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IN THE GLOAMING
I have lived with Hurricanes for all my seventy-eight years. I watched from the porch on Water Streetin in Biloxi, as the 1947 storm washed away the Greyhound Bus Station. Hurricanes, until Camile were taken pretty much in stride and she was the worst until Katrina struck with vengeance.
My husband Harry and I did not want our daughter Beth to be alone in Bay St. Louis, so we made the usual preparations. We left food and water in the loft of the bam, for the six outside cats and four goats. We put our photos and a few treasures in the car and headed for the Bay.
We knew it was bad when the huge trees around the house were uprooted and fell like bombs, the rain came in screaming,
with horizontal sheets and then.............came the water. Our
fifty seventh wedding anniversary was spent in the attic on DeMontluzin Avenue, with our daughter, three cats and two dogs. We watched in horror as the water rose, when the ceiling began to give way beneath us all we could do is stay perched on the rafters and hold our pets. After what seemed an eternity, mercifully the water began to recede. We realized that everything below us was destroyed, but we were alive with a new appreciation for life.
The Churches were the first to arrive with blessed water and food. They were true “Imitations of Christ”. After five days, our son Michael was finally able to make his way through to us, not knowing if we were dead or alive. He took us back to Pearlington to check on our home. What we found there was total, absolute destruction. Our whole little town was gone.