I am still at UNO since the storm, and I live in Destrehan. My family and I evacuated on Saturday August 27, 2005 by a St. Charles parish mandatory evacuation. I helped my family, my girlfriend\'s family, and my grandfather, clean up and prepare for the storm and the evacuation. I left with my girlfriend and her family and we stayed in Lakeland for about three to four weeks until we were able to return home and start the clean up or rebuilding process. My parents and grandfather went to Alexandria with my grandmother who was evacuated from a Jefferson parish nursing home the day before Katrina hit. \r\nI remember last year was the beginning of my sophomore or second year at UNO. I was excited about starting the new school year, and I did not even think too much about the Hurricane season. I really did not want to evacuate for Katrina because everything happened so fast and I was not prepared for the worst. I only grabbed a few days worth of clothes because I thought we were going to return home soon after evacuating just like the past few seasons. I also remember praying as the storm approached and I started realizing that this was a huge storm and I was glad to be in a safe place. I woke up early on Monday morning and I turned on the news channels to see the storm and it was just making landfall around 3 A.M. to 6 A.M. Later that morning, we lost power in the area of Lakeland for a few days and once it came back we were all glued to the TV to see the damage and devestation from Katrina. It was horrible and scary to see all the places that I remember growing up in and seeing every day. Fortunately, when we returned home there was not any significant damage to the house, but there was roof damage, fence damage, and some tree damage. My father and I climbed on the roof and put a blue tarp up, we took down the fence, cleaned up around the house and the street, which was covered with debris, and also helped neighbors who were returning home. I eventually got back on track with school and work and my life, but it took some time and a lot of prayers. I, and probably everyone else from the Gulf Coast region, will never forget about that experience for the rest of my life.