With Katrina’s eye set on New Orleans, many storm-weary residents commenced plans to evacuate. Those with the means began filling their cars with gas, and booking hotel rooms in Baton Rouge and other surrounding areas. Those who opted to “ride-out” the storm, hit the stores to stock up on food, water, batteries and other items deemed necessary for storm survival. I still live with my parents, and my mother is a \"I\'ve been ready since June\" person, so there was no need to run out for anything, other than ensuring that all of our vehicles were on full. Up until January, my mother was a general manager of a hotel in the French Quarter, so when there was a\r\nhurricane threat, we would evacuate to the hotel. This was no longer the case, and with the horror of Katrina imminent, I was ready to go! My dad was reluctant to leave for the simple fact that he wanted to \"protect\" the house, and his business. My mother, being the ever-supportive wife, was preparing to stay with him, I on the other hand began checking Sunday flight departures. Problems arose when my mother said she wanted us to stay together, so I waited. I called my best friend, and she like me, simply was not in the mood to evacuate; we did not feel like packing, or traveling. It was like we had so much else to do, that this was such an inconvenience. A few minutes later, my phone began to ring ridiculously, as friends and family called to see what our plans were. This would make me even more nervous about the approaching storm. I went back to my computer, and before I knew it, my $341.00 round trip ticket to Chicago had gone up to $650.00 in a matter of two hours. Needless to say, I reluctantly stayed with my family. Meanwhile, the interstate was packed with people trying to get out! Somehow I managed to sleep that night.\r\n\r\nI awoke Sunday morning, and everything was quite. I live in Algiers, and my\r\nneighborhood is usually quite, but that morning there was something eerie about it. I was still nervous and wanted to evacuate, but my mom was still set on staying put. We were watching the news, and when Mayor Nagin finally called for a mandatory evacuation, that\'s when my mom\r\ngot scared! Almost instantly, she became a nervous wreck, and began packing up the house. Although this situation was not funny in the least, I had to laugh. As the storm neared, the Superdome was opened to anyone seeking shelter from Katrina. Meanwhile, in just over three hours, we had loaded up the cars, and with no exact destination in site- hit the road. The traffic was incredible. For miles, there were vehicles filled with people from every walk of life trying to escape harms way. Five hours later, we were in Amite, Louisiana, a small town in Tangipohoa Parish, settling in to weather the storm with my grandparents. As did most evacuees, we thought we would only be gone for a few days, little did we know what was in store. \r\n\r\nWhen we awoke Monday morning, not only did we find no electricity, but also reports\r\nthat Katrina had made landfall overnight, and the city of New Orleans was already in shambles. Among the first reports out of New Orleans was that the roof of the Superdome, had been severely damaged. I also remember hearing stories of levee breaches and the Causeway being underwater- extremely crazy, unbelievable events. Several of these reports conflicted, and were later found only to be rumor. As the winds around us calmed, and Katrina slowly went away, those first reports of levee breaches turned into headlines. That night, Mayor Nagin went on WWL radio, and reported that efforts to plug the main breach at the Seventeeth Street canal had\r\nfailed, and an additional eight to ten feet of water was to enter the city overnight. It was then, that many New Orleanians realized what was initially thought to be a three to four day inconvenience, was now a lasting nightmare. In addition to the Seventeenth street breach that devastated Lakeview, there were levees broken at London Avenue, which left much of Gentilly underwater, and at the Industrial Canal, that literally drowned the ninth ward. By Tuesday, the media was in overdrive; news crews from across the nation were in New Orleans reporting stories of breaches, flooding, looting, people on roof-tops needing to be rescued- all around destruction and chaos. Still without electricity, we relied in a battery powered television for news, and every time I heard people calling in about families trapped inside their flooding homes, my heart broke. The immediate after effects of Katrina for me, were extremely surreal. It was not until that Thursday, when I heard reports of people stuck in the Convention Center being subjected to abuse and held at gun point, along with widespread looting, that it all hit me. Reality sank in; my life as I knew it would never be the same! New Orleans, the culturally rich city in which I grew up, was gone. My family and friends were now scattered in different places, and with cell phone service in complete disarray, it was hard for many people to get in contact with loved ones, as I was unsure of when I would ever see them again. Just one week earlier, school had begun, and I was excited, simply because I was graduating this fall; life was good! And almost instantly, everything was upside down; as many in the Katrina impacted areas stood, wondering- what to do next? In the days and weeks following the Katrina disaster, news headlines turned from the storm itself, to her aftermath. Questions began to swarm as to what went wrong? Why in such a wealthy nation like the United States are there individuals starving, and dying, while waiting for help to arrive? Almost instantly, the powers that be began to point fingers, each blaming the other. It would be fair to say that they all, Mayor Nagin, Governor Blanco, as well as President Bush, all share the blame, maybe not equally, but all have a portion. \r\n\r\nIt was about a month later, that citizens were allowed to return home, and since we live in Algiers, we were among the first let back in. We had actually returned two weeks earlier just before Rita, to collect a few things we wished we had gotten before we originally left. I remember seeing military Humvees driving down the street, and military helicopters flying above. I had never been in a war zone, but I think I now have a sense of what it is like. We returned home to find our back fence blown down, and a small patch on the roof gone, but that was it. Many of my family and friends had lost everything! While I was in the country, my cell phone service was nonexistent, but when I got back into New Orleans, I had a signal, and was able to communicate with my friends. It was then that I heard their Katrina stories; some boring like mine (they got out before the storm, and watched or heard it all unfold through the media), and others that were interesting to say the least. One of my friends was in the Superdome for five days, and got bused to Oklahoma. My hairstylist was among those on the bridge for three days waiting to get rescued, along with two of my uncles. I have been home for a month now, and my life still does not resemble normalcy. School has begun, but my friends are not around, and my six-days a week on campus are no more. Although life is slowly starting to return to New Orleans, there remains so much to be done. We all have experienced a traumatic event, but we need to rebuild our home; at this point, New Orleans will be only what we make it!