Louisiana residents seek shelter from Hurricane Ida in Atlanta
Atlanta, GA - Some Louisiana residents seeking shelter from Hurricane Ida rushed to Atlanta.
Danna Conneriy and her teenage daughter are among those who left shortly before the storm hit.
"It was pretty daunting. People's cars were breaking down. People were on the side of the road with children," Conneriy said.
MORE: How to help victims of Hurricane Ida
The two left on Saturday and made the 15-hour drive east. They ended up in Atlanta.
"When you got to a certain point, it was stand-still. Then you couldn't exit. Then, they turned your direction around. It wasn't a contraflow, but it was the direction they had set up and it was not allowing you to go any other way," Conneriy said.
She said she was flooded with memories from 16 years ago, as she and her daughter packed up some of their belongings and drove away from their home.
"Katrina... That brought back all the memories. The day of Katrina, I kind of left the same way. I had a cut off time," she said.
Conneriy said her home was completely destroyed back in 2005. Now, she doesn't know what she'll see when she eventually returns home.
"I don't know. I just know there was a lot of wind damage," Conneriy said.
While losing a home and belonging is tough, she said she's mostly worried about the impact this will have on her daughter.
"What's heartbreaking is knowing you have to relocate your kids, and your kids have a comfort zone and what they knew as home is not home. And you just got through with COVID and now the kids are displaced," she said.
The Governor of Louisiana has asked evacuees not to return to their homes just yet due to the cleanup and lack of power.
If you are an evacuee in the Atlanta area, the Red Cross recommends you register with FEMA.
You should also get in contact with the regional Red Cross location. You can call 1-800-Red-Cross for assistance or visit their website.
The Salvation Army can also help with things like food, clothing and gas.
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