August 2005

Sixteen years ago, Hurricane Katrina made landfall, and we all know the devastation it wrought on the city of New Orleans, my hometown.

Two and a half weeks prior to Katrina making landfall, I moved from Houston, Texas to Calgary, Alberta Canada for a new job, and was all of a sudden many thousands of miles away. Sitting in my office on Monday, the 29^th of August, I kept tabs on the progression of the storm and tried not to worry about my family, who were still in Louisiana.

I felt helpless.

My parents lived north of New Orleans by about an hour and a half, while my sister lived west of New Orleans proper. She sheltered at Mom and Dad’s, so at least they were all together. In addition to my sister, Mom and Dad also provided shelter to a former neighbor’s adult daughter.

We don’t worry so much about flooding where my parents’ house is, but the property is six acres of beautiful land with big trees. Wind damage was (and is) the primary concern.

As events in the city unfolded once the storm passed, I could not reach my parents by phone or email. I tried not to let worry get the better of me and felt a huge sense of relief when the adult daughter’s parents called and let me know that my parents had no phone service, but they were ok. (I am not sure how she got through to her parents…perhaps she had cell service.)

Three days later, I finally got a call from Dad as he and his neighbor Jim made it to Baton Rouge to get gasoline to run chain saws. It took them nearly three days to clear the road to the main highway. No one had power unless they had a generator.

Mom and Dad lost 70% of their roof and had some water damage due to rain falling through the roof and ceiling. They lost a lot of massive hardwood trees. One tree grazed the corner of their house, but aside from that, every single other felled tree missed the house, barn and shop.

Compared to those in New Orleans proper? Mom and Dad were virtually unscathed. They came out of the storm with their lives.

August 2020

Hurricane Laura barreled through Lake Charles on August 27th. I’ve driven past Lake Charles countless times on my way between my parents’ and Houston. When she made landfall, she was a Category 4 hurricane.

The weekend after Laura hit, my friend and I went to Lake Charles to volunteer with Rescue Houston (who were helping the Cajun Navy) and help with clean-up. As we approached Orange, Texas, we started to see the impact of the storm. As we drew closer, the impact became more and more obvious. Trees were stripped bare of leaves. Many trees were snapped in half.

Instead of the lush green of late summer, it looked like the middle of winter unless you looked too closely, then it looked more like a war zone. Downtown Lake Charles did look like a war zone, with glass everywhere, and the remnants of a large antenna crumpled across a city block. The main high-rise building, primarily made of glass, looked as if a bomb had gone off at its base, as all the lower windows looked to be blown out.

We arrived at the meeting point at about 10 am, and it was already hot and humid. It took nearly two hours to get groups and gear organized, but then we were sent out with a list of addresses, food, and beverages (for us and residents), and one task: help clear debris, tarp roofs and aid people as best we could.

I don’t remember how many houses we stopped off at that day, but only a couple had anyone there when we arrived. No matter where we went, there was the stench of death. I didn’t look too hard for the source. . .I had no desire to make that kind of discovery.

Thunderstorms were moving in, so everyone was called back to base at about 5 pm. We headed back to Houston.

One year on, Lake Charles is still a mess.

August 2021

On the anniversary of Katrina, Louisiana is facing another monster of a storm: Hurricane Ida. My sister and her friend Wayne are sheltering with Dad at the same house he was in during Katrina. I am in Houston. Again, I’m watching from afar.

I didn’t live through the storm of Katrina, but I certainly was hit with massive amounts of anxiety. I don’t often have anxiety attacks, but one hit last night. I tried breathing exercises. I tried spinning poi (old hobby of mine). I tried playing video games. It took ages for me to try and center. I’m not sure I ever really did, as I barely managed to sleep last night.

The first thing I did this morning (after maybe 3 hours of sleep), was check the Storm Radar app to see where Ida was, and then going to the National Hurricane Center (https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/) to see how big of a beast Ida became overnight. No surprise: it was a cat 4.

Queue up the anxiety express once again. Perhaps I should have avoided coffee, though it’s allowed me to put words to paper, and work through some of the anxiousness.

Throughout the day, I’ve watched the seemingly slow progress of Ida. At 9 PM tonight, the NHC was reporting maximum sustained winds of 110, which is still significant.

Power is out to all of Orleans Parish due to catastrophic damage to transfer systems for Entergy. It may well take weeks to get power restored to the city.

News stations are primarily focused on New Orleans, and maybe Baton Rouge, but it is Houma and Thibodaux (and nearby towns)that very likely took the hardest hit of the storm.

Power was out at Dad’s by late this afternoon. Fortunately, he has a generator that is connected to his home, and a very large propane tank. I have no idea how long the generator can run, because his home may well be without proper power for days, if not weeks.

Looking at the radar, the worst is yet to come for my family. I don’t think I’ll sleep much tonight. My anxiety is pegged, and I’m already working from a sleep deficit thanks to only 3 hours of sleep last night.

I very much dislike uncertainty. Tonight is filled with uncertainty.