Hurricane Katrina crisis reaches NDNU staff members
The flood waters have reached their front doors of Beth Prejean and Loretta Canto-Williams
Caitlin Brown
Issue date: 9/29/05 Section: News
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As a native from Baton-Rouge, La., Prejean, had grown up around the affected area and still had a few members of her family living in Mandeville when the hurricane struck on Aug. 29. It wasn't until Sept. 11 that she heard from the members of her family.
"It was frightening not to know what happened to my relatives. Many of them were distant cousins and the hurricane has given us a chance to come together as a family again," said Prejean.
By the time Hurricane Katrina reached shore, it was labeled a category 4 hurricane with winds reaching up to 140 m.p.h. While the wind and rain created its fair share of ruin to homes and cities, it was the levee break that caused the most destruction. Breaking in three different places, the levees allowed water from the nearby Lake Pontchartrain to flood into the city of New Orleans.
Many of Prejean's friends from the area, with whom she has kept in constant contact with through e-mails, have reported to her of the water damage to their homes and communities.
The French Quarter is the only place that is still there," said Prejean, "and that's only because it wasn't below sea level."
A few days before the storm struck, the city of New Orleans and many of the surrounding cities were placed under a mandatory evacuation. Canto-Williams's daughter, Miqaela, a junior at Xavier University in Louisiana, was one of the people evacuated. Leaving her apartment on Aug. 26, Miqaela traveled through Mississippi before ending her journey in Memphis, Tenn. During these moves, Miqaela was trying to reach her mother in Belmont.
"This all occurred during registration confirmation," said Canto-Williams, "She kept trying to reach me, but there was always really bad reception. It was very unnerving."
Many of Miqaela's fellow students at the university stayed, under the assumption that they could ride out the hurricane. After the storm had passed, many of these students found themselves stuck on campus.
"She was very worried about her friends that had stayed," said Canto-Williams, "Many of them had believed that it wouldn't be as bad as it was."
When Canto-Williams finally was able to travel to Louisiana to meet her daughter, they returned to Miqaela's apartment to survey the damage. Living on the third floor of the building, the apartment had escaped much of the flood damage, which had only reached the second floor. However, the apartment had not escaped the hurricane and its force. The storm had caused the ceiling to cave in and much of her room was destroyed.
"Her room was really quite a sight to see," said Canto-Williams.
While helping her daughter, Canto-Williams was also able to catch a glimpse of the city itself.
"It was depressing to go and actually see the devastation," said Canto-Williams, "It was just like on the news. There wasn't a difference between the two."
After packing the rest of her belongings, Miqaela returned to California. She hopes to return to school in the spring when Xavier plans to reopen its doors.
It has been a few weeks since Hurricane Katrina and it is already being labeled as the most expensive and destructive hurricane to hit the United States. The cost is already in the billions.