At first I wasn’t scared of Katrina, because it was small, not as large as when it hit. But little did I know my life was about to change. When I was only about 6 Katrina hit, and it hit Florida at a category 1 and it still flooded, and that’s when we stocked up on drinks and canned food . We went to my aunt Georgia’s house on Sunday the 28th and we had my two dogs coffee and snow, my cat kiki and my mom, my dad, and me. We had to stop about 4 times to stop the dogs and cat from fighting. We finally got to Hebert a town north of Monroe about 11 hours later, it was about 10 P.M., and we all went to sleep once we got there.
When we woke up it the morning we saw the lake and the pier. Later that day we got to fish. I caught a medium sized fish, it was yellow with white stripes. On Monday the 29th Katrina hit New Orleans, but we didn’t get any rain just a lot of wind. The net we had my fish in had gotten a hole in it from the wind and waves and my fish got away. But then the storm had gone away and my mom and step-dad went home to see the damage and I stayed with my aunt Georgia at the camp.
My mom and step-dad came back later that day. That’s when we all went to my aunt Barbra’s house and stayed there for a little while. I had to go to a school there and I knew all the answers, because I was in the 2nd grade an they were asking us questions that people in pre-k would know. I wanted to go home right then, because I like challenges. Next was when I learned that my life had changed and that I was lucky.                                                                            Then we all went    home and I saw our garage which had a big tree on top of it, but that was the only damage. I thought I was really lucky, because I saw on television all the things that other people lost. I am glad my only thing that got messed up was my garage. Also I wish I could help all the people who were devastated by hurricane Katrina.
What had happened to me was I went to my aunt Georgia’s house first. Next I got to go her camp. Then I had to go to my aunt Barbra’s house. I got home and saw how lucky I was. Now I’m happy to be home and where I belong.

Two days before the storm came my family was trying to get everybody that was coming with us together. That day the storm was coming strong and steadily gaining strength. My family gathered up everything so we could get ready to go for a not in Hurricane Katrina path. My dad had to leave all his crab traps in the water. We left my camper in Mississippi, because we could not go and get it. My mom left everything in the house because they didn’t think it was going to be that bad.

My dad came get me from my aunts so we could leave, we all left her house and went to Texas. We  all went there for one night. The next morning my family decided to go to another place call Kender,Louisiana My dads friend called him and my family telling them that he had a place they could stay for a cheaper price that what we were paying in Texas. My family and I rode the long ride to Kender where we met up with more family and friends. When we checked in to the hotel that my dads friend was holding for us it wind up being a customer of my dad who owned it. They decide to let us stay for a cheap price for two weeks.

I didnt go to school in Kender, but my sister did because it was her last year of high school. My dad was broke from being able to work so we had to buy a little cheap camper to stay in when we got home. We had lots of fun while we spent out time up thier in Kender. My uncle got into a wreck up in Kender while going to the grocery store trying to stock up on food before we left to come home. The rooms we were staying in for the two weeks were already booked for the third week so we couldn’t stay their any longer.

My dads good friend named Frog called him. My dad told us that a tornado had went by my house did some damage. The tornado did not hit our house directly but it did knock our car port down on to sisters car. afetr the two weeks in Kender we came back to Westwego to start the pick up process in our neighborhood. School was postponed until October 3, 2005. For the next few months following Katrina , Southern Louisiana looked like a war zone. Military was verywhere, nothing was open to do anything, stores didn’t open til months later. Electricity was a source that everyone wanted but had to wait for. My family and I didn’t electricity for about two weeks.

         Before Hurricane Katrina, I was living with my

grandparent, parent, brothers, and uncles. School was great.

I have lots of friends. I made good grades. In less than two

weeks, we had to leave for Hurricane Katrina.

           My aunt borrowed my parent`s truck to go back to

Monroe. We went with her. When we arrived in Monroe, I ask

my aunt when my parents coming?  She didn`t know. The

next morning we ask if we could play at the playground? She

said yes. So we play on the monkey bars and the swings.

After 10-15 minutes it got cloudy so we went home. Right

after dinner my parents showed up.  We had to leave

because in New Orleans was flooded. Now my mom said we

are going to Alabama.

          When we arrived in Alabama, we went to my other aunt

house. About a day after, Red Cross helped us with money

and clothes. We were so thankful but after two weeks, we left

Alabama. I ask where are we going next? My mom said to

your daddy`s mom house.

            We made it to my grandma`s house. My mom signed

me up for school in Georgia. I went to Carrolton Elementary.

In October, I had my 7^th birthday. I met new friends.                                           

           We left Georgia at the end of October. I was sad. I went

back to Louisiana. We stayed at my grandparents for a while.

We purchase a home. A year later, we moved into my new

neighborhood. It`s called Brentwood.I learn that hurricanes

can do some major damage to house. I also learn to pack up

things that I need.    

     Just days before the storm I remember my family watching the news, making plans, and starting to pack. We raised furniture off the ground and placed things up high in case our house flooded. We all held hands in a circle and prayed before we got on the road to evacuate. There was my family of four and twelve other family members. Sixteen people squeezed into six packed down vehicles and headed off to Florida.

     We drove fourteen hours before we arrived at the house my Paran rented for two days. I remember everyone watching the news all night, then all the kids went to sleep. The next morning I came downstairs and I could hardly believe what I saw on the news. The levees broke and New Orleans was under water. It was very sad to see the people who were stuck there waiting to be rescued, and to hear about the lives lost.

     Knowing we couldn’t go home, my Paran found some construction work for all the men. We moved to a three bedroom trailer, and now lived with twenty three family members. We lived this way for a few weeks, until the men finished the job. After the job was finished, the sixteen of us went back to Orlando, Florida. We stayed at a resort where my uncle had a timeshare.

     I did get to go to Universal Studios a few times, and once to Disney World. We came home October 6, 2005 to a little damage to our house. We had roof damage, water damage, and my sister’s bedroom ceiling fell in. It took almost a year to fix our house. Hurricane Katrina was, and still is for many, a very life changing, scary, and sad time in our lives.

     Before the hurricane hit, my mom and I were living at the family housing at the University of New Orleans (U.N.O.). We packed a lot of things like clothes, pictures, important documents, some toys, a lap top, and I tried to pack everything I owned. I even tried to pack my bike. I had to take out a lot of my stuff because my suitcase wasn’t big enough to hold it all. Then we left our apartment.

     The first place I went was my grandma and grandpa’s house where my mom and I got in the car with them. My aunt, uncle, and cousin met us along the way. After that we all headed to Texas where we stayed at a hotel for a few days.Then, my aunt, uncle, and cousin left and went some where else, and my mom, grandma, grandpa, and I went to my other aunt and uncle’s house in Illinois. Three of my cousins live there. I had fun.

     When we returned, there was trash everywhere. Some buildings had started to fall apart too. When we returned, for a while we stayed at my grandma and grandpa’s house. I had to go to a new school. I went to Catherine Strehle Elementary.

     Even though some peoples’ houses were destroyed, most of the people stayed safe. Many people lost their homes because of Katrina. The amount of houses that were destroyed during Hurricane Katrina was 275,000 in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Katrina, I think is by far the worst hurricane that has happened. I hope we don’t have any more hurricanes as bad as Katrina.

            Well I know we’ve all heard about Hurricane Katrina.It was a difficult time for families.It killed a lot of people.Some people had to relocate.A lot of people were seperated from they’re families.

            When I first heard about Hurricane Katrina I was kind of scared.My family members kept calling.They all were packing and screaming.So I started to panic too.I thought it was going to flood the whole city.

            Everyone drove to the airport.Some of my relatives went to California.Like most people left my mom,dad,brother,and I stayed at home.So I started to wonder and then I asked my mom,”Why are we the only ones staying.”She said,”Because it’s not going to be a bad storm.”

            All we did was block the windows with wood.When the storm first started to hit the wind was blowing very hard.It sounded like a train’s whistle.Then it started lightning a lot.The rain came down very hard flooding the streets.

            We all started to stare in horror.It looked scary and all you could see was darkness.After the storm the lights were still off.Then days later it started to get very hot.My mom and I couldn’t stand the heat so we all left.We went to New Iberia.

             We stayed there two weeks.Then when we finally came home the house had no kind of damage to it.When we went inside the lights were still off.So my dad bought a generator.So I guess we were a lucky family.

On August 25, 2005, my family and I evacuated to Kender, Louisiana. We evacuated because Hurricane Katrina was approaching the New Orleans area.
On our way to Kender, I counted the number of vehicles we had in our group. The total amount of vehicles we had in our group was 12.
When we arrived at the hotel I estimated the amount of people and room we stayed in. We had about 50 people and about 15 rooms.
Two days before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans was August 27, which is my sister Brooke‘s birthday.
After we were able to return home, a couple of months later, we wondered if our house was flooded. Once we arrived at home we noticed that our house was not flooded. We walked inside and saw that we had a couple water spots on our ceiling and minor damage to hour house. Later on in that day we were so happy because our house was not badly damaged.
I hope I never have to live through another hurricane that is as bad as Hurricane Katrina was.

The next morning we packed our suitcases and watched the news for a while. At first, we had no clue where we were going to evacuate. We ended up calling my aunt and decided to stay at her house in Texas until further notice. Since the drive would be five hours, my family started to pack up the cars with clothes and food. We were getting ready to go, but then all of a sudden my dad, uncle, and grandpa decided they weren’t going anymore which made me worried. Finally, my mom talked them into going.

We started on the long trip, but we weren’t comfortable in the car because there were bags in the back and all over the ground. We were squished. We tried to go to sleep, but we couldn’t so we ended up playing our game boys for one hour. Then, we decided to watch Finding Nemo with the portable DVD player. Later, we ended up falling asleep and woke up when we got to Texas where it was cloudy and not raining. When we got inside, we watched the news which informed us that the hurricane will probably hit in two or three days.

Later in the day, my aunts and uncles arrived at my aunt’s house and we all gathered in her living room and came up with a plan. The next day, we went shopping and after that we ate and gathered again in my aunt’s living room where we hoped that our house would be okay. The next morning, we watched the news again and found out that the hurricane was moving closer and closer to Louisiana. We were worried. We stayed home and watched the news all day it started raining and thundering really loud. Staying inside, watching the news, and eating was all we could do. The next morning, we turned on the news again and the hurricane was going to hit Louisiana very soon. We were watching the news the whole day and around 12:00 a.m. the hurricane hit. We were too worried and ended up sleeping.

A few days after the hurricane hit, we tried to go home but no one was allowed in certain parts of New Orleans because of the damage. We ended up going to Alabama. A few days later, we were able to return home and when we got to our neighborhood there were trees everywhere. Once we reached our home, we saw that the roof of our home was messed up, the gates were broken, and the shed in the back was damaged. We ended up having to clean up everything which took us about three days. About a month later, everything was back to normal. I was happy to be back at home and to know that the adventure was finally over.