Former Hillsboro pastor experiences Hurricane Katrina
By ROWENA PLETT
Staff writer
Laney and Imogene Kuhn of Haysville were vacationing in their retirement home north of Lake Pontchartrain at New Orleans, La., when Hurricane Katrina hit.
Built above sea level, their home was spared, but it was a "life-changing" experience, according to Kuhn.
Kuhn was pastor of Hillsboro Methodist Church in Hillsboro for five years before being transferred to a Haysville church in June.
Kuhn and his wife grew up in Louisiana, Laney in a suburb of New Orleans, and Imogene in a community 45 miles from Baton Rouge.
When they came to Kansas 18 years ago, they decided they would retire in Louisiana. Consequently, in 1993, they built a home in Pontchatoula, about 70 miles northwest of New Orleans.
They travel there frequently and were there in August for Imogene's family reunion.
When the Kuhns arrived there Aug. 22, the hurricane was threatening Florida but had not yet entered the Gulf or become a large storm.
In 1965, Hurricane Betsy went up the Mississippi River and Kuhn and his family got through it OK, although the house was flooded with three feet of water.
"Like typical New Orleanians, we thought it wouldn't hit there," Kuhn said of Hurricane Katrina.
One day, as relatives were gathered at their home to visit, Kuhn decided to get a few supplies at the grocery store.
That was when he realized how serious the situation was. As he began shopping, he noticed people in panic, grabbing items off the shelves and out of shopping carts and fighting each other.
"It became a struggle," he said. He picked up a few items and, while waiting to check out, he heard a man say, "I will steal and kill to provide food for my family."
Kuhn said he later learned there was a $2 million run on their bank in Louisiana. People were wanting cash. One man wanted to withdraw $800,000 in $20 bills.
Kuhn believes the looting that followed was so bad because people were carrying a lot of cash.
On Sunday, Aug. 28, the wind began to pick up and turned into a 100 mile per hour storm. By evening, tree branches were touching the ground and things were flying through the air.
Kuhn said in his past experience, hurricanes usually struck at night when the effects were not visible. Seeing this was a harsh, new experience for him.
At 4:30 a.m. Monday morning, they lost power. It was out for five days.
Their house is located on a one-acre lot with a lot of pine and oak trees. The road was impassible because of fallen trees, and they soon ran out of what little ice and water they had.
Kuhn's brother-in-law was on oxygen and needed help. An ambulance crew cut through tree trunks and branches to get to the house and take him to a hospital.
The wind subsided on Tuesday. Without any form of communication, the family did not know about the flooding and looting that was taking place in New Orleans.
It was dangerous to be outside because tree limbs continued to snap and fall. Conditions were stifling. The temperature was 90 degrees at 9 p.m. with no breeze.
Several relatives left and most made it to their homes, which received structural damage but still were livable.
One sister lives in Gentilly, near the Intercoastal Canal. Her home was flooded. She was in a wheelchair and her daughter was in a cast from a broken appendage. The family took refuge in a small, unoccupied house.
The rest of the family didn't know where they were until four days later, when two nephews found and rescued them.
A tree had fallen in front of the door, so they were unable to get out. They had only a candle and a loaf of bread when found.
The family now is residing with the Kuhns in Haysville.
A few days after the storm, Laney and Imogene decided to go out and clean up the yard. When they went out to eat, they discovered lots of price-gouging.
Five or six chicken strips were selling for $7. People were buying $600-$700 generators for $2,000, though there was no gasoline to run them. Gas stations had run out of fuel.
Kuhn has an older brother who lives on the bay at Bay St. Louis, the area over which the eye of the hurricane passed. Kuhn has no idea where he is or if he survived the storm.
"We wait by the phone and wait with our cell phone," he said.
The Kuhns came back to Kansas Sept. 1. That day, authorities gave people one and one-half hours to get out of the area.
The trip to the interstate, which usually took 15 minutes, took one and a half hours.
Thankfully, they had a full tank of gas and were able to bypass the gas stations with long lines. They refueled at Shreveport in northern Louisiana, where the lines were not so long.
Kuhns said they have friends who own a jewelry store in New Orleans. The couple left the city before the storm struck.
The woman called them later and said, "Laney, we now are the new homeless."
All they had left were a checkbook, wallet, and the clothes they were wearing. Their credit card was not acceptable at stores because the credit company said it had no place to send the statement. Only cash was acceptable.
Kuhn's parents are buried in a mausoleum in New Orleans. He's been told the caskets may have floated away.
"I'm not worried about that," he said. "I'm concerned about the people of New Orleans."
They are trying to help relatives find a place to live and furnishings for it. They plan to return to Louisiana to assist them.
"We're feeling a little guilty because we not only have a Louisiana family, we also have a Kansas family," he said. "People are calling all the time to offer help."
Kuhns said he was shocked to see to what lengths people will go to survive.
"In Baton Rouge, the order was given: 'shoot to kill.' That's scary," he said. "I've been around guns and I'm not afraid of guns, but I never thought I'd see people kill to survive. We think we won't do this or that, but we never know.
"Lots of devastation and lots of scars will be left on people's minds for a long time."
