Survival

By Ginny W., Age 16

Not long ago I was a carefree high school freshmen, worrying if I would be ok in high school. The day before Katrina seemed like any other, except my mom had such sadness I won't ever forget it. It had started like any other hurricane prep day. We put the large plywood board over the window, and headed to my aunt's house in Baton Rouge. We threw a few changes of clothes and some flashlights and water in the car. The usual 1 hour drive took 6.

By Kara B., Age 17

By Katie L., Age 17

I could barely see the boy for the deafening dim that echoed in the recently re-modeled gym. Toying with the red band the woman had snapped around my wrist, I did my best to keep my eyes on this stranger, ignoring everything else that had happened in the past few days. He seemed to be around my age, but without my contacts in I couldn’t be too sure. The boy was lying on his stomach on his cot, his head dropping over the end of the mattress his feet should’ve been on. Another boy – his brother, maybe – kneeled on the floor beside him; they were talking.

By Anna L.

Hi, my name is Anna L. I would like to tell you my story of how I survived Hurricane Katrina and how I overcame my worst fears. It was a regular day in New Orleans, when I heard about Hurricane Katrina. The night before, I spent the night at my best friend’s house and we were planning to go to Six Flags the next day. We woke up and started talking about the rides and how much fun we were going to have when Ivy’s mom came into the room and announced we wouldn’t be going.