Monday...
All this crap on tv about Katrina is giving me nightmares again.
It's Monday. A year ago today (Katrina came on a Monday, so even though the 29th is tomorrow, it's really a year ago today) things really changed for us here in parts of the South. I've been trying to come up with a post about it for over a week, but all the news footage brings the feelings back to the surface. It's still there. Raw. Numbing. I remember every second of what I did that day. I close my eyes I can see what my DH and kids were wearing. Where they were sitting when I got home and as the storm raged on. When the lights went out. I close my eyes and see the trees and rain blowing sideways. I hear the wind roaring like a train. I can still feel the video camera in my hand, unable to tear my eyes away from the storm long enough to look down at the switch and turn it on... I remember the panic of worrying about friends, some who could get out to check on others some who had to be cut out we checked on them. It was all over before bedtime. But it hadn't even started yet. Not really. It wasn't just the storm. It was waking up for days with no water no electricity no phone no gasoline no stores open no ice... thank GOD for the fema ice the couple of times they stopped passing through with trucks rerouted from NOLA. The heat, was almost unbearable. The humidity. Not the slightest hint of breeze. Trying to get a cell signal to check on friends closer to the water... discovering who lost their homes and the joy of learning no one dear to us lost their life. Day after day of cleaning up debris and downed trees and limbs... The look of shock in the eyes of everyone around me... finding the same vacant stare in my own eyes when it was light enough out still to see in the mirror...
Maybe one of these days I'll be able to write about it. Right now, it makes my head hurt just to try. There was a whole hell of a lot more that happened than the idiots filming about NOLA are telling you, even today, a year later. So many of us did what we had to do and didn't/aren't complaining about it. You just have to.
Gotta run. Maybe more later. We'll see.
It's Monday. A year ago today (Katrina came on a Monday, so even though the 29th is tomorrow, it's really a year ago today) things really changed for us here in parts of the South. I've been trying to come up with a post about it for over a week, but all the news footage brings the feelings back to the surface. It's still there. Raw. Numbing. I remember every second of what I did that day. I close my eyes I can see what my DH and kids were wearing. Where they were sitting when I got home and as the storm raged on. When the lights went out. I close my eyes and see the trees and rain blowing sideways. I hear the wind roaring like a train. I can still feel the video camera in my hand, unable to tear my eyes away from the storm long enough to look down at the switch and turn it on... I remember the panic of worrying about friends, some who could get out to check on others some who had to be cut out we checked on them. It was all over before bedtime. But it hadn't even started yet. Not really. It wasn't just the storm. It was waking up for days with no water no electricity no phone no gasoline no stores open no ice... thank GOD for the fema ice the couple of times they stopped passing through with trucks rerouted from NOLA. The heat, was almost unbearable. The humidity. Not the slightest hint of breeze. Trying to get a cell signal to check on friends closer to the water... discovering who lost their homes and the joy of learning no one dear to us lost their life. Day after day of cleaning up debris and downed trees and limbs... The look of shock in the eyes of everyone around me... finding the same vacant stare in my own eyes when it was light enough out still to see in the mirror...
Maybe one of these days I'll be able to write about it. Right now, it makes my head hurt just to try. There was a whole hell of a lot more that happened than the idiots filming about NOLA are telling you, even today, a year later. So many of us did what we had to do and didn't/aren't complaining about it. You just have to.
Gotta run. Maybe more later. We'll see.
posted by Kim at 12:19 PM
6 Comments:
I can't even begin to imagine how difficult this is for you. I can only say that everyday when I see people on TV complaining about NOLA I think of you and your family in "the other state". I wish the media would give MS the credit it deserves.
Such a raw nerve. It's good for you to talk about it. There's no way that I could ever understand or relate to those that went through this, but your posts give a glimpse, and I feel for you and yours.
I still, do this day, feel that your area truly got mistreated and ignored while everyone focused on N.O.
It's like Mississippi didn't count.
Thank God you made it okay in the end and let's pray nothing else comes your way this year.
I can't even imagine...
Take Care
Michael
This past weekend the Mississippi politicians were on the news shows talking about how wonderfully everything was going and how rebuilding was in full swing and blah blah blah, and I thought, yeah, right. For casinos and people with deep pockets it is.
I know it's hard to avoid it, but maybe you should put yourself on a week-long media blackout and spare yourself?
I plan to do the same here in September. It's going to be five years, and those images of September 11 will be all over the place again.
I'm sorry that the images are bringing back such painful memories. They need to recognize that Mississippi was effected just as much if not worse than New Orleans. Hopefully you all will get some reprieve this year, but I know those images will never vacate your mind. Hang in there!
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