Five years ago, Hurricane Katrina was bearing down on the Gulf Coast and the City of New Orleans. My homeland was in the crosshairs of a Cat 5 monster that would change the lives of everyone associated with that region forever. My mom and dad lived in Picayune, MS, my hometown, which lay about 30… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Katrina Remembrances
Katrina Remembrances Pt. 9: Heading Back to Alabama & Lessons Learned. September 6, 2005 and Beyond.
This is the final installment in my series on my experiences last year when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. I said there were 10 installments, but I’m combining #9 and #10 into this post. So, this is it! This day would be my last in Mississippi. It was Tuesday morning and I had some… Continue Reading
Katrina Remembrances Pt. 8: Gravity’s Getting Worse and Worse All the Time: 12 Hours on the Roof. September 5, 2005
I arose early on Monday morning, September 5, 2005, to meet my friends Amos and Russell as we attempted to tackle the roof, or keep the roof from tackling us. We all showed up at my Dad’s house with chain saws, gloves, rakes, and some food. Fortunately, my Dad had several sheets of plywood in… Continue Reading
Katrina Remembrances Pt. 7: A Goodbye, an Overwhelming Task, and Faithful Friends. September 4, 2005
This is the 7th in a series of 10 installments chronicling my experiences on the Gulf Coast last year in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, one of the deadliest and most costly natural disasters in U.S. history. I awoke mid-morning on Sunday, September 4, with a renewed sense of energy and purpose. Even though I… Continue Reading
Katrina Remembrances Pt. 6: Picayune, Mamaw, and Sorrow Upon Sorrow. September 3, 2005
I got around 4-5 hours of sleep that night on the floor of a pre-school room at the Christus Victor Lutheran Church. I slept deeply and morning came too early. We all began to stir around 6am and it was time to get moving, yet again. I decided to forego a shower, because I honestly… Continue Reading
Katrina Remembrances Pt. 5: Witness to an Atomic Bomb: The Mississippi Gulf Coast. September 2, 2005
When the alarm went off around 4:30am, I had only slept between 2-3 hours. I was so keyed up after talking with my parents and getting everything together, I couldn’t get to sleep. I’m notorious about this. Every mission trip I’ve ever taken, I’ve always started out tired because I can’t sleep the night before,… Continue Reading
Katrina Remembrances Pt. 4: Final Preparations and Some Good News. September 1, 2005
I awoke on Thursday, September 1, 2005, and took my daughter to school. On the way back, my wife asked me to stop by the neighborhood market to pick up a few things. They’re used to seeing me in the morning after I drop off my daughter, picking up a few things like eggs, milk,… Continue Reading
Katrina Remembrances Pt. 3: The Gulf Coast Convulses in Despair, But Help is On the Way. August 31, 2005
As Wednesday, August 31, 2005 dawned, one thing was becoming clear. The Gulf Coast was disintegrating. New Orleans was in total despair. The levees had broken and thousands upon thousands were stuck on rooftops or were looking for refuge in places like the Superdome or Convention Center. The Mississippi Gulf Coast had been flattened. The… Continue Reading
Katrina Remembrances Pt. 2: Devastation Revealed, We Respond. August 30, 2005
This is the second in a series of articles on the events surrounding Hurricane Katrina, one of the worst natural disasters in the history of the United States. These events are seen through my eyes as I watched in horror as my homeland was destroyed and I made every effort to get to my family… Continue Reading
Katrina Remembrances Pt. 1: Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans? August 29, 2005
This is the first installment in a series of articles that I am writing commemorating the one year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina hitting the Gulf Coast in August-September 2005. The story is told from my perspective and is meant to create a record for my family of all that took place. It is a good… Continue Reading