Hurricanes Katrina and Rita
A Reporter’s Notebook
By Mike Hoss
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita
A Reporter’s Notebook
By Mike Hoss
Forward
I have never kept a log or a diary in my life, but in the hours and days before and
after Hurricane Katrina hit, I started writing down the events and challenges we
faced each day. I knew if I didn’t do that, I would never remember what we did
and when. Our lives changed so quickly and dramatically after the storm. I don’t
know why I did it, but I’m so glad I did. At first I was just writing so that I could
chronicle the work we did following the hurricane, but after a couple of weeks the
diary became almost therapeutic for me. I was living in Baton Rouge in an
apartment with colleagues and away from my family, working 14 to 16 hour days.
We didn’t have a television or a computer, so after work each night before bed, I
would write down what happened that day. It was a way for me to put into words
some of the emotions we were all feeling at that time. It was a gut wrenching
time in our lives, and one I hope we never have to endure again.
Thursday, August 25th
Man, I need to mow my grass….I stood there with my arms folded looking out
the back door of my house. It was Thursday afternoon, my grass was getting
long, and I was trying to figure out when I would get a chance to cut it. No big
deal, I thought, I’ll get to it soon, this weekend at the latest. Out in the Gulf of
Mexico was Hurricane Katrina, but she was supposed to go up the western side
of Florida and wasn’t going to affect us at all. But just the fact that the storm
moved into the Gulf kicked in our family Hurricane plan. My wife Betty-Ann
already had room reservations for her and our two kids, 6 year old Allison and 4
year old Katie, in Jackson, Mississippi. Because of my work situation at Channel
4, we have to do all of our Hurricane preparations long before everyone else. If a
storm gets close enough to where the city would be talking...