I lived in the City of Chalmette, La. when Katrina arrived. My neighbor/landlord appeared on my front door step at 6:00 AM Sunday morning pleading with me to leave. Chalmette lies below the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans and the only thing that seperated the two is a railroad track that rises maybe 3\' above the highway. After listening to the please of my neighbor I reluctantly packed a few things, made very little preperation for my belongings and left for the North Shore in St. Tammany Parish. I rode out the storm there with some friends and we really didn\'t think that the storm was all that bad having watched most of it from the windows of their house. The next morning we found ourselves stranded. Massive oak and pine tress blocked every access to every road. We spent the next 3 days cutting trees with a hand saw and an axe clearing away just enough area to get by in a p/u truck. My friends went on to Baton Rouge from that point and I went to Houston to my sisters house. 3 weeks later Rita decided to show up and I was off again. I headed for Panama City Beach Florida where some friends were staying and decided to try to get to my house when I went through New Orleans. It was worse than I had ever imagined. EVERYTHING was destroyed. I don\'t believe that an all-out war would have caused as much damage. I did manage to make it to my house but my efforts to retrieve anything were in vain. The house, with the exeption of 1-2\' had gone underwater. No doubt had I stayed I would have been picked off of my roof by rescuers.....or maybe worse. I moved on to Panama City Beach were I stayed for another 2 weeks and then to Tampa Florida to spend some time with my kids. I kept thinking, like most people did, that we were going back home soon. When I got to Tampa it was then, some 8 weeks later, that I realized that home was gone forever and I had to start over from nothing. I decided that I was not going back and that St. Petersburg, Fl. would be my new home. I have been here a little over a year now....I\'m still home sick....I still want to return to New Orleans to visit.