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| A special, heartfelt THANK YOU to ALL the Red Cross volunteers and first responders from around the world who helped the people of the New Orleans & Gulf Coast areas during our time of need, and to volunteers everywhere who are still helping to rebuild! click HERE to go to the KATRINA CONNECTION forums! Welcome to the CONNECTION SECTION! Look for your comments & e-mails here! (NOTE: All e-mails received become the property of Katrina Connection and may be reprinted in whole or in part on the website) "...I am certain that you have created a much-needed addition to the efforts to provide timely and comprehensive communications for hurricane survivors and others interested in the continuing challenges of recovering from Katrina and Rita.....we applaud the arrival of your website..." -George Flynn, editorial director, houstonhurricanerecovery.org "..I love your site, looks great and a huge help for people...u r doing a very good deed" -Vince, Collinsville, IL ihateinsurancecompanies.com "Just wanted to let the world know, how displaced evacuees are missing the aroma of New Orleans, things like the Food, Parties, Family &Friends. But some things happen for a reason so i guess the Lord was telling me this is where i needed to be... but just wanted to let everyone know their's no place like New Orleans miss it very much, also this was a much needed WEBSITE!!!!" -Zarice, Chattanooga, TN "I just linked you a week or two ago. Glad to be a part of helping New Orleanians rebuild." -Planetary Sister, New Orleans "I'll tell everybody I know about this site!" -Michelle, Marrero "Love the site. It's great that Hurricane Katrina isn't forgotten." -D. Gibson, Kenner " Didn't you know that people told me New Orleans was knocked off the MAP! But they don't know that we're COMING BACK. This means we are rebuilding our city in the 9th ward,17th and Lots other places in New Orleans." -Tamia "Great to see this initiative. I'm particularly interested in Katrina experiences of disabled people. You can read about emergency preparedness involving this population here on my living-with-global-warming.com/disability-and-disasters.html page. Also would love direct experiences shared here on my alternate-energy-sources.com/global-warming-impacts.html page." -steadyasshegoes "You are missing quite a few non-profits(see links page): www.reliefspark.org www.greenlightneworleans.org www.animalrescueneworleans.org www.thegreenproject.org www.lowernine.org www.housebyhouse.org www.pnola.org www.livestbernard.org Please add all of us! Cheers and keep up the good work!" Sidney Ray, executive director www.reliefspark.org |
| KATRINA CONNECTION |
"What were
YOU doing when
the water was
rising?"
Send an e-mail to
webmaster
@katrinaconnection.com
YOU doing when
the water was
rising?"
Send an e-mail to
webmaster
@katrinaconnection.com
| "I was uptown and - believe it or not - the water started coming up the sidewalks, but at first there was no water in the streets where I was...the water was running up the sidewalks! - Marc Caesar |
| "I had evacuated to Baton Rouge...I was worried about my house in LaPlace, because I heard it was gonna be a worse case scenario - George |
| "I had evacuated to Lake Charles, and was watching it on TV... I thought the whole city was gone." - HBL |
| "I was walking on the interstate, trying to get out" -'superman' |
| "I drove people to Lee Circle...then started driving people from there to the Convention Center" -Nathaniel Brookins |
| "I walked through four feet of water.." -Chinee |
"What were
YOU doing when
the water was
rising?"
Send an e-mail to
webmaster
@katrinaconnection.com
YOU doing when
the water was
rising?"
Send an e-mail to
webmaster
@katrinaconnection.com
| "About 33 of us were in Kingwood Texas in a hotel. We had evacuated before the storm. It had taken us 18 hours to get to the North side of Houston from New Orleans. We all stuck together and are still together in Humble Texas, north of Houston, where we reside" - Kia |
| "I was in Little Rock (Ark), worrying about the people and their homes" - Cindy |
| "We evacuated to Jackson, and watched it on TV...I was worried about my house two blocks from the levees" -poppy |
Copyright © 2007-2008 katrina connection.com
All Rights Reserved
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All Rights Reserved
SiteMap About Us Contact Us Links
"The Getaway"
By Phil Moore Part 2 in a series
Nothing has ever brought the people of the New Orleans area together like Hurricane Katrina did. Yet
nothing has ever torn the people apart like the flooding after Katrina.
There were many of an ill-prepared population dependent upon meager wages or upon first-of-the-month
government checks due to arrive in a few days from an ill-prepared government. Transportation and
gasoline money was available only to those blessed enough to have it. Nevertheless an unprecedented
mandatory evacuation was ordered on that Sunday morning of August 28, 2005. New Orleans, along with
each and every neighboring municipality, began what became a historical mass exodus of biblical
proportions never before seen in America, bearing an eerie reemblence to the people of Israel in the days of
Moses.
I had come home from a night's work early that Saturday morning, navigated to the National Weather
Service website and looked at our destiny: the predicted path of hurricane Katrina like a bullet taking direct
aim. The full scope or severity of the situation wasn't apparent to me. It became increasingly clear that
medical procedures or any scheduled appointments would have to wait.
Oblivious to the potential for a chaotic calamity, and almost like an out-of-body experience, a numbness
precluded any rationale. It WAS time for a vacation from driving a company truck 360 out of the previous
365 nights - even actually refreshing to have an unprecedented Saturday night off as Katrina churned in the
Gulf of Mexico. It was time to contemplate a getaway.
While I was incoherently immobilized, Sunday morning the phone started ringing and I found love in my 25
year-old daughter and then my only sibling, a sister, who each offered an evacuation ride. My daughter
going with her husband & kids to unknown parts east in Alabama, and my sister with her friend, along with
a nephew and a neice going to unknown parts west - to anywhere. So that I wouldn't forget myself, I took
the ride with sis, west through Louisiana.
Interstates, of course were jammed about noon by the time we started out. Radio reports were cautioning
folks to avoid the I-10 if possible. So we took Highway 90 (Airline Highway) going further west along that
road than I'd ever been. Louisiana's evacuation routes point north. Most people on the bumper-to-bumper
highways that day would have thought the all roads headed west.
By 9:30pm we arrived in Baton Rouge, normally about a one hour drive from New Orleans. As the outer
bands of Katrina (due to arrive in less than 10 hours) brought drizzling rain, a feeling of gloom caused us to
turn down the ubiquitous live news reports and start the traditional road trip group songs. Soon we were
cruising into a sevice station with a convenience store. The place was so packed, it seemed to be the only
store in town. But so had the other two pit stops we'd made by then. What was disappointing was that this
store's shelves had been practically wiped out by earlier evacuees.
Back on the road, the group mood became apprehensive. After all, we were on Airline Highway, heading
west through towns with names only the locals could pronounce, going 60mph on an uncharted course,
with the night becoming darker and darker. Eventually, we found an I-10 entrance somewhere past
Lafayette, Louisiana, and decided to be brave joining the majority of travelers, rather than stay on Airline
after passing signs indicating we were getting close to Texas.
As I-10 was leading into the city of Lake Charles midnight and fatigue reminded us that it was time to seek
shelter somewhere..
COMING SOON: Part 3 - "The Host City"
By Phil Moore Part 2 in a series
Nothing has ever brought the people of the New Orleans area together like Hurricane Katrina did. Yet
nothing has ever torn the people apart like the flooding after Katrina.
There were many of an ill-prepared population dependent upon meager wages or upon first-of-the-month
government checks due to arrive in a few days from an ill-prepared government. Transportation and
gasoline money was available only to those blessed enough to have it. Nevertheless an unprecedented
mandatory evacuation was ordered on that Sunday morning of August 28, 2005. New Orleans, along with
each and every neighboring municipality, began what became a historical mass exodus of biblical
proportions never before seen in America, bearing an eerie reemblence to the people of Israel in the days of
Moses.
I had come home from a night's work early that Saturday morning, navigated to the National Weather
Service website and looked at our destiny: the predicted path of hurricane Katrina like a bullet taking direct
aim. The full scope or severity of the situation wasn't apparent to me. It became increasingly clear that
medical procedures or any scheduled appointments would have to wait.
Oblivious to the potential for a chaotic calamity, and almost like an out-of-body experience, a numbness
precluded any rationale. It WAS time for a vacation from driving a company truck 360 out of the previous
365 nights - even actually refreshing to have an unprecedented Saturday night off as Katrina churned in the
Gulf of Mexico. It was time to contemplate a getaway.
While I was incoherently immobilized, Sunday morning the phone started ringing and I found love in my 25
year-old daughter and then my only sibling, a sister, who each offered an evacuation ride. My daughter
going with her husband & kids to unknown parts east in Alabama, and my sister with her friend, along with
a nephew and a neice going to unknown parts west - to anywhere. So that I wouldn't forget myself, I took
the ride with sis, west through Louisiana.
Interstates, of course were jammed about noon by the time we started out. Radio reports were cautioning
folks to avoid the I-10 if possible. So we took Highway 90 (Airline Highway) going further west along that
road than I'd ever been. Louisiana's evacuation routes point north. Most people on the bumper-to-bumper
highways that day would have thought the all roads headed west.
By 9:30pm we arrived in Baton Rouge, normally about a one hour drive from New Orleans. As the outer
bands of Katrina (due to arrive in less than 10 hours) brought drizzling rain, a feeling of gloom caused us to
turn down the ubiquitous live news reports and start the traditional road trip group songs. Soon we were
cruising into a sevice station with a convenience store. The place was so packed, it seemed to be the only
store in town. But so had the other two pit stops we'd made by then. What was disappointing was that this
store's shelves had been practically wiped out by earlier evacuees.
Back on the road, the group mood became apprehensive. After all, we were on Airline Highway, heading
west through towns with names only the locals could pronounce, going 60mph on an uncharted course,
with the night becoming darker and darker. Eventually, we found an I-10 entrance somewhere past
Lafayette, Louisiana, and decided to be brave joining the majority of travelers, rather than stay on Airline
after passing signs indicating we were getting close to Texas.
As I-10 was leading into the city of Lake Charles midnight and fatigue reminded us that it was time to seek
shelter somewhere..
COMING SOON: Part 3 - "The Host City"
| "There was about 5 to 6 feet of water in Metairie on Caswell St...a Coast Guard helicopter hovered over me, then took off and left me..." -D Deyroy |
| "...I was watching cnn in a motel outside of jacksonville, fl. My family all lived in arabi/st.bernard parish. I called cnn for days leaving messages for someone to rescue my people in da parish. I didn't know if anyone was there to help them. Most were ok. My aunt drowned." -LOST IN NY |
| "My girl & I had evacuated from Mid-City to Eunice (LA.)..." -Dillon |
| "I had evacuated to Denham Springs (LA). When I saw what was happening, I cried...." -KB |
| "I was doing what they called 'looting'...I was trying to survive!" - BABY BOY DA PRINCE, Rap & Hip-Hop Artist |