re: What was Katrina like?

There are a lot of surreal memories I have about that time, but some of the ones that stood out to me:

How eerily quiet it was. No cars, no generators, no usual city sounds -- just silence and the occasional boat motor and helicopter.

The dogs and cats standing on the baking-hot roof tops of cars to avoid the water.

The people who stayed back and had no clue how bad it was outside their homes. We had a guy tell us he'd parked his car on the median of Canal blvd. and that when they opened the bridge he was going to walk to his car and evacuate. Unfortunately, we'd driven our boat over the top of his totally submerged car to get to his house. He had no clue there was that much water and that it was everywhere. He wasn't the only one we encountered like this.

There were a few times our boat got hung-up on debris and every time, a citizen came darting through chest-deep water to help free us. We also saw lots of other kind, thoughtful acts by neighbors of all races and creeds. Though you only ever heard about the looting and other bad behavior on the news.

I'll never forget the sheer magnitude of it all. I don't live in New Orleans but I love the city and to look at the depth of destruction and not be able to imagine in my wildest dreams how anyone (much less an entire city) could recover from such a disaster -- it was a depressing time to be in that moment. We met and spoke to people who had lost everything -- even loved ones. Some had more dignity and strength that I could ever put into words.

I'm grateful that I was able to see up-close such a historic event, but I hope it never happens again in my lifetime.