LEESBURG — It wasn’t exactly the vacation Michael Shafer and the Vick family had planned for.
In fact, Shafer, Vicki, Tina, Stephanie and little Grace were pretty content living in their quaint neighborhood in Slydell, La., 32 miles outside New Orleans, but mother nature, as they are all well accustomed, had a different itinerary in mind.
All veterans of Hurricane Katrina, the five didn’t think twice of packing up Friday and driving away from the Pelican State and Hurricane Gustav, anxious but ready to weather another Gulf Coast storm.
“When I saw it was a (category) three on the other side of Cuba, I thought for sure it was gunna hit as a (category) four or five, and we weren’t about to sit along for that ride,” Shafer said.
When Katrina pounded the Gulf states, the Vicks, along with the elders of their family — Donald and Frances Person — were forced to head out of harms way to Memphis, Tenn., leaving their homes and most of their belongings behind.
The Vicks would eventually return to Slydell to find their home damaged by fallen trees and plagued by a lack of power that lasted for weeks. It’s something they had hoped wouldn’t happen again for a long, long time.
“It’s a little weird doing this again,” Vicki Vick said. “I don’t think this will end up being as bad as before, but you never know.”
Instead of braving a shelter or hotel this time in Tennessee, the Vicks are staying with the Persons, who moved to Lee County after selling their home in St. Tammany Parish.
In a strange kind of way, the Vicks say that Katrina — as devastating as it was — taught them a valuable lesson about the truly important things in life. It was a lesson they heeded as they trekked across the southland.
“It really puts everything in perspective,” Stephanie Vick said.
“After Katrina, we know what the important things in life are, and that’s family. Everything else is second,” Shafer said.
That isn’t the only lesson the Vicks say was learned from Katrina.
While monitoring the storm’s progress toward their homes, the Vicks say the government’s efforts to evacuate New Orleans and other sections of lower Louisiana were more organized and efficient this go- around than when Katrina struck almost three years ago.
“It’s vastly improved,” Vicki Vick said. “They were all over this storm this time, and it’s just been a total night-and-day difference.”
But despite nearly three years worth of progress in the area, remembering the storm that left hundreds dead, thousands homeless and thousands more scattered throughout the U.S. is a daily ritual for the Vick family, who still have a blue tarp on their house, covering damage wrought by the storm, but left unfixed for want of a deal with insurance companies.
“It’s crazy that we’ve had to wait this long to get anything from the insurance companies,” Vicki Vick said. “It’s a constant fight with them. I hope that we don’t have to go through all of that again.”
At 12:46 p.m. Monday, during their interview with The Herald, the Vicks learned from family who stayed behind in Baton Rouge that power had failed as Gustav sputtered through the area. It was a sobering reminder of the nearly six weeks they spent without electricity, food or fuel after Katrina washed ashore.
“I don’t think people realize what it’s like to really go without power,” Vicki Vick said. “For a day or a night is one thing. But to go without power for weeks as your food spoils in the fridge and all the stores and gas stations are dark and you sit with flashlights hoping nobody comes in the dark. It’s a life-changing experience.”
Sitting comfortably in their home in a nice Fussell Road subdivision, the Persons watched as the cable news networks streamed a constant wave of images from the state they once called home being battered by winds and rain.
As footage of the waters topped the now infamous Ninth Ward levees aired on the television in their living room, Donald Person immediately recognized the view.
“That’s right near my office,” he says with an anxious tone while watching the footage with the rest of his family.
Person is now a contractor for the Naval Reserve Command in New Orleans and telecommutes from an office in his home in Lee County but frequently makes trips back to headquarters.
“It brings back a lot of memories,” Person said. “Emotionally, it’s rough knowing my friends and co-workers are down there and will be the ones having to deal with the aftermath and cleanup.”
Depending upon the damage Gustav wreaks on the area, the Vicks could head back as soon as Tuesday, but they say that they aren’t rushing anything.
“I wanted to get back Tuesday,” Shafer said. “But we’re probably going back after power is back up, however long that is.”
Until then, Lee County’s newest guests will take in all the area has to offer. They went to the Flint riverfront Sunday to eat some barbecue and walk through the Ray Charles Plaza, just soaking in the downtown area.
And like their beloved Bayou Bengals at Louisiana State, the Vicks are resilient.
“We’ll get through this just like the other one,” Stephanie Vick said.
