Memories of Hurricane Katrina

We moved to Louisiana just 6 weeks before Hurricane Katrina. During one of the most active Hurricane season in History. Five all together. I remember listening to the sisters talk in Relief Society about a hurricane that came in just before Katrina. I'll never forget the expression I had when they smiled and said, this is what you need to do. They told of rushing to the store and the stores being empty of things like bread, canned lunch meat etc. I got that lovely experience a few times while living there that year. Lines at the grocery store. People lined up at the bank trying to get cash to get out of town. People lined up at the Gas Station to get extra gas for their generators etc. The week of Katrina we debated on what to do. Saturday we had taken the Elders to Slidell on a missionary split. That afternoon the Elders got word to evacuate. We called the Elders and heard the news. That's when we decided, "If the Elders are leaving town, we are leaving town" The final straw was when our home teacher (Bro. Marcotte) called to tell us if we stayed to make sure we covered ourselves with a mattress if we didn't evacuate! NOT ME I'M TELLING YOU!So we prepared to hit the road. So we got our home ready to evacuate. Two of our neighbors were staying home to protect the neighborhood. So we gave our house key to one neighbor. It was eery to see the people "BOARD UP" which is just routine during Hurricane Season. We traveled towards Shreveport because our former owners of our home called to let us know the best route to go. I had packed a lunch and I remember eating a "SPAM" sandwich at a rest stop on the way. We were not grid locked with traffic but several areas were. We experienced the "no room at the inn" feeling. We finally found a place heading toward Houston. I remember going to our room and hearing a young wife talk to her husband that was stationed(with the police force) in the "SUPER DOME" and watching her be frantic when she couldn't get her husband on the phone. Leaving on Monday Morning we were talking to a black family who owned a car dealership right in New Orleans. Their son's were staying behind to guard it. We were light heartedly saying shew made it through that one! And then the levees broke and the chaos began. I often think of that family. I'm sure they had a lot of loss. We went to stay at a hotel in Texas City for a week with Uncle Bob and Neil Savage who were working there at the refineries. Clark worked while we were there and then we went to stay with a good friend in Houston (who is now Clarks DM) for a week while we made preparations to head back to La. It was the most scary time in my life. We stayed with Clark's boss and his wife right in Laplace. It was war zone to get there. We had to have a refinery pass to even travel. We had limited cell phone service. NO DEBIT CARDS/CASH ONLY. Also no power for the first day. Our first venture out was when we got word that Wal-mart had opened. Now remember this was three weeks after the storm. When we arrived the national guard was there with their M13's and only let so many people in at a time. And remember it was CASH ONLY. Pretty crazy experience to watch the helicopters evacuate people. To see buses and buses of people being moved was surreal. Houses with no roofs, trees uprooted and areas leveled. It gave me a new appreciation for being able to be PREPARED. TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR OWN, AND TO LISTEN TO PROMPTINGS! Yes, our home was fine. Just a bit of tree damage. We watched many miracles as time went by. Like hearing about how the men in our church went from home to home checking to make sure every member was accounted for (with limited gas) and the miracle was their gas gage did not move. Or the 2 months that after Sacrament Meeting the men would be dismissed to go help others get tarps on their roofs or cut trees. A lot of service went on. I remember seeing our own Bishop wore out and exhausted because he never stopped serving. Nurses in our Ward who had horror stories. I was able to work at the Bishops Store house after the storm. It was AMAZING to see members from across the United States help in the efforts. And totally eye opening to see the out pouring of things our church does for the world. I have to say that I am so thankful we had this experience. It is life changing, and we will never forget it. We had great opportunities to SERVE others and also for so many kindnesses in our behalf. Our kids will tell you their experience was extreme FEAR and WORRY. It stinks to worry about your parents!