Today is the 20th anniversary of the landfall of Hurricane Katrina.
At the time, Melanie, Meghan, Jourdan and I lived in Slidell, LA, the “North Shore” of Lake Pontchartrain as it were. This is a Google Maps view of where the house was in relation to Lake Pontchartrain. We had built the house some 9 years before, and were very happy there.
The storm traversed the area across the Lake, heading in a North East direction. When the eye of the storm came ashore, so to speak, it drug a plug of water with it that flooded the house. The waterline in the house indicated some 10 1/2″ of water. The flooding didn’t go a lot further inland, and the water dissipated very quickly, on the order of 30 minutes, unlike the metropolitan area which was inundated for several days.
In the global scheme of things, the duration of inundation is relatively unimportant. Any flooding meant everything that got wet in the house had to be removed.
After two weeks of watching the TV coverage from Houston, we traveled back to the area. Driving up, getting out the car, I could hear the electric dog fence alarm, so I knew the power was back on. Opening the front door, there was still residual water and a lot of dirt on the floor. There was an outlet in the floor that I knew had to be full of water, so I went around to the utility room, reached in and shut the power off to the house before we entered.
To be honest, everything after that was/is a blur. Barbara and Ham, had offered the use of a Mother-in-law cottage they had which was empty, that we accepted. After walking around in a fog for a while, I turned the power back on, except for the floor outlet, and we headed to Mandeville for the night.
The next week was spent clearing the debris out of the house. Most of what I like to call the “purchased” furniture was beyond repair. Much of the stuff I had built was salvageable. We had a long driveway, some 100 foot, and the entirety was lined up with all the personal debris from the house.
We managed to contact a local Contractor, and we got that process started, with the demo beginning during the week I was there cleaning up. The story of the house rehab is a whole ‘nuther tale. Perhaps I’ll tell that one day.
After the week was up, everything salvageable had been cleaned, and all our “possessions” were fairly neatly stored in the garage with ready access.
The story of the next 9 months is too long to tell here. It was a difficult, stressful time, not without its health issues, both physical and mental. Both Melanie and I contracted Staph infections in the process. In talking with our physician, a lot of folks were infected, and a lot of folks passed away from it.
Some time after, I was sitting in The China Blossom Restaurant in Metairie, and I overheard someone at another table say that it was the longest year of his life. I thought that was a most eloquent description of the time.
Katrina was a maelstrom in our lives, one of a number of less than pleasant experiences in that decade of our lives. Looking back, yes it was terrible, but looking deeper, many good things resulted from it.
As much as we were true New Orleaneans, the best thing we ever did was leave. Northern Virginia, with all it short-comings, was very good to my entire family. Our years in NOVA were wonderful and fruitful.
Oftentimes, we pray to God with questions, and oftentimes he answers in completely unexpected ways…..
Over the course of the period, as you might expect, I collected a lot of pictures. To be honest, I’ve never done more than just glance through them, too painful. But I took the opportunity to assemble them all in an album, should you be interested. These are all raw images, no processing, etc., just what came out of the various digital cameras I had at the time.
So, on this somber occasion, say a prayer for all those who perished in the storm, and it’s aftermath, and be thankful for all the gifts which have been bestowed upon you and your families.
cheers,
