Alice T: "I was left there for a reason, to help out."

by Ben Greenberg

DSCN1158, originally uploaded by BenTG.

On January 27, I talked to Alice T about her experiences during Hurricane Katrina. We were in her FEMA trailer, adjacent to her East Biloxi home on Anglada St. Alice T is 54 years old and will turn 55 in February. She is disabled and unable to work.

That mornin' we got up and ate breakfast and everythin'. I think about 8:00, 9:00, somethin' like that, I was sittin' in the livin' room watchin' the television and we were watchin' the news and the children and Jennifer and the other sister they was in the dinin' room and talkin', lookin' out the window. I was still sittin' the den—me and the children. They was lookin' out the window and they was seein' people goin' and after a while I heard them say about the water, was risin' up.

I was still sittin' there just as calm, watchin' television, and I was hearin' em say the water's risin' up. And then I heard them say the car is movin'. I still never had got up to hear nothin' or see what was goin' on. And after a while when they said, your car is floatin' down the street. And my neighbors, they was wadin' in the water tryin' to get somewhere.

After a while there was a big boom. The pressure had busted the back door open. Then that's when we jumped up and started runnin'. The water rushed in fast. The children was screamin' cause they panicked. But we got up and started walkin' around and tryin' to see what to do.

The children was screamin' and we was calmin' them down, sayin' it was gonna be alright, everythin' was gonna be alright. After a while we heard the water was risen' up. Pastor B, she said let's go up in the attic. So we got tables and chairs, 'cause we didn't have no way to climb up. Didn't have a ladder.

Jeremy he got up there first cause he was the strongest one, the lightest one, the smallest one. He's a teenager. He's 18. He jumped up there, got in the chair, pulled the door open, and climbed up in there. And we got all the children up first. Set em up in there, told them to sit on the frame up there in the attic. Got all of the children up there first. And then I said, put me up there so I can help with the children. So they pulled me up and then they pulled Pastor B up. About time they got Pastor B up there, the ceilin' part had collapsed. About five of em fell down. The three month old and one five year old and two year old, I think or somethin' like that, but about five of em.

And then they fell down into the water and the water was just like half way above their [the adults'] knees. Jeremy, when they fell, he jumped down and helped find the children. So they got the children up, and the baby was just as calm. She never cried or never nothin' any. That was just a miracle.

And so Pastor B was sittin' down, and then she got, she had slipped down but grabbed on to the frame there. And then I was the only one still up there, so they was passin' me the children up in there. And I tried to set up, and I told em sit on this wood, do not sit in the middle, cause it just like cushion in between, insulation. So we got em all back there and we pulled Pastor B up. And everybody sittin' around.

We got all the children up so we started pullin' up the other adults. Connie, Jennifer and them. We pulled em up and we all got em all up in the attic. By the time we got all way up there, water was about six feet. The water was still risen' up there. And we stayed up in that attic I think about six hours.

If we had panicked, I think we wouldn't have made it. We all worked as a team. I thank God for that. We sat up there in that attic six hours. That wind, that storm, it seemed like it lasted for like fourteen hours before it settled down. About 4:00 or 5:00 [Monday evening] or somethin' like that we finally got down out of the attic. The water went down slow, real slow.

The baby got sick, she got a little fever. She still, she was just calm and everythin'. She didn't cry. She just coughed, just a little bit. They took her to the hospital. They pumped her and give her a shot and everythin'. But if you see her right today, you never thought anythin' happened to her.

I was more scared for other people than myself. To me I thought I was left there for a reason, to help out. I'm glad I was there.

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1/30/2006 10:06:00 PM