And Here
We Are
These are photos of Rose and Joe Schlatter at our apartment after Katrina. These photos were taken the day after Labor Day 2005. We evacuated to north of Laurel, MS, on Sunday, 28 August. Katrina hit on Monday, 29 August. We made it from Laurel, MS, to the home of relatives in Belle Rose, LA on Tuesday, 30 August. On 31 August and 1 September, Joe and two young fellows from Belle Rose went to our apartment in Bay Saint Louis, MS, and retrieved a few pieces of furniture and dishes. We took these back to LA and spent the weekend cleaning the mud and salt water off what little we salvaged. Then, the Tuesday after Labor Day 2005, Rose and Joe towed our trailer and made our last trip to the apartment on DeMontluzin Avenue in Bay Saint Louis.
Here we are.
This is Rose with our ruined 1989 Nissan pickup named Leonard. We had salvaged a few utensils and some silverware from the apartment and she was rinsing things off. The baskets on top of the truck were in our bathroom -- they held washclothes, bandaids, and the like -- they were above the flood line and we still have them. The truck was a total loss -- it was under five feet of water -- engine and electrical system were ruined. Rose -- wearing her "Cajun Reeboks" -- is standing in hardened mud about one foot deep in the parking lot in front of the apartment. The tree limbs and trash behind Rose are debris from a totally-destroyed three-story, historic B&B one block away.
Joe standing in the front door of the apartment -- wearing his "Cajun Reeboks." Note the rubber gloves -- necessary because everything was covered in salt water, mud, and filth. Could only stand to be inside the apartment with the mud and stink for a few minutes at a time. The water got to about waist high on Joe -- the second floor apartments were untouched and people who stayed through the hurricane were living there -- no water, no electricity, no sewer, nothing. We brought food and water for them with us from LA -- including dog food -- and we carried out messages to their families outside the hurricane area. We saved the three chairs -- the cupboard on which two chairs are lying was a loss -- it was under water, swelled, and split into a zillion pieces.
GOD BLESS THE MISSISSIPPI NATIONAL GUARD!!!!! They brought water, food, and medical care. In the foreground of this photo is our trailer -- leaning against it is the wooden frame of our bed which we salvaged.
This is the bulk of what we saved ready to load on the trailer -- bed, wire plant stand, plastic boxes of fabric -- not shown are the six wooden chairs and table we saved -- dishes are already loaded on trailer. When we evacuated on Sunday before the hurricane, we drove our Ford Explorer (shown here, named "Bubba") and left our truck behind -- truck was ruined. The other vehicles in this photo were parked in the lot when the hurricane hit -- all of them were submerged and were total losses. Note there are no leaves on the trees -- hurricane winds stripped the trees. The dirt on the ground is a foot of dried mud brought in by the hurricane.
- Back to Katrina Page One
- Photos from Bay Saint Louis page 1
- Photos from Bay Saint Louis page 2
- Aerial photos
- Our apartment
- More destruction pages one and two
- Our new house, destroyed
- Pass Christian, Mississippi