Katrina: True Tales of Life After the Storm

Well, since Hurricane Katrina, my life has changed dramatically. I used to work for Mercedes and was able to provide for my family. Now I'm relocated in Michigan and can't find a job. Michigan has embraced us with open arms and the money they raised for us is almost gone. Being up here stopped some of the stress, but we are still a long way from home. We still need help and don't know which way to turn. We pray every night for an answer.
Percy Hudson
Wixom, Mich.

My name is Mary Green. Me and my family are now relocated in Canal Winchester, Ohio. It is hard for us to get adjusted to our new location for now until our home in New Orleans is built back up. We lost everything but came up to Ohio and got a lot of help. I can't wait to go back home and live normal life again. I miss being home. Hopefully people in our community will be back to make it home again. Our lives have been so messed up with mixed emotions on life at this time that we cannot wait until New Orleans is built back up and known as the city everyone wants to live and be. Just the thought of the days of the hurricane will not stop me and my family from staying away. It just was rough with having only two cars to drive from New Orleans with no gas in either one of them, on empty, but the Lord blessed us where we made it from there to Baton Rouge with no gas and with 10 people and a dog in a Blazer, and 7 people in a Grand Am. It was a horrible experience to have to leave everything and not even be able to have clothes to put on our bodies, but we made it through it all by the grace of God.
Mary Green
Canal Winchester, Ohio

On Sept. 19, 2005, I provided The Family Center for Missing Persons my DNA in Baton Rouge, La., on my way to my mother's house. I had not heard from her since the storm. I picked up my son, who accompanied me to Eastern New Orleans. We arrived at [my mother's] house at about noon, and discovered that the search and rescue team had already searched the house because of the markings on the house that indicated no one was inside. However, my 79-year-old mother's car was in the driveway. I noticed that there was no visible hold in the roof for entry into the attic. Plus, the iron bars on the doors and windows were locked. No one could have possibly searched the house. My son, who is a New Orleans firefighter, agreed that no one could have entered the house for a search. I unlocked the iron bars on the front door. However the night's lock chain was on the door, and I could not enter the house.

Therefore I went to a broken window and saw my mother on the floor; it was apparent that she was deceased. I told my son to call his Fire Chief at Headquarters Company and the N.O. Fire Chaplain. They arrived, and we said a prayer. On our way back to my son's house in Algiers, La., he informed me that his picture is in TIME Magazine's Sept. 19 edition. He is sitting on a tree on St. Charles Ave. in New Orleans. All of these events happened on Sept. 19, 2005. As of today, Nov. 27, my family and I are awaiting the release of my mother's remains from St. Gabriel's temporary morgue. My mother's name is Irene D. Baulden; my son's name is Percy M. Baulden, III.
Percy M. Baulden, Jr.
New Orleans, La.

Too bad that the media has chosen to ignore the plight of the cities who bore the brunt of Hurricane Katrina, and focus our nation's attention only on New Orleans. At Katrina's true "ground zero" are three small cities that have been nearly wiped off the map by this storm—Waveland, Bay St. Louis, and Pass Christian, Miss. How unfortunate that although the overall devastation here far exceeds that of New Orleans, media coverage of these small towns with low crime rates and peaceful communities is not considered newsworthy—or "sensational" enough—for the media to discuss.
Pam
Bay St. Louis, Miss.

My family and I have relocated to Ellicott City, Md., from Lakeview. Today marks 14 weeks which have passed since we evacuated, Aug. 28th. We have heard many terrible accounts of various tales of destruction, but even though we lost everything, my wife, daughter, two cats, and I are alive and well. The "New Orleans Blues" article shows our neighborhood and details the story that we have been through. However, it does not do justice to the emptyness that our neighborhood, Lakeview, is going through.

For those not familar with the neighborhood, picture a place where families, churchs, schools, businesses, all coexist with each other in an area where it takes only 10 minutes to get "anywhere." We hear of people determined to return to the area, but zip code 70124 is still wiped out. When the rebuilding can take place is anybody's guess. My house has been gutted and sits empty down to the beams. Many of our treasured belongings sit on the street being observed by the occasional passerby.

Many of our neighbors are elderly and are challenged by the thoughts of rebuilding. Others have settled in areas nearby, and have their children in school. They are acheiving the normalcy we all seek, but while we live in a great Maryland community, safe and secure, we also seek what we had all along, "our own place."

Our story is not about wading through flood waters, or sitting for days on rooftops, it is about our own survival, in a wonderful place, toghether, searching for the thing which many seek; a home.
Robert Strauss
New Orleans / Ellicott City, Md.

I am a third-year Tulane University student who has been displaced to UC Berkeley this semester. Although Tulane's campus remained relatively unscathed, my home, just two blocks away, is being gutted down to its bare framework. The few articles of clothing that I grabbed from my house while I was evacuating are all that could be saved. Only three months after the storm, I talk to many people in the Bay Area about my experience. It has taken me a long time to talk about this event without sobbing by the middle of my story. However, I find that many people continue to roll their eyes at the sound of the word "New Orleans." They're tired of hearing about it. These types of reactions often come from people who have never been to Louisiana. I am counting down the days until I can return to the only place on earth where I truly feel comfortable. I hope everyone who is tired of hearing about Katrina goes to visit New Orleans some time in their lives ... maybe then they will see exactly why my heart is so broken.
Audrey Meyn
Berkeley, Calif.