Hurricane Katrina definitely had a major impact on my life. My house was not damaged as much as those who lost everything; however, I was still affected in many ways. My house only received a few inches of water, just enough to ruin all of the flooring. When the hurricane had first arrived, my family and I were not quite prepared. The weekend the hurricane was spotted, my family and I had taken a trip to Biloxi for my dad’s birthday. The Sunday morning before the hurricane hit the gulf coast, we were forced to flee our hotel and get away from the coast. Unfortunately, we were not allowed back to our house in New Orleans because the city was under a mandatory evacuation. Luckily, my grandfather lived in Ocean Springs, just a few miles from where my family and I were vacationing. My family and I decided to ride out the hurricane in Ocean Springs. However, this was not the smartest decision of all. Thankfully, my grandfather lived on a hill so we were not flooded. After the wind and rain had passed, my mom, brother, and I decided to take a walk in the area to see the damages. This was an extremely horrifying sight for us. All of the houses in the neighborhood were torn apart, and there was debris everywhere in the street. There was a bayou across the street behind the houses. The hurricane caused the water to rise and flow right through the houses. There were people who once had a house but seven hours later were homeless. I was very fortunate through this event. After, my family and I decided we could not stay here because there was no electricity nor did we have much food. My parents decided the only way we could go was east. Needless to say, we ended up in a condo on the beach for a week before we tried to head home. Since we were under martial law, we were not allowed in the city. My aunt lives in Houma, so we decided to turn around and stay there until we were allowed back home. I ended up living with my aunt for almost a month and attended Vandebilt High School. I made lots of new friends and so many memories. I was actually sad to leave when Rummel decided to open up a transition school. However, I was so glad to be back at home surrounded by my schoolmates. The best part of all was Mount Carmel finally opening in January. I was able to once again be back at my school. Hurricane Katrina was a bitter sweet time of my life. It has left me with many memories that I will never forget.