Hurrican Katrina found us on the Gulf of Mexico in Florida where we had been vacationing just prior to the storm. Saturday Aug. 27 my husband and I drove from Destin Florida to New Orleans to secure our property and get our cats. We made the decision to return to Destin and left Sunday morning at 6:30am. We checked back in at Sea Oats motel only to be told a few hours later that an evacuation had been ordered for residents directly on the Gulf as Katrina made a slight turn to the east. After reloading the car, we headed farther east towards Panama City where we found a place on the beach with a tiny kitchen. \r\n\r\nKatrina hit the next morning. The surf really pounded the beach leaving me to wonder that New Orleans had to be taking it hard. It rained sporadically , but the wind made walking on the beach difficult. After a worrisome night, we saw on TV the next day the corner shopping center at Paris Ave. and Robert E. Lee Blvd. completely submerged. At that poing we knew we lost everything and shock set in. I barely remember the next 2 days other than sitting in the car listening to WWL radio, desparate to get news from the city. We headed back to Sea Oats motel in Destin where we spent the next 6 weeks. \r\n\r\nSometime in the second week of October we decided to enter the city though our zip code was off limits to residents. But no one stopped us. Interstate 10 coming in from the east was eeire with no cars. Our first stop, oddly, was the French Quarter. My culinary tour business is dependent on the Quarter and I wanted to see first hand that it survived. Then we headed to our house in Gentilly. I remember seeing \"help us\" spray painted on the on-ramp to I-10 at Orleans Ave. It made me cry. \r\n\r\nOur house looked okay from the outside but everything inside was turned upside down. Almost. The smell stung my eyes and throat, even with a mask on. The beautiful live oak was on the roof. But whole eggs lay on the kitchen floor. The city officially put our water level at 7.5 feet. For over 2 weeks everything in our lives soaked in saltwater. The smell and the mold overwhelmed us.\r\n\r\nHad the levees not breached I would still have my deceased son\'s books. Photos and family heirlooms are now gone. Grief and anger are not new to me, but this was so completely unnecessary. This is my home, where I was born, and I will help New Orleans move forward.