce. Some gas stations were limiting the amount of gas that could be purchased at one time. Every gas station had lines to fill up cars, trucks, gas cans and gas drums to fuel their generators. Gas prices began to rise. Many gas stations could not keep up their stock of gas and shut down after running out of their supply. Many had to wait 24 or more hours before getting another supply in. Lines were long, sometimes for mile sand the wait for more that 1-2 hours.  And this was from a storm! What could people expect from something like a terrorist attack, over a larger portion of the country? I felt sick and very worried and found myself like countless others planning my day around finding the necessary resources with which to sustain ourselves for the time it was going to take just to get back to some sense of normalcy. A few days after the storm, Chuck was unable to go into town with me to get gas, ice and a few groceries. That was when I felt the most vulnerable and frightened. I kept thinking, what would I do if someone tried to take the gas or ice from me. I soon made up my mind – they would have one hell of a fight coming!! Of course, this never happened. Everyone was in the same boat with resources. Most people were courteous, helpful and even passed out ice water to those standing in line for gas or outside the grocery store waiting to get in. The temperatures were unrelenting for our summer.

The local radio station, and real “troopers” they were, kept all in the area apprised of the resources (24 - 7) like FEMA, Red Cross, and other government agencies that were coming into the area to help out.  They also had many personnel telling the broadcast population about health related issues, medical care, since the hospitals and emergency rooms were over crowded with those that were in need of special care.

One by one, businesses began to open as the electricity was restored at an alarming pace. The utility workmen did an extraordinary job with restoring our power. We were only out of power for 8 days. Each day more and more businesses were allowing people to access resources that were needed. Moral was improving but still the amount of people in the area was putting strains on the grocery and gasoline businesses to keep up with stock.

Our Walmart store and Lowe’s opened only to have a “staging “area only to allow so many people in the store at one time. Armed National Guardsmen were enlisted to keep order at the Walmart store in Hammond. This was perhaps the most shocking thing I have ever experienced. It wasn’t until 2 weeks after the storm that I ventured to our Walmart and it was around 8:30 in the morning. Armed National Guardsmen were guarding the entrance (only one entrance was open) with rifles slung to maintain order. Once inside I asked if there had been any trouble, the answer was no trouble but when closing time approached at 4 PM, the armed Guardsmen would usher everyone out of the store beginning at the back and marched everyone out at that time. I had mixed emotions about this – both intimidation and awe.

During my shopping for the few things we needed (milk, juice, fruit) many of the shelves had been emptied. Boxes of items were not shelved. The workers simply did not have time to shelve the items that were in demand. Some supply trucks were unable to get in to supply stores for some time due to the storm’s destruction. Gradually, food began to “catch up” and things eased as the utilities began to be restored for more and more people businesses and residences alike. The panic buying began to “loosen”.  Still, there were people without homes that were living in shelters, their cars, or trucks in  parking lots. Their homes were destroyed.

In the midst of all this, I was and am fortunate to have a good  job to go to. My boss, a very understanding leader, gave me time off to “take care of business”. I am very grateful to have this job for many families, jobs and businesses were demolished and non existant at this time. Another issue to face was to plan my commute into the Baton Rouge knowing how traffic must be at that time of the morning. Sure enough, what took only 1 hour was now taking 1 1/2 – 2 hours going 1 way. Spending 3-4 hours in the car each day has its downside. Getting around in Baton Rouge is taking a great deal of patience on everyone’s part. I now also plan my grocery shopping during lunch on workdays and keep my driving to a minimum. Both because of the gas prices and the effort just to drive around town in the traffic.

All in all, resources stretched, population growth almost overnight, things are beginning to “normalize” as people get back to work, new jobs are being created, new businesses are popping up every where and people are looking for work. Growth for both Hammond and Ponchatoula is evident! Homes are rented, bought, trailer parks are full, temporary camper spaces are being used by those waiting for new homes and locations. Grocery, gas, and other businesses are beginning to “catch up” with supply and demand. Schools are taking in students from displaced families, churches are growing, are just a few examples of how things are changing.

I think some people have reached the resolution stage of the grief process in that, yes, the event is still very fresh on the hearts of the victims and citizens around the world. This is just one person’s account of what has happened and certainly not the most tragic accounting, but as bad as it was here in my neighborhood, imagine just how bad it is elsewhere. At times, there is something to be thankful for in the midst of a tragedy. Maybe some good will come of suffering and that is certainly my hope. Tragedies like this impact all individuals regardless if there is loss of property, persons, freedom or choices. My husband and I were fortunate to have not had any damage or loss of our home or property. But we have been affected as all of the nation will be affected by this storm.