When hurricane Katrina hit, I was at Keesler. Dh emailed me, then called from Cuba the Friday before. I was sick as a dog and remember telling Rick, "this damn storm is going to have to go around me. I can't get up off the couch." My kids came home from a normal day at school that day only to find out that things weren't going to be normal for long.
The next morning, while the boys were cleaning the back yard, me and Grace joined the throngs of people lined up at the Wal-Mart. Everybody in line had an opinion or a theory on how things were going to play out. The general consensus was, that it was going to be bad, but not as bad as Camille. That turned out to be a fatal mistake. Biloxi's mayor A.J. Halloway was quoted as saying that Camille killed more people on Aug 29, 05 than she did the day she hit 30 years ago.
That Saturday was a flurry of packing and phone calls. By that evening, we had the van loaded and were taking stuff over to the shelter. As we were taking stuff up, the security guard at the desk was telling us that there were no plans to shelter as of yet. I told him that was fine. If we had to take our stuff back home, we'd do just that, but we were going to be ready.
The next morning, we found out that Katrina was a Five. I had people calling me all worried, wanting me to just take the kids and bail. Looking back now, that's exactly what I should have done, but between dh and his command, I was pretty convinced Keesler would be a safe place to be. The pastor of our church came and boarded up our windows and we did all those last minute preps. By dinner time that night we were in the shelter watching the Disney channel and the weather channel.
The next morning woke us up with a bang. We could hear the wind and rain at that point. It reminded me of Ivan, so I wasn't too scared. We still had power, so I spent most of the morning emailing folks, updating Benji's page and reading what was going on Crossroads. I remember how worried my friends and family were. I'll never forget that.
The power went out later that morning and the rest of the day was spent hunkering down as Katrina passed through the area. It was hot, dark, and smelly. The De-humidifier wasn't working, so the floors were actually sweating. Col. Murphy's wife, Betsy was with us and was reading Laura Ingalls Wilder's Farmer Boy. Let me just tell you all, this is not a good book to read when all you have to eat is cold soup and Pringles!!
That night, we were able listen to the radio and what we heard was horrifying!! Talk of people drowning in their attics, whole towns being leveled, thousands of homes destroyed. The next day or two was a bit of a blur. Hours spent listening to the radio, deciphering fact from fiction. Walks around the hospital to gather news from anyone we could. "have you heard anything new?" became the standard greeting that week. Either Tuesday or Wednesday, I was able to contact my in-laws, and my dear friend Tracy, who kept you all up to date!!
Tuesday night was the night that Benji had his meltdown. We had just eaten grilled chicken rescued from the commissary, and I force fed my kids a gallon of milk, not knowing when we'd see something precious like milk again. I took him to a far away hallway and just let him cry. He asked if things were going to be normal ever again, and what if we lost our home? All I could tell him was that we would have to find a new normal and that it would be alright.
Wednesday, I was able to sneak on a DSN line and contact Rick. I had no news on the house yet, so he was kind of on standby. However, his commander, who was from Pensacola, said that all the Gulf coast troops were going home. So, when I called back Thursday, one of the Cols. that he worked for told me he was coming home, I burst into tears.
At one point, the kids and I were standing in the hallway with our super deluxe lantern, when an airman came up and said that he needed our lantern. General Looney was coming through and he needed to see where he was going. I said fine, as long as my hand was attached to it, you could borrow it!! So, the kids and I got to meet General Looney, who was accompanied by General Lord. They were both awesome and apologetic for what we were going through. I cried on Gen. Looney's shoulder a bit, and he was so sweet about it.
Later that day, they let folks out of the shelter in groups to check on our homes. When I saw my home, I fell to my knees and just started screaming, "Thank you, Jesus!! Thank you, God!! I had thought that surely our home would either be destroyed or at least uninhabitable. But aside from our privacy fence being down, we had no damage. We had someone's roof in our backyard, and that was weird, but hey, what can you do? After going back to the shelter, we could see first hand how bad so many people had it. And what people were made of. Betsy lost everything. Her dh was in Iraq and she had to deal with her home being demolished. Yet, she was the most positive person I met in the shelter and my kids and I will never forget her. Sadly, her dh returned from Iraq, only to drown while swimming in New Jersey, barely a week later.
That night we all waited three hours in line for a makeshift meal that the chow hall provided. We had cold hotdogs, warm strawberries, and all the orange juice we could drink. It was a gourmet meal, I tell ya!!!
The next day we went home. That night was a really strange night. No lights anywhere, but you could hear planes and copters flying overhead continuously. It was so loud and so strange. We had the windows open to let in some air, but ended up closing them because it felt like we were in a strange and dangerous place.
The power came back on Friday. The first thing I did was put one of the homestyle bake things in the oven. It was Chicken and biscuits, and to this day, we call it Katrina casserole!! Again, a gourmet feast!
That Sunday my husband came home from Cuba. He was able to rent a car in Mobile and get some groceries. I was so happy to see him, but I was appalled later to realize I pushed him out of the way to get to the groceries. I can't tell you what he was wearing that day, but i can tell you he brought home milk, produce, meat, all kinds of good stuff. I was able to make spaghetti and meat sauce that night with salad and it was heaven. Again, our whole family drank nearly a gallon of milk in one sitting. God bless Rick for bringing us milk!!!
Because of Benji's cancer, it was pretty much decided on the spot that we'd be leaving. I'm a military spouse, who's had to say goodbye to many places, but leaving Ocean Springs was the most heart breaking thing our family has had to do. We love the coast, but after what happened, we don't see ever living there again.
You all know the rest of the story, I'm sitting here in Texas, fat and happy so to speak, while my kids are enjoying all the comforts of home.
I ask you all as you enjoy similar comforts to please not take things for granted in your lives. Stupid things, like the Wal-Mart stocking meat, dairy and produce to feed your children, to not so stupid things, like the feeling of safety you have as you tuck your children in at night. I'm sitting here, marveling at having air conditioning, power, clean water and plenty of food. And I'm safe, and my kids and husband are safe!! Gosh, what a MIRACLE that is!!!!
). Well, it was about 2pm when we left, and when we got to Slidell, we found out that MS border was closed because of MS evacuating, so we headed back home, really freaking out because it was now 4pm and the tropical storm force winds were coming in already. So we decided to head west, still not knowing where to go.
to everyone that has been affected by this disaster, and wishing everyone lots of 
for whatever your future holds. May this be a kinder year for all of us!
I packed the girls out and we were home by the next day. Luckily our house was left basically untouched. We had some roof damage and our privacy fence was torn to shreds. Some trees in our yard fell over, luckily not onto anyone's house. We were lucky. 
