TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Nervous Residents Flee Gustav For Fla.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Associated Press

Published: August 31, 2008

PANAMA CITY BEACH - Lyndon Guidry wasn't taking any chances this time around, not after what Hurricane Katrina did to his house in New Orleans three years ago.

Like so many others in the predicted path of Hurricane Gustav, Guidry hit the road - just a few months after he was able to return to his home.

He and his extended family of about 25, including a brother, nieces and nephews, loaded up seven cars Saturday and headed east to Pensacola, praying they'd be able to return soon. The storm is predicted to make landfall Monday, most likely on the Louisiana coast.

"We're nervous but we just have to keep trusting in God that we don't get the water again. We just have to put our faith in God," Guidry said Sunday from his hotel room.

Evacuees from Mississippi and Louisiana were flowing steadily over the border into the Florida Panhandle, where hotels were filling quickly up.

At the Holiday Inn SunSpree Resort in Panama City, for example, there were only two rooms left by midday - out of 341 total rooms. Debbie Woodham, manager at the Holiday Terrace Motel in Panama City Beach, said it's starting to look like the days before and after Hurricane Katrina hit.

"Everyone who came for Katrina is coming back again," Woodham said.

Guidry's home was flooded with about 8 feet of water after Katrina hit. He and his family had been living in a FEMA trailer until just a few months ago.

"Three years ago almost the same time, just can't believe it," Guidry, 45, said with a sigh, speaking of Katrina that slammed ashore in 2005.

"We just got back into our home and had to pack up and leave," he said. "We're all real nervous. We're just hoping it doesn't destroy our place again so we can go back soon. Everybody just wants to be back home."

Kathy DiMaggio, 56, of Metairie, La., outside New Orleans on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain, left home Saturday for Pensacola.

Her home was destroyed during Katrina and was completely rebuilt in 2006.

"It's just a nightmare to be going through this again. We just did this three years ago, and many of us are just getting back into our homes," DiMaggio said Sunday.

She was staying at a hotel in Pensacola with her three adult daughters and their families - and dogs.

DiMaggio said she was able to find a hotel room Saturday night that would allow her two dogs, but that her 31-year-old daughter slept in the car with three dogs because they couldn't find another room. Sunday they were looking for a kennel.

"I just cannot believe this is happening again," DiMaggio said.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT