Our Family's Katrina Story
In late August 2005 like thousands of
other families on the Gulf Coast we were going about
our everyday lives at school, work and our daily
activities. Little did we know as we went off to
work and school on
Friday
August 26, 2005 that it would be the last "normal
day" of the life we knew.
On
Saturday
morning the word was not good. The storm did not
turn to the northeast as was expected and was
bearing down on the New Orleans area. It was
time to baton down the hatches and pack for a three
day road trip (the usual drill to board up the
windows, secure the yard and house and take whatever
irreplaceable records and items we could fit in the
trunk of our car).
On
Sunday
August 29, 2005 at 6:30 a.m. we left on what we
thought would be a three day road trip not knowing
we would never live in our home again.
On the road, we made our way
east landing
at the first vacant hotel we could find in
Tallahassee, Florida. There we waited with the
hotel full of evacuees like us for the storm to make
it's arrival. Having trouble sleeping we followed
though my laptop TV and radio broadcasts from home
in New Orleans.
By
Monday
morning the news was again not good. It was a
nearly direct hit to the New Orleans area and
flooding of most of the area including all 27,000
homes in our community with 67,000 inhabitants
rendered homeless overnight. Also, to add insult to
injury our community in St. Bernard Parish was
affected as a result of the
storm by the largest urban oil spill in U.S. history.
On
Tuesday
as media reports began to show the aftermath the
realization of the magnitude of the damage. (aftermath
in Chalmette
Chalmette Images)
By
Wednesday
reality had settled in and with no habitable home to
go back to we sought shelter
back in the familiar turf of
Northern Virginia
where we had family and had lived for 11 years.
It took
over a month until we were able to return to survey
the damage
to our home and community on
September 29, 2005.
The reality of the magnitude of the situation left
us with difficult decisions to make. With the
realization that our neighborhood and community was
facing years of rebuilding we made the painful
choice to rebuild our life in Northern Virginia.
But our heart and soul remains in St. Bernard and
the New Orleans area.
Hopefully someday we will return.
A
Washington Post
Letter to the Editor
I penned captures the feeling of many of citizens of
the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of the storm. We
developed this site to provide a place online that
could bring us back home to the things we love about
New Orleans.
Greg Chase
New Orleans News and
Nostalgia for wherever you at Even if you ain't dere no more!
