"MPHS: Hurricane Katrina, 2005, by: Daniel C. Roberts

From MemoryArchive

Who: Daniel C. Roberts
What: Hurricane Katrina
When: August 2005
Where: Moss Point, MS

There are numerous ways Hurricane Katrina affected my family and me. For example, the great discomfort and horror caused. However, the most direct ways it affected me was the damage from the high winds and shortage on gas and food production. It seemed as if it would never end. My family was very fortunate throughout this event. We barely suffered from the drastic storm. The most damage we received was a few shingles blown off our home. The greatest discomfort had to be the heat, which is beyond petty compared to many others.

I can still recall the cringing sounds of the wind and rain. At times, it sounded like someone was trying to break open our front door. Once, a little sunlight was visible my father noticed his shed’s roof was flapping, and I remembered being petrified as we watched him put bricks on top of it’s tin roof to stop the rain from destroying the family heirlooms.

We then listened to the radio where we found out that their will be water and ice distribution at the fair ground. We arrived hours before opening and the line was still extremely long. It was well into the afternoon before we received our ration. My father took some of what we received to our family members.

Once we visited all of our family, we had to travel to Mobile, Alabama where we ate at the restaurant Grandfathers Pizza. After going through the horror it seemed like quite a treat. We then checked on our elderly neighbor and decided to take her to her children in Atlanta, Georgia. So, we gassed up and headed to Atlanta.

After arriving to Georgia my aunt made me realize that this was a historical moment that we were apart of. It may have not been what we wanted, but it happened. My family learned to accept what happened. Before we knew it, we were back, yet far from normal. Not only missing school for a month, but dealing with the lack of cable for just as long was indeed difficult.

Hurricane Katrina in my opinion was a necessity for many people. I feel it was a wake up call for several. But, I wish it did not cause as much destruction as it did. The many deaths and loss of homes seriously depressed lots of people, who have built families and homes over the decades.

This hurricane truly devastated thousands of lives. We can rebuild, but the memory and pain will never cease to exist. It was an experience that helped, yet horrifically hurt our nation. I hope there is never another disaster of that stature. In conclusion, the storm affected many. The storm did indeed help some, but in the end harmed many.