Hurricane Katrina, August 2005

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Shan's e-mail address is: samemmom@hotmail.com

The following was written by Shan's father, Bill Kelly, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina (9/3/05).

Shan and Emmy live in Gulfport, MS, right in the path of Hurricane Katrina. Shan works at the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Gulfport as a Nurse Manager. Because of her job responsibilities, Shan was called into work as Hurricane Katrina approached the Gulf Coast. Emmy, a senior in high school, went to the retirement home with her for the duration of the storm since there was no one who could stay with her at home. Shan and Emmy have several cats and dogs (and a bird) that they had to leave at home with food and water.

A short digression – Shan and Emmy live in Gulfport about seven miles in from the Gulf beaches just north of Interstate 10. They hoped their home would not be exposed to flooding (no guarantees of course) but were very concerned about damage from the high winds and debris.

It turns out the retirement home is only a half mile from the beach but the “experts” said it was on high ground (27 feet above sea level) and predicted it would be okay. The building is an eleven story structure that rode out previous storms and hurricanes. The folks in charge decided it was safe enough for the residents to stay and not evacuate. In fact, one of the TV reporters from the Weather Channel broadcast from the Home before and during the storm.

As you know, Katrina turned out to be a lot more than people expected. Shan somehow managed to get a call out the day after the storm passed to say they were all right but shaken and tired. In spite of the belief that the Home would weather the storm (no pun intended), in fact, the storm surge exceeded their 27 feet above sea level and actually flooded the first and second floors of the building. The winds did additional damage. Shan’s car, parked in the parking lot, was a total loss.

The next day, federal authorities evacuated all of the residents and the medical staff was released. Shan and Emmy found a way to get back home worried about what they would find. God must have smiled on them. Although their home sustained roof damage, the fence was blown down as well as most of the trees, and there was no power or phone service, otherwise it was okay. Most important, all of the pets were okay, albeit very traumatized.

Cheryl and I talked to Shan this morning (her phone service is back on). They are “hanging in there”. They tell us there are a lot of National Guard folks, local police, and utility people all over the area. They are optimistic things will begin to get better soon even though today there is no power and the daytime temperature is expected to be over 100 degrees. The good news is that they are all alive and well.

Thought you would like to hear.

Bill

The following was written two days later

Update – Things have improved for Shan and Emmy. Not only do they have phone service, they also have power as of yesterday. That means they now have air conditioning and hot showers . . . they are thrilled! Now it’s clean up, fix, and repair time. Things definitely are getting better!

Shan's car (grey) was totalled in the flooding. (Photo sent by Bill Kelly).