(Repost – Scroll down to see Update III)

Laurel and her family left Slidell, Louisiana on Sunday, August 28th and drove 500 miles north into Tennessee. They weren’t going to mess around with Hurricane Katrina. They didn’t want to take any unnecessary chances. But leaving wasn’t easy. What to take? What to leave? Pack enough clothes for a week. Grab the family photo album, the dogs, and some food from the fridge. Put everything into the minivan. Turn around, and snap the picture.

The “Before” picture. A simple digital image of the house, captured just before they fled Slidell.

And now, Laurel wonders what’s left of her home. What does it look like? Is it still there?

“I hope the ‘after’ photo isn’t too horrifying. I can only pray. There is very little information on TV right now about Slidell. The eye of the storm passed right over it, and so far all we have is news that half the town is under water. I am just hoping that my house is on the other half.

So basically, we’re refugees. We have nowhere to live at the moment and will probably spend the next month shuffling from relative to relative.

The posts on her blog describe the emotional roller coaster ride they are stuck on. Frustration, anger, hopelessness, gratitude, and thankfulness. Most of all though, she’s happy to be alive, and to have her family close.

MORE: Photos from Slidell. I wonder if any of these pictures are from locations near Laurel’s house?

UPDATE: Laurel writes to say that one of the pictures from Slidell shows a street which is very close to her house.

“The ones labled “Entrance to Breckenridge” are taken at the end of my my street. The photo is taken from Pearl Acres Road. If the person who took the photo had turned around and walked a few steps, they would have been looking up my street (Rosemeade Drive). We are relieved to see that the homes are still there and don’t really appear to have that much damage.”

“We don’t have any tall trees near our home, so there is little chance of damage from trees to our house. I’m encouraged to see that so many people have returned already from seeing the cars in the photos.”

So far so good. Soon as Laurel has an “After” picture of her place, we’ll post it here.

UPDATE II: Laurel’s house was relatively untouched. Only superficial damage. Satellite view here.

UPDATE III: Here’s Laurel’s house, “After“. As you can see, it still stands.

View 54 images of Laurel’s home (inside and out)

Related:
— Whereabouts Unknown
— Goodbye Big Easy