I can remember the day my mom received a call from my grandparents saying they were evacuating from Hurricane Katrina as soon as possible, and if we wanted to go with them we needed to be ready in the next two hours. We frantically packed a backpack full of clothes and loaded all the important documents and pictures, all the items that we could not replace, into our car, and we were off to Crowley, Louisiana. During the packing, I was a little rambunctious grabbing toys that I thought I had to take along on this adventure. My Mom had to settle me down and explain that we had little time to pack and limited space in the car. My mom and brothers had evacuated before, but this experience was new and exciting to me.  What we thought would be just a couple of days in Crowley turned into almost a year. Katrina had hit and as a result of the levees in the city failing and the entire city flooded including our house. 

Hurricane Katrina went from a little tropical storm to something that changed my family’s life forever. I can still remember having to leave my dad, who is a firefighter in New Orleans, while my mom, brothers, and I had to go to western Louisiana to escape the danger. Being only four years old at the time, I was very confused about why my dad could not come with us, so my brothers explained that my dad needed to help other people that were unable to leave the city. I didn’t fully understand why everyone was so worried about my dad. The aftermath of the storm kept the firemen of the city awfully busy, so he could not just come see us whenever he wanted.  Although my dad would come to see us some days, these short visits were totally different experiences than seeing him every day. We stayed with my aunt in her huge house with my uncle and their five children, but the huge house felt somewhat small and crowded with all of us living inside.  Other families in similar situations as us called my aunt and uncle for help too. They were not turned away, but also stayed in the house because they did not have anywhere else to go. This gave me a good opportunity to grow closer to many different people. Some I knew and some I didn’t. I grew especially closer with my cousins that I did not see much before the hurricane. I can vividly remember my cousin and I playing Casper Hotel, named after our parent’s old cat, in her tree house.  We made our older cousins be the guests as we checked them in with a ring of a bell and brought them to their room just as a real hotel would do. The older kids went along with our game, and I think this helped me forget the reason I was there. On the other hand, my mom’s side of the family evacuated somewhere else and moved back home quicker than my immediate family, but they only came to visit us once throughout the whole year we lived in Crowley. I missed them and didn’t understand why they couldn’t be here with us. The one time my Mawmaw came to visit was for my school’s grandparent’s day. Having that side of my family not come and visit us was pretty hard because during this time we lost everything, and not seeing them made this situation seem as if we had to some extent lost them too.

Unlike my mom’s side of the family, my dad’s parents’ house, along with mine, was completely destroyed. My house was filled to the roof with water because we lived near one of the levee breaks.  My dad went to check on my house once the water went down, and while he was there a CNN news crew saw my dad and his fire chief ready to enter our house for the first time. They asked if they could film him going through the house, and he agreed to their requests. He told my mom about the interview and filming, and we could watch the interview on television.  How do you think you would react when the first time you saw the damages to your home and belongings were on the news for all to see? Well I can tell you how my mom and I handled seeing our house for the first time. We were flipping through the channels trying to find the right one when finally, we saw our home.  I’m almost positive you could hear a pin drop because we were speechless, and my little heart dropped as I started to cry because all of my toys were dirty and out of place; even as far as seeing my rocking horse in my brother Ronnie’s room.  You can imagine the little girl about to turn five confused as to why my toys were in the wrong places in my house and spread out across the lawn.  Although our material possessions may have been gone forever, I was grateful that the people in my life that I may not see every day anymore were still safe. In time, I went to a pre-K there in Crowley, and my mom tried to make life as normal as possible for us kids. We moved out of my aunt’s house into an old house that belonged to a friend of my uncles. This house was a feeling of being on our own again and having a place to call ours. The old home was drafty, but we appreciated the space and the privacy. My life was feeling a little more normal with all of us in school and being together just us.

This devastating natural disaster affected many aspects of my life. I experienced many different emotions during that time in my life. Most of these feelings I could not even explain.    As I stated before, I was unable to see my dad every day, so I had to wait for him to have enough time off of work to come and visit. I had to share that precious time dad could visit with my mom and brothers as well as the rest of the family, who was quite worried for his safety.  We had to live in a home that was freezing cold because if we turned on the heat the bill would be outrageous. My parents did not know where to put me in school, so I am a year older than everyone in my grade.  Lastly, the water damaged house everyone saw on the news was never going to be my home again.  This situation was a struggle to adapt to at a young age because of all of the change and sometime didn’t seem fair. Why did this tragedy happen to us? I remember thinking some of my cousins on my mom’s side never had to move and never had to lose all their toys and belongings.   Looking back on the experience now I realize so much good came out of Hurricane Katrina too.

            I was able to go to preschool where my teacher basically became part of my family.  I think this evacuation was the first time I truly saw the goodness in people.  People knew we had suffered a great loss because of this storm, and they did everything possible to help. For example, my uncle’s friends let us use the house they bought for their in-laws, and all we had to do was pay utilities.  People donated furniture, clothes, and anything else you can imagine. The Crowley Fire Department bought us all Christmas gifts and were there to help in any way they could.        

Despite the fact that I lost all of my possessions in this flood, I gained something that can never be washed away from my heart. I learned the importance of being there for everyone, especially those who have suffered a great tragedy.  The people in Crowley do not know, but they have left a lasting impact on me. Whenever I come across anyone who has experienced a flood or anything similar I will do whatever I can to help them. I will never forget the importance of a phone call, a visit, a donation, or a smile because every little action can give someone the hope they need.   

Going through this natural disaster was not the easiest to do.  I realize that I had to learn patience while waiting to see my dad as well as to share the time with him with the family. The chance to move back home helped my mom because she did not have to worry about explaining why we were in Crowley any longer.  Also, the amount of help people gave us helped us in more ways than we can express. We still talk about our Katrina nightmare so to speak, but we will always remember how nice those people were for giving up some of their stuff to help us.  That goodness made a huge impact on me at such a young age and has made me want to help other people since.