It has been four years since Katrina did her best to destroy New Orleans and the surrounding area. I was not there at the time, in fact Louisiana was one of the very places in North America that I had not spent time in. My wife however was born in the area, and grew up and spent many years in the city of Slidell. I’ll give a quick Geography lesson, if you look at a map and trace north from New Orleans you find a good sized body of water, that is Lake Ponchartrain, on the north side of the lake is Slidell.
New Orleans took a huge beating from Katrina, and so did Slidell. The storm surge from Lake Ponchertrain was every bit as punishing as that from the Gulf. It was days of anguish and worry for Jan, the phone lines were down, and news was not forthcoming. The major news agencies seemed only to care about New Orleans, there was nothing about what had happened further north.
Finally a CNN reporter filed a short segment about Slidell, it was not just damaged, it was the scene of pure hellish destruction. From two thousand miles away we searched relentlessly, I stumbled across some photographs that NOAA had released. The ‘Twin Span’ a five mile bridge had huge pieces missing from it. As if some huge hand had ripped it apart like it was made of balsa wood.
Over the next few weeks we found out that all of Jan’s family were OK, just somewhat scattered, her son was in Florida, her sister was in Texas, her mom and dad had hunkered down in Mississippi and rode the storm out.
I have to admit that my knowledge of hurricanes was based on what I have seen on TV, as a decade long resident of Southern California I know lots about earthquakes, from spending time in Alberta I know all about -40 degree weather and snow, but hurricanes I am a virgin.
My wife and I relocated to Mississippi just over a year ago, to a small town of some 20,000 souls some 10 miles north of the Louisiana border. Far inland from the Gulf, yet even here the signs of Katrina are everywhere. Abandoned houses are plentiful, tree stumps where large trees once majestically stood, and a defiant population abounds.
It did not take me but a few days to realize just how polarized the town is. The barrier is not race, color or creed, it is BK (Before Katrina) and AK (After Katrina). In simple terms the people that have lived here their whole lives and those that fled north and stayed following the event.
As a AK I quickly gravitated to the rest of the AK group, most notably a local coffee shop a few blocks from our home. In something like a scene out of the sit com Cheers the group of disgruntled AK’ers gathered every afternoon at 2pm sharp for a lively hour of whining and whinging about the town, its council, and its outmoded ideas.
Quite often I would turn the conversation to Katrina, the stories they told horrified me. Tales of vast destruction, but somehow they were hard to comprehend. Just like the awful pictures we saw on CNN unless you are there to witness them first hand they are meaningless. I sat and listened, and tried to absorb the horror.
I have been quietly thinking about the various hurricanes that have hit the Gulf coast in recent years for several months now with the idea that one of these days I would actually put pen to paper. Three catalysts have triggered me into action. About two weeks ago I read Keifer Bonvillains very disturbing book on FEMA fraud The Broken Road To Disaster Recovery. Secondly on Thanksgiving my wife and I went to Slidell and for the first time I saw the lake front properties near Eden Isle (part two), and finally, today I was in Gulfport and had a brief drive along the Gulf shore. Our travel guide Doris made a statement that I will likely remember for a very long time.
Sorry that it was not much of a sight seeing tour, all of the sights to see are gone
She was right, as you came within a few blocks of the beach the absence of habitation was apparent. Whole city blocks gone, what used to be prime real estate is now a no mans land, the occasional concrete pad, or brick foundation is all that remains.
In part two I will be taking you on a journey to Slidell and the water camps.
Simon Barrett
5 users commented in " Katrina And Ike The Hurricanes That Keep On Giving "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackThe weather Channel’s reporters were in slidell, I remember the reports. I also remember that one of the news channels went too far with their coverage in attempts to hammer home just how bad it was. I am glad that Jan and her family made it through safe and I’m sorry for what she and others went through.
Not sure exactly what all I’m seeing in this video, but I know that gator has a smile on his face.
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/449265/hurricane_katrina_slidell_la_st_tammany_parish_p_3/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmjCfSEYvsg
http://www.katrinadestruction.com/images/v/hurricane+katrina+photos/stock-photos-Img_19kd42-slidell-marina-damage-lr2.html
http://www.weather.com/blog/weather/8_7296.html?from=search_siteresults
http://www.weather.com/newscenter/topstories/20050830katrinadamagelinks.html?from=search_siteresults
Read some of the comments on this one:
http://www.weather.com/blog/weather/8_10273.html?from=search_siteresults
http://www.weather.com/blog/weather/8_7281.html?from=search_siteresults
http://www.weather.com/blog/weather/8_20092.html?from=search_siteresults
I was actually in Palatka, Florida (no, I’m NOT kidding!) as Katrina came ashore, having fled there from my suburban home in the New Orleans area. Watched in horror on cable TV as the destruction unfolded. Like your wife, I was perturbed that they seemed to show only downtown New Orleans on the TV reports, when I was desperate to find out how MY neighborhood had fared. Adding to the desperation was not knowing where all my family members were…like many families, mine had been scattered in all directions, and there was little to no communication possible, if you had a “504” area code.
The moment of truth came when I saw a news report…there was a guy going by in a rowboat…I recognized the strip mall signage in the background as being the very strip mall right around the corner from my house!! That’s how I found out my neighborhood was flooded. It would be a few weeks before I could actually return and see for myself. Not a pretty sight, when all of your worldly belongings have been stewing in polluted water for a couple of weeks!
Anyway, I can definitely relate to life “pre-Katrina” and “post-Katrina”!
Thank you for posting this article AND mentioning the Mississippi coast. When Katrina hit it was New Orleans this and New Orleans that, and being a Mississippian I have never felt so insignificant in my whole life. I know Mississippi is the poorest state in America, but we are people too. It seemed as if no one cared about us.
I talked to my bff a couple of weeks after Katrina hit, she is from the Pas Christian area. She said it was nothing to see a dead body laying on the ground and it was like a war zone. My heart was broken for all that were effected by the storm.
I work at a hospital and several of our employees took donated items to the coast. One story that stuck out was the woman who returned to her home (she was a nurse at one of our sister facilities) to check on her husband and newborn baby. She returned to work in shock saying, “I have nowhere to go everything I have is gone. My husband and baby drowned.” Keep praying. Katrina is gone, but she left a big hole in many hearts that still suffer.
Thanks for posting. I found it fascinating, seeing how witnessing the destruction from an “outsider’s” view affected you.
I live in Slidell and we stayed for the storm.
It was the most powerful thing I’ve ever experienced. What was worse than the storm was walking around the neighborhood after the storm.
It was like a warzone. We were so shocked, we neglected to take pictures. I regret that now, but the pictures will remain in my memory forever.
Slidell is slowly coming back. Here’s a link to a page I created to assuage my “survivor’s guilt”:
http://www.angelfire.com/la3/judyb/katrina.html
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