HTML clipboard RGENT – WEATHER MESSAGE*NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA*AUG 28 2005 …DEVASTATING DAMAGE EXPECTED… HURRICANE KATRINA…A MOST POWERFUL HURRICANE WITH UNPRECEDENTED STRENGTH…RIVALING THE INTENSITY OF HURRICANE CAMILLE OF 1969* MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS…PERHAPS LONGER.

AT LEAST HALF OF WELL-CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL FAILURE* ALL WOOD FRAMED LOW RISING APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL BE DESTROYED. ALL WINDOWS WILL BE BLOWN OUT. THE MAJORITY OF INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS WILL BECOME NONFUNCTIONAL. PARTIAL TO COMPLETE WALL AND ROOF FAILURE IS EXPECTED* AIRBORNE DEBRIS WILL BE WIDESPREAD AND MAY INCLUDE HEAVY ITEMS SUCH AS HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND EVEN LIGHT VEHICLES, SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES AND LIGHT TRUCKS WILL BE MOVED. THE BLOWN DEBRIS WILL CREATE ADDITIONAL DESTRUCTION. PERSONS, PETS, AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK* THE VAST MAJORITY OF TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED*FEW CROPS WILL REMAIN*LIVESTOCK LEFT EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL BE KILLED. POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED*WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS*

The above warning started airing on the local channels on Sunday, August 28. I listened to the warning, but I really didn’t put much thought into it. After all, I’m 250 miles inland, and when there have been hurricanes in the past, my hometown of Pearl, Mississippi usually only got rain and maybe some wind.

Later that night, the local channels started listing all the local schools that were going to be closed on Monday. I couldn’t understand why Pearl schools were closing. Monday morning came and the sun was shining. I must admit I was a little perturbed that I had to take a day off work because the schools were closed. Later that morning, I was listening to the weather man, and he said the eye of the hurricane would pass through Pearl. I laughed to myself at that, because I was sure the eye of a hurricane never came this far inland.

By 10:00 a.m., it started raining. By 2:00 p.m., my two daughters, Hollie and April,and I were sitting on the couch staring out the window at all the rain and wind. We could hear our house creaking when the wind blew. At times, it felt as if the house was actually moving. Hollie was afraid the windows were going to implode and April was afraid a tree was going to fall on the house. At 3:00 p.m., we lost power. By then, most of the state was out of power. I was not prepared for this. I had no flashlights, no batteries, and no food that didn’t have to be cooked. I did round up enough candles and matches to get us through the night. But with no electricity, I didn’t know what was going on around us.

Tuesday morning, I got up early and went to Wal-Mart for some supplies. Driving down the highway, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Big, beautiful oak trees were pulled up by their roots. Highway signs were broken in half. If it looked like this as far inland as we are, I could only imagine what it looked like on the coast. When I got to Wal-Mart, it was packed with people with solemn, disbelieving looks on their faces, also there to stock up on supplies. I bought flashlights, more candles, batteries, bottled water, and food that didn’t need to be cooked or refrigerated. I only bought two bags of ice, because I had no way of knowing that by the end of the day there would be a shortage of ice, bottled water, and gasoline.

When I got home and put batteries in the radio, I was able to hear what was going on in the coastal areas, and it didn’t sound good.

Over the next several days, news was out that the Red Cross needed donations of money, food, water, clothes, diapers, baby food, forumula, anything that anyone could spare, to take to the coast and how businesses, celebrities, other states, and even foreign countries were making monetary contributions and sending down supplies. It gave me chill bumps to think of all the help our state was receiving from these wonderful strangers.

I wanted to help out in some way, but as a single mother of two, there never seems to be any extra money. April and her two friends decided they wanted to go door-to-door and collect blankets, pillows, and stuffed animals for the kids who lost everything. So we got our red wagon and took off down the street. At first, the girls were a little shy, so I had to ask for donations, but once they saw how willing everyone was to give, it became a race to see who would get to the front door first. It was very hot and humid, so every couple of houses, a neighbor would offer us a cold drink of water and everyone told the girls they were doing such a good deed and made a big fuss over what they were doing.

It didn’t take long before our wagon was stacked high, so another neighbor offered us his wagon to use. Two hours later, we pulled the wagons home. They were loaded with blankets, sheets, pillows, water, stuffed animals, baby items, and cosmetic bags (the Red Cross was requesting these because the evacuees had nowhere to keep the toiletries they received.). We loaded the trunk and the front and back seats of my car. There was barely room for the three girls, but they managed to squeeze in the back seat.

We headed to the coliseum where an 18-wheeler truck was being filled to take down to Biloxi. The girls jumped out of the car and started carrying the items to the truck. They even wanted to get in the truck to help load it, but of course they couldn’t because of liability reasons. When we finished, we headed back home. I looked in my rearview mirror and saw three, 9-year-old girls, with big smiles on their faces. We were out of power for seven days, and it was very hot and humid, but I think my daughter and her friends learned a valuable lesson in how it truly is better to give than receive and to lend a helping hand whenever possible.

Laura Day lday@neurosurgery.umsmed.edu