[sneakkitty]

I was reading the funny stories thread and happened to notice your tags say you live in New Orleans. Are you there now? What has your experience with Katrina been like? Obviously you are safe.. if you can post here you are alot better off than what I am seeing on the news. Do you have any first-person accounts to share?

 

[RAVBABY]

This is RAVBABY checking in. Me and my entire family are safe in Las Vegas. We are staying with relatives. This has been one nightmare of an experience! I was on the team that stayed with the patients at Memorial Medical Center where I work. We got though the hurricane okay , just a few broken windows. Then the morning after the hurricane passed the levees broke and the flood water rose very quickly. It got so high that we were unable to get more fuel for the emergency generators and we lost all power. The hospital called the gov for help evacuating the patients and the employees and was told we were on our own! Imagine that! Thank god the coporate office for our hospital was able to get helicopters for the patients and air boats for the employees and their families. Once my family and I were boated out we were sent to the Convention Center. I wont describe to you what went on there , but all the news reports are very accurate. We stayed there until fri when the military finally got serious about evacuating the people. We were taken by chopper to Louis Armstong airport, and
put on a plane. We werent told where we were going until the plane was in the air. They flew us to Salt Lake city Utah, to a military base named Camp Williams. Every one was so nice! They gave us clothes, meals , real beds to sleep in. I really want to show my appreciation to the people of Salt Lake City! From there we caught a plane to Las Vegas and here we will stay until we decide what to do. I left my Rav4 on the 6th floor of the parking garage at my hospital . I hope to god the looters didnt get it! Every one in my family lost everything, so I'm hoping at least to be able to get my Rav4 when the waters go done. If its gone I'll definitly get another one . Everyone please keep all the hurricane victims in your thoughts and prayers!

 

[sneakkitty]

Wow!
Thank you so much for sharing your story!
We see so many stories on the news that have been built up for ratings that it can be hard to believe everything you see/read.
It is terribly sad to see what has happened to the Gulf Coast and even worse to know that the 'sensational' stories aren't really that rare.
I wondered why so many people didn't evacuate but your story brought a new perspective to what I've been thinking. I hadn't thought about the number of people/families who couldn't evacuate because they were nurses/doctors/medical personel.
On behalf of everyone you were able to care for thank you for staying. And now I'm very glad that you and your family are safe.

If you are able to share more in the coming days I don't know how many others here will read this thread but I would appreciate anything else you decide to post.

Again, thank you!

 

[zoomie]

wow, that's awesome hearing a first hand story. thanks so much for sharing. i know it must not be easy. As someone who's gone through the tragedy, what perspective of the media do you think is accurate? is it really chaos there? people getting raped and killed? people really unwilling to leave? seniors were left to die as medical help left? did firemen really loot too?

 

[RAVBABY]

There was no help at all at the convetion center. They just kept bringing people in and leaving. When I was first told we were being evaced there I was sure the red cross or someone would be there to help. But no one was there. The only time we saw the police is when someone shot a gun , otherwise we were on our own. I flagged police car down and told the officer that my 72 year old mother was a diabetic and needed help or she would die. He said all emts had been evaced out of the city and there was nothing he could do. Thank god I met up with some other relatives who had some food and water. A lot of the men who had families there got together and went upstaires in the convention center and broke into the kitchens and storerooms and brought down food and water and all kinds of drinks. We all scrounged around for stuff and we all shared. When the storerooms went empty, they went to the nearby hotels. People would come driving by in trucks handing out food, juice,milk, water. If it was't for them , lot more people would have died from dehydration. The worst thing I saw was 3 diffrent people dying from lack of medical care. They also dumped a lot ofelderly people who had no one to care for them.I cried for them.I could not help because of my mother, her wheelchair bound sister, my elderly uncle, his son, and my 9 year old son were all depending on me. The area of the convention center that we were in was more calm , so I saw no shootings or rapes, but they did occur. It was the worst eperience of my life.

 

[zoomie]

congratulations....

...congrats for making it through. I can't say i know how you feel, but i can imagine the intense tragedy. Being responsible for so many loved ones definitely has a toll on your body emotionally and physically. I'm happy or you that everything is getting better. It's depressing to see that people would take advantage of others in the most horrific ways, but hearing your story of people handing out food balances it out and i'm thankful that people out there are willing to help others around them.

Rest well, and best of luck with everything.

 

[Tanya]

RAVBABY Im glad to hear you and your family are well....
christ I hope that no one will have to endure that all again,
or even at all....

 

[SZRimaging]

RavBaby,

Thank you for sharing your experiences here. I would like to express, as I am sure everyone else does, our deepest sympthys for you (and your poor rav :wink: ) I can't even begin to fathom what you have just gone through. I also, as a member of the US community, would like to thank you for staying committed in the face of such adversity. It is that kind of dedication to your job/patients/family that we need in this country. Not looters, not money hungry, and trigger happy governments, not media outlets sensationlizing every last details, and not a bunch of people arguing over the word refugee. We need real people, like you, who did something to make a difference. And we, as a community, must do everything that we can to help our community survive. And with people like you sharing the stories, it will be an inspiration to our testemants as human beings, not just americans, but as citzens of the world.

 

[Marcutio]

My wife and I read your accounts of those days and are in awe. We are glad that you survived it and hope you will be able to rebuild your life. Your good deeds won't go unnoticed it may take a while but we believe all good deeds come back to you three fold.

Wish you the best. M.

 

[peterpogi2005]

sad to see that only times like these bring out the best... and worst in people..

we have had a few typhoons that caused damage, death, and destruction here.. but not on such a grand scale as in new orleans.

ravbaby, may god bless you, your family and friends.