August 31, 2005

• Disaster In The Gulf

  
  

  So I’m listening to the radio this morning and a man by the name of John from Florida is on there telling his story of how Hurricane Katrina has affected him personally.  He goes on to say that his parents, brother & sister and their families all live in Gulfport, MS.  His parents, his brother and sister-n-law and their two boys live in an apartment complex and his sister and her sons live in a home nearby.

  
  

  He called his parents on Monday when Katrina was a category 3 to find out if they were leaving the city.  They told him that they couldn’t because “the roads were shut down” where they were.  Early hours of Tuesday morning John learned that Katrina had been upgraded to a category 5 so he again called his parents.  They told him that the weather was getting pretty severe and that they were moving to the apartment above because they had water flooding their apartment.

  
  

  This was the last time that John spoke to his dad.

  
  

  Being concerned for his family, John loaded up his truck and headed out to Gulfport to find his family members.  On the drive out there he received a call stating that a man and woman had been found, the man was unclothed, and the woman’s ID said that she was his mother.  When he arrived he found his sister and her sons at her boyfriend’s sister’s house a city away.  They were safe…however he had no idea as to what had happened to the rest of his family.

  
  

  He continued his search but was unable to access the road to his parent’s apartment complex.  He said that the debris was so bad that the only thing he could compare the damage to was when the U.S. bombed Hiroshima.

  
  

  Unable to reach his parent’s home, he began searching shelters and medical facilities.  He was told of a 5 year old boy that was found in that area floating on a piece of debris.  The young boy told rescuers that he was with him mommy, daddy, brother and his grandparents… they “swam to Georgia”.  He went on to state that they had all “drowned”.

  
  

  John found the little boy and it was indeed one of his nephews.  He later was told of a woman and small boy who was claiming to be the boy’s mother.  She made her way to the facility where they were and it was indeed his sister-n-law.  She and her youngest son were swept away in the flood waters after placing her other son on the piece of door debris.  She was able to latch onto a door and barricade herself and her son in a location that put them out of harm’s way.  They waited there until late Tuesday afternoon and then made their way through the flood waters to a dry road where she began walking.  Unfortunately she had to take off all of her clothes while in the flood waters because the debris was pulling on the clothes and kept choking her.  She placed her son inside a torn suitcase that she found to keep him as dry as possible while waiting out the storm.

  
  

  While walking down the road, she was picked up and taken to a shelter where she learned of her son.

  
  

  John is not giving up hope on his parents or brother as of yet.  Even though his parent’s bodies may have already been found, he is determined to find his brother as well (dead or alive) and bring them home with him.

  
  

  He’s already taken his sister-n-law and nephews back to Florida and out of the devastation that once was their home.  He’s had to contact friends and co-workers back in Florida to help him get clothing for them all considering they now have nothing.

  
  

  John is going back to Mississippi on Friday to find the rest of his family.

  
  

  There have been so many stories similar to this one that’s come out of this disaster.  It’s so…so sad.

  
  

  John stated that he only told his story on the radio so that people would not make the same choice that his family did.  He said, “if you’re told to get out…then by God GET OUT!! Don’t worry about your house, your dog, or your belongings.  These things are material and can be replaced.  I’ve lost so much…I can’t replace what I’ve lost…it’s invaluable.”

  • 4:17 pm
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