I remember waking up to find out that Hurricane Katrina was indeed going to be some kind of threat to our city. I dialed the phone number to my house, since I slept out at cousin\'s house, to see if my parents were planning on evacuating. My mom was still sleeping. It seemed my family was immune to the idea of what this kind of storm could do to our city. I drove home hoping that I could convince them that this storm was serious, as I do with any other storm. \r\n\r\nAt 10 PM the Saturday before Hurricane Katrina hit is when my family made the decision to hit the road. Fortunately, we were able to find a Motel 6 in Huntsville, TX, a place we would call home for many weeks to come. Right outside our motel room was the circus of the whole hotel, the swimming pool. Every night I\'d fall asleep to the ranting and yelling of kids and adults of all ages. Our motel rooms, two rooms, were crowded each occupying 4 people and a two-week-old baby. Yes, my beautiful niece had just made her appearance at home only a week and half prior to us evacuating to Texas, which I am very thankful about. \r\n\r\nAfter my family heard the news about the devastation that took place in New Orleans during and after Hurricane Katrina, my parents told my sister that she, her husband, and my beautiful niece should move to Las Vegas, NV to an apartment that her mother-in-law had arranged for them to move. I was devastated. The thought of my sister and her baby moving away from me threw me into despair. I had never been away from my parents or my sister, and now I was expected to say goodbye to one of my best friends and that little girl who affected me so much in only a couple of weeks. Needless to say, I decided to go with her. I didn\'t know how we would do it, but I was going to live with my sister, Justin, and Emily. \r\n\r\nWhen we arrived in Las Vegas, I felt a lot better about the move. The neighborhood houses all fit together nicely, and even though it did feel like there was ice in the pool, it was refreshing. It was an escape away from the reality we were forced to face because of Hurricane Katrina. The house we were staying in was a decent house. The living room opened up into the dining room, and the kitchen was spacious and comfortable. The one complaint I have is that the air was so dry; it was like I had a fan blowing into my open mouth all day. \r\n\r\nIt had been about three weeks when Justin decided that he didn\'t want to stay in Las Vegas. It was one of the happiest days of my life. I remember calling my mom and dad to tell them that we were coming home. It took us about five days to drive from Las Vegas to New Orleans. I remember driving on the interstate looking at building just demolished by the winds of Katrina. They had random items held in storage facilities on the side of the interstate and huge gapes in the building. I was shocked. I knew the facts from the news, but seeing these things first hand really upset me out. When I got to Elmwood/Harahan, there were tree branches and trees uprooted in the neighborhood. A house down the street had a hole that you could fit a car inside. I know that New Orleans damage was much more devastating than my little neighborhood in Harahan, but this was unreal to me. Watching the news, everything was kind of like a dream, but it was reality. Our new fence and pool were damaged because of our neighbor\'s tree. Fortunately, that was the brunt of it all. My cousin\'s house, which I was staying right before Katrina, was two blocks off of the break in the canal, so their house was totally destroyed. I have seen how hard it was for them to start over and rebuild their lives. The events that took place during and after Katrina helped our family grow closer together and learn the importance of our family.\r\n