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Hurricane Katrina

Shawn Clivens Hurricane Katrina p1
Aug 18,2008

Hurricane Katrina

It started off as a normal Friday morning, it was beautiful outside. I was getting

ready to eat breakfast, when my father said that we were leaving town because of a

hurricane warning. I turned on the TV and there it was. The Mayor declared the storm a

potential threat. The forecaster said that the storm had struck Florida and was sitting in

the Gulf of Mexico, gaining strength to attack or hit another city. My father, who was no

stranger to hurricanes, went into a state of panic. He made us gather up our belongings,

and we were off to gather other family members that wanted to leave. Most of my family

members did not think that any storm was going to hit, because of the past three “false

alarms” we had the previous hurricane season so they did not leave. While driving, my

father decided that we would use this evacuation as an opportunity to visit my brother

(who attends Morehouse University) in Atlanta.

When we arrived in Atlanta it was Sunday evening. I called my family in New

Orleans as soon as we arrived to the hotel. I wanted to find out what the weather was

like. My cousin was laughing at the fact that we chose to vacate; he informed me that the

weather was sunny and that everyone was still going on with their regular everyday

schedules. I was upset because I was missing work and my girlfriend. The rest of my

family was out as if we were on vacation. My mother, father, and the rest of my siblings

were out shopping, swimming , sightseeing; it was as if no storm was coming at all.

Shawn Clivens Hurricane Katrina p2

The next morning I went to school with...