Photographer remembers Hurricane Katrina and making new dwelling in Ohio

Two days earlier than Hurricane Katrina crashed into New Orleans, I used to be overlaying the “Wheel of Fortune” taping on the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. Mingling backstage, I met Pat Sajak and Vanna White. I used to be giddy. I known as my mom to share my information. “Mama, you won’t believe who I just met!”

I didn’t know a lot about what was occurring within the metropolis on the time. It was a typical Saturday shift working as a workers photographer for The Times-Picayune. Never may I’ve imagined that a couple of days later I might be homeless.

After I wrapped up my task, my editor requested me to seize footage of residents getting ready for the storm: individuals boarding up home windows, packing right into a grocery retailer – normal pictures for pre-storm protection. I ready, too, grabbing Pop-Tarts and different snacks, pondering it will all be over in a day or two.

I picked up my 5-year-old daughter, Angel, from the babysitter and drove dwelling to our two-bedroom, first-floor residence on New Orleans’ east aspect. My cousin, Debra, an elementary faculty instructor, known as to say faculty was canceled for Monday. She provided to take Angel together with her to Atlanta, figuring out I’d be working. I packed a small bag for Angel: a few clothes adjustments, a few of her favourite toys. It was nonetheless darkish once they left. I went again to mattress.

The exhausting choice to depart my dwelling

Ray Nagin, then mayor of New Orleans, issued a compulsory evacuation that Sunday, Aug. 28. I had lived on the Gulf Coast in Mississippi and Louisiana for seven years and had by no means evacuated. I wished to be part of the workforce that coated hurricane season. But a former photograph editor instructed me years prior the Gulf Coast was due for a “big one,” and that saved taking part in in my head. After speaking with my boss, I selected to evacuate. I packed garments, my photograph gear and courtroom papers that acknowledged I had custody of Angel. I took photographs off my partitions, positioned my photograph albums on a excessive shelf within the hallway closet, and left. 

The climate was stunning as I traveled east on Interstate 10, not a drop of rain, simply large, stunning clouds. Still, it took me eight hours as a substitute of 4 to achieve southern Alabama, the place my great-aunt lived. As the rain began to fall, I headed to Atlanta.

For every week we waited out the storm in Atlanta, watching TV information nonstop but additionally having fun with household time. I attempted to achieve pals in New Orleans. We may solely ship textual content messages to sure space codes. Phone calls wouldn’t undergo. When I lastly related with an editor, he stated the water was too excessive on Michoud Boulevard to get close to my residence. We assumed the constructing was underwater. I made a decision to drive north to my hometown of Louisville to enroll Angel in class.

First revisit to New Orleans: ‘Pain, heartbreak and disbelief’

About six weeks after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, my cousin, Charles and I made the lengthy drive again from Louisville. Seeing the devastation for the primary time is tough to explain: a way of ache, heartbreak and disbelief.

Homes and buildings have been destroyed, particles strewn in all places. The odor inside my residence was terrible. Mold coated the partitions, my furnishings, our garments. Everything was both soaked with soiled water or coated in mould, apart from the photograph albums I had positioned on the highest shelf of the closet.

Eventually I moved into my cousin’s undamaged dwelling within the metropolis, alone. I used to be the one one on the block. It was lonely, it was miserable, and I had no place of my very own. After three months, I made a decision to search for a job elsewhere. I didn’t need to go, however I couldn’t discover inexpensive housing in New Orleans.

Survivor’s guilt and a brand new life

I arrived in Cincinnati every week earlier than Christmas. It was chilly. I didn’t have a coat, winter garments or different necessities to get via the season. Hurricane Katrina was nonetheless within the headlines, and folks saved asking me about my expertise.

I didn’t need to discuss it. I couldn’t with out crying. Survivors’ guilt weighed on me. I questioned whether or not I ought to have left New Orleans.

I felt like I had it simple. I didn’t lose household. And though I used to be homeless for a number of months, I used to be secure. I used to be capable of begin over as soon as I obtained my present job at The Enquirer.

The first anniversary of the storm was particularly exhausting. I got here into work however left after a few half an hour. I used to be grieving, not only for the 1,833 deaths Hurricane Katrina induced, but additionally for the life I as soon as knew and the relationships I’d left behind.

Thankfully, my guilt dissipated. I adjusted to my new life. My daughter thrived in class. We had a brand new dwelling. We made new pals with individuals from faculty, church and work. Most importantly, we have been near household in Kentucky, which introduced a way of consolation.

I’ve made a number of journeys to New Orleans through the years, and I’m grateful for every. I may always remember Hurricane Katrina. But NOLA the way in which I knew it earlier than is all the time in my coronary heart. I’ll eternally be related to town, the individuals, the tradition.