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The storm
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The aftermath
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On August 29, 2005, our whole lives changed forever. On that day Hurricane Katrina struck the Mississippi Gulf Coast and nothing has been the same since.
August 26th ( the last time life was "normal"), we started boarding up for the hurricane. Now for those of you who don live in hurricane country, what this usually means is a lot of griping as we take in all of our outside furniture and plants - this is when my husband,Bob, usually gets aggravated with me and wonders if the small amount of tomatoes and herbs I get are really worth the 10 planter boxes we have to drag into the garage. We spend the whole weekend putting up plywood on the windows and bringing up the infamous hurricane supply boxes and then run to Walmart only to find out the only thing left on the shelves are crunchy peanut butter and sardines. I then spend the whole night making muffins and cakes and cookies and making sure all the laundry is done. We drag out the flashlights and lanterns and radio, stack all the batteries on the counter and turn the tv to the weather channel so our son, Max, can track the storm and we can place our bets on where the storm is really going to hit. By the way, I have a perfect record for calling where the eye is going to make landfall. We get out all our favorite games, all take showers then fill the tubs with water and stay up all night watching the Weather Channel (you have to make sure Jim Cantore is nearby - he never at the place where the hurricane hits) wait for the storm to hit in Florida - at which point wel have to take down all the plywood, drag everything outside again, clean the garage because of all the junk we threw in there at the last minute, complaining bitterly about how the government overreacts regarding mandatory evacuations (that mostly me) and griping about how come hurricanes have to come when it 90 degrees in the shade with 100 percent humidity - that mostly Bob. We do this a couple of times a year and its always the same. Until Katrina...
Now some of you might wonder why we didn evacuate, especially given that our new home is about 2 blocks off the ocean and we were under a mandatory evacuation order. Well, there a few reasons. There the above scenario, which when done enough times breeds a certain laissez faire attitude. There the fact that we went through Georges ( a category 3) with very little trouble. We were having trouble with our vehicles and the only vehicle that I would have felt safe taking anywhere was my truck - which only seats 2 comfortably - 3 uncomfortably. There the dogs - can take m to most motels and any shelters - won leave them. There my mother in law. She had a subdural hematoma and had to have surgery in January and then had a stroke in March that has left her in very poor shape. Besides being physically very frail, she is mentally very ill. She can not be left alone at all and we have a series of alarms and failsafes in her room to prevent her from hurting herself. I knew if we left either Bob or I would never be able to sleep because we would have had to sit up and watch her continually. We were aware of what to expect and felt that we were more than prepared for not only the storm but for the time afterward. I was prepared to weather 100-110 mile per hour winds and a week without power and felt that under those circumstances we were better off staying here. I never expected Katrina to be as destructive as she was and I was positive everything would be fine. After all, it was going to hit New Orleans (remember my perfect record) and I am 100 miles away from there.
Well, Katrina surpassed anything anyone expected. When it was all over (and its still not over), my husband had two broken feet (fell down the stairs), we both had lost our jobs and because I suffer from RSD which was worsened by the storm and its aftermath, I can no longer work full time.
But, on the bright side - we discovered Ebay and have decided to give it a shot while my husband heals and we wait for FEMA to finally come through.
So, AfterKatrina Enterprises was born. We look at various shops and garage sales for bargains, we have sold some things we have around the house, and I'm hoping to sell enough books to start to replace the 473 books I lost in the storm. My fellow book lovers know what a tragedy that was! :)
Anyway, we, along with all of our fellow Mississipians soldier on. God bless all those who came to our defense, from the Red Cross to the churches to the thousands of individuals who gave from their hearts.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
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