Samantha Lanza\r\n9/12/06\r\n\r\n Katrina, Katrina, Katrina, what a tough situation. I barely watched the news, so I had no idea of Katrina until a couple days before she hit. I knew it was serious when my mom was planning on leaving. Unfortunately, she waited until a day before. It was my mother, grandmother, uncle, my shitzu Mandy, and I. We all squeezed into my little 1991 Mazda, and left for Mississippi. We looked for a hotel to stay in, but because we left so late there were no available hotels. My grandmother is very old, so we couldn\'t drive much longer!\r\n My uncle found a church shelter in Mississippi for us to stay in a few nights. I was so embarrassed, scared, upset, every emotion possible. The power went out as Katrina hit Louisiana and Mississippi. After Katrina hit they told us what happened to Louisiana. It was terrible, and I was in denial. I was trying to get my family to go back home. I did not want to believe it. It was my senior year, and I had just made Dance Team Captain. After the shock wore off I tried to deal with it, and just hoped for the best. During the month of September my family and I stayed in Houston, Texas where my aunt lives. I would cry almost everyday. I was constantly watching the news, and looking on the Internet trying to find any information about Louisiana and when we could go back. One day as I was searching on the Internet I saw it said East Jefferson High School is reopening on October 3rd. I was beyond excited, so we left about two weeks before the opening of my school. As we drove back to good old Lafreniere Street I saw that our house had nothing more than fence damage. I was very happy to be home. \r\n