Katrina continues

We had told Don that he could stay and Herb wasn't planning on evacuating. Sara said that she never leaves for hurricanes. They were ready for the storm. Everything at the office was prepared for the storm. Flashlights, radios, a small TV, water, and plenty of gasoline.

I met Lisa at the house and made spaghetti for dinner. I had just gone to the grocery store two days before and purchased a large amount of perishable food items, so I was really hoping for little or no time without power. Lisa did not want to evacuate without me. We fought again about this. She said I was a fool not to go with her. She also said if I didn't go that she wasn't leaving either. I told her that I would agree to her staying if the 4am NHC prediction moved Katrina away from us. Otherwise I would physically make her leave the area. We went to bed after looking at the 10pm prediction, which still had Katrina coming in as a Cat 3 in the Gulfport/Bay St Louis area. I had packed Lisa's car with some clothes and my PS2 and a few pics and CDs I didn't want to stay here. Lisa had a partner at Starbucks that was going to possibly evacuate with her. I was supposed to call my mom and let her know that Lisa and this girl might be coming. Mom wasn't too thrilled considering my brother's big wedding was supposed to take place Sept 10, but in the end she agreed. I thought that the girl was Danny, a girl that we both liked. Little did I know I was very wrong. We set the alarm for 6am so we could get up and check the website.

Our alarm went off and I got the laptop and pulled up the website. I remember the sick feeling I felt in my stomach. It was a category 5 and headed right for us. I woke Lisa up and told her she had to leave and soon because there was no way in the world I would let her stay. Once again, she asked me to come to and I explained I couldn't. She asked if I would at least leave the city and go somewhere and I did agree to think about it. She told me that if I did not leave, she would never speak to me again. I didn't believe her, she was just scared and unsure what would happen to us and our things. She called the girl and made arrangements to go get her. Then she told me the girl was a different girl than I thought, a girl named Jennifer that I didn't know at all and that the girl had a child. Great, I remember thinking, my mom is going to kill me. I loaded her and the dog up. I put my bridesmaid dress for my brother's wedding in Lisa's trunk at the last minute because I was unsure of whether I should leave it in the house. I tried to kiss her goodbye, but she was mad at me for staying and did not let me. I watched her drive away around 715am and sat on my porch steps. I was terrified about what would happen, but I had a job to do and I was going to stay until I was told to leave.

Continued...