Such a fun story we tell during Christmas time. It's the season we all look forward to. Stories of family shenanigans are told as the patriarch cuts the ham or turkey. We laugh and usually keep a dry eye.
But we live in Southeast Louisiana and Christmas isn't the time of year for story telling. Our stories come from the summers where we fear hurricanes and floods. Sometimes we laugh at how incredulous the situation we were in was. Sometimes we shed a tear as we remember coming home from an evacuation and seeing a line left by water above our doorknobs or from seeing boats and cars flipped over in the middle of the road. Our anxiety rises every August and September as hurricane season peaks and we wait for the dreaded news that a new system has or is forming in the Gulf and we wait with anticipation for its name.
7 years ago the Lord told me to go to Baton Rouge. I would go to school and develop who I was and the love and experiences I had there would influence who I was to become when I moved back home to New Orleans. I fell in love with Baton Rouge. That city enveloped my heart and infused itself into my soul.
Now I have to watch it flood. I have to try and contact my best friends daily to see if they're standing or swimming. It's terrifying.
Unlike Katrina and other hurricanes, this time we didn't have notice. We usually can watch and wait to see what will happen, but a serious low pressure system sat about my heart city and dumped over 20" of water in less than 48 hours causing all the rivers near by and in surrounding cities to rise quickly past their flood stage and out into the cities, neighborhoods, streets, businesses...everything.
It was like Katrina part two, but sudden and unexpected. This flooding has brought back so many memories and anxiety for those of us who experienced Katrina.
During any severe flooding crisis, we lose touch with family members and loved ones. Cell phones were just emerging in 2005 for Katrina and every now and then a text would go through and we'd know someone we cared about was okay. Today it's the same thing, but nothing is going through. Thankfully wi-fi is a thing now and Facebook is a new communication for us.
Every time I see the pictures of the waters surrounded my old stomping grounds of my heart city, my eyes burn and my heart aches. Every time a friend posts a picture of the water coming into their house or of floating furniture, my gut clenches. All the same feelings I felt as I got an email from a friend letting me know they were okay in 2005.
During Katrina, we didn't have any of this. The not knowing was the worst part, and today knowing is the worst part.
Living in Southeast Louisiana is usually full of laughter, snowballs, good food, late nights, and friends we haven't met yet.
I can't explain to those that have not experienced a hurricane like Katrina why every time I see pictures of my heart city I fight back tears. Sure this isn't our first rodeo, but that doesn't make this any easier. Water is a beautiful power we have here on earth. It can heal and it provides sustenance for all life. But then it can always wash away roads in a matter of minutes, infiltrate homes and mold sheet rock one inch of water at a time causing massive damage to homes. Not just houses, homes.
Pray for Baton Rouge. Pray for all the people that have to do this again but in a city they had moved to to escape devastation from in the first place eleven years ago. Pray for the first time home owners and the newly weds that will lose their wedding memorabilia because the water came in and they tried to put it on top the stove but the water kept rising. Pray for the people stuck on the roads and spending the time in their cars waiting for rescue because there's water in every direction. Pray for the waters to recede. Pray for a few days without any rain. Pray. Just pray.
It's like our hearts wither as the water rises. We are helpless, yet not hopeless. Keep praying. Keep believing. We did it once with the help of our dear Baton Rouge, and New Orleans will help Baton Rouge to have hope and believe. We will rebuild.
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