Safe from the storm's fury up in Ripley, USM student worried about his beloved school

By Tommy Bates
After Katrina Newswire

RIPLEY — My memories of Katrina are clear. And while I escaped the ruin and destruction suffered by so many, the doubt and uncertainty Katrina wrought was almost as devastating as the damage itself.

I remember going to my first classes on Friday, two days before Katrina struck. Students were expressing doubt over what we would do if the storm did hit. The teachers simply disregarded it, thinking we would have class that Monday.

I didn't think much of it either. Living in Ripley, an area where tornado warnings pop up every other week, I was used to hearing bad news about weather. Saturday went normally, until my roommate came back saying he was heading home on Sunday. It was then I finally noticed how serious things were. That night, I packed up my computer, my most expensive possession, along with my books and clothes. On Sunday, we packed up the car and picked up one other person. I had decided not to take my car, since I didn't have any gas, or money. I can remember sleeping most of the way home on the four-and-a-half-hour trip.

I spent Sunday at home before the storm hit us. Compared to how south Mississippi was torn apart by Katrina, Ripley suffered only minor damage. We lost power for about three hours, and one of our trees lost a few limbs. Still, my entire family spent the entire night in the same room, wondering what we would wake up to.

The damage we suffered was minimal, but everything I saw on television was devastating. I watched floods, massive damage and destruction and saw that many lives had been lost. Day after day I saw new horrors. My dad kept the television tuned to news, so it was hard to miss the terror that Katrina had brought ashore.

My thoughts were on other events as well. I was worried about many other things. I had left my car in Hattiesburg ; what condition would it be in when I went back to get it? When would I be able to go back to get it? Were we supposed to be doing our homework and studying? When would USM reopen and classes resume? How badly was the school damaged? Was my education in jeopardy? For almost two weeks these questions haunted my mind. I especially worried about my car because I couldn't afford for it to be damaged. Also, I didn't want to end up in bad standing in my classes because of too many absences. I checked the website daily to get any news, but nothing came up. Finally, word got out that we would be heading back to the campus in a week. As glad as I was to finally get things started again, I was worried to see what exactly I was going into.

Finally, the day came when we would head back to the dorms. We packed all of my stuff back in my roommate's car and headed down to Hattiesburg . For four and a half hours I questioned what exactly I'd be going home to. About an hour from Hattiesburg I finally began to see the damage that Katrina wrought. All along the highway it looked like a whole different place. All the trees were uprooted, like they'd been twisted and then torn straight from the ground. The closer we got to Hattiesburg , the more destruction I saw. Roofs were torn from the buildings, power lines were still knocked down and an aura of devastation hung over the city.

Arriving back at the dorms, I immediately went to my car. To my surprise I found that my car had only suffered minor scratches. Unfortunately, we were without air conditioning when we came back.

USM looked completely different. What was once a beautiful campus had been ravaged by Katrina. Shingles had been ripped off roofs, trees uprooted and historic buildings battered by high winds. The sight was almost unbearable. Everything seemed different; even now, in early May, things don't seem the same.

Classes resumed, though it was like the first day all over again. Most of the students had no homes, or homes without power or water. Each student had his own story, but I felt as if I had not been a part of it. I didn't suffer like any of these others; in fact, I had very little happen to me. I lived out the two weeks I'd been gone in relative comfort. Still, my heart broke for all those who suffered.

There's not a day that I don't think about Katrina. Each day there is something that reminds me of the power that Nature possesses. News reports and special fund raisers are reminders of the devastation that Hurricane Katrina wrought. This is a moment in history I will never forget. Neither will many others.

Tommy Bates is a senior journalism major at the University of Southern Mississippi. The After Katrina Newswire is a project of the School of Mass Communication and Journalism at USM (www.usm.edu/afterkatrina). This story can be reprinted with this credit included.