Remembering Hurricane Katrina 13 Years Later

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – It’s a memory many in our area will never forget.

13 years ago Wednesday Hurricane Katrina made land fall on the Gulf Coast, displacing many families and killing many more.

For days Hurricane Katrina barreled toward the Southeast coast before making landfall.

“We knew that the storm was coming. We didn’t think it was going be that bad because we’d already evacuated two or three times that summer for other storms that were coming. We weren’t necessarily prepared, more so lazy about wanting to leave,” said Columbus resident Desiree Krieger.

The Kriegers were newlyweds at the time and just purchased their first home, 45 minutes outside of New Orleans.

“So, I stayed up over night to see the process of the storm, how it was going. I woke up to see it was a category five hurricane. I was like “yep” it’s time to go,” said Krieger.

The couple evacuated and eventually relocated to Columbus. If there’s one thing they learned, about rebuilding their lives, it was to appreciate where you live.

“I’ve realize how important community is here. We took the party from New Orleans and brought it to Columbus and it’s really gotten us integrated with the town,” said Columbus resident Colin Krieger.

“Because of it, we have immerse ourselves in the community. We try and give back as much as we can because the community gave so much to us when we moved up here,” said Desiree Krieger

Krieger says though it was 13 years ago it’s a time his family will never forget.

“We’ve seen other hurricanes come our entire lives. You never leave thinking it’s not going be that bad, it’s not going be that bad. We saw Camille. We saw our grandparents talk about Betsy and now it’s something that we talk about to our kids and losing almost everything going through having to rebuilding did good settling our roots here,” said Krieger.

Data shows Hurricane Katrina displaced more than a million people in the Gulf Coast region.