Yes, I survived Hurricane Katrina as we southerners say, which it's almost the 4 year anniversary...( I can't believe 4 years have gone by since that horrible night I will never forget). So here's my story I hope you enjoy.

I have lived on the Gulf Coast my entire life (until I recently got married and moved to Atlanta). Growing up on the water in the south is quite an experience. You know you've landed in Hurricane Central when your first day of Kindergarten they hand you a Hurricane tracking sheet to keep in your folder. Boarding up windows and doors in our household during the season became routine. In face some residents leave these on all year round. :D Sometimes the effort would pay off but 8 times out of 10 we never saw significant damage. It was always predicted to be a lot worse than they really were. So like most people in our city we ignored the warnings because honestly those warnings to leave the city were given every hurricane. And you'd be hundreds of miles out of town to learn that the "eye" just missed us and the winds weren't as bad as predicted. So most of the residents stay in their homes to be where they are most comfortable. We ignorned the warnings.
The night the Hurricane hit I was sitting in my room on the phone when I heard the tornado warning turn on in our streets. (it's a loud siren that goes off through out the city) Next, the power and phone died. Then I heard the howling of the wind for 2 hours. The sound of the wind is the scariest. It shakes the whole ground bringing trees and power lines down within seconds. Hurricane's are the worst natural disaster in the world. Everything you know and own is gone in seconds and you watch memories of your precious city wash down the streets and there is nothing you can do but get out. You have to think about yourself as selfish as it sounds. You can't waste a minute thinking about how your friends and family are doing in their homes and if they got out in time.
We moved into the hall to escape the water and tree that went through the roof of my parent's house. I remember trying to fall asleep on the rug as I listened to the battery powered radio tell us that our sister city New Orleans was completely flooded and getting the extent of the damage. If this wasn't the worst part I couldn't even imagine then how much damage my favorite city in the world was receiving.
I woke at sunrise to realize I now lived in a ghost town. There was no way to even get out of the driveway much less out of the neighborhood. We were lucky compared to our neighbors and most of our family members who have homes on the water. With no power in our city we had a curfew which was enforced by military who rode up and down the roads in hummer with machine guns to keep chaos in order. Listening to the military hummers ride by projecting through the speaker system that all residents should be in their homes at dusk can be a little intimidating. Pretty much a horror movie.

Weeks go by with no power and gas. There is no way to get to our city because of all the debris and destoryed bridges blocking most outside resources. And you look up in the sky to see hundreds of helicopters from the media recording your life in destruction. And the President flying over your city reporting to the rest of the world what's going on. But you can't see these images. Can you imagine not being able to go to work or do daily activities b/c of no gas/power/water? Restaurants running just their refrigerators and nothing else trying to get rid of their food that is spoiling to people who are hungry that didn't get supplies before the hurricane. And if you think that going to the grocery store the day before a hurricane is a breeze you have another thing coming. It's like Armageddon there and at all gas stations. I don't want to go into to much more detail about the things I witnessed during this time b/c they are upsetting for me and they are no words describe this experience.

Aftermath:
Family and friends were all right besides loosing everything they've ever owned. I have never seen such disturbing things until I entered the Louisianan/Mississippi border. I had to get a special permit 2 1/2 weeks after the Hurricane to drive to the outside Parrish's of New Orleans to pick up family who were stranded there( I stole gas from cans that were in the back of pick-up trucks b/c there was no other way). And I am publicly apologizing for that today. If I had to do it all over again I would without regret. I think we ended up with at least 20 family and friends staying with us for months after trying to get their life's back together. It was hard b/c you want to grieve for the things you've lost but you have people staying with you who are a lot worse off than you are. And you can't feel sorry you have to pick up the pieces and help rebuild the community you love. You live and you learn and if your still lucky to be alive at the end of the day you know you must of done something right. Thanks for letting me share this horrific day with you. It's something that's hard to talk about but feels better when you get off your chest.