I will never forget the night before we decided to evacuate for Katrina. Never before had my family evacuated for a hurricane, like many other locals. We went to the Winn Dixie on Jefferson Ave. and got groceries to stock the fridge for the week. My mom worked night shifts in the ER downtown, so we planned on staying in New Orleans until the morning of August 28, approximately 18 hours prior to landfall. That morning, after she got off, we decided it was in our family\'s best interest to evacuate to Baton Rouge for a few days. I took the evacuation so lightly I only brought two extra shirts and some underwear. I remember the chevron by my house was out of gas, as well as every other gas station in the area. We left on half a tank of gas around 11:30 am. I will never forget the worst decision made of the day - rather than take the contraflow lanes on the interstate, my mom opted to take Airline Highway the entire way. It took 11 and a half hours, running on fumes, to make it to my sisters apartment in Brightside. I remember the waves of downpours we experienced on the ride. Despite the 16 people staying in the 3 bedroom condo, I remember celebrating our arrival. It was a hurricane party, until we awoke 6 hours later to the destruction that would affect our lives forever.