It's Three Years Later, and Look What's Coming.

It has been three years to the day since hurricane Katrina bared down on the Mississippi and Louisiana gulf coast and history seems to be repeating it's self.

I won't go into the story of what happened on the MS and LA coast when it hit, you all know that, but I will tell you this…

Most of you who know me, know that I'm from Mississippi. I live about three hours from the coast, on the banks of the Mississippi river. What most of you don't know is this story:

Three years ago: It was Sunday and I found myself stuck for five hours in evacuation traffic laughing my butt off at all the people panicking. Seriously I'm talking bumper to bumper, people running out of gas and breaking down traffic. And I found myself thinking, over what, some stupid storm that probably wouldn't be as bad as they think it will.

I was eighteen, and naive, I was headed to my dorm thinking I might luck out and school would be canceled the next day. Boy how I wish that was all that happened.

I should have listened to my parents, they warned me to stay home. They begged me not to go to Jackson. I didn't see the big deal, we had dealt with hurricanes before and it was never a big deal, not here. I mean we might loose lights for a few days, but that’s about it. So I got in my car in spite of my parents warnings, to drive the two and a half hours it took to get to school; it ended up taking five.

When I got there I crashed on my bed and began to fiddle with my laptop. My roommate showed up soon after. She came in and started stuffing her lap top books and clothes in a bag and then told me I should do the same. You see my roommate was a RA so I would get a special heads up when the dorm director was doing sweeps or drills. That day was no different; it turns out that at dark we were to go into lock down mode. That means all dorm residents had to grab the necessities and stay in the lobby until we got the all clear.

So I made my way from the fourth floor to the lobby,(using the stairs out side because during lock down the elevator is a no go) complaining the entire way. Again, if I had only known.

Have you ever tried to stick over four hundred teenage girls in an all glass lobby during a storm?

You haven't? Well I would suggest never trying it! It was chaotic! At first it wasn't bad but when the storm actually hit, Oh my God, it was horrible. Four hundred terrified screaming teenage girls and two dorm directors stuck in an all glass lobby in a four story building with no where to go, no food, no water, no lights; just fear.

For hours we listened as the storm raged on and got a first had view of roofs being ripped off and trees being uprooted. We heard a crash and our building shook a little, (we didn't know it at the time, but it ended up being the old oak in front of our dorm. It had been up rooted, it hit the side of the building, amazingly only breaking one window, my window to be exact) everyone screamed; one girl even had a panic attack.

Yet through all of this I remained relatively calm. The storm blew it's last breath at around two on Tuesday afternoon, we were given the all clear around three to return to our rooms.(that’s when we discovered the old oak) Then at things took a terrifying turn for me.

A tornado had torn through town about a block from our dorm; it destroyed all of the power lines meaning we wouldn't have power for quite a while. With no way to safely house students, the school told us to return home. In other words, they kicked us out.

Now I guess your wondering why this is terrifying. I got to go home after all. Well, I lived two and a half hours south from where I was. All roads leading south were closed to traffic, only Army and National Guard were allowed on them.

I was alone, I was broke, there was only a quarter of a tank of gas in my car and no ones cell phone worked. I had no clue how my parents faired through the storm, and didn't have a clue how to get home.

I had been driving around trying to find a pay phone and I saw some cars parked in front of a Wal-Mart so I stopped. A man was standing guard at the door armed with a shot gun. I told him my problem and he radioed someone, I was then escorted by an armed guard to a pay phone. I eagerly called my parents an on the tenth ring my mom finally picked up, I don't think I've ever been so happy to hear her voice.

By four I had an alternate rout home and was ready to go. I took to those country back roads like a NASCAR driver on speed. I had only one thought in my mind at the time and that was home. I drove over and around debris, through tiny holes cut through massive uprooted trees. It was and amazing yet terrifying experience.

When I finally made it home I sat in my car and cried. I vowed to myself then and there, I would never do something that stupid again.

So three years later, and what looks like a possible hurricane headed our way, where do I find myself?

I find myself along with a group of fifty of my fellow nursing classmates taking crash courses in CPR, vitals, and first aid; getting prepared as a group to be ready to volunteer with Red Cross when we are needed. We have the means to house about two hundred special needs and about a thousand refugees, we’re ready.

I find myself checking my generator and stocking up on food, water, gas and batteries. I’m getting prepared just in case, because I never want to go through what I went through three years ago, again. Some say I'm being stupid; it's not even a hurricane yet. I say I'm being cautious.

What do you think?