Katrina ravages area, brings impact home
Hurricane victim takes refuge with local relatives
Wanda English Burnett - Editor

(Editor's note: Watching the devastation of Hurricane Katrina on television has a surreal effect on most people who have not been directly affected. The world is really small and becomes smaller when you begin to realize how connected we all are. Dan Daugherty shared his story of leaving his home in Slidell, Louisiana, to take refuge with a brother in Versailles. He is originally from the area and went to school in Moores Hill.)

"That's the hardest part - not knowing," noted Dan Daugherty, as he shared his story of leaving the hurricane ravaged area of Slidell, Louisiana, where he has made his home for the past several years. He described the city having a population of about 30-40 thousand, and said it is located just east of New Orleans, where he had previously lived.

Daugherty, who is staying with his brother, Mike and wife Nancy in Versailles, until he gets the "all clear" sign to go home, said it's really hard not knowing if he even has a home to go back to.

What he does know, after talking to a neighbor last Thursday morning, is that a furniture store near his home was under about five feet of water. That didn't give him much encouragement.

Daugherty does have a job to return to - he's in safety and training on an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico. That facility was not hurt in the hurricane. He learned that the corporate office for his company, which is located in New Orleans, was destroyed and people were trapped there as of Thursday, September 1.

"The mayor of our city is homeless and doesn't know where his family is," Daugherty noted, saying he's heard reports that 90-percent of Slidell was destroyed.

Daugherty said he has "rode out" storms before, but this time he really listened to officials and his own sense of reason and knew it was time to get out. Having been in the area for 35 years, he said Hurricane Andrew was the worst thing he'd ever seen, and Katrina topped that by a long shot. He also took note that September 1, is the official beginning of the hurricane season and already there has been eleven named storms.

"Words can't describe what has happened," he noted as he tried to tell his feelings when he sees the ravaged areas on television. "When there's a monster coming at you - there's nothing you can do," he said of the people who lost their lives by staying. He believes many of them didn't have the opportunity to leave, while others simply chose to stay.

WANDA ENGLISH BURNETT PHOTO

Dan Daugherty, left, is staying with his brother, Mike and wife Nancy Daugherty of Versailles, after he was evacuated from his home in Slidell, Louisiana, due to Hurricane Katrina. He wasn't sure as of last Thursday if he even had a home to return to , but said he'll be going back to work there on one of the 30,000 oil platforms in the Gulf.