Katrina

     I am out for my daily run with my dogs, Milo and Jo Jo. While I am running I am thinking, The skies are so blue how could there even be a storm coming? I can tell Milo and Jo Jo and all the other animals can sense there is a storm coming too. I reach the last part of my run and I can hear my mom, Angie yelling, ”Hurry up Arianna! We need to pack.”  “ Ok, can I go  to Brieley’s before we leave?” I yell back while picking up my pace. I reach my house and she says, “Brieley and her family are coming with us.” “Really?” I say with excitement.

     I run in my house. Milo and Jo Jo go on their dog beds and take naps right away.  I can hear my older brother Sam arguing with my dad because Brieley and her family get to come with us. My dad, Brian, says to him, ”I thought you wanted a relaxing vacation at the Wisconsin Dells?” Sam says, ”I’m 15. When I say  relaxing I mean chillin’ out with a friend at the waterpark.  Brieley’s brother Aaron is five!” He walks to his room and mumbles,”This is going to be so boring. Why do I even have to go? It seems like Ari gets special treatment it’s always Ari this, Ari that blah blah blah.”

     I walk up to my dad and say, ”What was that all about?” “Oh, nothing. But you have to hurry up we are leaving to go to the Dells in a couple of hours,” he says. I say, ”Got it. I am going to pack my bags right now.” I add shortly after in a worried voice, ”Did you check the weather lately?” I didn’t get a response so I thought to myself, He’s probably glued to the T.V. worrying about the storm but why is he even worrying? We aren’t even going to be here when the storm hits. I quickly texted Brieley and said, “Are you excited for the Dells?” A few minutes later she texts back, “Super excited! Can’t wait!” I text back, “Me too!”

     I finally start packing. I think, How warm even is it in Wisconsin? Probably not as warm as here. I packed t-shirts, shorts, swimsuits, toothbrush, toothpaste, hairbrush and some stuff to keep me busy in the car. I look at my phone because I get an alert. I thought Brieley texted me, but  it was a weather alert saying Hurricane Katrina has made landfall in Florida as a category 1 storm. I run into my mom and dad’s room and say, ”Dad! Dad! Hurricane Katrina is in Florida! Do you think it will come here?” He says, “Kiddo, remember we won’t even be here if it does.” I walk out of the room saying, ”Are you sure?” “I’m positive,” he says in a not so confident way. I can hear my mom whispering, ”Brian! you know there are a lot of people evacuating so why didn’t you tell her?” I watch my mom storm out of the room. She says, “Sam! Ari! Let’s go! We are leaving in a half hour.”

     I can still hear Sam mumbling about how this is his worst day ever. I was sitting on my bed worrying and Milo and Jo Jo decided to get up and come into my room and plop down on my bed. I say to Milo and Jo Jo, ”I will miss you, but I know Auntie Kim will take good care of you.” My dad came in my room and said, ”I’m sorry Ari. We decided to stay home because there is going to be too much traffic. We talked with Amber, Ryan, Brieley and Aaron and we said they could stay at our house during the storm. We also rescheduled our trip to the Dells. We will be going in a couple of weeks. Mom is going to the store to by non-refrigerated foods, flashlights, batteries, games and bottled water. Do you want  to go with mom and buy movies and snacks to have a sleepover with Brieley?” I always worry about the worse case scenario and I said, ”Sure I will go with mom do you need anything from the store? Will our house get flooded? If it does where are we going to live? Let me guess we are going to be homeless.” “No. No. No. If anything happens we will go to the Superdome.” “Ok,” I say.

     I quick hurry to get in the car before my mom leaves. As we are driving I look at the ocean and think the waves seem to be getting stronger every minute. We pull into the parking lot at the store. It seems to be busier than ever! We get out of the car and I see a lot of people I know. I see the Andersons, My friend Kayla and her mom, the Petersons and even my teacher, Mrs. Baker and her three kids all scrambling around to find the things they need. We walk in the store and it is total chaos. People are running around to find the things they need before someone else beats them to it. My mom says to me, “You can go get anything you want, but make sure you check with me before you buy it.” “Got it,” I say. 

     I go to the movie aisle and I pick out two movies. Suddenly I hear, “Ari!” it was Auntie Kim. I say, “Hi! We decided to stay home instead of going to the Dells.” “Yeah. I heard that. I saw your mom. She said that she didn’t want me home with Alex and Andrew by myself so she said we could come to your house,” said Auntie Kim. “Alex and Andrew are going to be excited when they find out that they’re going to be spending a hurricane with their best friend, Aaron,” I say. “Oh, the Carlsons our coming over during the hurricane too. Wow! You are going to be having a full house,” she says amazed. “Yup!” I say happily. “I don’t mean to be rude but I need to get some other things before we go back home. I’ll see you later though,” I say. “Yeah me too. Our neighbors our probably wondering where I am because that’s where Alex and Andrew are right now. So I will see you later. Bye!” she says as she’s walking away. I hurry to get some food before my mom starts looking for me.

     I find my mom and she says to me, “How are you going to make microwave popcorn if the power goes out?” “Oh,” I say quietly as I put the popcorn back. When I am coming back I here my mom say, “Ari can you get three bags of ice?” “Sure,” I say as I turn around and go back to the ice box. I open it up and there is one bag left so I quickly grab it. I walk back to the cash register and say, “There was only one bag left.” “That’s ok. We’ll go to the gas station before we go home,” she says. “I am going to go get one more thing. Can you stay here though and make sure we have everything, so we don’t have to get out of this massive line?” she says. “Got it,” I say. Five minutes later she comes back with cupcakes and cookies since we are having a mini party. It seems like forever when we finally are able to check out. We walk out of the store and I help mom put the groceries in the back of the car. 

Mom quick drives to the gas station and buys two bags of ice. She pays for them and comes out. On the drive home. I say, “Can we go past the beach.” “Sure,” Mom says in a comforting voice. As we drive past the beach it seems as if the ocean is mad at the beach. The waves are slamming into the beach. We ride home in silence. As we ride home I am thinking about the storm. I keep thinking of the worst things that can happen. As we pull into the driveway it is starting to rain just a little. I can see while we were gone my dad and Sam boarded up the windows and some doors so that they don’t break during the  storm.

     We go in the house and put our groceries away. I say, “When will Brieley and Auntie Kim be here?” “Any minute. I hope they get here soon though. The rain is getting heavier, and I am worried about Auntie Kim driving in this rain,” she says. I peek through the crack of a boarded up window and see the palm trees swaying like dancers. The sky’s getting darker every second. I see a car pulling into our driveway. It’s Brieley! Finally, I think. They ring the doorbell and Milo and Jo Jo start barking really loudly. I get the door and they look like they are going to be here for a week they have so much stuff. My mom and dad come greet them at the door. My dad yells, “Sam can you come out here?” Twenty seconds later he comes out of his cave. That’s what I call his room because he is always in there and I am not allowed to go in. Milo and Jo Jo stop barking and decide to go eat. My dad says, “Why don’t you show Aaron your room?” Aaron and Sam both go to his room. My dad offers to take Amber’s and Ryan’s suitcases. I offered to take Brieleys suitcase to my room. 

     Brieley and I sit down and I tell her the movies I bought. The doorbell rings again. It’s the same routine, Milo and Jo Jo bark and then they go to eat. Alex and Andrew walk past my room. They come and hug me and say, “Hi Ari!” at the same time. Then they say, “Hi Brieley. Where is Aaron?” again at the same time. Before Brieley can even get a word out of her mouth I say, “How do you guys say the exact same word at the exact same time? It’s kind of freaky.” Brieley says, “I agree. Aaron is in Sam’s room.” They took their suitcases and brought them in Sam’s room. 

Our families called us out in the family room. We went out there and they told us to sit down. We sat down and my dad said, “We need to tell you something really important. Hurricane Katrina has became a category 3 storm, so we decided it would be best if we all stayed together during the storm. By that I mean having a campout. Ryan and I would set up tents and it would be like going camping.” “Ugh!” Sam says. “Why can’t I just sleep in my room?” he adds. Alex and Andrew say, “Cool!” they say at the same time. Aaron says, “Can I stay in the same tent as Alex and Andrew?” Aaron says. “If that’s alright with them?” my dad says.  Alex, Andrew and Aaron say, “Can we stay up past our bedtimes?” Auntie Kim and Amber say, “Sure.” “I call sleeping in the same tent as Ari,” Brieley demands. Sam says, “I call sleeping in my room.” “Are you sure that is what you want? That means no staying up past 10:00 p.m. and NO junk food,” my dad says. “I am positive,” he says rudely and storms off to his “cave”.

     My dad and Ryan go down stairs to get the tents. The adults had the option whether they wanted to stay in the guest rooms or in tents. I think they all wanted to stay in tents though. Amber and Auntie Kim help my mom cook up a feast before the power goes out. Aaron, Alex and Andrew decide to play in the guest room instead of Sams “cave”. Brieley and I decide to go help our moms in the kitchen. “What are we having?” I ask. “A feast,” Amber replies. I whisper sarcastically to Brieley, “Let’s make a delicacy . . . pancakes!” “Yeah, and we will serve it like we are at the fanciest restaurant in the world. We also could make it a pancake bar and have strawberries, blueberries, chocolate chips, maple syrup and whip cream. Or we could make a combination of both,” she says excitedly. “Let’s do both,” I say. We wait to make the pancakes until everyone is out of the kitchen. So it will be like having dessert.

     We got out strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, maple syrup and whipped cream. I called everyone back into the kitchen. Brieley said, “Dessert is served,” in a french accent. Alex and Andrew say, “What?” “That’s right. Pancakes for dessert. With toppings,” I say. Everyone formed a line. Alex said, “Look! I have a whipped cream mountain. I am going to call it Mt. Alex.” “Alex! You shouldn’t have put that much whipped cream.” Alex says, “Sorry,” with a ton of whipped cream in his mouth. I think the pancakes Brieley and I made were the best pancakes EVER! They were so light and fluffy! Everyone said they were amazing. That made me and Brieley feel really good. All of a sudden there was a loud clap of thunder. Alex and Andrew ran to Auntie Kim because they were scared. Everyone was done eating so Brieley and I started to clear the table.

     Alex, Andrew and Aaron went to there tent and started watching a movie. The grownups told them to get away from the electronics, so we spent the evening playing board games and card games. Around 9:00p.m. My dad went down stairs to get something. He says, “Angie can you please come down here?” even though he called Mom we all went down there, even Sam. As we went down stairs I could see a puddle of water. My mind was racing the minute I saw the water. Our house is going to flood! Our house is going to flood! I keep thinking. It was just a little bit so my mom went and got some upstairs. My dad says, “I will have to check down here every two hours, to make sure it doesn’t flood.” My mom comes down with three towels. My dad says, “Sam will you help me clean up? I didn’t ask much from you tonight.” “Ok,” he says annoyed.

      Then Brieley and I go watch a movie while we are waiting on our portable DVD player. Right at the good part of the movie my dad yells, “Kids could you come out here for a minute?” As we walk to the living room I can see the tents were set up. When we are all out there (except for Sam) my dad says, “Go!” We all just stand there looking confused. Then he says, “Go get the best tent possible!” We all run into a tent. Brieley and I take the biggest tent. Brieley stays in the tent while I go into my room to get our suitcases(I still had mine packed). When I get back to the living room my mom yells, “Supper’s done at Camp Katrina.” I say, “Why Camp Katrina?” “Because of Hurricane Katrina,” she replies.

     We all run into the kitchen (Even Sam). Sam says, “What are we having?” My mom names off everything we are having and even said that we are Brieley and I are making dessert. Then Sam says, “Ugh!” I whisper to Brieley, “I guess someone’s not a happy camper.” She giggles and then Sam makes a face at us. We just ignore it. Once everyone is seated we all dig into the food. The food tasted so good! When everyone’s done eating Brieley and I offer to clear the table. When everyone is in the living room or somewhere else besides the kitchen we start making our “delicacy”.

     We got out strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, maple syrup and whipped cream. I called everyone back into the kitchen. Brieley said, “Dessert is served,” in a french accent. Alex and Andrew say, “What?” “That’s right. Pancakes for dessert. With toppings,” I say. Everyone formed a line. Alex said, “Look! I have a whipped cream mountain. I am going to call it Mt. Alex.” “Alex! You shouldn’t have put that much whipped cream.” Alex says, “Sorry,” with a ton of whipped cream in his mouth. I think the pancakes Brieley and I made were the best pancakes EVER! They were so light and fluffy! Everyone said they were amazing. That made me and Brieley feel really good. All of a sudden there was a loud clap of thunder. Alex and Andrew ran to Auntie Kim because they were scared. Everyone was done eating so Brieley and I started to clear the table.

     Alex, Andrew and Aaron went to their tent and started watching a movie. The grownups told them to get away from the electronics, so we spent the evening playing board games and card games. Around 9:00p.m. My dad went down stairs to get something. He says, “Angie can you please come down here?” even though he called Mom we all went down there, even Sam. As we went down stairs I could see a puddle of water. My mind was racing the minute I saw the water. Our house is going to flood! Our house is going to flood! I keep thinking. It was just a little bit so my mom went and got some upstairs. My dad says, “I will have to check down here every two hours, to make sure it doesn’t flood.” My mom comes down with three towels. My dad says, “Sam will you help me clean up? I didn’t ask much from you tonight.” “O.K.,” he says, annoyed.    

     We went up stairs and my Mom said it was time to start settling down. We were allowed to quietly play a game in our tent, watch a movie on a DVD player or anything else that was quiet. Brieley and I decided to watch a movie. After about five minutes my dad and Sam came upstairs. Sam went straight to his “cave”. My dad says, “Who’s ready to party?” very loudly. My mom said, “No partying! It’s time for the kids to start settling down, but each person can either have a cookie or a cupcake.” Brieley takes a cookie and I take a cupcake that way we can split them. Smart, right I get one half of a cookie and one half of a cupcake. Brieley and I quickly gobble down the treats. We turn our movie back on. I watch it for about a half hour. Then I go to sleep.

     It seemed like the day went by fast. It was almost lunch by the next time I looked at the clock. I was reading my book when all of a sudden . . . BLACK. The power went out. It went silent. Everyone stopped talking. We could hear sloshing. I got up and ran to the stairs frantically. I came to a complete stop and screamed, “Our house is flooding!” My mom yells, “Ari! Get away from there!” I run close to her. My dad says, “We need to get on the roof. We will have to go through the attic. My dad brought a hammer to the attic so he could pry a hole in the roof. We all got on to the roof safely. Even Milo and Jo Jo. We were screaming, “HELP! HELP!” It was almost like superman. Within minutes a helicopter was coming. A tall man came down on a ladder from the helicopter. He said, “Hop on. I will help you. Everyone got on except for my dad and I. My dad said, “Ari, you go next.” “No, Milo and Jo Jo go first.” The man said, “I’m sorry but no pets allowed.” “NO!” I screamed. “Mam, I can call a life boat to come get them. Would that be o.k.?” “Sure,” I say as I am hysterically crying. I give Milo and Jo Jo a kiss. 

I realize that that might be the last time I ever see Milo and Jo Jo. That thought just makes me cry even more. As we arrive at the shelter I can see it is very busy. We run inside while dodging flying objects. I also notice there are no pets there. I wonder if that guy lied to me to get me to climb the ladder. My dad says, “Who wants food? I know I do. It looks like they are serving peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Everyone says they’re hungry so my dad gets us all a sandwich. I feel too sad to eat my sandwich. I just decide to go lay down on the cots they provided us.

I woke up and I realize that it is only raining lightly. When everyone at the shelter was awake the director said, “Today you have the option to go look at your houses. Remember this is an option you do not have to. The town is so flooded that you will need to take a boat to your house. We have volunteers that will be driving the boats. Does anyone have any questions?” I raise my hand and the director says, “Yes, you in the pink shirt and the curly hair. What’s your question?” “The helicopter driver said we could not bring pets on the helicopter. He also said he would call a boat to bring them here but they are not here. So what my question is if our pets our at our house can we bring them here?” The director says, “Absolutely! Any other questions?” Everyone shook their head no. The director says, “Little girl since you asked a question you and your family can go get in a boat first.

I run to get in a boat and my family follows me. I tell the driver our address. He took us to our house and all you could see was the roof. I could see two bumps on the roof. It looked like Milo and Jo Jo. The driver drops us off at our house. He says, “I will pick you up in ten minutes.” “O.k.” my dad says. I run up on the roof. I look at Milo and Jo Jo they are curled up next to each other. They are not breathing. I burst into tears. My dad says, “It’s o.k. Ari they had a good life together. I cannot stop crying. The driver comes and picks us up. And we go back to the shelter. I guess this will be a storm I will never forget.