Recently South Louisiana suffered one of the worst hurricanes in the
last 40 years. On October 3, 2002 Hurricane Lili struck the state and
caused much damage. With high winds and rain, many roofs, homes,
fences and power lines were damaged. One of the hardest things for me
was wondering how my family would come out of this...
Recently South Louisiana suffered one of the worst hurricanes in the
last 40 years. On October 3, 2002 Hurricane Lili struck the state
and caused much damage. With high winds and rain, many roofs,
homes, fences and power lines were damaged. One of the hardest
things for me was wondering how my family would come out of this.
On Wednesday the 2nd, Hurricane Lili was projected to hit the state
with winds in excess of 140 mph. That is enough to tear open most
wooden roofs, and destroy almost all mobile homes. Those of you
who are regular readers know that my son Travis lives in a mobile home
with his mother. This really worried me, as I called all day to
try to find out what they were doing. I left several suggestions,
and asked his mother or him to call me and just let me know that they
had made plans. Needless to say, I heard nothing that day.
Wednesday at noon, October 2; I had taken off of work, and Ilene and I
went around town buying wood, boarding up our house, and filling sand
bags. She really helped with those sand bags. Zac was at his
grandmothers, school let out that day for parents who wanted to leave
the area. Hotel rooms from Opelousas, north into Arkansas were
all booked up. A mass exodus of about 150,000 people was
underway. I would say about 30% of the population chose to
evacuate.
We got our house boarded up, then proceeded to board up my in-laws
house. Again I call for Travis and still no answer. I keep
telling myself that no news is good news. "She must have gotten
out of that trailer I thought." Hopefully I was right. She
evacuated for Hurricane Andrew in the early 90's, so they must be gone
by now. I try the cell phone and pager, no response. "She
must have them off," I thought; but still I am worried.
Wednesday night October 2, 10:30 PM. The wind is blowing, the
rain is starting. I have done everything I can think of to get
ready. I have plenty of batteries for the radio and
flashlights. The cars are full of gas, and we have lots of
snacks. I am holding Shelby watching the news. Channel 10
is predicting a storm surge of 20 to 25 ft. "Ok, I think,
Arnaudville is 31ft above sea level, I wonder what Lafayette is."
The weather man says that the lower part of Lafayette parish could see
a storm surge coming up the Vermilion river. "Great, that puts it
right at our doorstep," I think. We live in the southern part of
the parish.
The weatherman goes on to talk about the winds. Lili is now a
Category 4 Hurricane with winds of over 140mph. Hurricanes only
get up to Category 5. "God is taking aim right at us," I
thought. Just then I hear the doorbell ring and a loud knock at
the door. I know exactly what it is. I go to the door, and
my heart sinks. It is the Sheriff's department. I answer
the door and the K9 officer tells me that they are suggesting an
evacuation of the neighborhood, due to the fact we are so close to the
river. I thank him and tell him good luck. I turn back
towards the living room when I see Ilene coming out of the bedroom.
"Who was that?" She asked.
"Oh, it was just the Sheriff's department," I said.
"The Sheriff!" she exclaimed, "What did they want?"
"They just suggested that we evacuate to another area because we are so
close to the river." Bang, I just realize that I have lit a time
bomb. This is another time my blatant honesty has set off a
panic, or caused me trouble.
"EVACUATE, Oh my God! Where are we going to go?" She is now in a
panic, but soon starts to organize. Baby clothes, formula,
diapers, important papers, all start flying. I am packing both
the car and truck. We will take two vehicles, as the truck can
get around in high water if need be. I tell Zac to pack clothes
for three days, and get himself a book or two to occupy him. The
first thing he packs is his play station.
"How are you going to play that if the power goes out?" I ask.
He thinks for a second and then proceeds to pack it anyway. "I
don't want to loose it," he says. I am in no mood to fight this
out, I just let him bring it.
Wednesday night, 11:25 PM, and all is ready. The winds are now
picking up. The rain is light but steady. I place the last
sandbags in front of the door, as we leave our house of less than a
year. We drive only a few miles up the road to my in-laws
house. Granted, not that far, but away from the river. As I
drive away, I start to pray. I ask God to keep my family safe
first, then our homes. I start to place calls. I try every
number I have. I still get no response. I still have no
idea where Travis is.
Stay tuned around mid month, when I finish this story. Until then, take care and God Bless.
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Derek is President of: <a href="http://www.ladads.org" target="_blank">Louisiana Dads</a> |
