Journaling

My family and I spent many long days in Slidell in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. During that time, when I was unable to have access to the internet and my blog, I renewed my habit of good, old-fashioned journaling. I decided to reprint my entries here.

Aug. 29, 2005 about 6:45pm

I'm sitting here watching our battery-operated TV. I have just experienced the scariest day of my life and the realization is dawning on me now that the next few weeks are going to be worse. To what do I owe this? Hurricane Katrina. The worst-feared threat to New Orleans has occurred. We have experienced our Camille.

The kids, Jim, my brother, who was visiting from Rhode Island, and I joined mom and B at their model home in the subdivision Tuscany in Slidell. Of course, they had no option but to evacuate since they live on Lake Pontchartrain. We chose to leave our house since we live close to the Pearl River. As to how our homes have fared, we have no idea at this point.

The devastation in the area is very evident. The scenes coming out of Jefferson, Orleans, etc Parishes are frightening. A lot of flooding. People going into the attic to escape the rising waters. I keep hoping to see some news from St. Tammany Parish. We are most anxious about the storm surge. Is mom's house still there? Please, Lord, let her house still be there. Hopefully, tomorrow we can get out of this subdivision. From what I understand, there are some big oaks and pines down with tangled power lines blocking Robert Rd.

Here, there is not one house untouched by a fallen tree. While sitting in the hallway during the storm, a tree limb came through the ceiling above the fireplace. But, I think that we had the smallest amount of damage in the subdivision. We were lucky.

More tomorrow