This is Burkett's email some may have missed. Just thought it should be here as well. When he edits for content, I'll update this rough draft.
Freda
Sunday, September 4, 2005
I was too exhausted mentally and physically to write this up yesterday and will probably have to make corrections and additions later once my Buddy Troy reads it and adds his input.Troy Sheppard is a good boating friend that I met when I brought Vagabum home from Washington, D.C. in the summer of 2001. He has since moved to Ft.Lauderdale with his wife Tami. We're very close and visit and talk often.Katrina hit dead center at their marina in Ft. Lauderdale as a Category 1 hurricane about two weeks ago. Tami and Troy rode the storm out fine in their live-aboard Carver without damage although two boathouses sunk in their harbor. I called the day after Katrina passed through to find them Okay and to see what the plan was for his mother who lives in a New Orleans suburb. She had made arrangements early to move inland to a motel in an area that even the worse storms usually didn't reach. As luck would have it, Katrina turned into a category 5 hurricane and then wobbled at the last to hit dead center in her neighborhood of Waveland, Mississippi on Monday morning. Waveland is halfway between New Orleans and the Gulfport/Biloxi area right near the Pearle River that separates Mississippi from Louisiana. Her home was in the first block off the Gulf's beach.Of course we were all watching the television news as the reporters were trying to stand in high winds and report near the beach in various cities along the beach with all the experts trying to guess where it would hit with hundreds of thousands in traffic jams trying to leave the area. As the eye of the storm missed the predicted landfall, New Orleans breathed a sigh of relief as they missed the wind damage of what was to be called the biggest storm on record. It is proving to be America's largest natural disaster in recorded time as the levees broke and filled the city with water. The whole south Mississippi and South Louisiana is under a current mandatory evacuation, which is still in progress.But Troy's e-mail to me from Ft. Lauderdale Tuesday morning bore really bad news. His Mom's motel was probably too close to the center of the storm for it to have survived and his brother, Glen, was trying to ride out the storm at the house. (Troy's disabled Dad died just this past February). Glen stayed at the house to take care of the pets and had made plans to go to the attic with something to chop his way out with if necessary. The previous record storm (Camille) had a surge that made this plan somewhat feasible although Troy had tried to talk him into going to the motel with his Mom as late as10:30 Sunday night to no avail. As the news started arriving at the break of day Monday, no news seemed to becoming from the Waveland area. When news did start coming in, it was not good.Reporters were not able to get to Waveland as bridges were out on all approaches. When reporters were able to start sending information, it was after they spend 17 to 25 hours trying to get to their stations, none of which happened to be Waveland. Helicopter reports on Tuesday eventually said that the water had covered the roof of the Waveland K-Mart, which Troy knew to be across the street from his Mom's motel. To picture the Waveland area, think of avenues parallel to the Gulf, and parallel to the avenues, a railroad track, a highway (Hy90) and Interstate 10.The first avenue is along the beach, the second is a block away with residences on the streets that run perpendicular to these first two avenues.It was in this first block from the Gulf where Troy's Mom lived. The railroad track runs along the side of the 2nd Avenue on the town side. Highway 90 then runs parallel about a mile beyond the railroad tracks and then Interstate 10 runs parallel about 5 miles further north. Highway 90 connects New Orleans east to Waveland, then Gulfport and then Biloxi.Troy took off work from the hospital he and Tami both work at and we talked by phone and e-mail all day and into the night Tuesday and Wednesday sharing whatever information we could find surfing the 24-hour news TV stations. Troy also surfed the Internet, especially the government, disaster relief organizations and chatrooms looking for every smidgen of information anyone had.à He was only hearing that Waveland was inaccessible and that thenews helicopterss were saying that all of Waveland was just gone as in nonexistent. Onn Wednesday, Troy saw helicopter video on a MSNBC newscast. He was ableto pickk out his street but itwouldn'tnâÂÂt have mattered which street as the housesuses were gone in that area between the first two avenues. He thought healso spotted in the video the intersection of Highway 90 and Highway 603/43from the north where the ex-Holiday Inn built in the 70'sâÂÂused to be andwhich his mother was staying at.à MSNBC e-mailed him the footage and heconfirmed about the house but was less certain about the motel. Fox NewsâÂÂGreta van Sustern broadcast a survivor/missing/dead e-mail address and Troyentered his familiesâ names on it in hopes a relief worker was assigned tokeeping the list up to date. As of now, we donâÂÂt believe this is the case.Calls to the Red Cross only resulted in where to send money. We knew that if newscasters couldnâÂÂt get into Waveland, neither couldrescuers.à Troy was anxious to go help himself. All the news stations, all thegovernment personnel interviewed said donâÂÂt go as youâÂÂll be in the way,youâÂÂll have to be rescued yourself, there is no power, no telephone (cell orotherwise), no food, no gas, no drinkable water and no way to communicate toyou that news that your loved one has been found dead or alive. It was allTami and I could do to convince Troy not to go. He was trying to buy asatellite phone, find a helicopter, boat or motorhome he could rent, someonewith an official looking car he could borrow to give him access in. He has aMarine Policeman friend in Ft. Lauderdale that has a Coast Guard helicopterpilot friend that was being deployed to the area on Tuesday who promisedheâÂÂd personally fly over the area and report but we found out Wednesday thathe was too busily engaged pulling people off the rooftops in New Orleansbecause the levees had broken flooding the city. The news started to report that the whole area was to be evacuated, no onewould be allowed back in and that the National Guard was being posted to keepeveryone out that was not with an organized, trained and professional rescueunit. We started trying to see if we could attach ourselves to one of thosebut knew our mission would not be to rescue his Mom and brother but to work atwhatever place we might get assigned. The Wednesday afternoon news was mostly about shootings and looting. It isjust unbelievable that there is a segment of society that is so lawless and sowithout morals that they would spend their time stealing televisions ratherthan trying to help their neighbors or even their own selves. Shepherd Smithon Fox news was just incensed and visibly mad that thousands were congregatedand helpless on I-10 next to the Superdome with no food or water or any ideawhen help might come. (When I turned on the TV after getting home, I saw hewas madder yet as the same people still had no help and several newborns werein the group. Although I watched TV fervently before I left, this incident andother things have made me unable to have it on since. IâÂÂll try to watch itsome tonight).Troy continued to get even more distraught. His 79-year-old mother has a heartcondition that requires daily medication. She had her knee replaced just 3weeks ago and has been hobbling around with a cane.Tami and I have to plead with Troy not to just get in his car and go, althoughwe know there is a point that we should go and that there eventually will be away in although at this point we canâÂÂt find out what is under water, whatbridges and roads are out or whether there is even a rescue attempt being madein the Waveland area.à At 6:50 Thursday morning, Troy sent me the email address of a satellitephotograph of the Waveland area taken by NOAA (a federal government agency).We confirmed again that all that could be seen at the houseâÂÂs address wasthe driveway, but we found that the motel was intact. Since the K-Mart acrossthe street had been covered with water, we knew the reported 32 foot surgeprobably also covered the motel. We had done the math. CamilleâÂÂs surge inthe area was less than 25 feet. Their house sat at an elevation of 18 feet.The railroad was at 28 feet. We hoped that the railroad track had broken thepower of the surge and the mile to the motel dissipated the water to where itwould not move houses and commercial buildings off their foundations. Theunknown had been the wind. We feared the wind had blown the motel away. Thenew photo proved it was still there and therefore tipped the scales for us tobelieve that his Mom might still be alive. We felt certain his brother died inthe house. We made the decision to go. We had been talking logistics since Tuesday. Theplan was for Troy to fly to Nashville and for me to start gathering supplies,mostly fuel, water and food. My first stop was HendersonvilleâÂÂs week oldSuper Wal-Mart. They said they sold all 89 cans the day before to other rescuegroups and that they had heard none were available in town. I called my buddyCaptain D (Darrell Alford). He said come to the farm, heâÂÂd fix me up. When Igot there, he and his friend Harvey had rounded up a 30-gallon and two55-gallon drums. He repaired them and cleaned them while I drove to TractorSupply in Gallatin for a hand-operated drum pump (after finding outHendersonvilleâÂÂs Ace didnâÂÂt have one). When I got back, he lashed them tothe truck bed. I ran by my parents to tell them where I was going so theycould start worrying and praying (and so I could snarf down a meal). I went tomy barn and boat for camping supplies and a bath knowing it may be some timebefore IâÂÂd see another shower.à I âÂÂborrowedâ 4 more gas cans from mymarina pals Val and Bill. They also gave me a 5-gallon container full ofpotable water. I raced toward the airport getting stopped in dead still bumperto bumper traffic. I diverted my truck by another route and found Troy waitingon me at the curb. We went straight to SamâÂÂs and bought over $300 worth ofgas and over $200 of water, food and disinfectant.We then went by my daughter EricaâÂÂs house and collected the items she andher fiancéâ Milan had gathered for us. She is very knowledgeable about suchthings and had a disaster kit for us as well as other items that would provetheir value later.à She is the Executive Assistant to the Army General thatheads up Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA). Luckily she was off fora few hours that morning seeing Milan off back to Iraq. He being a BattalionCommander, he also knew what stuff they could round up in such a short periodof time that might be valuable. The warnings we got from family as well aseveryone else we came into contact with was to watch out for the hooligans whowere looting and stealing at gunpoint. We asked Erica if her boss might giveus some kind of pass to get in. She said sheâÂÂd ask if we really wanted herto but what they had been doing mostly in the 14 hour days they were workingis telling people like us not to go and then having to rescue groups such achurch group from Knoxville that had already gotten themselves isolatedwithout enough food, water or fuel to even help themselves, much less victimsof the storm. We decided it would be best not to alert any government agencyas to what we were doing.à That warning made us stop and buy another $50 offood and to plan on stopping every time we could to keep our truckâÂÂs fueltank at least above half full.We wound up leaving during rush hour traffic and had two close calls fromcrazy drivers passing on the shoulder at incredibly high speed. We wereespecially worried about such idiots since we were driving with what to us wasa nuclear bomb in the bed of the truck.à à Under normal conditions, it would only be a 9-hour drive to Waveland. Theroute is I-65 to Birmingham, then I-59/20 on a Southwest diagonal towards NewOrleans until we hit I-10 just across the Mississippi/Louisiana state linethat runs East-West between New Orleans and Waveland. Troy knows the area andon occasion has taken a more scenic routes through the countryside even thougheven under normal circumstances, it is a slower route. We started seeing the results of KatrinaâÂÂs rampage as we approachedMeridian, Mississippi, which is normally a 3-hour drive north of Waveland. Sowe stopped at Meridian for what we knew would be our last shot at fuel, arestaurant and a working bathroom. We also decided that we would try to nap inwhat was probably a safer area from an attack on our supplies. As we exitedthe interstate, we found that all the gas stations were closed and out of gas.One was open but had the pumps roped off while a truck tanker was fillingtheir tanks. All the station pumps had lines of cars that went way down thestreet, even blocking intersections. Police lights were flashing in severalareas. We pulled behind the station in sight of the highway and tried to napamongst the supplies wedged in the truckâÂÂs cab. After about an hour ofneither of us even momentarily nodding off, I got up to take a walk to the gasstations restroom. Not only was it not working but many that could wait nolonger had used it anyway. I went back to the car and suggested we go aheadand try to get closer so we could still plan on arriving at daybreak. Troyreadily agreed and we took off again.We continuously debated the pros and cons of trying to get through what wouldbe a debris field with missing bridges off the Interstate or going theI-59/I-10 route that we knew was intact but guarded by National Guard underorders to keep us out. We were already leaning toward getting off I-59 beforewe hit the state line when we started seeing signs that said all traffic wouldbe turned back at the state line. So we took the next to the last exit (exit6) and within what would be considered a block started running into thedevastated landscape. Troy had been trying to prepare me as he had seen theeffects of a hurricane before. It was much worse than I had imagined evenwhere we exited over 30 miles north of the impact area. I had been predictingthat the farmers in the area with the typical can-do attitude that farmershave would have already cleared a path through the rubble without waiting onsome government agency getting involved. And we found this to be true althoughit was a very circuitous one-lane route that would go from one side of theroad to the other, even off the road through mud or to the side of a ditchquite often. Trees were simply chain-sawed so a vehicle could pass, many timeswe had to scrape both sides as we wound our way through. I was glad my truckwas old and already beat up. We came upon one bridge that was out but thedetour was well marked, although quite long and at least 45 minutes out of theway. Power lines were down across the road at every house and the poles thatran along the side of the road were either lying in the field or across theroad. Many houses, barns and sheds were demolished and pushed out of the roadwhere they had landed. Trees and tree limbs was the major obstacle. Oftentimes we had to be extremely cautious as the wires were hanging in the roadbut they were usually well marked with rags tied to help you spot them. Whatwould normally have been a 30-minute ride took us 3 hours. We never doubtedthat we would make it through due to the obvious resourcefulness of thoseliving in the area. As we neared the finish of our navigation, we knew the next hurtle would begetting across I-10 without being turned back by the authorities. I told Troythat if I were in charge, I would have let my men sleep through the night asno one would be apt to try to get through in the dark (and in fact, we saw noone on the whole route) and I would post them at the intersection at 4:30a.m., an hour before daybreak. We got there an hour and a-half before daybreakand didnâÂÂt see a soul and cruised right through. The road then turned into a4-lane with hundreds of cars on the shoulder of both sides, in the ditches, inthe median and in the adjacent fields. They all had obviously been under wateras their windows were all steamed up and they were askew in all directions.The ones on the shoulders had been pushed there so we started getting a hintthat some type of rescue units had already been through there.à We had timed our arrival perfectly, other than the fact we knew we would getno sleep. Our anxiety had peaked. We were so close but so far away fromknowing when we would know anything other than at this point we had seen nosign of life, human or otherwise. We felt the chances of finding Glen alive orhis body were slim as the house had apparently been blown to smithereensaccording to the satellite photos and because Troy had talked to him on thephone at 10:30 the night before the storm hit while he was still in the house.In trying to offer as much hope as I could muster, I told Troy I was takingbets we would find her in room 208 of the Coast Inn (a former Holiday Innbuilt in the 1970âÂÂs) since her room was 108 and she would have simply walkedup the steps if the water started rising. But from the sights we were seeing,water didnâÂÂt just rise as it did in New Orleans. It came in like a TsunamiTidal Wave very quickly with enough destructive force to knock down houses,buildings and trees. Troy had been comfortable with her staying at this motela mile north of the railroad barrier but we were seeing first hand how wrongwe were. We decided we would spend the last hour before daylight in the motel parkinglot rather than disturbing anyone who might be recovering from a lack ofsleep. As we entered the parking lot, cars again were all askew and steamedup. It looked like a bombed out war refugee camp.à We drove up to the buildingin the first spot we could wiggle our truck to and saw people awake standingon the second floor balcony. Before either of us could even shut the truckdoors, Troy was naming and describing his Mom. The answer made us both almostcollapse beside the truck, âÂÂYes, if sheâÂÂs who we think you are describingshe left here with her son and two dogs yesterdayâÂÂ. Fearing the worse, buthoping for the best, we started believing that they both might be alive. Butwhere did they go? What kind of condition were they in? How would we findthem? We knew that our first stop would be whatever was being used as ahospital with the next stop whatever official shelter might exist. In the lastfew blocks before reaching Highway 90, we had been seeing lots of police carsrunning at a high rate of speed with their blue lights flashing interspersedwith ambulances racing with their red light flashing as well. We still had afear of being accosted and run out of town so we did not plan on seeking thehelp of authorities until we had to. Further questioning of others at themotel led us to believe that Mrs. Sheppard and Glen were in fact who we werelooking for, that she had bunked in with the managerâÂÂs mother inroomâÂÂ208âÂÂ. Those there said they had gone to the Motel Glen had beenmanaging to find a better and less crowded shelter.à Troy knew the motel wasonly about a mile east down highway 90 and had even stayed there in pastyears. (In fact, IâÂÂll have to ask Troy, but I believe it is where I met upwith the family and guests when I went to Tami and TroyâÂÂs wedding 3 yearsago). We got back on the highway trying not to draw the attention of the police whowere relentlessly speeding up and down the highway. But the area was sodevastated; we couldnâÂÂt find the motel. We drove all the way to the knockedout Bay St. Louis Bridge about two miles away and then back and forth severaltimes without seeing a landmark that would help us find it. We decided to stopat what appeared to be an EMT station as there were several ambulances aroundand several EMT guys standing as if they were gathering for the dayâÂÂs work.Before I even stopped the truck, Troy was telling them what our mission wasand the motel we were looking for. Unfortunately, it had been sold severaltimes in the last few years and the name was no longer the same and the EMTcrew was obviously not from the area. Finally, one guy asked if it might bethe Studio Inn and Troy knew that was it. It was absolutely right next door towhere we stopped but was unrecognizable. The EMTâÂÂs warned us in a veryserious and somber tone to be careful and try not to get shot as looters hadbeen very active.à We had to go back onto the highway to get into the drivewayof the motel but our hopes fell immediately. There was no sign of life like wehad seen at the Coast Inn. (We found out later that the motel had been sold onthe Friday before the storm hit on Monday and was in the process of changinghands). We saw two cars parked near the back and drove to them. Troy noticed aguy sleeping on the walk in between one of the rooms and the cars and woke himup asking if he had seen a couple of our description. Groggily he said no, butmaybe yesterday someone was here looking for an inhabitable room. With ourspirits dropping but at least with the exciting news that they both were mostprobably alive, we decided to just park in the driveway until daylight out ofsight of the police cars but where anyone coming or going would not only seeus but we would see them.à We scouted the motelâÂÂs office with the flashlight from the disaster kit,finding that it had been looted, filled the truck up with some of the gas webrought and took the opportunity to make use of the toilet paper and shovel webrought in the event weâÂÂd need them. As the dawn started breaking, wedecided to knock on all the upstairs doors. As Troy started at one end, firstwith soft knocking, then louder with shouts and the shining of the flashlightinto the rooms, I stood in the parking lot walking a little behind in casesomeone came to one of the doors.à Troy said the rooms were destroyed and Ithen noticed that the roofing tiles were missing off most of the building. AsTroy rounded the end of the building to go to the other side having had noluck at all, I again asked the guy we woke up if he had seen the 70ish ladywith a 50ish son with two dogs the day before. He asked for me to describe theman as someone close to fitting the more detailed description had stopped bythe day before but left for âÂÂover thereâ as he kinda gestured in thedirection of the front of the motel.à I couldnâÂÂt describe Glen and holleredfor Troy who came back around with a description. The guy then said the fellahad said he had been the manager of the motel. We knew then we were on thetrail and had to get better information as to where âÂÂover thereâ was. Hestood up and came further out into the parking lot and said, âÂÂThat motelover there across the streetâÂÂ. We quickly loaded in the truck and raced asfast as we dared to where the guy better pointed. Again we only found two cars in the parking lot, neither looking operable. Asgot out of the truck, we saw someone stand up from one of the balconies. Wecould see he had been sleeping there.à After we explained who we were lookingfor, the man said only one other room was being used and pointed to where adoor was propped open with a chair on the balcony of another section of themotel. Troy started yelling, âÂÂGlen. Ma. Glen. Maâ as he walked in thedirection the man had pointed. Without hearing a clear anything but a sleepymale voice, Troy bounded up the steps with me right behind him. As I reachedthe balcony and turned the corner, I knew we had succeeded. Troy and Glen (whoonly a towel wrapped around him) were hugging and crying and praising God, andexclaiming the wonder of him being alive all at the same time and I heard afemale voice from inside the room asking if it was Troy and saying calmly,âÂÂI knew he would find usâÂÂ. Troy quickly entered the room and repeated thecrying and hugging on the bed that his Mom was still in. The reunion of reliefcouldnâÂÂt possibly be described accurately by me, but just imagine the joyand tears if it had been you finding that not only that the probably dead butdefinitely lost-for-4 days loved one had been found alive and in good enoughhealth to be in a motel room. We found out that they had had their first hot meal since Sunday the daybefore and that it was an MRE (Military Ready to Eat) that Glen had found at ashelter he had found within walking distance of their new abode. Glen had alsosought out and found a tetanus shot for the scratch he received in his escapeand another shot for dizziness with black spots before his eyes he hadencountered the day before. Glen had also tried to walk back to the Sheppardhouse but had been turned back by the police. We told them to pack up as we were leaving as soon as we could distribute thesupplies we brought starting with the man who directed us to their room. Wefound out that they were actually the owners of the Key West Motel and thatwere a family from India and that they normally lived there so had plenty offood but were most appreciative of the gas and water we left them. They haddecided to give up the motel business and go home as soon as they could. Wepumped and also left gas for a guy camping out next door in a liquor storethat had been repairing his old, non-computerized car that he felt would startthis morning and who was planning on taking Mrs. Sheppard and Glen to Jackson,Mississippi later in the morning, assuming his car would start and he couldfind enough uncontaminated fuel. The motel owner suggested we try the K-martparking lot as he had heard a large refugee camp was there. We left all thedisinfectant we brought with the group that had babies and left a largeportion of the bottled water and food with them as well. I also gave them twoof the three ice chests I had brought as we were hearing that relief teamswere expected that would hopefully bring ice with them. We distributed most ofthe rest of the food and water to other groups scattered throughout the rubbleand then left with 2 of the 15 cases of water still left and some food andeating utensils. We soon found a church that had been flooded but whereseveral families had camped out. Everyone we encountered was unbelievablyneedful but appreciative. We remembered to gather names and phone numbers ofrelatives we could call on behalf of some of those at the church when we couldget back into a cell phone service area which was no closer than Meridian 3hours north.Mrs. Sheppard and Glen didnâÂÂt have much to pack when we got back. The motelowner gave us a dry mattress for us to make a pallet for Glen in the bed ofthe pickup and we headed out. We quickly decided at the request of all theSheppards to try and see the house site before we left what was left of thetown. Having lost everything, even the smallest momento would have lots offuture meaning.à We still feared being run off, as Glen had been only the daybefore. Upon arriving, we found the area already looked much different than wehad seen in the satellite photos. Heavy equipment was clearing roads bybasically shoving the rubble up in the nearest yard. IâÂÂm sure youâÂÂve seenby now pictures of totally trashed areas. All the blocks on the Gulf side ofthe railroad were completely demolished. Furniture, household items and bitsof houses were strawn all about. They recognized the roof of their house in aneighborâÂÂs yard by a bit of decoration on the eve. Several houses includingtheirs had a big red X painted on it. Supposedly, the X marked the spot whereeither a body had been discovered or by the code around the X indicated hadalready been removed. Mrs. Sheppard stayed in the truck but as we three gotout, Glen started calling, âÂÂMoo, Moo. Moo, MooâÂÂ. Troy explained that Glenhad left his 24-year-old bird in the house in its cage. Almost immediately,Glen recognized the birds chirping. He climbed over the rubble and through themud until he was standing on the roof of the house that was sitting on theground. He looked around for a way to get in or a way to break in to thecavity the sounds were coming from but had to give up after 20 minutes or so. He realized there was no hope, knew the bird would die a slow death and wasvery remorseful that he didnâÂÂt think to let him out during his narrow escapefrom his own death.We then went to the next street where Mrs. SheppardâÂÂs brother had a housethat backed up to hers. Glen walked down to its site and found it to be rubbleonly also. (Several Sheppard relatives lived in Waveland and in the NewOrleans area. Several she knew were safe because they had either left orcalled Troy, but there are other friends, neighbors and relatives she fearssheâÂÂll never know about). Mrs. Sheppard pointed out a two-story house that was still standing on theother side of the railroad tracks that wound up being important in GlenâÂÂssurvival.The railroad track bed had washed out in several places and the rails were alltwisted almost like pretzels.à It was interesting to know that the directionof the washed out areas was toward the beach indicating that a large part ofthe damage to the area came from the water rushing back to the sea. We all didget a laugh as I reflexively stopped and looked both ways for a train as weheaded to the Coast Inn to pick up more of Mrs. Sheppards things.à At themotel, Troy and I went up to room 208 to thank them for accommodating Mrs.Sheppard and to pick up her waterlogged suitcase and her file box containingher house deed, proof of insurance and other valuable papers that also gotsoaked due to her fast exit out of room 108. As we left town at 8:00 a.m. Friday just a little more than 3 hours afterarriving, we decided to go by Interstate as the worse the authorities couldtell us was to get out of there. The one-way route we had come by wouldprobably prove to be very difficult with daylight traffic not only present butwith cars, trucks and tractors trying to go both ways with very few placesvehicles could pass one another.We traveled 3 hours to the Nashville side of Meridian where our cell phonesstarted working. We called our family and others and soon spotted a CrackerBarrel that had a parking lot full of cars. We stopped for what was going tobe a welcome meal for all of us and for our first chance to hear Glen's storyof survival.Troy and I had heard Mrs. SheppardâÂÂs in the truck cab during the ride toMeridian.à We had been stopping often to check on Glen in the back and totrade up driving duties, as we had not slept since we went to bed Wednesdaynight. She had also begged Glen to stay with her at the motel, but he wasdetermined to stay in her house and take care of his two dogs and bird withthe tools he stashed to get out with if necessary. Mrs. Sheppard and the other residents watched as the water at first just creptacross the way spilling into the courtyard swimming pool. They then watched itfill the pool, then cover the pool, then creep right up to the doors of thefirst floor at which time the first floor residents started evacuating to thesecond floor. As the water was not rising very fast, Mrs. Sheppard told themen that were assisting those needing help up the stairs to not forget her butthat she was going to get her belongings and go to the bathroom one more timefirst. They said they would be back for her as soon as they got back from thenext load.à The water was lapping at her ankles as she went to the bathroom,but by the time she came back out, the water was up her legs and by the timethe men were assisting her out, it was up to her shoulders. She only had timeto grab her purse having to leave everything else behind (She did have someoneretrieve it all once the water went down). As we neared the restaurant, shebegan fretting about her hair, about having not had a bath in a week and thatshe had on the same dress she had put on Sunday when she checked into themotel. We reassured her that her hair looked like teenagers who wear theirsnaturally and that we didnâÂÂt smell a thing and that we werenâÂÂt going to bethe first refugees who have stopped there for something to eat.Once we all got settled in after bathroom breaks and ordering, Glen startedhis story. The water had come up so fast that everything was floating, therefrigerator, the freezer, the furniture, even the car and the table that heldhis tools all laid out dumping them to where he couldnâÂÂt find them whichproved to be a real stroke of luck.à As the water continued to rise he tookhimself and the animals to the attic. When the water got almost to the top ofthe living quarter doors, he knew it was his only chance to get out, as he hadno tools to break out with later. So he put on his life jacket (backwards, hefound out later causing some real problems with staying upright in the water)and came down out of the attic holding Happy (a beagle) and carrying Pinky (aminiature dachshund). But he found the water so high that he could not getPinkyâÂÂs cage that floated pushed down into the water far enough to get itunder the doors. He found the cage latch too stubborn to open so he just torethe door off it and held Pinky close to his chest while also trying to holdHappy. He got to the little Coleman blow-up raft that he had stashed if heneeded it but found that the water was already so high he couldnâÂÂt get itout of the house either. In his struggles in finding a route out he kicked outthe screen from around one of the posts of Mrs. SheppardâÂÂs new screened inporch (worrying that she was going to be upset at him for doing so) so hecould wrap his legs around it. As he struggled to get outside, the first thinghe saw was a whole telephone pole flying through the air in an uprightposition but with the direction of the flying pole being absolutelyhorizontal. He said it was wobbling like they might show as a special effectin the movies.à As he struggled to get the dogs and himself into the raft thathe had wrestled outside, something punctured one of the two air chambers. Hehad it tied to his leg so he wouldnâÂÂt lose it but soon found himself sinkingdeep into the water. He had to let Happy go, but he clung to Pinky until theysurfaced. He saw Happy being swept away and heard him whining for a long timeafter he had had to let him go. Glen said he couldnâÂÂt remember holding hisbreath and didnâÂÂt know dogs could but he does remember something floatingunder his feet that he could push on with his feet until he surfaced. The raftthen got totally away and he felt himself being swept along in the watertoward the railroad tracks. Somewhere along the way he was able to semi climbonto a wall of someoneâÂÂs house that was floating by and the current thentook him over the railroad tracks and then wedged him up against some trees inthe yard of a two story house that was still standing. The houseâÂÂsresidents, who were on the 2nd floor, tried to reach him to pull him to safetybut couldnâÂÂt. After being stranded for about three hours, the water reverseditself and started going back to the sea. The neighbors were able to grab himand pull him to safety. These neighbors had a large place as they raisedminiature horses. (They did lose two of them). The water then quickly recededenough that Glen could walk around. The neighbor who had pulled him to safetyshowed him how he could cross back over the tracks and as an emergency workerhimself knew that many people that survive such a disaster often die in theaftermath not know where the gullyâÂÂs and creeks are in a strange areafalling into them and drowning.à As Glen found his way back over the tracks,he knew Happy was a goner as the last he saw and heard him was his whining along way off. But as he stood in the road just looking at the devastation, hesaw a speck move in the distance and called out HappyâÂÂs name several timesand sure enough, Happy came running into GlenâÂÂs arms. Pinky, who usuallyjust snaps at Happy, was so excited, he couldnâÂÂt stop licking and kissingHappy all over. After being reunited with what was left of his immediate family (Glen issingle), he started trying to find his way to the Coach Inn.à He later figuredout he had to go about 7 miles to get one mile. After a lot of walking andmaking his way to highway 90, a car amazingly came along and took him the restof the way. When he arrived, Mrs. Sheppard said to her new neighbors, âÂÂSee,I told you Glen would be O.K. and be here soon and Troy will be here to get usas soon as he can. There was no place for Glen to spend the night in themotel, so he climbed into Mrs. SheppardâÂÂs water-logged Pontiac Aztec tosleep through the night as best he could. The Aztec had already been lootedand had two cars perched at odd angles on top of it. Mrs. Sheppard said the hardest part of the whole deal was having to watch thebodies that were being recovered being stacked in the area beside the motel inplain view of the motelâÂÂs occupants. She said each day the area would havebeen cleared of the bodies brought in the day before and that she didnâÂÂtknow where they had been taken. They were recovering the bodies in asystematic way. The first day was for bodies found in trees and ditches inview of the general public and those more easily found and recovered.à Shesaid she had no idea how many bodies she had seen deposited there but that itseemed like thousands. As we continued on our trek home, Glen continued saying he and the dogs werecomfortable with their mattress, umbrella and plenty of water. Friday was aterribly hot and humid day. My trucks A/C causes the truck to overheat, so wedidnâÂÂt use it at all on the way down and comforted ourselves byrationalizing that we needed to get used to the heat anyway as we had no ideahow long weâÂÂd be down there.à But on the way back, we really needed it forMrs. SheppardâÂÂs sake, so we would run it for 10 minutes, then let the truckcool down for another 10 and then turn it back on for another 10 and so on. Wepassed lots of caravans going down to help. Military units, Tree surgeonunits, Fire and police vehicles, and just groups of cars that were obviouslytogether and trying to stay together. There was not much traffic going our wayuntil we got to the Mississippi/Alabama State line.à After lots of rest,refueling stops and a bad Alabama car wreck that caused a monstrous trafficjam, we arrived at my parents at 7:30 p.m. We had called ahead and Mother hadgathered up several changes of clothes for Mrs. Sheppard. When we reached myparentâÂÂs house, Troy and I figured we had left Nashville 26 and a-half hoursago and not slept in 38. Mother and Daddy had also prepared cold drinks andfood, but we only had time for a couple of quick pictures that IâÂÂll try toe-mail out tomorrow as they still had another hour and a half to go beforethey could reach their destination in Clarksville. Troy still had to drop meoff at my office building where I had left my Jeep. They were going to borrowmy truck for a few days until they can make other transportation arrangements.I not only had some dishes and tableware there I was able to give them so theyhad something to eat out of, but I also had a painting Mrs. Sheppard had givenme after I admired it so profusely when I was in Waveland for TroyâÂÂs andTamiâÂÂs wedding. ItâÂÂs probably going to be one of the few personal itemssheâÂÂll be able to reclaim from family and friends (one of which IâÂÂm proudto be one of). As they were leaving Hendersonville, it was dark and startingto get cold. Glen assured me he was going to be alright with the blanketsErica had sent with us we had planned to camp with if we got stuck down there.Glen was unusually quiet however, and I asked if he were O.K. He said it wasall starting to hit him and he had actually been crying.Tami has a house she lived in before her marriage to Troy that her son hadbeen living in but he had recently moved out and they had just recentlyfinished cleaning the house and putting it on the market for rent. Mrs.Sheppard and Glen decided to live there until they can decide their next move.Although Glen was set to be the manager for the new owners of the Studio Inn,the motel is shot and even if it werenâÂÂt there would be no one to stay therefor a long time. Mrs. Sheppard says she does not plan on rebuilding inWaveland, but would consider moving to Ft. Lauderdale but will stay inClarksville until she can put her life back together.à I talked to Troy at about 9:30 Friday night. They had had baths and were justsitting down to eat. Everyone was in fine spirits. They will be all right.
