Here's my Katrina Story

Katrina kind of came as a shock to me. I grew up in Chalmette but, at the time, was attending college at LSU in Baton Rouge. I started watching the news and tracking the storm about 3 days before it hit. I was worried because all of my family still lived in the parish and I knew how some of them felt about evacuating. My mother and grandmother had survived Betsey and believed they could survive anything. My grandmother was one of those people that would give the shirt off her back for someone else but always held on to that stubborn streak. After battling illnesses she thought she was invincible. I was worried that if it hit St. Bernard, my mother and grandmother would not leave. On Aug. 28th, when it was made clear that it was heading straight for New Orleans, I was on the phone calling everyone in my family to make sure that they were leaving. My mother told me she wouldn't leave unless my grandmother did. All my siblings were leaving except for my little brother. He was working for the Sheriff's Dept. in New Orleans at the time and they wouldn't let them leave. My grandmother was supposed to be leaving with my uncle (her brother) since her arm had been broken in a car accident. I couldn't get through to my grandmother at the time but I had wanted to make sure she was really leaving. Thinking back, I remember my mother telling me when I asked about her, "She told me they would be right behind us." But that's not how it happend. I had invited several family members to come stay with my boyfriend and I in Baton Rouge, knowing that that was a big factor in them leaving. It wasn't until later that night that I found out my grandmother didn't leave. And no one could get in contact with her. My uncle had changed his mind! He hadn't felt like driving! He left my handicapped grandmother in her apartment by HERSELF and went home. In the back of my head I kept telling myself , "It won't be that bad. It's never that bad."

August 29th was the WORST day of my life. After glancing pieces of news footage on CNN I realized it really WAS that bad. Everything I had know was gone in the blink of an eye! I never thought I would ever experience that hopeless feeling that there was nothing left. I'm sure thousands know what i'm talking about. Besides having the town I grew up in disappear under water, but I had 5 family members missing and there was nothing I could do about it. There was no going in and looking, everything was under water. How could anyone survive that? But I still had hope. I kept texting everyone I could trying to find out anything I could. My little brother, grandmother, 2 uncles and an aunt were missing. Almost a week went by and I still hadn't heard from anyone. Then I get a vague text message from my brother's girlfriend who also worked for the Sheriff's Dept. "HELP US. THEY JUST LEFT US HERE! My heart sank. I couldn't do anything! Through text messages I found out that my brother, his girlfriend and her little girl were trapped with the prisoners in New Orleans. He said the Sheriff told them they would come back for them and the other officers but it had already been 4 days (with no food and water)(Yes, they were those officers on the bridge that were left with only their side arms and beanbag shotguns). The person I worked for had some pull and when I told him, he used his connections to try and find my brother. I don't know exactly what happened but 2 days later I had my brother, his girlfriend and her baby with me.

Almost 2 weeks after Katrina, we got news from my 2 uncles and aunt. They had been trapped in their houses with the water for 3 days before they could get out but eventually they were rescued by residents with boats who had started to go looking for people since everyone ELSE was concerned with New Orleans. But we never heard from my grandmother. After the water receded and people were allowed to go back to what was left, I headed down there with my mother to search my grandmothers apartment. She had lived in a complex with 4 townhouses. Hers was in the middle. We had to use a sledgehammer and punch holes through the walls of 2 of the apartments before we could get into hers. Once we were in there was hardly anywhere to go. All of the furniture downstairs had floated and blocked the bottom of the stairs. She had been kind of a pack rat so stuff was everywhere. We made several trips to the apartment and I got downstairs once. When I made it into the kitchen, I think i had seen some of the worst things I'll ever see. My grandma had several cats. I found most of them, dead, throughout the kitchen and hallway. My heart was racing most of the time. I felt like I was in a horror movie. I kept praying that I wouldn't see her somewhere down there because I didn't think I could live with that image in my head for the rest of my life. I was spared that at least. After salvaging what we could from upstairs, I left with my mother and never went back. On Nov. 30th, my birthday, I was informed that my grandmother's body was identified. It was found while the parish was cleaning out the apartment. All I could think about was that I had been walking on her body when we were there only she had been covered by 3 feet of junk.

Even worse still is that I believe with all my heart that if I had just been able to get in touch with her, I could have gotten her to leave with my other aunt and uncle when they left. I could have talked her into it. Even worse than that is that I never got to tell her "I love you" one last time. So yes, some people may wonder why people are still upset about Katrina, even almost 5 years later, but, if they are not from this area, they'll never understand. Sure, St. Bernard can be rebuilt, but some of the emotional memories we have are like a scar, it's a wound that's healed over time, but it's ugly truth is still there as a reminder.
IN LOVING MEMORY OF GLADYS RANDALL......I LOVE AND MISS YOU!
Thank you for listening:
Shana Kuhn Hall