The news had reported
Katrina had done more than just batter the New Orleans. The storm hit the old city like a freight train leaving behind devastation, flooding and death. I had seen several hurricanes reach Meridian, Mississippi in my lifetime but this one I was old enough to remember. I had spent much of my teens hating this town. I felt trapped by it. But as I found peace within myself, I had come to love my home and my community. As the headlines promised
Katrina's arrival I feared for my home and my community.
Meridian is known for her rolling hills. We actually live in a small valley near the top of one of the highest peaks in Meridian. Just above my house where the road meets Highway 19 you can sit there and look southward for miles. I sat on the hood of my car and watched as she approached. The power had been shut down at the main grid a day before Katrina's arrival to reduce the risk of fire. So the town already had an eerie feel. The streets were empty and the stores closed mid day. No one but law enforcement and emergency personnel were allowed on the streets. I had signed up at the local EMS as a licensed EMT and received the sticker for my car. I hadn't worked in EMS for a long while but I kept my license current. The hour was drawing near and my community braced for a hard impact. It was as if we were preparing for an air raid.
I worked at the Howard Johnson Inn as the night desk clerk. Every room of every hotel had been reserved in advance for the power company. They had combined the resources of every facility in the surrounding area to send trucks and personnel to the area and ride the storm out with us. The mayor promised they would begin restoring power the moment the storm passed over us. The trucks never made it. The mayor had underestimated Katrina. Even with the reports of the crippled city of New Orleans still coming in, our mayor assured us emergency services were prepared.
A convoy of power company trucks was deployed at key locations in the surrounding counties awaiting instruction. The logistics of moving so much equipment and personnel at one time had bogged down the poorly planned effort. The resources were available but had no where to go. 30 power company trucks and over 100 employees sat in the small community of Waveland, Mississippi. Katrina wiped the entire community of Waveland off the face of the earth. All 30 of the power trucks had been lost.
The sky toward the south had become dark and thunder rolled in the distance. She seemed to come in slowly. The contrast between the clear blue sky above and the black storm cloud below was quite beautiful. The ground beneath her was dark. Highway 45 north extended toward me from this direction. Cars were driving at speeds well in excess of 100 miles per hour attempting to outrun the storm. As she approached the tops of the trees beneath her began to twist and even miles away you could hear them snapping like toothpicks. The scene resembled a massive armored tank crushing the earth beneath it. My hand held radio issued a final warning. "All EMS Personnel report to your stations and to wait out the storm! We can't go out once it gets here."
I was stationed at my front desk where I worked. It was the most logical place for me. None of the power company employees had made it in so I planned to provide rooms for the flood of evacuees that would surely be coming in. They were already pouring in from the highway when I arrived. We provided the rooms for free but took the names of everyone arriving to keep a head count. Following this storm people were going to want to know where to find their families. The sky grew dark gray and an eerie sound like a howling wolf echoed across the sky.
The wind began to pick up and I stood with the evacuees in the hotel lobby has the tall Texaco sign across the street began to lean into the wind. This sign was atop a large steel and concrete post embedded firmly in the ground. It took the wind less than 20 minutes to snap this sign in half and send it crashing into the convenience store below. People said the wind sounded like a train. I don't think they were near where we were. The wind did not sound like anything we had ever heard before. It sounded to us like a growling beast and the children in the lobby were terrified by it. It groaned hungrily outside and it made you feel like prey being searched out by a massive animal. As the night progressed this feeling the storm somehow had benevolent intent only got stronger.
The wind came in bands increasing in intensity then abruptly stopping into sheeting rain. With the passing of each band we began to hear something like a large cannon being fired repeatedly. It literally shook the walls of the hotel. I took a flashlight went to the top floor to investigate. At the south corner of the building the roof was being lifted by the wind and slammed down again. The concrete wall was cracked by the force of each hammering fall. I evacuated everyone from the top floor and closed it off. By this time everyone inside was huddled in the lobby on the north face of the building.
My car was parked facing into the force of the wind. I hadn't thought to park it in front. I stared in disbelief as the wind picked the front of my car up with its front tires barely touching the pavement. The growling beast continued to howl with increasing force. My car began to glide smoothly across the parking lot then came to rest against the far embankment. Before this some in the hotel had considered leaving to drive further north. Seeing my car moved by the force of the wind ended such notions.
A patrol car appeared on the street approaching our hotel. The wind was increasing again. We had timed the bands of driving wind by now and knew it had not reached its peak. I tried desperately to reach the officer over my radio, but all communication had stopped shortly after the arrival of the storm. It was too late for him to go anywhere. The wind began to batter the patrol car. Where he was on the street provided him no protection from the flying debris. Bricks, metal and glass scoured the vehicle and we could hear it impacting the passenger side. This window was shattered and then the car was pushed over the shoulder of the street into a depression. The officer was trapped out there and I felt I had to help him.
We had the bands of wind timed perfectly now. I felt confident I could reach my car and go to the officer and return in time to beat the next wave. I left my radio with the evacuees and told them to continue calling for the officer to let him know I was coming. I wasn't sure if our transmission was even getting out.
I quickly got into my car and sped out of the parking lot I reached the place where the patrol car had slid off the street. I was running out of time. If the officer was injured I would have no time to retrieve him. Thankfully he appeared from his passenger side and I went down to help him up the side. Once safely in my car I glanced to my right and saw the entire hillside behind the hotel had been stripped of every large pine tree that had once stood there. The rain began to drive sideways again and I floored the accelerator. I parked in front of the hotel no and hoped we would be able to reach the lobby again. The next band was upon us.
The officer was given a blanket and towels to dry off. Everyone huddled around him as he spoke. He said he had no choice but to attempt the drive over. The location where he was posted had been gutted by the force of the wind and it was no longer safe to stay there. His eyes widened as the loud booming concussion rang out through our hotel. We told him it was the roof being torn away.
As we sat in the lobby wrapped in blankets the officer continued to try to reach someone on the radio. We had settled in and peered out at the devastation. Shortly after midnight there had been a calm and we wondered if we had survived the storm. The radio came back to life long enough for the voice to warn us the eye of Katrina was passing over. No one should attempt to come out just yet.
Morning came and the light of day revealed a torn and battered city. Entire structures were gone and fallen power lines lay in the streets. Shutting off the power earlier had been a very good idea. Vehicles were toppled and crushed underneath the debris of trees and wreckage. I wanted to get to my mom. We all wanted to get to our loved ones. The entire south corner of the hotel's rooftop was gone and every window on the south portion of the building blown out.
I drove as far up our road as I could before reaching a point where old growth oaks had been torn from their roots and dropped into the road. I walked the rest of the way to my mother's home. Our neighbor's home was badly beaten all her windows were gone and I could see her furniture had been blown to the rear of her house. I stepped through her large window and called out to her. Beneath the pile of her furniture and broken glass I could faintly hear her voice calling out. I moved the debris thinking she was trapped or injured underneath. She had gone down into her basement and the door had been pinned shut. To make matters worse the house had shifted and her water line broke flooding her basement. She spent the night huddled at the top of her basement stairs with water knee high beneath her. The water had been shut off as well but what remained in the lines emptied into her basement. I helped her out and made sure she was okay. I promised to return once I checked on my mother.
I was relieved to see my mother and several neighbors sitting comfortably on her porch. The location of our home in the valley between the hills had blocked her home from the brunt of the wind. Neighbors atop the hill had come down to sit out the storm with her. They had made a camping scene of sorts and even had steaks on the grill. The neighbors had returned to their homes and returned with whatever food they could find. We expected it would be days before power was restored and the food would have ruined anyway. They were making plates of grilled steak, chicken and pork and wrapping them in tin foil. I joined the team of neighbors clearing our road with chainsaws. We cut the fallen trees into firewood and left it piled at the roadside with a painted sign to others to take what they needed. By midday, everyone on our little road had a plate of food and clean gallons of clean water. We stayed without power for seven days. But thankfully no one in our town had lost their lives.
During those seven days following Katrina we had come to accept life without power. We visited each other and shared our resources. We sat on our porches and talked under the stars swatting mosquitoes and sipping warm beer. There was almost a feeling of disappointment when the power did return. We began to rebuild and life returned to normal.
Our first power bill was actually higher than usual even though we had been completely without power for seven days. The local East Mississippi Power Association supervisor was hauled before the City Council to explain. He said a power surge had been to blame for the nearly 40% spike in everyone's power bill. Someone in the crowd yelled that looters were supposed to be shot! I smiled as the nervous supervisor assured everyone they would receive a full refund. Meridian, Mississippi had returned to normal.
