Should I stay or should I go? Is it going to be as bad as they’re predicting or should I hold out and wait it though? Those are some of many Questions that had to be decided before Katrina hit. My Katrina story is somewhat bittersweet, because even though lots of tragedies did happen, I was able to make it into a memorable experience that I would be able to share with the world.
Deciding to go to Bolton Mississippi two days before Hurricane Katrina hit, was one that I had to contemplate for a while. Talking on the phone to my mom who was in my home state of Washington, she thought it would be best if I were to wait it out and stay in my dorm along with some of the other girls. Was I to listen to mom? Or do as they were telling us and evacuate? Fortunately I, along with my twin sister Amanda, her roommate Ini, and our friends Takea, and Hailey decided to go Bolton with another dorm mate Bridget and stay with her family.
Sitting outside on the stairs of St. Joe at 10:00 pm, waiting for Bridgett’s mom to pick us up we ended up talking to some guys that didn’t have anywhere to evacuate to they were begging us if they could come with us, but due to lack of space in the car adding three more boys just would not work out…Once we left I never saw those guys again. We arrived at Bridgett’s three bedroom house with all six girls. It was hot and muggy outside so we went straight to sleep, fitting three to a bed and putting up with the constant peeking in of her two sixteen year old cousins Pep, and Jared. Our first breakfast at the house was grits, sausage, eggs, and toast it was just enough to start off the day right, after that reality set in and we realized what are we going to be doing over these next couple of days in Bolton? We met all of Bridgett’s aunts, uncles, and grandmother, which all happened to live in the same neighborhood. That night was the night that Katrina hit, it was loud, dark and scary. Being from the North and never experiencing a hurricane before I was in awe. We went outside and could not believe that wind could be this powerful. Once the power went out we decided it was time for bed, not knowing that the next couple of days were going to be the hardest.
No power, no clean running water, no air conditioning, no nothing, except people. That was exactly how I felt stuck in the house. Bridgett’s dad decided to hook up a generator to give us some power to watch TV, but that only surfaced more problems by filling the air with an gassy smell which made people nauseous, and bringing more people to the house. While we were watching TV with all thirteen people we had to get flights home, contact family and contain our sanity. Using a cell phone I was able to purchase a one-way ticket for $500 which departed in a week. The next couple of days breakfast got skimpier, we each had two miniature biscuits and milk. The water wasn’t running correctly so we filled the tubs of Brown water just incase we were to eventually run out of water. That water did eventually come in handy with brushing our teeth and washing ourselves, I kept telling myself I’m alive and ok so that gave me the motivation I needed to go on. As the week went on the food got limited and people got irritated, since the generator went out we entertained ourselves by acting out skits such as R. Kelly’s Trapped in the closet series and Charades. Occasionally we went on long walks outside to observe the damage from Katrina such as trees through houses, branches on cars and debris blocking roadways. As the week went on Hailey and Ini left to go back home. Gas was hard to come by, people were waiting in long lines for hours to get some gas. Everything was closed and I felt like it was the end of the world. We started to drink the brown water in the bathtub and scrounging up what we could find to eat at the house. We decided to stay our last days at Bridgett’s sisters house, which was located in Jackson Mississippi. While we were waiting to go to her sisters, I cracked and broke down sobbing. Mad at myself for not being strong through such a difficult time, I was able to get a hold of my parents and told them about the food shortage, the heat, and water. I felt as if I couldn’t take it anymore, eventually some calming words from my parents settled me down and I realized I only had two more days to go.
When we arrived at her sister’s it was a relief, we had clean running water, AC, and cable it was a blessing. Except for the fact that the hot water wasn’t working and we had to heat the water over the stove to get it warm it was a little like home. The morning we were set to leave was one of the best mornings ever thinking that I will be laying in my own bed in the next eight hours was a good feeling.
Coming back home we were treated like celebrities. Everyone wanted to help us in any way possible. The greatest gift came from The University of Puget Sound, who let us attend class there free of tuition, and gave us two-hundred dollar spending limit for books and free sweatshirts. At the University of Puget Sound I received so much love and gained many new friends that will last me forever. Also while at home, News stations and Newspapers all wanted to interview us on our experience down south during Katrina. Every time that my sister and I were interviewed I would never forget to mention the wonderful family that took six girls in down in Bolton Mississippi.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 29th, 2007 at 8:04 pm and is filed under Week 01: Background. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.