Hello, hello to all my friends at PBase. This will be a long commentary.
My husband and I were supposed to evacuate to St. Joseph's Abbey. It is north of all the lakes and very sturdy construction.
Our middle son took our two cats and headed for Perilloux Place in Montz. As we were leaving the house the Nursing Home where my father-in-law and oldest sister reside called to say they were not evacuating, so Elgin and I thought we had better go to Perilloux Place also where we could be close to the Nursing Home. This was around noon on August 28, Sunday. Our daughter and grandson and two other sons and spouse had scattered to other parts of Louisiana to safety.
By dusk the rain bands had moved in and by midnight the winds were howling all around the house that my father had sturdily built in the 1920's. By dawn on August 29 the winds were 100 miles per hour plus and you could hear the tornadoes roaring overhead. At one point I got under my bed with the 2 cats whose eyes were big as saucers. By 2 p.m. the winds began to die down and at sunset it was almost calm and the sunset was gorgeous. There were trees down everywhere and one of our big cedars had fallen across our telephone and cable lines. Not that it mattered because phones and electricity were out all over this area for 900 square miles.
I knew that my other sister, Anna, who is recovering from cancer was safe in Metairie in a retirement home because she was well stocked with food and water and lives on the fifth floor. Little did we know she and 150 others from the building would be evacuated two days later to Lackland Air Force Base in Texas after being over 20 hours in a standing line at New Orleans airport that was military and volunteer staffed. She commandeered a CNN reporter and told her "Please get us some help--we're old, we're sick and we're ugly (still had her sense of humor)." Someone saw her on CNN and called her son in Little Rock who drove to get her after finding her name on a Red Cross list. Her adventure was the most exciting one of all, depending how you look at it--she is 83.
On Friday I managed to get past checkpoint Charlie with my law enforcement ID to survey my house in Metairie. Our house, my daughter's house and our youngest son's house all had a foot of water and our oak floors were buckling and our carpets mildewing and anything the water touched was molding. Cleaning out the refrigerator was not for the faint of heart. Food had turned to slime in the freezer and one could only hold one's breath so long before running outside to be sick. I cleaned out mine and my daughter's and two weeks later I gave my husband the awful task of cleaning out our elderly neighbors refrigerator, something he'll never forget. It took us six days even with two strong young men from Montz that I hired to get the floors and wet stuff out of the house and to clean the trees and debris that was in our yard. We cannot return to our homes until orders are given and the military troops are everywhere, thank God.
Our oldest son is the only one who had no house damage but his magnificent oak fell into his neighbor's house. We are all safe and dry now. Some of us have gotten tetanus and hepatitis shots. At present there are 3 generations in the house that my father built and today is the 28th anniversary of his death. My husband and I, our daughter and her 17 year old son and our middle son, along with cats Abraham, Sadie, Max, Caiteri, Ozzie and Smokey are trying to sort our lives out. Our grandson has to find a school to attend as Holy Cross in New Orleans will take a long time to restore. We need to find contractors and restore our houses. The Parks need to be put back together and the wildlife there need attending to. City Park still has a few feet of water in it. Hopefully, my swans and cygnets are o.k.
My photo today was taken shortly after the hurricane. The statue is badly beaten from debris that flew but was still standing. I must admit I have never been so afraid in my life in a storm and I have worked many hurricanes in law enforcement.
New Orleans and the surrounding area will rebuild and our spirit will not be destroyed by a hurricane named Katrina. Thank God all of our family has survived--many were not so fortunate.
Thanks to all of you who sent good wishes and concern--they kept my spirits bright. I am only able to post for the first time today and I am in Baton Rouge at the Secretary of State's office doing so. We were without electricity for a week and used kerosene lamps (one that I did my first grade homework by) to see at night. The heat was unbearable but we made it through. I am still trying to reach the Abbot, but their communication lines are still down. However, somehow he sent one of the monks to Metairie to check on me. I don't know what route he took as bridges were out and roads were covered with trees. Again and again I realize how fortunate I am.
Our beautiful City lies in ruins and so many people are dead. We have been trying to contact friends who were in the hardest hit parts to no avail.