My family and I evacuated days before Katrina to avoid traffic jams. We left with just a few amount of clothes because we thought it would be just one of those evacuations that lasted only 2-3 days. I didn\'t think anything bad will actually happen. We left to Baton Rouge first because that was always the first City to head to because some of our relatives reside there. The house was just too pack. My family is already large; the house had other families living there. So, my brother drove down from Dallas, TX, to pick me and my 4 sisters up. When the news came that New Orleans was flooded and damaged, I was scared. I was scared that my neighborhood was one of them. Luckily, it was safe. My sister\'s boyfriend was in the Coast Guards and had to stay back in the city to \"baby sit.\" He flew over our neighborhood to make sure there were no wind damage.\r\n\r\nMy brother decided to put my sister, Hanh, and I in school for the time being. I HATED IT!! It was just so different from my N.O. high school, Edna Karr. The majority of the race was Caucasion; opposite of Karr. The school was humongous; I\'d always get lost. The classes I were in were moving to fast. I really felt like the outcast. But going back to the day my brother was handling school papers in the office, I turned around and saw a familiar face walking towards us. IT WAS ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS! I jumped straight up and ran towards him with joyful tears! During the time, we couldn\'t get in touch with anyone through our phones. We didn\'t know where any of our friends were. Well, we only lasted there for a good 3 days. I couldn\'t take it anymore. I had to withdraw.\r\n\r\nWhen it was time to go back home in October, my family left ASAP. I remember on the way back, we seen nothing but Army cars driving pass, waving at us. When we finally got to our neighborhood, we drove around just to see if anyone else came back. But it was empty, with an exception of dogs and cats. The city had an irritable odor that I couldn\'t take. So, when we came in the house, we saw that the walls were molded, only because we had leakage from the ceiling. Other than that, we had no damage. THANK GOD! Time passed and everyone started to come back. It\'s been 5 years now, and things are still progressing.\r\n\r\nI just want to thank God, for protecting my family. And, I pray that nothing like Katrina will happen again.