I was a sophmore at Mount Carmel Academy when the hurricane hit New Orleans. We had only been in school for a week and my birthday was a few days before. No one took the warning of Hurricane Katrina as seriously as we should have. I have live in New Orleans my whole life and never experienced a hurricane or tragedy for that matter as big as Hurricane Katrina was. My family and I stayed in the city for the entire Hurricane. Even after the hurricane hit the city we stayed for three more days. My mom, sister, and I stayed at the Hyatt hotel downtown with the mayor and people on the city council during the actual hurricane and we shortly left after the levees broke and the city was being filled up with water. My dad owns multiple gas stations in the city and stayed the main reason we stayed was because he was scared to lose his businesses. After the hurrican hit my dad was the only person in the city supplying people with gas until he ran out. The entire experience was miserable and very eye opening. One week after the hurricane hit my family and I moved to Great Falls, Virginia because my high school had been destroyed. I finished my sophmore year at Langley high school and returned back to New Orleans that summer.