Hi! I'm Khloe and I am going to tell you how Katrina affected me. August 28, 2005 stores are packed. August 29, 2005 was the day of the hurricane. We had one dog in a crate an two upstairs, and three kittens in the bathroom.
My mom, brother, a friend, and I were sitting in the living room and the windows were all boarded up but there was a crack in the window closest to the neighbor and me. I could see trees falling and swaying. My mother smokes and had to go out back to smoke. She wouldn't let us go out back because a tree might fall on us, so climbed on the dryer to look out a window and saw a tree fall IN MY BACKYARD. Then the water outside was getting high and we thought it would flood so we got all the electronics and special things on or up the stairs. Mom told me and my brother to sit on the stairs. My brother was in the fetal position and I was freaking out about to shake to death. Then I was crying but stopped breathing. My mom and friend had swamp boots on and when I stopped breathing they went, "What? What?"I said, "Water, water" and I was pointing to the floor. My mom looked at the door and then the water came through the floor boards. We all went upstairs. Mom felt the house move and said, "We have to get out of here." So, we had to find something to tie ourselves to. Mom found a sheet and tied me to her. The friend found a blanket and tied it to my brother. We went down the stairs and out the door. We swam over cars and branches to our neighbors house and waited out the storm.

Hannah:
Hmmm…How did Katrina affect me? It affected my house, my family, and even where I eat! Katrina destroyed my roof, my dad's shed, my grandparent's house, and both of my aunt's houses.

Every time Mom drives down Highway 90, we see historical houses gone, and places we used to have fun at destroyed, but that is just a little bit of the destruction. People's clothes are wrapped around trees. Pianos, couches, and even treadmills are all washed to sea. A casino floated a few miles and landed on a Holiday Inn hotel.

Katrina affected almost everything in our lives. It affected what we eat, what we buy, who we do business with, and even how problems are solved. If Katrina hadn't come, everything would be simple again. Right after Katrina, going to the mall was a treat. That is how Katrina affected me.

Simeon:
It was Sunday, August 28, 2005. Leaning on my mom's car, I desperately waited to begin the long journey that lay ahead. My mom, my sister Hannah, and I climbed into my grandmother's car. Along with us were my grandmother, grandfather, aunt, uncle, cousin, and two dogs. We had decided to carpool to Tallahassee . Then, we set off on our journey.
About 3:00 the next morning (we had to go around the Bay St. Louis bridge), we arrived in Tallahassee . That night I fell asleep very quickly.
The next morning, we went to Books-A-Million. And the next four days we went to Books-A-Million! At this point, my dad and my dog, Watson, came to Tallahassee . My aunt, uncle, cousin, and his two dogs went home with my grandfather.
After that, we set off for home. But I knew that whatever happened, a new day would assure the regrowth of the Mississippi Gulf Coast .

Michal Anna:
During Katrina, I was at my house playing video games when the power went out. I stayed there and turned on my flashlight. Then my dad and I lit some candles and went to sleep I was woken up the next day by an overwhelming feeling of warmth. I was hungry and was sweating in places I've never sweated before. My mom came and picked me up and we went back to Mississippi . I saw all the destruction, but luckily my house and dog were okay. We then went to my grandparent's house and spent the night there for awhile until our electricity was fixed. We had to eat MRE's for about three months before we could afford real food. My mom's workplace was destroyed so she had to get a new job.
The hurricane occurred nearly 2 years ago and we are still facing many hardships. We can't find many workers to complete the simplest of tasks (such as going to the doctor). Many of our favorite places to eat have vanished. On the plus side though, Katrina got us a month out of school and Edgewater Mall is still here!
All in all, there have been many good and bad times, some ups and downs, but we're progressing well and should be back on our feet in no time.

Carly:
Hurricane Katrina has affected and hurt all of us. This is my story. My mother and I were watching the news on Saturday when we heard about a level 5 hurricane coming. The next day, we were packing to leave for my nanny's house in Florida . When we got there it was like summer, when we visited everyone. Mom, Dad, and my brother, otherwise known as "The Bubster" were all watching the news. I wanted to swim instead of worrying about the house. I mean, hey, I'm missing school, it's like a short summer.
So we chilled out for about a month. But during that month, my dad went to check on the house back home. He came back not too long after that and said that we hadn't lost anything. We gathered our things and hit the road. When we got home a lot of our trees and plants had died, but the house was fine. So, Hurricane Katrina didn't take much from us except for electricity. But I learned that many others had lost so much, and after that I gave away many toys and things I didn't need.

Kelsey:
August 28, 2005 we packed our belongings, boarded up the windows and left. I thought that would be the last time to see my home, but it wasn't. We were heading to Spanish Fort, Alabama where my uncle and aunt live. My mom, my sisters, and I left before my dad because he had to stay to board up all the windows. There is only one word I can describe our ride there: Traffic. As we were driving the car behind us bumped into us. My older sister screamed and a cup of water spilled on my younger sister which made it look like she had an accident. The man got out of his truck and came up to the window to say he was sorry and that there wasn't a dent on our van. It was starting to get dark so my mom called my dad to see where he was. He had been taking the back roads so he was ahead of us. He told us which roads to take so we could catch up to him. When we caught up with him we followed him all the way to Spanish Fort. We only had a little way to go until we got there. About thirty minutes later we got there. I don't know what time it was when we got there, but it was late.
About a month or two had passed and we packed up and left. There wasn't much traffic but a lot of devastation. The church that we went to was gone. The school that I had gone to for five years was gone. Everything was gone. The one thing that wasn't gone was my home. We lost a few trees but that was okay. My cat was still alive and everyone we knew was still here with us even if they were not in the state.
That is my story of Katrina.

Ashley:
August 28, 2005, my mom woke me up saying, "Pack up anything you can, we're leaving." I didn't know what was going to happen, but I knew that it wasn't good. We left to go to Panama City , Florida . The traffic was unbelievable! Later on that night, my mom woke up crying because the wind was howling like crazy! We turned on the television and found out that they Walmart that was beside our house was gone. The next day, around noon, we went back to the Coast. Everywhere we went there was nothing. My whole family had nothing to say. Our house was gone, our restaurant that my family owned was gone, and my school was badly damaged. By the time school had started a month later we were staying with friends in nearby Biloxi . My school had to share schools with another school. That school and my school had to share the facilities and go on a split shift. I would have to go to school around 12:00 p.m. in the afternoon and end at 5:00 p.m. in the evening. Finally, my school got trailers and we found a house of our own. Also, we found a place to have our new restaurant. So, everything got a lot better eventually. But, it just wasn't the same. I have gotten use to the new life that I have. But, I am so thankful that I still have my wonderful family. No we are doing fine and almost normal.
Katrina was very bad but I am still here!

Ellie:
Hurricane Katrina hit August 29, 2005. It destroyed many things and killed many people. It was the Saturday before Katrina hit and my family had just found out. We had guests come down and stay with us. It was only a category 2, so we were going to stay. My grandparents asked our guest if they were going to leave, but they said they were going to stay during the storm.
That afternoon, my grandparents went and bought three hundred dollars worth of food! By the time they arrived at home, it was getting late, so most of us headed for bed.
Sunday morning, my grandmother woke up aching. She went to lie down on our couch and watch television. In the middle of a movie, she heard a banging at the door. Our next door neighbor, who is a police officer, told her to wake everyone up and start packing. The hurricane had gotten more powerful and was now a category 4. As soon as everyone was up and packed, we headed out the door. We started for Georgia . Usually, it would take us about six to seven hours to get there, but because all of the traffic it took us about twelve hours!

Monday, August 29 soon arrived. Everyone kept their eyes on the Weather Channel, crossing their fingers hoping our house wouldn't get destroyed. We weren't able to get home for two weeks. Finally, we were able to get through and go see how bad everything was.
Downtown Long Beach had totally been destroyed, including my elementary school. When we arrived home, our street looked horrible . I thought we were on the wrong street!
My brother and I went about a month without school Soon, we started sharing a school with Quarles Elementary. They went from 7:30-11:30 and we went from 12:00-5:00.
Once everything started calming down, my school went in trailers and my street was quickly put back together!

Lakelyn:
It was horrible! Everything destroyed. I was in an NASA building when the hurricane started. I saw shingles blowing off, and stop signs looking as if they were going to gly into the window. Water was everywhere where I was. My dad's office was flooded. The whole third floor was flooded, so my family and I, and every other family had to go to the first floor so we would not get wet if the third floor burst. It was crazy. My little sister was so scared she cuddled up to me. When the eye of the storm came over us, things calmed down. I looked out the window and saw debris everywhere. The worst thing was that this whole thing was on the week of my birthday. Do not get me wrong, I still got some presents, but it just was not the same. We brought our dog with us, but some of my grandma's cats died, all but one. What was cool though was that there was a tornado by my dad's office. I made some friends there so that was good. When the storm was over, we went upstairs and saw it was all wet. Some of the tiles looked as if they were going to burst. A lot of kids gathered around on tile just waiting for it to burst, but it never did.
We went home the day after the hurricane, and what a surprise my family and I had when we turned the corner and saw our house still there. Our yard was a mess, but our house was good. A little water came under the door and some shingles were off, but no other damage. Our neighbor's house had a huge hole in the roof over the living room.

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