Rita Helped Me Find My Strength
I'll always remember Katrina and Rita and the wonderful town of Trussville. I have my little gray mug as a momento of that time and as a reminder that tough times make you stronger.
In August of 2005, I waited for Katrina. She was nowhere near my home yet I felt certain she would somehow be close enough for me to feel her touch.
While eastern Louisiana to Alabama were being battered by Katrina's powerful storm surges, winds and rain, I watched it all unfold on television. The national focus was on New Orleans. From the live stream during landfall and the hours after, it seemed that most people and structures had fared well. But by the time I awoke the next morning, I knew that I was wrong.
In retrospect, the week of the storm was business as usual. I went to work. I ran around with my kids. But, I remember this sense of tension in the air. Co-workers, family and friends were all scrambling in preparation for company. With mandatory evacuations along most of the gulf coast, Katrina was a household name and a force to which many were prepared to bow down. People came to town to seek refuge, and in some cases, brought their own neighbors and friends who had nowhere to go.
I recall going outside the day that Katrina came and peering at the sky. I was looking for a sign that we would be safe from the impending devastation. The sky was eerily calm and still and a blue that you just don't expect when you know what is happening less than three hours away. What I saw from my vantage point didn't match the devastation on the news.
Katrina had made her way into everyone's town all over the country. We had a coliseum full of people who had come on their own seeking shelter or had been relocated after landfall. They came with what they could grab. Their faces shown it all... tired, weary, afraid, angry, grateful, helpless...
When you see a mass exodus of people from a region, you want to be thankful for what you have. Instead you feel humbled, guilty and ashamed. Humbled to know that life can change in the blink of an eye. Guilty that you had prayed that the storm not come near you. Ashamed because you don't know what to say.
For days on end the entire world watched as people were rescued from every imaginable place. Sadly, we also watched as cameras shown images of people who had lost their lives. Incredibly, before rescue and recovery efforts from Katrina could be wrapped up, Rita woke up and headed home.
With Rita, I had listened carefully to all of the projected paths. One showed her coming straight for me and my family. I watched the news nonstop for several days. When the announcement came at 4am, mandatory evacuation, I was ready. I still remember the look on the mayor's face during the announcement. He had to get all of the city's residents and guests out in less than 48 hours.
My car had a full tank of gas, my hotel reservations were made to the closest place I could find which was Trussville, Alabama. I had already grabbed essential items from work including the server (no clue who voted for me to take the server). I had packed clothes for a week. I was ready though unwilling to hit the road.
We rolled out at 7am, took the road less traveled and made our way to Alabama. I had only been to Birmingham in passing but I was very grateful to be in a place that looked familiar. We made our way, in the dark, to our hotel. The staff greeted us and offered whatever help we needed to get settled.
They had experience with what was about to unfold. They already were housing several families from New Orleans in their hotel. As was the neighboring hotel and just about every hotel in town.
Once I got the kids settled, I turned on the television and repeated the scenario from just the month before. I watched all night as Rita made her way to land and manged to make things FUBAR from New Orleans to Houston. She came straight up the Sabine River and unleashed all of her fury on Southwest Louisiana and Southeast Texas.
Thankfully, Katrina had helped us all understand the true power of mother nature. Almost everyone left. There was damage beyond what you could prepare yourself for--flooding, tornadoes, downed trees, splintered objects, destroyed infrastructure, floating homes, deceased livestock and wandering animals. However, very few people lost their lives. Katrina had shown us that it is okay, even important, to run.
After a couple of days, it became apparent that Rita had trashed our homes and caused further disarray to many, many lives. The clerk at the hotel asked when we thought we would go home. I had no answer. However, she did... she told me that her dad was there (Lake Charles) working on restoring power... she said that he told her it looked like they had dropped a bomb on us... it was a horrible, horrible mess.
I still remember her face when she looked over her glasses and said, "Ma'am, you are going to be here for a while. Do you need us to get you anything?" I thanked her for the information and went back up to my room. I told everyone to get up and get dressed we were going to my favorite place, Target.
When we got to Target, I told them that we needed only a few things. Pants and sweatshirts because we were in a different region and it would be cooler than we were accustomed to. Shoes for the baby because the kids had failed... they got to pack one favorite toy and a pair of shoes and they had messed up... the baby had two different shoes on, one of which was too big.
The final thing on my list was a coffee mug for me and grandma. We were gonna be here for a while and I couldn't keep drinking out of "styrofoam" cups. This place, the Comfort Suites in Trussville, would be our home away from home for a short time.
We got what we needed and left the store. We had gotten everything on our list. When we got back to the hotel, my mom made some fresh coffee and poured it in my Hurricane Rita Mug. Then I began the process of figuring out what I was gonna do with myself, children and mother for the next couple of weeks or more. I was sure that there was much to do, I just didn't know what. But still, I had to get it together.
To this day, I still have that gray mug. I found it for less than a dollar on the clearance end cap near housewares. It was something small that brought me comfort. It put me back into a routine. Get up, get dressed, pour coffee, sit at your desk, make shit happen.
And that is what I did for the next couple of weeks. Sixteen days all total, we called Trussville our home. We met some very good people. They gave us money so that we could enjoy meals outside of our hotel room. They invited us into their homes and into their churches. They made us love chili (not the venison version) and they helped me stay focused when my chaos was too much for me to handle.
Today, August 26th, we await news of #Hurricane Harvey and his anticipated week long wrath on the gulf coast of Texas and possibly Louisiana.