I’m writing this in response to the Hurricane Helene devastation in Tennessee and North Carolina, and our personal experience with Hurricane Katrina. We are from Tennessee generationally; however we had moved to Mississippi after my husband exited the military, and had lived there for 13 years, when the storm struck. We do understand now what these people are going through because we experienced it firsthand in 2005. Our story is not unique, but this story reflects what they’re going through in the aftermath of the flooding.
Aug. 29, 2005…. a day that will always be remembered and reflected on by our family. Five of us then (two daughters and a son), now seven with my wonderful sons-in-law – both Mississippians whose families have similar experiences, as outlined below. Every Aug. 29, the day Katrina made landfall, we all reach out, share with each other, and confirm our love on a family text. Why?
We ended up in the attic of our home of 13 years, when the storm surge and waters rose and the hurricane came in from the Gulf and did a direct hit on our home area outside Bay St. Louis, Ms. We were directly in the eyewall for hours. In the attic, we were using the last lines of communication available, a cell phone, with our oldest daughter who was 18-years-old, and in college at the time (first semester and had just left home). As an aside in the middle of the storm she called, when my dear husband was watching the attic steps to see when the waters would actually breach into the attic, at which point, he had our life raft from our 42 foot sailboat – later found in the trees a mile from where it was originally located, tarps, guns, and life jackets, ready to send me, our 17-year-old daughter, and our 15-year-old son, into the storm through the roof where he had punched a hole with his sledgehammer. During this chaos, our oldest daughter called.
She kept asking her father repeatedly what would happen, and his comment has always stuck with me. “No matter what happens, you always remember how much your family loves you.” Then we lost cell coverage, our last line of communication with the outside world. She had no clue whether we were alive or dead for a week, just that we were in the attic with nine feet of water in the house and hurricane winds, when she lost communication.
We were not ignorant people, my husband has a Ph.D. in Computational Physics and was a Special Forces officer during his military time, and I have a Master’s degree. We lived in a USG designated no-flood zone, and here we were in the attic, praying and preparing for something that we had no clue would happen 24 hours earlier.
Education did not matter at that point, but life skills did. Teach your kids life skills. We made it out eventually, but all was destroyed. There was no reliable law enforcement, they were in the same position we were (our neighbor’s law enforcement vehicle was squarely placed in his living room picture window). A man who worked for my husband, called during the storm while we were in the attic, before cell phone communications went out, to see how we were faring. He, his wife, and his son cut trees at the end of the storm (a mile and half) to come in and rescue us. We slept in his driveway for days after the storm with pillows and blankets they could provide. They had 14 people in a 3-bedroom home. Good people doing God’s work in the middle of a crisis.
My husband gifted us with a port-a-potty they found after the storm from a building site, so 14 people could have a place to utilize for bathroom requirements. Toilets require water and no water pressure was available to flush for 14 people in the house. We all did have bleach we found from our homes to help with cleanliness in the port-a-potty, which helped us provide a place to go to the bathroom.
We lived in a golfing community with twin lakes on either side of the main road. At day’s end, it became a focal point to see who had survived, talk of the storm, and work on the aftermath while people bathed in the cool waters of the lakes on the golf course. Water we carted to the port-a-potty from those lakes. God bless those developers!
A few days in, looters showed up from New Orleans. Two cars and seven men. I was never a 2nd amendment proponent and was ambivalent. My husband’s comments early in our marriage, were that he had guns at work, and they were a tool, but not a passion. That changed after Katrina for me. He had some handguns which he took into the attic…thank God. We were in the driveway dragging out the refuse of our lives from the house, when he turned to me and our beautiful 17-year-old daughter. “Get in the house now”. Our son thankfully was not there but out trying to gain information for us on the only mode of transportation left – a bike. My husband had some innate sense that danger was close, and we watched as they pulled into our circle and began to unload from their two cars. No neighbors or backup for ¼ mile or more. We were alone in a subdivision at the end of a road on a cul-de-sac. My husband took his 45 out of his holster (dressed in some old soccer shorts of our son, an old army T-shirt, and a pair of girls flip flops that were too small – clean clothes were not available, and you figured out quickly just put on what you can find that is dry and wearable. Another aside so everyone understands, sewage comes up first in a flood through your toilets, sinks, bathtubs, etc. hence dry and wearable takes on a new meaning. The filth is indescribable.)
Back to the looters… My husband walked across our driveway, lowering his weapon against seven men, and stated, “You all are not from here, and need to leave now”. They left. I have never felt more love for him than that moment when he was going to take on seven men to protect his family. That gun was the equalizer that day. Forty years of marriage and 44 years of life together now, and that is the moment that will always inscribe the man he is and always will be for me. It was not about the personal things…but family. They left because he stood firm. I had a new respect for why we have a 2nd amendment. I always will wonder how that would have turned out without his 45 and with my beautiful 17-year-old child defenseless. My stomach will always knot.
Fast forward…we moved to Jackson, Ms., close enough to clear the house and wrestle with the aftermath of financials, insurance, etc. We received $25,000 in an insurance settlement for our destroyed home and contents which was a lifetime of personal things all destroyed, two years after the storm (water versus wind), and we continued to push forward. Kids attended college and graduated, we started a company that works globally, girls got married (one to a physician now in Chattanooga, and the other to a Navy Aviator – again both Mississippians so no explanation in our family is ever required – we lived it together).
We moved back to our home in Tennessee and settled here for retirement. We have six precious grandbabies. Our families are from this area (200+ years) so this is home. This is where my husband and I grew up (Chattanooga), and where we have extended family. Our children went on to work for U.S. senators, lived abroad, worked abroad, and were good ambassadors of standing up and moving forward. That was the lesson they learned from the storm…. family first always, and material goods are inconsequential. It’s what’s inside you that counts and not getting knocked down but getting back up.
We had settled in Mississippi, because after we graduated from UTC, my husband was a military officer and after living in Germany, Georgia, North Carolina, and New York (West Point where he taught), we left the military to land at Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Ms. (right where the storm made landfall). Mississippi will always hold a special place in our hearts because of the people. Just like Tennessee, we pulled together during a bad time.
The moral of this story is simple: We were not unique. The government was non-existent for weeks, the Mississippi National Guard was in Iraq. The first source of support came from churches and individuals, cutting in and helping us stand up. Not the U.S. government. FEMA drove by a week or so after the storm. In the car was a young man who rolled down his window in the heat, letting the AC cool him as he talked to us…he first stated, “Use your phones to apply for FEMA support.” My husband pointed to the destroyed home and stated no home phones and no cell coverage with very limited battery that could not be recharged. He then said, “Well drive to the FEMA location 40 miles away”, to which my husband patiently pointed to the cars that were upside down in the driveway, and finally he said “Well, use your computer, to file online”. My husband at that point threw whatever he was holding in his hand down, pointed to the downed power lines and destroyed house, and said, “Just leave, you are of no use, and we’ll figure this out ourselves.” The young man rolled up his car window, turned the air conditioner up and drove off. That was your government at work.
My suggestion, find a place to drop off supplies, old computers reset to factory settings, prepaid cell phones, female hygiene products, baby diapers, canned food, canned formula, manual can openers, water, things that you wouldn’t think about but are required to exist day to day…things that matter, because that’s what will help our neighbors stand up in the end. Provide a helping hand and a heartfelt prayer. They’re strong people and we are their neighbors. It is up to us to “cut in and help them cut out”, metaphorically just as my husband’s employee did for us physically.
At the end of the day, we are what will matter to them and will make a difference. Psychologically that is invaluable. They’re not alone. We received a call for a FEMA trailer six months after the storm…. I repeat six months. We had moved on by then and taken care of our family ourselves. We had moved forward, however, what about those people living in tents in their driveways for months on end through the winter…did they get that call too after six months? Government, agencies, etc., will take years to make a difference, if they do at all. We know. Do what you can now, and it will make a difference to those people in these devastated areas and to you personally.
Pictures do not tell a true story, but there are hundreds of real-life stories ongoing now in East Tennessee and Western North Carolina, just like the one above. Extend your hand and help them up. The wheel turns and life will get better for them, but we need to ensure they get that message.
Billie J. Smith