Post by warrior16 on Aug 20, 2015 14:03:25 GMT -6
Beautiful video by MLS about Patrick and his family's experience of the hurricane that changed our state forever.
Feel free to leave your memories of Katrina below.
I was just 9 years-old at the time, getting ready for my first day of 4th grade that Monday morning. Growing up in South Louisiana, you get used to dealing with bad storms, but I think we were all caught off guard by just how powerful Katrina was. We waited too late to board the windows, and the wind tore several of them to shreds. A tree branch split my brother's bedroom in half (luckily he wasn't sleeping at the time). We were without power for 5 days, and you don't realize how scary it is to live without electricity until you're doing it. Since the refrigerator wouldn't work, my dad had to go out and wait for hours to get fresh food, and there was genuine fear that looters might attack. Two of my neighbors were robbed at gunpoint for medicine, food, and blankets.
We took in some family members from New Orleans for several days until they could find other arrangements. School didn't start until the first week of October for me. My friends in New Orleans had it much worse. Some of them were unable to find new schools for that whole year, and had to repeat the grade they were in.
I think Patrick's story in the video is a microcosm of what millions of us went through that August, and he actually lost his house permanently, as he grew up right near the levee.