My alarm was set for 5 AM. My computer was turned on to WWL-TV and glued to the National Weather Service radar, watch Katrina’s eye tear up the Louisiana coastline. My TV tuned to CNN. The WWL-TV stream was very choppy as the website was experiencing heavy demand so I tuned to WDSU.
And then I started blogging. Everything I heard on WDSU and CNN, I immediate blogged it. And this went on until 10AM and I had to quit as I was exausted.
When I woke up (around three or four PM), a helicopter was en-route to New Orleans, providing a live TV feed to every outlet in the world. While flying over Jefferson parish, I could identify all the landmarks in the area. Loyola Blvd., the Best Buy on Vets Blvd. The first scene of major destruction that I saw was the destruction to the front entrance of Target in Metairie.
The helicopter flew towards downtown New Orleans and the world got the first view of the rusty roof of the Louisiana Superdome and every window blown out at the Hyatt hotel next door. Norman Roberson was visible shaken by how much damage the hotel experienced.
It then flew to the lakefront as the Southern Yacht club was burning to the ground. We also got a glance at the massive flooding in the Lakeview and it was unbelievable. Flood waters were as high as the traffic light, about 10 to 15 feet. And while the flooding was extreme in the Lakeview area, the rest of the city looked like it escaped major damaged. The national media were already calling it; that the city “dodged a bullet”
It was impossible to contact my parents as all phone lines into the 504 area code were destroyed. I did send text messages to them but since my parents were technology-impaired, they did not get the message.
I had a night class to attend and it was the first day of school, something that I could not miss. Before class started, I tried to use my Hibernia bank card at McDonald’s in Plano. It did not work. Luckly, I had a local bank account with money in it to buy dinner. I had KRLD radio 1040AM to see if anything new was coming out of New Orleans.
The class that I registered for was canceled for the semester without any notification. The main culprit: low enrollment. While driving home, a squall line from Katrina moved up Central expressway; producing pounding rains and strong winds. The winds were so intense that my truck bounced left to right while sitting at a traffic light.
I went home and tried to continuing blogging, trying to get as much information from the Mississippi Gulf Coast and Plaquemines parish as there wasn’t a lot of information coming from those regions.
I had WWL-TV on the background and the mayor was on TV. The only thing I remember hearing was the twin spans, Interstate 10 that connects Slidell to New Orleans over Lake Pontchartrain, was completely destroyed. What I did not hear was the following:
I stayed up until midnight getting as much information as I could and blogged it. I went to bed feeling heart broken and sadden by the past 24 hours but with the feeling that the worst was over.
Or so I thought.
August 11, 2005. I had just moved to new apartment in McKinney, TX so I can be closer to school. Two of my friends from high school came up with the idea of starting a technology news-related website as well as a podcast. The name was chosen, Control Alt Delete, and the website was under construction.
Two weeks later, the website was ready and we were preparing to do our first podcast.
And then Hurricane Katrina formed before going ashore in South Florida.
Saturday, August 27, 2005
In the early morning hours, I was working on my website that will easily allow me to update the situation going on in New Orleans. I had WWL-TV streaming in the background. Suddenly, anchor Bill Capo comes into the studio and announced something that took my by surprise.
“Pressure has dropped from 930 millibars to 903 millibars, meaning that the storm is going through intense strengthening”
The next morning, Hurricane Katrina became a category 5 storm with winds of 165 MPH. I had WDSU-TV because they were the only station that was streaming their wall-to-wall coverage while the other stations were not. Many radio stations in New Orleans were not streaming over the Internet, including WWL radio.
While watching I10 convert to contra-flow to accommodate heavy congestion, Margaret Orr was becoming a little hysterical but was able to remain calm during the weather segments. A one point she did say on the air that Katrina could have sustain winds of 190MPH, which never occurred. I stopped watching because I had to prepare my apartment in the event that unexpected guests were to come over.
My parents called sometime between 1 and 3PM, saying the house was boarded up, RV and cars packed and they were on the road, heading to Houston, Tex. with my grandmother and dog. My mother describe the scene unfolding in St. Charles parish. The emergency sirens blasting every hour over hour. Firetrucks, lights and sirens blaring, rolling down every street in the neighborhood; looking for people that were not leaving and convince them to leave the parish.
The message was clear: if you’re staying, you will be annoyed.
I tried to relaxed that night by watching a NASCAR race. My parents wanted to keep them informed but a busy signal was always greeted when I called them. I did send text messages to them but my mom didn’t know what a text message was at the time.
Even with a boring race, I kept WWL-TV on in my computer room as it was next to the living room. That night, former mayor C. Ray Nagin told WWL-TV that he had a talk from former National Hurricane Center directory Max Mayfield and was so scared by his dire predictions in the next 24 – 48 hours that he will announce a mandatory evacuation for Orleans parish, something that has never happened before.
But by then it was too late.
Sunday, August 28, 2005
The family evacuation party of three plus a dog arrived in Houston in the early morning hours. My website was complete and I was blogging from afar about the situation in New Orleans.
I could not talk much to my parents as all lines to the 504 area code were jammed and all I got was a busy signal.
The storm was still a category 5 with landfall at Grand Isle, La. If the track stayed on that course, my parents’ home as well as New Orleans would be under 30ft of water.
As the evacuation of the city continued, the media was also evacuating the city as well. WWL-TV was moving to the LSU campus, WDSU-TV to Jackson, Miss., WVUE-TV to Mobile, Ala. and WGNO-TV to Baton Rouge. WGNO was first station to shut down operations from their broadcast facilities in the New Orleans Centre and partner with Baton Rouge ABC affiliate, WBRZ. WDSU was in the process of moving to Hearst-sister station WAPT-TV in Jackson, Miss. When the station was shut down and moving to Jackson, Miss., another Heart-owned station stepped in to fill the void. WESH-TV from Orlando, Fla.
All day I was in a daze. I still had family members that were unaccounted for and had no idea if those members left or stayed. I preyed that they left New Orleans.
The Superdome had opened as shelter of last resort and early estimates indicate that 10,000 people took shelter inside the dome. At the same time, the outerbands of Katrina were hitting New Orleans, knocking out power and flooding city streets. WWL-TV had changed the tone of their music for the commercial breaks to a a very-low key brass guitar, death is coming with a drumbeat tone.
No matter where I was, I was in formed. The TV was tuned to CNN during the daytime and WWL radio on at night until a squall line killed the signal. When I lost WWL radio, I went to bed; not knowing if tomorrow I would see my city drown to death.
President Obama welcomes the New Orleans Saints at the White House to celebrate the team’s victory in the Super Bowl. Only for today, the White House will be known today as the Black & Gold House.
I wish Mortal Kombat had a super-easy mode because I could never accomplish a ‘fatality’ and I always got eliminated in the second round. Also, my favorite part is Duck Hut.
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