MSRobi911 wrote:A2K
In my opinion the only thing that kept our death toll down was that it happened in the day light and people could see things to hold on to or grab and float on. Also from the stories I have heard a bunch of "heroes" are out there that got in their boats in the middle of the storm and went up and down the roads and pulled people into their boats and took them to safety. From where my house was I can not imagine how much water was there and how anyone could have survived had they been down there during the storm. There is still a family of Hispanic people that have not been identified that were found about two blocks down from my house in/under the debris of a home that was not theirs. They have no idea who they are or where they came from. The phone calls that I heard on 911 while we still had power and before my husband evacuated the dispatchers because the water was up to their knees and they were around all kinds of electrical equipment still answering the telephones were just heart breaking. Whole families including 5 month old babies were on roofs and the Sheriffs Office couldn't get to them even with a "duck" I can't remember the real name of the vehicle at this time(this thanks to Trent Lott's assignment of old government equipment to the county).
I don't think anyone that went through Katrina will ever forget the nightmare and I pray that we have all learned a lesson, cause even though Camille was no lady.......Katrina was a witch with a capital B! We thought we had seen it all with Camille and I hope we don't compare the next "big one" to Katrina because if we get a closer hit or direct hit the buildings and such that were there that broke some of the water are now gone and will never return in their former state.
Don't get me wrong, people will rebuild, it just won't be the same and everything will be "up" so the water will flow underneath (well most of it anyway...my neighbor was 10 feet up and it didn't do him any good).
The strong will survive if the Lord is willing and the creek don't rise again!
Mary
Mary,
You are right. There were local heroes and we will probably never know their names. Some of those local heroes were in Waveland. They saved the life of my daughter's ex fiance and his family at the hotel at 603 and 90.
The last time my daughter was in contact with them was around 10 am on the 29th. He was begging her to tell him when the eye would pass over them. At that time, the water was bout 8 feet from their 1st floor room. We later learned that the water had begun to come into their room and they'd put his grandmother on the dresser to keep her out of the water, but it kept rising. He said had some guys not come by in boats and lifted them to the 2nd floor, they'd have died! He said by the time the boats arrived, they were up to their knecks in the water.. Before all was said and done, the water was lapping onto the 2nd floor balcony.
On the CD that WLOX made, there are some 911 calls on there. People were calling in begging for help. One caller said "I know you can't come help. I just wanted to let you know that we're going to die". It's heart wrenching! Thank God that she came in during the day, unlike Camille. I hope we've all learned a lesson from Katrina. We should never compare two storms. Each one is it's own animal and has it's own characteristics. When the NHC issues warnings, whether it be for a cat 1 or a cat 5, heed the evac orders and get to higher ground (Minnesota comes to mind
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