December 21, 2008

• Hurricane Katrina

  Recently, Sam was asked to write a small human interest story for his company's newsletter.  I wanted to post it here -- how Hurricane Katrina intersected with our lives.

  Here's his piece:

  Born and raised in the New Orleans area, I lived there for over 2 decades.  New Orleans was my home. Things changed though when Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005. Natives of New Orleans are quite accustomed to riding out hurricanes, as they typically come and go with just a little damage. But this one was different. Sitting in traffic on the highway to leave town, I was shocked to hear the mayor give a stern warning to all the residents of the area, urging every single person to evacuate because Katrina would be a very destructive storm.  He predicted that the water pumps that pump water out of the city would certainly fail and that there would be extensive flooding.  But I don’t think anyone could’ve imagined then the magnitude of devastation which the storm would bring.

  Heeding the mayor, my parents, brother, and I packed up a few essentials and evacuated to north Louisiana. The worst had happened. Two levees were breached, spewing water into the “water bowl” that we call New Orleans. The power was out. Plumbing was stopped. Cell phone towers were down. Anarchy was on the streets. People who stayed behind were without food and water, and some were stranded by the rising waters.

  The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was unbelievable. Words cannot describe how heartbreaking it was to see my hometown and all the places I grew up in brought to ruin, with roofs blown off, windows broken, and water damage everywhere because of the floodwaters. It was so surreal and humbling.

  Everything in the area was closed down for months.  Lack of running water, electricity, and food meant that New Orleanians were unable to return to their homes for several weeks.  For our family, it was two long months before we set foot across our threshold again.  Amazingly, our house was left standing! The floodwaters didn’t make its way into our home.  We felt awed and blessed.

  However, with New Orleans’ slow and gloomy outlook for rebuilding, my family decided to relocate to D.  I didn’t move with them though.  Just a few months prior to Katrina, I had been developing a romantic interest with an amazing woman from SD. I became acquainted with her after providentially coming across her web blog journal.  We realized that we had some mutual friends; and after countless emails, chats, and phone calls, we became interested in each other. Through amazing turns of events, we discovered that we are made of the same stuff – so alike in heart and similar in dreams.  Before Katrina, we were already talking about being in the same place so that we would no longer have to be in a long-distance relationship.  So as my parents packed everything to move to D, I packed everything and headed for sunny SD -- with nothing but the promise of love waiting for me.

  Arriving in SD, I had no place to live, no car, no job and no friends (except for my sweetie).  But everything fell into place quickly.  One of those things was my job.  One day during the week of Thanksgiving 2005, I received a call from a temp agency.  They had a temp job for me to help a company in its transition into the company that just acquired it. Several months later, I was given a permanent, salaried position with the acquiring company. And a few months after that, I married the beautiful woman who is now my wife.

  As I reflect on my journey, I am amazed by how life can play out.  One moment, you could be in the darkest valley, and the next, you are lifted up and set high upon a rock.  I am so thankful that everything worked out so well – simply, perfectly, divinely ordained.  I am a truly blessed Cajun Asian SD-egan.

  -Sam

  • 1:38 am
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