Hurricane Katrina formed near the Bahamas on Tuesday, 23 August 2005 and made landfall on Monday, 29 August 2005. I remember driving home to Simpsonville, South Carolina from Fort Campbell, Kentucky to spend one last weekend with my family before deploying for the first time to Iraq. I listened the entire trip home over XM Satellite radio to the preparations and the warnings and the analysis that proceeds many storms. However, there was an extra dose of urgency for people to evacuate and the seek shelter, as I remember the storm was increasing in strength to a level five hurricane.
As I spent the weekend at home, I occasionally heard different reports regarding Katrina. As the weekend ended and I said good-bye to my two children, Monica and I travelled back to Fort Campbell for her to see me off. Hurricane Katrina had downgraded to a Category 3 and the threat was reducing as it approached the Gulf Coast. Without paying much attention to the storm, I went along with my life of saying good-bye to Monica and boarding the plane.
Our unit flew to Kuwait through the night and next day, and I began to hear more and more about the storm. I remember watching coverage in the DFAC of the rescues and the pleas for help. This was still a time before Facebook, before iPads, and internet was still somewhat new. I watched the storm unfold while I was putting together a new life while deployed in Kuwait—preparing to go “North” to Iraq.
This is what I remember most about the storm. I remember that while the Gulf Coast was dealing with flooding, rescues, and refugees; I was dealing with what it meant to deploy and what it mean to be separated for a longtime from my family. I was experiencing two big crises happening at the same time. It is always strange to think of one moment outside of the other because both are so intertwined.
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Photo: Wikipedia/NASA