5th Anniversary of the Apocalypse
I don't have much of a Katrina story to tell. I wasn't here. Exactly one month before, I'd moved away from Mississippi to New York state. Still, I had to deal with a week or two not knowing what was going on with my family, which was a little frightening. The last I'd heard from them was a letter I received from Momma, postmarked August 27, 2005. Here's an excerpt.
There's a hurricane in the gulf but it's supposed to go to the Florida panhandle. All you have to worry about is blizzards. My love to the biddies. I Love You. Mom.
Eventually, I got more letters, once the mail ran down there.
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Amanda,
As soon as the mail runs, I will send this. Yesterday was a very eventful and scary day. Everyone is OK. My whole family [from New Orleans] is here except Marc. Mom, Lou, Lyle, Anthony, Pierre, Neil, A.P. and Malcolm. We aren't getting any news. No electricity or phone or cell phone. On Neil's truck radio he heard N.O. is under water. They will be here awhile.
So far I have water. The house is OK. The cars are OK. But listen to this. All but 3 of the big pine trees in the front yard were up-rooted. And the big oak tree. They fell toward Col.-Pur. Rd. The winds were 100 mph. We were in a hurricane but N.O. was much worse. It happened in the morning and lasted about 3 or 4 hours. We stood on the carport and watched. It was unbelievable. We were very very scared.
Most of Columbia and Hattiesburg [in south Mississippi] is the same. Lots of trees down. Not too many houses hurt. Shingles came off of mine. And the antenna fell. But seeing those trees fall was something.
Everything was closed in Columbia. We went to Hattiesburg and Sam's was open and stood in line for 3 hours. So we have a lot of non-perishable food and we are BBQing and washing clothes by hand and taking cold baths.
Hope you are OK. The dogs are OK, Blue and Poo, but I am looking for Japhy. I am worried about N.O. but Columbia will be OK.
I love you and miss you. Mom.
Friday, September 2, 2005
Amanda,
Robin and John just came in [from north Mississippi] so I will get her to mail this. We are doing OK. My family is still here and we are doing the best we can. Your daddy is coming around, getting used to everything. He had everyone helping him clean up the yard. And everyone went to the creek today. Rachel [neighbor] is here visiting. Yesterday me and Lyle were bored and walked to her house. Fun! They have a lot of trees down but the house is OK. On the way home we got a ride part of the way. Love, Mom. Write so I will hear from you when the mail starts.
...
Wednesday, September 7, 2005
Amanda,
Hello. I sure do miss you and hope you and the biddies are doing OK. Hopefully I will get electricity and phone service soon and I can receive emails. Write me a letter if you have time.
The family are leaving today for Tennessee. Neil's friend Sean wants them to come. There was a lot of people in the house. But we tried to make it festive. BBQ, trips to the creek and boiled shrimp one night [her neighbor worked for a seafood plant and had a lot of shrimp to get rid of, so everyone prospered]. It has been an experience that's for sure. I hope all your friends on the coast are OK. Let me know if you hear anything about Maxx and everyone.
Can you believe this storm? So very awful in N.O. and MS gulf coast. So many people died and lost their homes, cars, jobs. We were very lucky. All I lost was electricity and some trees. I think your daddy went back to work today. I'm glad you are in NY. Your birthday card might be a couple of days late and I don't know about the plane ticket money. I had emailed Mom [my grandma] before the storm but I don't think she got it. Then I couldn't ask after all the hardships. I don't think the holidays will be much this year. They didn't lose their houses. Neil and Lou went down there and looked. So that's good. Write back. I love you. Mom.
I'm proud to be back. I never want to see a damn blizzard again.